It snowed yesterday and last night, then the snow turned to rain, so it was a slushy mess this morning, but we still had 8 kids at the beginning of storytime, and 14 by the end! And it was a particularly great program: I tried some new books that worked out really well, and had a new movement game for the felt board that was also a success.

• Welcome and announcements
• “Hello Friends” with ASL (Jbrary)
• Name song (“___ is here today”)
• Book! By Kristine O’Connell George and Maggie Smith: I found this while browsing, and it’s a great lead-off book, especially for the younger kiddos.
• Song cube: “Where is Thumbkin?”
• There’s A Monster in Your Book by Tom Fletcher
• Stand and stretch: reach up high to the ceiling, touch toes, repeat; step feet apart and touch right hand to right foot, then left hand to left foot, then (challenge!) opposite hand to opposite foot.
• Red Light, Green Lion by Candace Ryan: This worked beautifully, and I really wasn’t sure how it would go. I skipped some of the text, concentrating on the red and green (“red light, green li–“), which is enough of a story on its own.
• Traffic light felt board: First I put up the traditional traffic light colors (red, yellow, green), then started introducing different colors (orange = hop on 1 or 2 feet, pink = twirl around, purple = touch toes, blue = clap hands, white = sit down). I adapted this idea from one of the ones in Rob Reid’s book.*
• Chicken Wants A Nap by Tracy Marchini and Monique Felix: Simple text, HUGE illustrations, lots of opportunities for animal sounds (chicken, cow, etc.).
• Song cube: “I Had A Little Turtle,” “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” (the latter four times: regular speed/volume, then quiet, fast, slow)
• Thank You, Bear by Greg Foley: Got an audible “awwww” from the grown-ups at the end. Foley’s Bear books are so sweet.
• “Goodbye Friends” with ASL (Jbrary)
• Color on butcher paper with crayons

*I’ve been slowly making my way through 200 Original and Adapted Story Program Activities by Rob Reid (2018) and mining it for new book ideas, fingerplays, rhymes, and movement activities.