>Preschool Storytime…Teasing Mr. Crocodile

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For Sleepytime Tales and Preschool Storytime we explored books about crocodiles, bats and the beach! Continuing our “Make a Splash! at your library” theme we also included an underwater adventure with sharks!
Signs learned (courtesy of ASLpro.com)
beach
bats
tiger
elephant
rhinoceros
shark
Books read:
Counting Crocodiles by Judy Sierra
Splash!
Bats at the Beach

Rhymes:

The Lady with the Alligator purse

Five Cheeky Monkeys (complete with Monkey paw!)

For a craft we made grinning crocodiles (found on Enchanted Learning)

Sleepytime Tales meets Wednesdays at 6:30 PM and Preschool Stories meets Thursdays at 10:30 AM.

-r

>V is for Violin

>The Lansdowne community is rich with talent and we were lucky enough to have some of that talent share storytime with us! For Tuesday’s Bibs-n-Books, we had special guest reader Noele, lead vocalist for the band Reilly. She brought her violin, introduced the group to the orchestra, shared her wonderful playing and even gave the children an opportunity to try the instrument themselves!

Noele warming up

Introducing herself

Reading Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin! by Lloyd Moss

Accompanying us while we sang Old MacDonald,

Itsy Bitsy Spider and other familiar tunes

Everybody gets a turn!

Even some of the parents played!

Afterwards she shared pictures of violins for the group to color!

We were very excited about her visit and wish her luck with her upcoming tour.

We have many resources available for your own musical exploration. Available at the library, the Grandkit for music which includes instruments, cds and books.

Books about music:

Boom bah! / [Phil Cummings, Nina Rycroft].
I like the music / Leah Komaiko ; pictures by Barbara Westman.

Mole music / by David McPhail

Bibs-n-Books meets every Tuesday beginning at 10:30 with a play time following.

>Gung Hay Fat Choy!

>It’s the Year of the Tiger and we celebrated by reading books with a Chinese theme!

During Sleepytime Tales and Preschool Storytime we read:
Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong
Tikki Tikki Tembo retold by Arlene Mosel
The Pet Dragon by Christoph Niemann
Someone Says by Carole Lexa Schaefer

Since we are learning signs we signed Happy New Year, China and the song The More We Get Together (this courtesy of Amy Burns)

For our craft we created Chinese laterns

-r

>What a Treasure!

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For the fifth consecutive year, Pennsylvania’s One Book, Every Young Child program will lead the way and highlight the importance of early literacy development in preschoolers ages 3 to 6. This year’s book is What a Treasure! by Jane and Will Hillenbrand.

To celebrate the Lansdowne Public Library held a special What a Treasure! themed storyhour.

Books Read:

These youngsters are waiting for the stories to begin!

What a Treasure by Jane and Will Hillenbrand

Treasure by Suzanne Bloom

One Dark Night by Lisa Wheeler (only read Wednesday night)

During our Thursday event Miss Margaret translated the books into Polish and Miss Heidi signed the books with us!

Activities:

We discussed moles and their low vision with a demonstration by Miss Rachee and how she sees without her glasses.

Pirate hates to look for treasure!

Here is Miss Rachee offereing a pirate hat to a young reader.

We mined for chocolate chips using Chewy Chips Ahoy.

We held a Scavenger Hunt in our Family Room. Participants were charged with finding objects from the books (mole, his parents, the animals the found treasures for) as well as other items that could be found while looking for treasures.

It’s Mole’s Mom and Dad!One less object to look for!

Completed boards were exchanged for coupons for local food stores on Wednesday evening or Jelly Beans on Thursday, as the 22nd was Jelly Bean Day.

Signs learned (courtesy of ASLpro.com)

Mole

Bear

Goose

Treasure

Bird

Copies of the books will be distributed to all participants of the storyhours.

Join us for storytime every Wednesday at 6:30pm or Thursday at 10:30 AM.

>Konnichiwa!

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The Lansdowne Public Library was a proud participant in the of the Suburu Cherry Blossom Festival. During Sleepytime Tales and Preschool Storytime we shared Japanese themed stories.

Books shared:

The Mouse’s Wedding a Kamishibai play from Japan

The beckoning cat : based on a Japanese folktale by Koko Nishizuka ; illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger.

The Paper Crane by Molly Bang

Signs: (from words read in The Mouse’s Wedding)

Mouse

Wedding

Sun

Wind

Cloud

We have been using Aslpro for assistance with the signs.

Craft:

A lucky origami Crane. Miss Amanda was available last night to show us a traditional fold. We also had access to the ‘easy’ version.

Miss Amanda showing how to make the crane

The Easy Crane

Join us Wednesdays at 6:30 or Thursdays at 10:30 for storytime!

Sayonara!

-r

>Sleepytime Tales…With the Doctor!

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Dr. Seuss that is!

We read books by Dr. Seuss during a special Seussical Celebration. Guest readers were Miss. Amanda and Mr. Anthony.

-r

>Whole lotta shakin’ going on!

>What do you get when you mix books, music, bean bags and sign language?
A whole lotta shaking!

Today was our first Bibs -n- Books of the new year and we had a rockin’, roarin’ time! We explored a new format for the new year.

Books shared:

The Glerp written and illustrated by David McPhail

The Z was Zapped written and illustrated by David Catrow

I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More written by Karen Baeumont, illustrated by David Catrow

Music shared:

Shrug Your Shoulders

Hands Go Up and Down

Make Your Eyes

These three songs are from the Kimbo album It’s Fun to Clap

Mr. Knickerbocker from the Barney Album Barney’s Colorful World (Live)

Buffalo Girls and Boys from The Backyardigans

This A Way That A-Way by Ella Jenkins from her album Songs Children Love to Sing

A-You’re Adorable from John Lithgow’s Album Singin’ in the Bathtub

Baby 1,2,3 by Peter & Ellen Allard from their album Sing It, Say It, Stamp It, Sway It Volume 3

Whole Lotta Shakin from Georgiana Stewart’s album Bean Bag Rock & Roll

The Hammer Song by Greg and Steve from the album Fun and Games

A Sailor Went to Sea by Peter & Ellen Allard from their album Sing It, Say It, Stamp It, Sway It Volume 3

Program:

Welcome-Introduction (for new and old storytime friends)

Housekeeping

1: Where the B-A-T-H-R-O-O-M is. Bathroom is always spelled out as little bladders seem to get full upon mention of a toilet!*

2. What to expect. If a child doesn’t want to sit still for storytime it’s OK, I just ask that they keep the story area clear.

We moved with our first few songs to stretch and get moving after all of the holiday treats we have shared for the past few months.

*Reach for the ceiling

Reach for the Ceiling

Reach for the floor

Stand up again

Let’s do some more!

Hands on your head

Hands on your knees

Hands on your belly

Like this, you see? (I always exaggerate and rub my belly)

Reach for the Ceiling

Reach for the floor
Stand up again

There is no more

We followed the motion with our first few songs

Shrug Your Shoulders
Hands Go Up and Down
Make Your Eyes

Jungle bells were then passed out and we listened, played our instruments and danced to the next set of songs:

Mr. Knickerbocker

Buffalo Girls and Boys
This A Way That A-Way

The bells were collected and we read The Glerp with audience participation (GLERP!).

This was followed by an alphabet book: The Z Was Zapped. After reading this book we practiced using American Sign Language to form the letters of the alphabet and then we signed the letters while we listened to A-You’re Adorable.

Bean bags were then passed out for Baby 1,2,3, Whole Lotta Shakin.

They were collected and our final story was read I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More!

We stretched with two songs:

The Hammer Song

A Sailor Went to Sea

We closed with two rhymes:

A Counting Stretch

Number 1: Touch your tongue

Number 2: Touch Your Shoe

Number 3: Touch Your Knee

Number 4: Touch the Floor

Number 5: Do a Jive

Number 6: Pick up Sticks

Number 7: Point towards heaven

Number 8: Close the gate

Number 9: Touch Your Spine

Number 10: That’s the end!

Two Little Hands

Two little hands go clap, clap, clap

Two little arms lie in my lap

Two little feet go bump, bump, bump

Two little legs give one big jump

Two little hands reach oh so high

Two little hands wave bye, bye, bye

Afterward the instruments and bean bags were made available for the children to play with.

Like what you’ve read?

Join us Tuesdays beginning at 10:30 for Bibs-n-Books!

-r

>Witajcie: Introducing Ms. Margaret!

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Visitors to the Lansdowne Public Library are usually greeted at the Circulation Desk by Ms. Margaret. This week she was our special guest storyteller!

Originally we were going to do an international themed program but changed our programming to dual language stories. Miss Rachee read books in English and Ms. Margaret translated them into Polish. We learned a few words of Polish and some traditions.

This was such a great even that we have decided to make this a regular part of storytime!

Join us soon as we present more bilingual storytimes.

Do zobaczenia wkrótce,

-r

>NNNNNNNNNothing but N!

>It’s Novemberrrr and our first storytime for the month was all about the letter N.
The letter themed storytime is so much fun! Using this a starting point one can find books, subjects, authors and more all about each letter of the alphabet!

Books read:
Mommy Doesn’t Know my Name by Suzanne Williams, Illustrated by Andrew Shachat
The Nightmare in My Closet bwritten and illustrated by Mercer Mayer
The Napping House by Audrey Wood, Illustrated by Don Wood
The Noisemakers by Judith Casely

Fingerplays:
Shaking Your Shaker: to make Noise. And we made lots of it using maracas, a tambourine and other homemade instruments!

Craft:
Newspaper Hats

Welcome
-Introduction (for new and old storytime friends)
-Housekeeping
1: Where the B-A-T-H-R-O-O-M is. Bathroom is always spelled out as little bladders seem to get full upon mention of a toilet!
2. What to expect. If a child doesn’t want to sit still for storytime it’s OK, I just ask that they keep my story area clear.

Warm-up:
I encourage every one to participate with the warm up, parents and children alike.

*Reach for the ceiling
Reach for the Ceiling”

Reach for the ceiling,
Touch the floor,
Stand up again,
Let’s do some more.

Touch your head,
Touch your knee,
Up to your shoulders,
Like this, you see?

Reach for the ceiling,
Touch the floor,
That’s all for now,
There is no more.

*I Clap My Hands
I Clap My Hands

I clap my hands clap hands
I touch my feet touch feet
I jump up from the ground. jump up

I clap my hands clap hands
I touch my feet touch feet
I turn myself around. turn around

I clap my hands clap hands
I touch my feet touch feet
I sit myself right down. sit down

I clap my hands clap hands
I touch my feet touch feet
I do not make a sound. sit quietly
Shhh!

The stories then begin!

Today I shared stories about my multiple names with the kids before we read Mommy Doesn’t Know my Name.

Instruments were passed out to Shake our Shakers. After they were collected, we read The Napping House and acted out parts of the book. Lots of enthusiastic snoring for the grandmother, meows for the cat and barks for the dog!

To calm the crowd, we did our wiggler:

*Touch your Nose
Touch your nose, touch your chin,
That’s the way this game begins.
Touch your eyes, touch your knees,
Now pretend you’re going to sneeze (Achoo!)

Touch your hair, touch one hips,
Touch your two little lips (Swak!)
Touch your elbows where they bend,
That’s the way this touch game ends.

After this, bean bags were passed out and we read The Nightmare in My Closet.

Full disclosure; I did a bit of censoring and substituted “get” for shot (the little boy in the book shoots the nightmare in an effort to get rid of him once and for all). Because, 1) I don’t have 20 guns and 2) I think that the library should be a safe place, bean bags were passed out to shake at the monster to get rid of it.

We closed with our final rhyme:

Two little hands go clap, clap, clap
Two little arms lie in my lap
Two little feet go bump, bump, bump
Two little legs give one big jump
Two little hands reach oh so high
Two little hands wave bye, bye, bye

Afterwards we made paper hats (so wonderful in its simplicity that I cannot believe I have not made them before!?!?)

A Newspaper Hat Brigade!

Miss Rachée and a library friend modeling our hats

Like what you see?
Join us Thursdays beginning at 10:30 for Preschool Storytime

-Miss Rachée

>Mmm, Mmm, Mmm: All About the Letter M

>Today’s storytime centered around the Letter M: Books that begin with an ‘M’, had an author whose name (first or last!) begins with ‘M’, or had a character featuring, you guessed it, ‘M.’

Books read:
Blue’s Perfect Present by Kitty Floss (featuring Blue’s friend Magenta)
Mary Had a Little Lamp by Jack Lechner, Illustrated by Bob Staake
Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks
Mama’s Little Bears by Nancy Tafuri

Finger plays:
Five Cheeky Monkeys
Today we used our Monkey Paw and a stuffed alligator to SNAP! those monkeys right out of that tree!

Craft:
We decorated masks (A huge thank you goes to my friend LL from the Ridley Township Library)

Although it was a rainy Thursday and the crowd was small, we had a great time making masks and the children did a fantastic job creating different looks.

The idea of a “Letter of the Week” themed storytime was featured on a blog whose name, unfortunately, escapes me. I will give due credit and create a link as soon as I track down the blog.

Here are pics from the Mask Making Craft.
Like what you see?
Join us Thursdays beginning at 10:30 for Preschool Storytime!
-r

The finished product!