Hi Guys! So we are back to our summer schedule for storytimes, which means no weekly baby storytimes for a bit 😦 BUT I am still doing my family storytimes and this week I thought I’d go along with the summer reading theme of Libraries Rock! and revolve my theme around music and dance.
Here’s what I planned:
SONG – Top of the Morning
This is a fun tune and great for waking up and doing a little stretching. It’s called Top of the Morning.
HELLO RHYME – Say Hello
This is a great rhyme for saying hello because we get to do it in so many fun ways!
MOVEMENT STRETCH – Simon Says…
Who doesn’t love a good round of Simon Says? I figured I could throw in some music themed actions and help us get warmed up.
Then we get into our theme:
ALS – MUSIC / DANCE / CREATE
I also 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 communicatio
n with each other. We have a large deaf community near my library so learning just a few signs are great! I usually use
BOOK – Hilda Must Be Dancing by Karma WilsonI love this one for the rhyme and for the fun sounds we get to make as we read this one.
ACTION RHYME – The Finger Band is Coming to Town
Another Jbrary gem! We get to use our fingers to pretend play lots of instruments.
FREEZE DANCE – Can’t Stop the Feeling from The Trolls Soundtrack
A music themed storytime is perfect for a game of freeze dance and this is the perfect song to get into funny dance positions with.
BOOK – Violet’s Music by Angela JohnsonThis is a great storytime book–a little long but worth it for it’s diversity and the lesson learn. A book all about finding staying true to who you are and eventually you will find your niche.
RHYME in the Round – Row, Row, Row Your Boat
I am going to TRY to introduce the concept of singing in a round. I am going to split the room into thirds and I am going to point when each group should start singing and then we will talk about how we just make music together. We’ll see how it goes!
SONG w/ SHAKERS – Happy Feet from Dancin’ Magic by Joanie Bartel
You can’t have a music themed storytime without breaking out those shakers!
Finally, we finish up with:
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 – Clean It Up! by The Laurie Berkner Band
Everyone helps put our shakers away
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 was a lot of fun! I probably could have used a shorter second book but I sort of summed it up, instead of reading every word and all was well. We loved doing Simon Says and the freeze dance was awesome!
That’s all for now!
-M-