Family storytime is for all ages, so I try to find themes, books and activities that would be suitable for a large audience. This month I went with Robots! Who doesn’t love a good robot?
Here’s what we did:
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.
Stretch – Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
I like to do a good warm-up before getting in to my theme. We do this one three times, faster each time.
Then we get into our theme:
Pass Out – Power Buttons
As the kids came in I passed out red ON/OFF buttons. These are our very own robot power buttons and can be used to “power down” if we are too loud or to “power up” if we are doing a stretch or movement exercise. I also have a few rhymes that use the button.
ASL – Robot / Science / Electricity
I also teach my kids some American Sign Language to go with my theme each week. This is a great way to promote communication within our community and any way we can help ease the frustration when learning to speak is helpful.
Book – Boy + Bot by Ame DyckmanThis one is a little long but I think it works well with the theme and has a little humor to it.
Don’t forget to have your robots power down before
the story so the room will be nice and quite! 🙂
Song – If You’re a Robot and You Know It from ScholasticWe received a book called “If You’re a Robot and You Know It” that has pull tabs. The book is too small to use but Scholastic had a free download of the song, so I decided to use it as one of my songs.
Rhyme – I’m a Little Robot
There are lots of versions of this, I’m a Little Teapot, robot remix. Google and you’ll come up with a ton!
I’m a little robot, short and strong. (Stand up straight). Here are my handles, (One hand up. One hand down) just turn me on. (Press our ON buttons) When I get all warmed up, (Shake in place) watch me go. Sometimes I’m fast (move robot arms fast) and sometimes I’m slow. (move robot arms slow)
Felt Board – Building a Robot with Shapes
I decided we would talk about shapes by building our own robot. I created a lot of felt shapes and I asked the kids to help me pick out the perfect head, arm, etc. by picking shapes and colors.
Rhyme – The Gears on the Robot
This is to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus” and it is one I created on my own, with inspiration from one of our pages. Please credit me if you use it!
The gears on the robot go grind, grind, grind Grind, grind, grind. Grind, grind, grind. The gears on the robot go grind, grind, grind all day long. (move hands in a circle)
The circuits on the robot go beep, boop, bop. Beep, boop, bop. Beep, boop, bob. The circuits on the robot go beep, boop, bop all day long. (use pointer fingers to press invisible buttons)
The motor on the robot goes rumble, rumble, rumble Rumble, rumble, rumble. Rumble, rumble, rumble. The motor on the robot goes rumble, rumble, rumble all day long. (jump up and down)
The robots all around say “do the robot!” “Do the robot!” “Do the robot!” The robots all around say “do the robot!” All day long. (Do the robot dance!)
Book – Rolie Polie Olie by William Joyce
I haven’t read this one in forever and it was great to get nostalgic!
Song w/ Shakers – Rockin’ Robot by the Mother Goose Club Rhymes for Kids
I always like to end the same way:
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 was a really fun, themed heavy storytime. Haha! Maybe almost too themed heavy. But we liked our robot buttons and we thought some of the songs were super silly. I maybe wouldn’t do the felt board with such a big group because the kids really wanted to pick out the shapes themselves. But overall, fun was had!
That’s all for now!
-M-