Family Storytime: Hello Winter!

Hi Guys, it is now officially winter and so let’s all say hello to winter in this family storytime for all ages!

1. Song – Top of the Morning
   

2. This is a fun tune and great for waking up and doing a little stretching. It’s called Top of the Morning.

3. Hello Rhyme – Say Hello

4. This is a great rhyme for saying hello because we get to do it in so many fun ways!

5. Stretch – Simon Says
   

6. This is a great way to get the kids up and moving.

7. ASL – SNOW / COLD / WINTER
   

8. I always teach my group a few American Sign Language signs to go with every theme. This is great to help frustrated little ones communicate but it also helps make our world a better place by fostering communication with each other. We have a large deaf community near my library so learning just a few signs are great! I usually use Signing Savvy or Baby Sign Language.

9. Book – Polar Opposites by Erik Brooks OR Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
   

10. I haven’t decided which one of these I am going to use yet. I am going to gauge my audience the day of.

1. Rhyme – Snowflake, Snowflake in the Sky
   

2. Another fun one from Jbrary with simple movements and a nice rhyme.

3. Song – Snow on the Rooftops by Kathy Reid-Naiman
   

4. 
   

This is an easy one to add movements to as you follow along.

1. Magnet/White Board – The First Day of Winter by Karma WilsonFor this one, I am going to draw my snowman body on the white board and add my magnets as I “sing” the story to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas. This should be interesting.

2. 
   

3. This is a game my mom taught me. You put the kids to sleep by saying: “sleeping, sleeping a

ll our friends are sleeping. Game – Sleeping, Sleeping… And when they woke up they were _____.” And you can wake them up as anything you want, bears, cats, dogs. And keep putting them to sleep and waking them up. But don’t forget to turn them back to good little boys and girls at the end!

1. Book/Puppets – Oh! by Kevin HenkesI’m getting more into puppets, which is perfect for this book because it is a little small. So the puppets will add nicely to the story.

2. Rhyme w/props – The Winter Hokey Pokey
   

3. I intend to bring in mittens and gloves and add on each garment as we do that part of the hokey pokey.

1. Song/Shakers – Jingle Bells

2. Why not shake to Jingle Bells, that is the question.

3. Movement Exercise – If You’re Happy and You Know It
   

4. I tell the kids that I want to know how happy they are.

5. Rhyme – Say Goodbye

6. This is the same rhyme we started with, so the new guys are familiar with it by the end of storytime.

7. Song – Clean It Up! by The Laurie Berkner Band
   

8. Everyone helps put our shakers away

9. Song – Goodbye, So Long, Farewell my Friends by Music Together
   

10. 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 cracked me up! First, I changed up my intro and exit a bit and tried some random rhymes I found the other day. I’ll post about them later. And then I totally butchered The First Day of Winter with my singing and everyone was cracking up with me about it. The kids might have been confused but the parents got a kick out of it. ALSO, the kids kept stealing my magnets so my snowman didn’t come out quite right.

Finally, a woman after the program came up to me and asked me if I was an opera singer because I was SO LOUD! hahahahahaha! Made my day.

All and all, this was a really fun storytime!

That’s all for now!

-M-

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