For this storytime I figured we’d try to keep in line with our Summer Reading theme of Build a Better World and focus on all things building and construction.
Here’s what we did:
I always start with just about 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.
Song – Tap Your Toes and Follow Me by Susan Salidor
This is just a easy song with simple movements to get us warmed up.
Movement Exercise – Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Now that we are warmed up we get moving with this classic. Do it three times faster and faster each time.
From here we get into our theme.
ASL – Summer. Read. Build.
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.
Movement Exercise – Cranes
We pretended we moved like cranes; reaching up high and low and all around. You can find the words at: Jen in the library.
Story – Rex Wrecks It! By Ben Clanton
Kids can always relate to building things and then knocking them down. I love this one because you know what’s coming and so do the kids.
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.
Rhyme w/ Prop – Five Little Nails
I made my own version from Mel’s Desk. This was such an easy and awesome prop!
Flannel Board – Construction Countdown by K.C. Olson
I actually created my own flannel board using the vehicles listed in the book. We counted 10 dump trucks, 9 cement mixers, etc. Counting is popular with this crew.
Game – Sleeping sleeping sleeping all the children were sleeping
This is a game my mom uses when she nannies. Basically, you put the kids to sleep:
Sleeping, sleeping all my friends were sleeping. And when they woke up they were… (name an animal to act out).
Don’t forget to turn them back to good boys and girls at the end!
Story – Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey
Rinkey and Tom Lichtenheld
This is a longer one then I normally do but I cut down on how many vehicles we say goodnight to.
Movement w/ Scarves – Toss Your Scarves
Simple rhyme and lets us use our scarves more than once.
Song w/ Scarves – Let’s Go Fly A Kite (yes the Mary Poppins song 🙂
I pass out scarves and we pretend they are kites while we sing along.
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: This one started off really great. We got a little fussy toward the end so I barely read any of Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site and pretty much went straight to the scarf song. With a big crew like this it is good to have lots of songs and movements ready just in case we can’t sit still.
That’s all for now!
-M-