Tonight's my family storytime night and we will be giving a nod to St. Patrick's Day with some green things.
It's tricky to create something that works for toddlers and we have few St. Patrick's Day approripate materials, so I'm going with green things - frogs, rainbows and green monsters. Although my program is geared towards 4-8, I get more kids that fall closer to the 3-6 gap.
Program
Opener: Storytime's beginning (Tune: Christmas Time's a Coming by Raffi) / Bread and butter (chant)
Storytime's beginning, storytime's beginning,
Storytime's beginning and it's time to gather 'round.
Storytime's beginning, storytime's beginning
Storytime's beginning and it's time to have some fun.
Bread and butter, marmalade and jam,
Let's say hello as fast as we can.
With this chant, we go through: fast/slow, high/low, quiet/loud, silly/normal.
Action: Elevator (Tune: Do your ears hang low)
Oh the city is great, oh the city is grand,
There's a lot of tall buildings, on a tiny piece of land.
Well we live way up on the 22nd floor.
And this is what we do when we run out the door.
We take the elevator up, we take the elevator down (x3)
Then we turn around.
Action: Kentucky (works best with shakers or pom poms, both of which I don't have access to)
We're going to Kentucky, we're going to the fair. (swing arms)
To see a seniorita with ribbons in her hair. (wave hands in hair)
Shake it baby shake it, shake all you can. (shake entire body)
Shake it like a milkshake and pour it in a can.
Rumble to the bottom, rumble to the top, (wave hands low and high)
Then turn around, turn around until it's time to stop...freeze! (spin and then stop)
Action: Tall as a tree
Tall as a tree, wide as a house, (reach high, stretch wide)
Narrow as a pole, small as a mouse (pull arms and legs against body, shrink down low)
(reapeat)
A is for alligaor...chomp, chomp, chomp (clap hands together like alligaor)
B is for ball...bounce, bounce, bounce (hold arms up like a ball and then hop)
C is for circle...turn around and around and around (hold arms in front of you like a hoop and then spin)
D is for dizzy....as we all sit down (have kids hold their head like they're dizzy and sit on the floor)
Book: Leap back home to me by Lauren Thompson
Song/Fingerplay: Five green and speckled frogs
Five green and speckled frogs, sitting on the speckled log (hold up fingers and thumb)
Eating some most delicious bugs - YUM, YUM!
One jump into a pool, where it was nice and cool (hold a finger and leap over other hand)
Then there were 4 green and speckled frogs - GLUB, GLUB!
4, 3, 2, 1, none
Felt story: Make a rainbow
Take some cherries and put it in a pot,
Stir it, stir it, stir it a lot,
Pour it now, what will it be?
The prettiest red you ever did see.
Orange - orange, Lemon - yellow, Limes - green, Berries - blue, Grapes - purple.
Red and orange and yellow and green.
Blue and purple colours are seen.
Put it all together, what will it be?
The prettiest rainbow you ever did see.
Book: Go away big green monster by Ed Emberley
I needed a transition, so I usually mention how that big green monster had sharp white teeth, do you know what else has sharp white teeth? Sharks!
Fingerplay: Five little fishes
Five little fishes swimming in the sea, teasin' Mr. Shark,
You can't catch me.
Along came Mr. Shark as quiet as can be,
And SNAP!
4, 3, 2, 1, none
The kids really responded by going nyah, nyah and then claping their hands to make a big chomp with me.
Action: Monster, Monster
Monster monster, turn around
Monster monster, touch the ground
Monster monster, reach up high
Monster monster, blink your eyes
Monster monster, show your teeth
Monster monster, stomp your feet
When I did my transition to this action play, I asked all the kids to stand up and give me their best monster roar and boy did they roar! I'm sure the people upstairs heard the kids. So between each line, I asked the little monsters to give a roar. It stretched out the action play and we had lots of fun.
It can be tricky when the kids are too young and don't like loud noises, but you'll have to read your crowd. When I do my opening chant, Bread and Butter, we have a line where the kids are asked to say hello as loud as they can and if I see lots of kids cringing, I know it's best to not add the roaring.
Closer: Storytime has ended (Tune: Christmas time's a 'coming by Raffi) / Now it's time to say so long we'll see you soon (Tune: If you're happy and you know it)
Storytime has ended, storytime has ended,
Storytime has ended and we hope you had some fun!
Storytime has ended, storytime has ended,
Storytime has ended and we hope to see you soon!
Now it's time to say so long we'll see you soon,
Now it's time to say so long we'll see you soon.
Now it's time to say so long and we're singing our last song,
Now it's time to say so long we'll see you soon.
If you're leaving and you know it, wave goodbye...
If you're leaving and you know it say/shout goodbye...
News Article of the Day: The new head of Ottawa's library is not a librarian, she is, however, a precise thinker: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/head+Ottawa+library+librarian+however+precise+thinker/6283857/story.html
What does this mean for the library community when you have someone who has not worked in a library in the top spot? Most top library posts are held by librarians that do not have MBAs, it is important that they have one?
The woman leading the Ottawa library system sounds like she's capable of seeing the big picture and helping the system modernize. There are many systems with old, possibly outdated buildings and to have someone who can help shape this development, it can be quite positive. The tricky thing is will the public support spending more money on these types of capital plans.
More and more people live in condos/apartments and tight quarters lead people to come to their library for meeting and gathering spaces. Inevitably, you get the traditional "libraries are scholarly tombs" bumping in with people who want to chat and collaborate on work or school projects. This leads to staff playing referees to balance the needs of all members of the public.
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