Wee Read - Shake, Shake, Shake

Early Literacy Tip of the Week:

Speaking to your baby up close will help him see the movements your mouth makes in order to produce sounds.

Good Morning

Hello, How are You?

I Put My Arms up High

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

Open Shut Them

Book One

Close to You: How Animals Bond by Kimiko Kajikawa

Shake Your Shakers

--Mother Goose on the Loose by Betsy Diamant-Cohen. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 2006.

Shake Your Eggs

Shake your eggs and shake them high.

Shake your eggs and shake them low.

Shake your eggs and shake them high.

Shake your eggs around you go.

--Librarian Lisa’s Storytimes

Put Your Egg on Your Head

Sung to: “There’s a Spider on the Floor”

Use egg shakers

Put your egg on your head, on your head.

Put your egg on your head, on your head.

Put your egg on your head

Put your egg on your head.

Put your egg on your head, on your head.

continue with toes, tummy, etc.

--Librarian Lisa’s Storytimes

I Wiggle My Fingers

Book Two

Ollie by Paola Opal

Three Little Monkeys Swinging From a Tree

Three little monkeys swinging from a tree

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

When along comes Mr. Crocodile annnnd SNAP!

--Traditional

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is but a dream!

--Traditional

Read Together

Clap Hands by Helen Oxenbury

The More We Get Together

Storytime - Frogs

Toddler

Books: Leap Back Home to Me by Lauren Thompson and Hop Jump by Ellen Stoll Walsh

Songs / Rhymes: “Good Morning”, “Hello, How Are You?”, “Open, Shut Them”, “Little Green Frog” with frog puppet, “Five Green and Speckled Frogs” on the felt board, “I Wiggle My Fingers”, and “The More We Get Together”. 

Craft: Frog Puppets. Materials: green sheets of construction paper, red construction paper tongues, googly eyes, crayons, glue, and tape. The toddlers glued the eyes to the tops of their puppets and then glued the tongue inside its mouth. When they were done, we sang “Little Green Frog” with the puppets.

Preschool

Books: Frog by Louise Spilsbury and Froggy Goes to Camp by Jonathan London. 

Songs / Rhymes: “Welcome to the Library”, “Hello, How Are You?”, “Open, Shut Them”, “Little Green Frog” with frog puppet, “Five Green and Speckled Frogs” on the felt board, “I Wiggle My Fingers”, and “The More We Get Together”. 

Craft: Frog Puppets. Materials: green sheets of construction paper, red construction paper tongues, googly eyes, crayons, glue, and tape. The preschoolers glued the eyes to the tops of their puppets and then glued the tongue inside its mouth. When they were done, we sang “Little Green Frog” with the puppets.

Songs/Rhymes

Little Green Frog

Mmm-ahh! Went the little green frog one day.

Mmm-ahh! Went the little green frog.

Mmm-ahh! Went the little green frog one day.

And the frog went mmm-mmm-ahh!

-- PreschoolEducation.com

Five Green and Speckled Frogs

Five green and speckled frogs

Sitting on a speckled log

Eating some most delicious bugs.

Yum yum!

One jumped into the pool

Where it was nice and cool.

Now there are four green speckled frogs.

--Traditional

Wee Read - Just Us Chickens

Early Literacy Tip of the Week:

Clapping to rhymes and singing allows children to hear that words are made up of smaller parts. This will help them sound out words when they learn to read. --Library Bonanza

Good Morning

Hello, How are You?

Rooster Crows

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

Open Shut Them

Book One

Chicky Chicky Chook Chook by Cathy MacLennan

I Went to the Farm One Day

I went to the farm one day.

I saw a hen across the way.

And what do you think the hen did say?

Cluck, cluck, cluck!

I went to the farm one day.

I saw a chick across the way.

And what do you think the chick did say?

Cheep, cheep, cheep!

I went to the farm one day.

I saw a rooster across the way.

And what do you think the rooster did say?

Cockadoodledoo!

--modified from Mother Goose on the Loose by Betsy Diamant-Cohen. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 2006.

Cluck Cluck, Red Hen

Use a chicken puppet and two plastic eggs

Sung to: "Baa Baa, Black Sheep”

Cluck, cluck, red hen, have you any eggs?

Yes, sir, yes, sir, as many as my legs: 1,2

--Storytime Source Page

I Wiggle My Fingers

Book Two

Hurry! Hurry! by Eve Bunting

Shake Your Egg With Me

Sung to: “London Bridge”

use shaker eggs

Can you shake your egg with me,

Shake your egg along with me

It’s as easy as can be

Now put it on your knee!

Repeat with head, tummy, etc.

--Nancy Stewart

We Shake Our Shakers Together

-- Mother Goose on the Loose by Betsy Diamant-Cohen. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 2006.

An Egg is On My Nose

Sung to: “The Farmer in the Dell”

Use egg shakers

An egg is on my nose,

an egg is on my nose,

Heigh-ho, the derry-o,

an egg is on my nose.

(Repeat using other body parts)

--Storytime Source Page

Read Together

Five Little Chicks by Nancy Tafuri

The More We Get Together

Storytime - Ahhhhh! Spiders!

Toddler

Books 

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle and The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Lorianne Siomades.

Songs / Rhymes: “Good Morning”, “Hello, How Are You?”, “Open, Shut Them”, “There’s a Spider on the Floor” with spider puppet, “One Elephant Went Out to Play” on the felt board, “I Wiggle My Fingers”, “The Great Big Spider”, and “The More We Get Together”.

Craft: Hand Print Spiders. Materials: black construction paper hand prints, purple paper, googly eyes, crayons, glue, and tape. The toddlers glued the thumbs of their hand prints together to make a spider. They glued eyes onto their spiders and then colored them in.

Preschool

Books: The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle and I Love Bugs by Emma Dodd. The preschoolers helped me read Carle’s book by supplying the sounds of the animals.

Songs / Rhymes: “Welcome to the Library”, “Hello, How Are You?”, “The Great Big Spider”, “Open, Shut Them”, “There’s a Spider on the Floor” with spider puppet, “I Wiggle My Fingers”, and “The More We Get Together”.

Special Activity: The preschoolers shared with me what they knew about spiders. They knew that spiders make webs, have eight legs, and eat flies and other bugs. They even knew that spiders trap flies in their sticky webs!

Craft: Spider Webs. Materials: black construction paper, construction paper crayons, glue, and glitter. The preschoolers drew their webs onto the construction paper using the crayons, then went over the lines with glue. I added white glitter to their papers when they were finished.

Songs/Rhymes

There’s a Spider on the Floor (with spider puppet)

--Raffi

One Elephant Went Out to Play

One Elephant went out to play

Upon a spider’s web one day

He had such enormous fun

He called another elephant to come.

(HEY, ELEPHANT!)

Two elephants went out to play

Upon a spider’s web one day

They had such enormous fun,

They called another elephant to come…

--Miss Mary Liberry

The Great Big Spider

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

*I do this version instead of itsy bitsy because, as Ernst suggests in her book, it's easier for the smaller children to do gross motor movements than the fine motor skills involved in the finger play.

Wee Read - Peas in a Pod

Early Literacy Tip of the Week:

Want to increase your baby’s cooperation? Sing to him! It’s been proven to help his ability to work as a team. --Library Bonanza

Good Morning

Hello, How are You?

In the Morning

--Children’s Programming Monthly v. 1 no. 5 pg. 5 by Kathy MacMillan

Open Shut Them

Book One

Baby Parade by Rebecca O'Connell

Pease Porridge Hot

Pease porridge hot,

Pease porridge cold,

Pease porridge in a pot, nine days old.

Some like it hot,

Some like it cold,

Some like it in a pot, nine days old.

--Traditional

Patty Cake

Patty cake, patty cake, baker’s man,

Bake me a cake as fast as you can

Roll it

And pat it

And mark it with a “B”

And put it in the oven for baby and me.

--Traditional

Five Plump Peas

Five plump peas in a pea pod pressed. (hold up fist)

One grew, two grew, and so did all the rest. (open fingers one at a time)

They grew and they grew and they never stopped. (hands together and then move apart with each “grew”)

They grew so big that the pea pod popped! (clap on popped!)

--The Passionate Librarian

I Wiggle My Fingers

Book Two

I Know a Lot by Stephen Krensky

Roll Roll Sugarbabies

Roll, roll sugarbabies (arms roll)
Roll, roll sugarbabies.
Push, pull,
Clap, clap, clap!

--Rain Makes Applesauce

Eyes and Nose

--Storytime Crafts: Crazy Days by Kathryn Totten. Ft. Atkinson, WI: Upstart Books, 2004.

Read Together

Little Miss Muffet by Tracey Campbell Pearson

The More We Get Together

Storytime - Crocodiles and Alligators

Toddler

Books: For Pete’s Sake by Ellen Stoll Walsh

Songs / Rhymes: “Good Morning”, “Hello, How Are You?”, “Open, Shut Them”,  “Five Little Monkeys Swinging from a Tree” on the felt board, “Come Under My Umbrella” with parachute, “Ring Around the Rosie” with parachute, “Row Boat, Row Boat” with parachute, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” with parachute, “I Wiggle My Fingers”, and “The More We Get Together”.

Special Activity: I reminded the toddlers and their families to save water by turning off the tap while brushing their teeth and gave each child a cup and tooth brush provided by our city's water department.

Craft: There was no craft today. The toddlers played with the parachute instead.

Preschool

Books: For Pete’s Sake by Ellen Stoll Walsh.

Songs / Rhymes: “Welcome to the Library”, “Hello, How Are You?”, “Open, Shut Them”, “Five Little Monkeys Swinging from a Tree” on the felt board, “I Wiggle My Fingers”, “Come Under My Umbrella” with parachute, “Ring Around the Rosie” with parachute, “Row Boat, Row Boat” with parachute, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” with parachute, and “The More We Get Together”.

Special Activity: I reminded the preschoolers and their families to save water by turning off the tap while brushing their teeth and gave each child a cup and tooth brush provided by our city's water department.

Craft: There was no craft today. The toddlers played with the parachute instead.

Songs/Rhymes

Five Little Monkeys Swinging From a Tree

Five little monkeys swinging from a tree

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

When along comes Mr. Crocodile annnnd SNAP!

-- Traditional

Come Under My Umbrella

Come under my umbrella,

Umbrella, umbrella.

Gently wave the parachute up and down.

Come under my umbrella,

It’s starting to storm.

Move parachute faster.

There’s thunder and lightning

And wind and rain.

Come under my umbrella,

It’s starting to storm.

--MCLS Kids

Ring Around the Rosie

Ring around the rosie

A pocket full of posie

Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!

--Traditional

Row Boat, Row Boat

Row boat, row boat go so slow (wave the chute slowly).

Row boat, row boat go so fast (shake the chute fast).

Row boat, row boat the waves are getting worse (shake fast again).

Row boat, row boat put it in reverse (stop the chute by pulling towards you).

--Kendra at Read, Sing, Play

Row Row Row Your Boat with Alligator

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream,

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is but a dream.

Row, row, row your boat,

gently down the stream,

if you see an alligator

don’t forget to scream.

(Scream!!!!!)

--Tracey at 1234 More Storytimes

Wee Read - Chanukah and Christmas (2012)

Early Literacy Tip: Share books with your children at least ten minutes a day, beginning at infancy. Don't worry if babies chew on or play with the books - it's all part of the process leading up to reading.

Good Morning

Hello, How are You?

Spin Little Dreidels

Spin little dreidels, go, go, GO!                                         

Spin little dreidels, now go SLOW!                                 

Jump, little dreidels, jump so high                                    

Now, STOP! And reach for the sky!                              

Now little dreidels, find your nose                                 

Now little dreidels, find your toes!                                

Spin little dreidel, round and round                               

Round and round till you fall to the ground!

--Storytime with the Library Lady

Open Shut Them

Book One

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah by Susan L. Roth

I Am a Little Dreidel
I am a little dreidel
(Point to yourself)
I am a little top
(Pat your head)
When you twist my handle,
(Spin around)
I spin until I drop!
(Fall to the floor)

--PreschoolEducation

Holiday Candles

I changed the title from Christmas to Holiday

--from 1001 Rhymes and Fingerplays by the Totline Staff. Torrance, CA: Warren Publishing House, 1994.

Book Two

Christmas Parade by Sandra Boynton

Three Little Christmas Trees 

Three little Christmas trees,
Standing all alone.
Their hearts were very sad,
'Cause they hadn't found a home.
Then chop went the ax
And down fell a tree
And off one went with a happy family!
(continue until no trees)No little Christmas Trees
Were standing all alone
Their hearts were very happy
'Cause they all found a home!!!

--PreschoolEducation

Reindeer Pokey

Sung to: "The Hokey Pokey"You put your antlers in,

You put your antlers out.
You put your antlers in and you shake them all about.
You do the Reindeer Pokey and you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about!
You put your hooves in....
You put your red nose in....
You put your fluffy tail in...
You put your reindeer body in...

--PreschoolEducation

Let's All

Sung to: "We Wish You A Merry Christmas"Let's all do a little clapping, x3
and spread holiday cheer.

2. Stomping
3. Jumping

--PreschoolEducation

Read Together

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Peek-a-boo! by Judith Moffat 

The More We Get Together

Flannel Friday Roundup - Holiday Extravaganza 2013

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh, what fun it is to post a holiday flannel today, HEY! Let's open those presents, I mean posts, right away!

On the first Flannel Friday Christmas post, Sue, Kristie, and Kristen from Let the Wild Rumpus Start gave to us: Old Saint Nicholas Had a Tree, Rudolph, Rudolph, and Five Little Christmas Presents!

On the second Flannel Friday Christmas post, Linda from Notes from the Story Room gave to us: Gingerbread Men!

On the third Flannel Friday Christmas post, Sharon from Rain Makes Applesauce gave to us: Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree, What Do You See?

On the fourth Flannel Friday Christmas post, Kathryn from Fun with Friends at Storytime gave to us: Christmas Stockings.

On the fifth Flannel Friday Christmas post, Lisa S. from Thrive After Three gave to us: Mouse's Fi-irst Christmas!

On the sixth Flannel Friday Christmas post, Tara from Storytime with Miss Tara gave to us: Hot, Yummy Soup!

On the seventh Flannel Friday Christmas post, Lisa M. from Libraryland gave to us: Santa Bingo!

On the eighth Flannel Friday Christmas post, Jane from Piper Loves the Library gave to us: Oh Christmas Tree!

On the bonus Flannel Friday Christmas post, Jane gave another great idea to us: The Nutcracker Ballet!

And a partridge in a pear treeeeeeeeeeeee!

Thank you to everyone who participated! I hope you all have a fantastic December. Remember, you can find us on Pinterest, Facebook, and at our Flannel Friday blog.

Storytime - Thanksgiving

Toddler

Books

My First Thanksgiving by Tomie dePaola and Thank You, Thanksgiving byDavid Milgrim

Songs / Rhymes: “Good Morning”, “Hello, How Are You?”, “Did You Ever See a Turkey”, “Open, Shut Them”, “Hello, Mr. Turkey”, “Turkey Feathers” on the felt board, “I Wiggle My Fingers”, and “The More We Get Together”.

Craft: Pumpkin Pies. Materials: tan construction paper crust, cotton balls, paper plate quarters, cinnamon, crayons, glue, and tape. The toddlers glued their crusts to their pie wedge, then added whipped cream (the cotton balls). When they were done, they added a bit more glue and I sprinkled some cinnamon on their pies.

Preschool

Books

Thanksgiving by Brenda Haugen and I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson on the felt board

*The felt board set used to be free, but now you can download it for $5 from Teachers Pay Teachers.

Songs / Rhymes: “Welcome to the Library”, “Hello, How Are You?”, “Hi There, So Glad You Came”, “Open, Shut Them”, “Hello, Mr. Turkey”, “The Turkey Feathers Game” on the felt board, and “The More We Get Together”.

Special Activities: We played the Turkey Feathers Game on the felt board. I had the children guess which color of feather was missing from the turkey. I also explained that Chanukah starts the same day as Thanksgiving, and she showed them how to spin the dreidel. Each preschooler took a turn spinning it.

Craft: Thankfulness Chains. Materials: red, orange, yellow, green, and brown construction paper strips, glue, tape, crayons, and scissors. The preschoolers thought about what they were thankful for. Their caregivers wrote the suggestions on the strips and together they formed the strips into chains.

Songs/Rhymes

Did You Ever See A Turkey?

Sung to: "Did you ever see a Lassie"
Did you ever see a turkey a turkey a turkey
Did you ever see a turkey go this way and that
Go this way and that way and this way and that way
Did you ever see a turkey go this way and that?

--PreschoolEducation.com

Hello Mr. Turkey 

Sung to: "If You're Happy and You Know It"
Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?
Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?
With a gobble, gobble, gobble,
And a wobble, wobble, wobble.
Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?

--PreschoolEducation.com

Turkey Feathers – Matching Version

--from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz and Dick Wilmes. Elgin, IL: Building Blocks, 1997.

Turkey Feathers – Guessing Version

--from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz and Dick Wilmes. Elgin, IL: Building Blocks, 1997.

Flannel Friday Placeholder - Holiday Extravaganza!

Ho, Ho, Ho and Happy Holidays to all my fellow Flannel Friday-ers out there! This is the placeholder for the round up this week. If you have a favorite holiday flannel board (or any flannel board!) to share, please link it in the comments below. Submissions will be taken until 10pm EST on Friday, December 6th.

Wee Read - Thanksgiving/Hanukkah/Christmas

Early Literacy Tip of the Week:

Don’t resist using “Motherese” (the tone of voice and language you use when speaking to babies and children). This style of speaking is easier for babies to listen to and learn from. --Kt Paxton “Enhancing Language Development in Childhood”

Good Morning

Hello, How are You?

If You’re a Turkey and You Know It

If you’re a turkey and you know it,

Flap your wings.

If you’re a turkey and you know it,

Flap your wings.

If you’re a turkey and you know it,

And you really want to show it.

If you’re a turkey and you know it,

Flap your wings.

Continue with wibble, wobble; gobble gobble; do all three.

--PreschoolEducation.com

Open Shut Them

Book One

My First Thanksgiving by Tomie DePaola

Hello Mr. Turkey 

Sung to: "If You're Happy and You Know It" 
Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?
Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?
With a gobble, gobble, gobble,
And a wobble, wobble, wobble.
Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?

--PreschoolEducation.com

Turkey Feathers

--from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz and Dick Wilmes. Elgin, IL: Building Blocks, 1997.

I Am a Little Dreidel
I am a little dreidel
(Point to yourself)
I am a little top
(Pat your head)
When you twist my handle,
(Spin around)
I spin until I drop!
(Fall to the floor)

--PreschoolEducation

I Wiggle My Fingers

Book Two
Where Is Baby's Dreidel by Karen Katz

Let's All

Sung to: "We Wish You A Merry Christmas"
Let's all do a little clapping,
Let's all do a little clapping,
Let's all do a little clapping,
and spread holiday cheer.

2. Stomping
3. Jumping

--PreschoolEducation

Ring the Bells

Sung to: "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"

Ring, ring, ring the bells,

Ring them loud and clear

Tell the people everywhere

That Christmas time is here.

--PreschoolEducation

Book Three

Christmas Parade by Sandra Boynton

The More We Get Together