Thanksgiving, November 25th, 2009

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out.

Book: Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey

Poem: I Ate Too Much from the Jack Prelutsky book, It’s Thanksgiving. We hooked a balloon up to a bicycle pump and put it underneath a puppet’s shirt. While the puppet talked about all the things he had eaten, we pumped up the balloon, creating the illusion that the puppet’s stomach was getting bigger and bigger.

Book: I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson; illustrated by Judith Byron Schachner. We used an old lady puppet we have who has big mouth that leads to a big pocket inside her belly. We also used little food props to accompany the actual book.

Poem: My Mother Makes Me Chicken from the Jack Prelutsky book, A Pizza the Size of the Sun. We substituted the word “turkey” for “chicken.” As Patrick read the poem he had a fist full of feathers. When he got to the end of the poem, he put his fist up to his mouth and coughed into his hand, blowing out the feathers.)

Song: The Turkey Hop from the compact disc, H.U.M. All Year Long.

Book: Thank You, Thanksgiving by David Milgrim

Puppet Show/Book: Turkey Trouble by Wendi J. Silvano; illustrated by Lee Harper. We performed this story as a puppet show, in place of the actual book. It was highly entertaining! The kids all laughed at Turkey's different disguises

Things That Start with "N," November 18th and 19th, 2009

Prior to storytime, we put a giant “N” on the front wall of the story room. Before reading each story, we introduced our next “N” word and taped it to the wall.

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out

Book: (NOSE) The Nose Book by Al Perkins.

Poem: (NOBODY) Nobody from Shel Silverstein’s book, A Light in the Attic. We told this poem with puppets.

Book: (NAMES & NUMBERS) Fifteen Animals by Sandra Boynton. We use some great pictures on a magnetic chalkboard, in place of the actual book.

Song/Book: (NOISE) The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort; illustrated by G. Brian Karas. We used magnetic pictures for this one as well.

Book (NEW): New Socks by Bob Shea.

Activity (NINJA): We had the kids participate in “Ninja School.” While playing the song Kung Fu Fighting, from the cd Kung Fu Panda, we taught the children how to bow, breathe, be nimble (jump), kick, chop, balance, eat noodles, sneak (quietly tip toe), and bow again. This was great fun.

Book (NO): No, David! by David Shannon.

Activity (NOVEMBER): We let the children play with autumn leaves on the parachute while we listened to Take a Little Nap (The Disco Song), from the cd Ralph’s World. This was a fun way to end our program and an all around fun storytime!

Pizza, November 4th and 5th, 2009

Begin by singing Raffi’s “Shake My Sillies Out.”

Book: Hi, Pizza Man! by Virginia Walter.

Poem: Weird Pizza by Paul Musser. We made a wooden pizza with all of the toppings which can be used along with this poem.

Book: Pizza Pat by Rita Gelman.

Song: Silly Pizza Song from the compact disc, Signing Time!: Songs. Volumes 1 – 3. We made pictures of all the pizza toppings which can be used on a magnetic chalkboard. Also, consider using the actual signs for each of the toppings while singing the song.

Story: Hello, My Name is Joe

Book: Pizza by Phyllis Root; illustrated by James Croft. We have pictures which can be used on a magnetic chalkboard, in place of the actual book.

Book: Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig. We used my boy puppet with the movable hands and told the parents they could do the same with their kids.

Activity: We made a giant pizza using the parachute! While the kids played with the “pizza dough” (the parachute), we added various toppings (paper cut-outs): red pepperonis, black olives, blue anchovies, green peppers, gray mushrooms, yellow pineapple wedges, and lots of mozzarella cheese strips. The whole while we listened to Dean Martin’s That’s Amore. This was a really fun activity!