Hi Guys. My family storytime this week just happened to fall on my birthday, so I decided what better then to have a birthday theme storytime!
I always start with the same warm ups:
Song – Top of the Morning
This is a good song to warm up with because we stretch all the parts we will be using in storytime. Eyes, arms, legs, mouth, nose.
Rhyme – Say Hello
I love this rhyme. Everyone claps along and at the end we say hello how ever I tell them to. Loud, soft, quick, slow.
Movement Exercise – Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
We do this three times, faster and FASTER each time.
Song – Hokey Pokey
Once we were warmed up we did a little hokey pokey to shake things up.
From here we get into our theme.
ASL – Happy Birthday
I like to teach my my kids a few American Sign Language signs at the start of every storytime. This helps foster communication and with a large deaf community in our town it’s a great tool to have.
Flip Chart – Happy Birthday to You
This is sung to the tune of twinkle, twinkle little star.
Happy Birthday, it’s your day.
Hope it’s great in every way.
We are here to celebrate
Because we thing that you are GREAT!
Happy Birthday, it’s your day.
Hope it’s great in every way.
Story w/ Props – It’s My Birthday by Helen Oxenbury
My colleague had this one all ready for me. She had all the ingredients, a paper oven and I pulled all of my puppet friends to help me bake the cake.
Song – Happy Birthday
This is a great dancing birthday song. My colleague gave it to me from a CD of hers but I have no idea what it actually is. It goes something like “Happy Birthday, hap happy birthday. It’s your birthday…”
Movement Exercise – Make a Wish
Big Chocolate cake (Make big bowl with your arms)
Dish of ice cream (Make a cup out of your hands)
Ten candles (Wiggle your fingers)
Make a wish and blow them out! (Blow on each of your hands and make a fist to show the candles are out)
Flannel Board – Ten Little CandlesI used candles we already had made and got the words from here. I used the flannel instead of my fingers but it would have worked just as well.
Song -Shake my Sillies Out
By this time we were ready to get our wiggles out so I played this classic and we shook out all the sillies.
Story w/ Magnets – Wibbly Pig Opens His Presents by Inkpen
Another one from my colleague. She had magnets of all the presents ready and laminated wrapping paper to put over them. It was like a big reveal. I even used a “Wibbly” pig puppet.
Song w/ Shakers – Can’t Stop the Feeling! Trolls Soundtrack I passed out shakers and we danced our fanny’s off to this song. Not a normal storytime song BUT we loved it and so did the adults.
Finally, I always end with the same three things:
Movement Exercise – If You’re Happy and You Know It
I tell the kids that I want to know how happy they are.
Rhyme – Say Goodbye
This is the same rhyme we started with, so the new guys are familiar with it by the end of storytime.
Song – Goodbye, So Long, Farewell my Friends by Music Together
I always put this one on as I go to open the door. Its a nice, slow, peaceful song to wind down on.
How’d it go: Now that we are reaching our summer months, we have to do our storytimes in a little bit smaller of a room. So we can get a little crowded with our 75-100+ people. I was totally prepared to put up a “we’re full” sign but fortunately, our crowd was about the top of what I could handle in this room.
Overall, it went really well. Everyone wished me a happy birthday and I even successfully used my puppets, which can be dicey depending on the day. I was super thankful to have my colleagues help with getting this one ready. We’ve been busy scheduling and doing summer reading visits that I kind of had to throw this one together at the last moment. But teamwork prevailed and we made it through!
That’s all for now!
-M-