Today I covered our Friday session of Step Into Storytime, which skews a little younger (more twos than threes) and a little smaller.
- Welcome and announcements (closed next Monday for Patriots Day)
- “Hello friends” song with ASL
- Name song (“____ is here today”)
- The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld: Kind of a quieter lead-off book that I might not have chosen if I’d known the book beforehand, but it worked okay.
- “Kookaburra”: I thought I’d introduce a new (old, actually, 1932) song. I printed out the lyrics and put them up, along with a picture of a kookaburra (we didn’t have a kookaburra puppet, believe it or not), and also made small copies for the grown-ups.
- Julian Is A Mermaid by Jessica Love
- Yoga flow – and we sang “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” while we were doing it, because I saw a kid put her hands on her head.
- Want to Play Trucks? by Ann Stott: This simple little story shows kids playing together, solving problems, and ultimately agreeing about the main thing in life: WE LIKE ICE CREAM!
- “Happy birthday” song and putting candles on flannel board cake. It didn’t look at all like I envisioned and that was perfect.
- When’s My Birthday? by Julie Fogliano: This might not be a book you want to read over and over to your own kid, but it’s perfect for a group – you can put a ton of expression into it.
- Yoga flow – using both sides of the body and the brain.
- Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett: Probably one of my top five storytime books for this age group. It’s got a sing-song repetition AND animals. What more could you want?
- “Kookaburra”: We sang it again (repetition helps learning), and I dropped in an early literacy tip (“If you’re wondering why we do so much singing in storytime, it’s because singing breaks words down into parts and introduces new words, all of which helps literacy development”). Plus I just love this song.
- One Woolly Wombat by Rod Trinca and Kerry Argent: A counting, rhyming book full of Australian animals.
- “Goodbye friends” song with ASL
- Clean up mats
- Color with crayons
- Handout for grown-ups
Jenny Arch 