Hi Guys,
This past Saturday it was my turn to run Family Storytime. This is a storytime for families with kids of all ages. It’s a fun one but can be tough because you have to prepare to entertain a vast variety of kids. Here’s what we did this week:
I always start with:
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
Song – Skidamarink
From there we went on to our theme of transportation.
ASL Rhyme – I taught the group the ASL signs for Red, Yellow & Green. For the rest of the storytime anytime we used these colors the kids did the signs.
Stop, says the RED light. Go, says the green.
Now just wait, says the YELLOW light in-between.
That’s what they say and that’s what they mean.
We all must obey them, even the queen.
Feltboard – Cars & Colors
Basically, I just told the kids that “There are lots of cars driving down the street. What color do you see? Beep, Beep, Beep.” For the colors we knew signs for we did them while shouting out the colors.
Story – I’m Dirty by Kate & Jim McMullan
You have to be really expressive with this one in order to make it fun. Shorten if you have to but throw a little swagger in when you read it.
Game – Stoplight freeze dance
I created red, yellow and green circles on popsicle sticks.
When I held up the green, they’d drive their cars. Yellow and they would drive in slow motion. Red and they would have to freeze in place.
I showed them in different orders and at different paces to make it more fun. A freeze dance for cars!
Song – The Wheels on the Bus
Just a classic movement song.
Movement exercise – Have You Ever Seen A Sailboat
Put baby on your lap and sway back and forth with the music. Or just sway with the older kids.
Have you ever seen a sailboat, a sailboard, a sailboat
Have you ever seen a sailboat waving its sails.
Wave this way, and that way.
This way and that way.
Have you every seen a sailboat, waving it’s sails!
Story with puppet – Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus!
I created a pigeon puppet and instead reading the story, I told the kids that no matter how much the
pigeon begged, they couldn’t let him drive the bus. So I was the pigeon and the kids kept telling me no every time I asked. It was really fun.
Song with Shakers – Chugga-Chugga-Choo-Choo
Always a risk, but I passed out shakers and we shook our fanny’s off to the song.
Movement Rhyme – Zoom, Zoom, Zoom
Zoom, zoom, zoom
We’re going to the moon.
Zoom, zoom, zoom
We’re going to the moon.
If you want to take a trip
Climb aboard my rocket ship.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 BLASTOFF!
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. We do this three times, faster and FASTER each time.
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 great storytime! It was a great group of kids and I had some really stellar, involved grown-ups. We got through everything I wanted to get through and didn’t get stuck once. Overall, this was a really successful storytime and one I will definitely save to break out again in the future.
That’s all for now!
-M-