Storytime - Chinese New Year

Books

My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz

Toddler and Preschool

 

Yum Yum Dim Sum by Amy Wilson Sanger

Toddler

*Note: I grabbed this book in haste, something I rarely ever do. I only glanced at the text, and was quite embarrassed during storytime when I couldn't pronounce the food names. I probably wouldn't use this title again, but anyone familiar enough with the terms will find it fun.

Max Celebrates Chinese New Year by Adria F. Klein

Preschool

*Note: This is an easy reader, but perfect for storytime audiences.

Songs

If You’re a Dragon and You Know It

Sung to: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”

If you’re a dragon and you know it,

Show your claws.

If you’re a dragon and you know it,

Show your claws.

If you’re a dragon and you know it,

And you really want to show it,

If you’re a dragon and you know it,

Show your claws.

--Miss Mollie

*This is a song I made up at the last minute. Feel free to change it for your needs.

Four Red Dragons

Four red dragons

Dancing 'round a tree
One danced away

And then there were three 

Three red dragons

Dancing 'round you
One danced away

And then there were two

 

Two red dragons

Dancing in the sun
One danced away

And then there was one

One red dragon

Having lots of fun

She danced away
And then there were none

--PerpetualPreschool

Felt Board

Chinese New Year

Sung to: “Mary Had a Little Lamb"
See the dragon dance and prance

Dance and prance

Dance and prance

See the dragon dance and prance

On Chinese New Year’s Day

Hear the firecrackers pop pop pop
Pop pop

Pop pop
Hear the firecrackers pop pop pop
On Chinese New Year's Day

--PerpetualPreschool

Crafts

Dragon Puppets. Materials: Print out of dragon head and tail from Mrs. Walley's First Grade Website, two popsicle sticks, glue or tape, and an accordion folded strip of red paper. *I had volunteers cut the heads and tails out ahead of time, but preschoolers could cut them out on their own.*

Tape or glue the popsicle sticks onto the backs of the head and tail. Attach the strip to each piece, and you have your dragon! When ours were all finished, we sang "See the Dragon Dance and Prance".

Definitely a Not Flannel Friday Post

Happy Flannel Friday everyone!

I sat down to work on my squirrels for this week's storytimes and FF entry. I chose the felt, I cut out five squirrels, I warmed up the glue gun. I was doing everything the same way I always do.

And it just wasn't working.

I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong. It wasn't the rhyme (which is super cute), it wasn't the shape, it wasn't the googly eyes, and it certainly wasn't the fault of the glue gun. But something was off. It wasn't coming out the way I had planned in my head.

I realized at that point that "Five Furry Squirrels" was not meant to be. Sure, I could have slugged through it, awkward as it was, presented it to the children. Maybe they would have no idea, maybe they would have sensed the uneasiness, but that didn't sit right with me. Instead, I did what I rarely do, and brought out a squirrel puppet. Guess what! They loved it!

Flexibility is a trait that comes from working with children. We as children's librarians learn to adapt to the setting, changing our minds about storytime, sometimes without even realizing that we are. It's important to go with the flow, think on our feet, and change with the overall climate of the room. Thankfully, with my squirrels, I was given time to reflect on its effectiveness beforehand, an opportunity that does not come often, and I took full advantage of it.

Not every "Five Little..." song can be flannelized. Maybe in the hands of another librarian it would have been spectacular, but now that I'm confident enough in my flannel-making skills, I can proudly admit that my creativity has limits. I can move on to other activities which will be much more comfortable. Maybe one day I'll revisit those squirrels, but for now I'm happy to let go of what could have been. 

Anne is hosting the round up of this week's Flannel Friday posts. Kay Leigh has issued a challenge to everyone involved in Flannel Friday, both bloggers and viewers alike: Post a comment on every FF entry. I've been doing my best to keep up, and it's been a fun challenge to accept. Help us keep the discussions going on our Facebook page and see the pictures on our Pinterest page.

Wee Read - We Clap Our Hands

Books

 Star Baby by Margaret O'Hair

Baby Hearts and Baby Flowers by Remy Charlip

Clap Hands by Helen Oxenbury

Read Together book

Songs

Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands

--from Babies in the Library by Jane Marino. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, 2003.

I Clap My Hands

--from Babies in the Library by Jane Marino. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, 2003.

Hands Up High

--Manly Library

Five Little Monkeys Swinging From a Tree

Five little monkeys swinging from a tree

Teasing Mr. Alligator, “You can’t catch me!”

When along comes Mr. Alligator annnnd SNAP!

-- Traditional

 

Clap Your Hands

­-- from Lapsit Services for the Very Young II by Linda L. Ernst. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc, 2001.

If You’re Happy and You Know It

If you’re happy and you know it,

Clap your hands.

If you’re happy and you know it,

Clap your hands.

If you’re happy and you know it,

And you really want to show it,

If you’re happy and you know it,

Clap your hands.

Repeat with stomp your feet, shout hooray, do all three.

--Traditional