Imagination, June 30th and July 1st, 2010

Begin by singing Shake Your Sillies Out by Raffi

Book: Ella’s Games by David Bedford

Poem: Imagining by Shel Silverstein
(Paul has magnet board props for this)

Book: How Can You Dance by Rick Walton

Book: If I Were a Jungle Animal by Tom & Amanda Ellery

Song: Rocketship Run from the CD Rocketship Run by The Laurie Berkner Band

Book: Magic Box by Katie Cleminson

Final Activity: What Could a Bean Bag Be? from the CD Can a Jumbo Jet Sing the Alphabet? by Hap Palmer. We didn’t have bean bags so we passed out red puff balls which worked fine – it was pretty fun!!

by Patrick and Deanna

Ice Cream, June 23rd and 24th, 2010

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out

Book: Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

Song: Do As I’m Doing from the CD The Children’s Songook

We built an ice cream cone with a different addition
Each time we sang a verse. The children gave their
ideas too. We did scooping ice cream, spraying whip
cream, shaking on sprinkles, and licking (while we sang).

Book: Max Cleans Up by Rosemary Wells

Poem: Eighteen Flavors by Shel Silverstein – presented with a puppet and props.

Magnet Board Story: Wemberly’s Ice Cream Star by Kevin Henkes.

Song Once I Was An Ice Cream (tune of Once There Was a Snowman) we had the kids act out the lyrics.

Once I was an ice cream, ice cream, ice cream
Once I was an ice cream, tall, tall, tall! (Stand tall with arms over head)
In the sun I melted, melted, melted,
In the sun I melted, small, small, small! (Slowly “melt” to the ground)

Puppet Show: Dog and Bear: Two’s Company – ICE CREAM by Laura Vaccaro Seeger we adapted the ending to include ice cream!

Activity/ Song: Passed out instruments to the kids. We played the song I Dream of Ice Cream by Bananas in Pajamas. We paused the music and had the kids “freeze.” When they were frozen we instructed them to “melt.” We froze and melted over and over.

Treat: We passed out Creamies - The BEST part of the entire storytime!!!

by Deanna and Robyn

Fishing, June 16th and 17th, 2010

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake Your Sillies Out.

Book: The Little Fish That Got Away by Bernadine Cook.

Poem: Melinda Mae by Shel Silverstein from Where the Sidewalk Ends.

Book: Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood.

Song: Baby Fish from Dr. Jean Sings Silly Songs

Book: Five Silly Fisherman by Roberta Edwards

Book: The Big Fish by Phyllis Root, illustrated by James Croft. (We use magnetic cut-outs that go along with the story).

Song: Swimming at the Bottom of the Ocean from Sea, Beach, and Summer Stuff by Geof Johnson.

Puppet Show: We created a puppet show based on Mo Willems' book My Friend is Sad but we used two awesome puppet fish instead of Elephant and Piggie.

Activity: Fishing. We made some cute fishing poles using a chopstick, a piece of string and a magnet. Basically, tape a piece of string (approx. 1 foot long) to the end of the chopstick. Then tape a magnet to the other end of the string. Then, we cut out die cut fish shapes and put a paper clip on the nose of each fish. The magnet on the fishing pole will stick to the paper clip on the fish. For a river we laid down a long piece of blue butcher paper and had children stand on both sides. We scattered the fish over the paper “water” and then let the kids go fishing. They loved it!

by Paul and Deanna

Camping, June 9th and 10th, 2010

Begin by singing Raffi's Shake My Sillies Out.

Book: One Dog Canoe by Mary Casanova

Rhyme: Five Little Hot Dogs
5 little hot dogs frying in a pan,
the pan got hot and one went bam
4 little hot dogs frying in a pan,
the pan got hot and one went bam,
3 little hot dogs frying in a pan,
the pan got hot and one went bam,
2 little hot dogs frying in a pan,
the pan got hot and one went bam,
1 little hot dog frying in a pan,
the pan got hot and one went bam,
No little got dogs frying in a pan,
the pan got hot and the pan went bam.

Story: Camping by Phyllis Root.

Song: Sleeping Bag Chant from H.U.M. All Year Long

Book: Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah: a Letter from Camp. We used a puppet to sing this story.

Song/Activity: A Camping We Will Go, sung to the music of The Farmer in the Dell.
A camping we will go,
A camping we will go,
Hi-ho, off we go,
A camping we will go.

Patty* will bring the tent,
Oh Patty will bring the tent.
Hi-ho, off we go,
Oh Patty will bring the tent (or, can substitute with “a camping we will go.”)
Continue the song while having children take turns putting a camping supply in our backpack (water bottle, first-aid kit, bug spray, flashlight, cookware, food, etc.)
* = A child who is in the audince's name.

Book: Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Mayer

Activity: We took the kids on a “hike”, walking through tall grass, swimming a river, climbing up and down a mountain, etc. until we “found” the perfect picnic spot which included a "campfire" (an electric fan pointed up with red yellow and orange crepe paper attached). We gave the children marshmallows on a stick and let them roast marshmallows. In the background we played Echoes of Nature: American Wilds.

by Deanna and Paul

Daddies, June 2nd and 3rd, 2010

Song: Shake Your Sillies Out by Raffi

Book: Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

Song: D-A-D-D-Y – to the tune of BINGO
I have a very special friend
And I call him Daddy!
D-a-d-d-y, D-a-d-d-y, D-a-d-d-y
And I call him Daddy!!

Book: Oh, Daddy! by Bob Shea

Poem: Remote-A-Dad by Shel Silverstein
One of us dressed up as “DAD” and the other used a remote control
to act out this funny rhyme.

Song: If You’re Happy and You Know It
We did a version with different emotions – because Dad’s love us
whether we are happy, sad or mad!

Book: If My Dad Were a Dog by Annabel Tellis
We used a puppet to act out the things the daddy dog in the story does.

Book: A Wild Father’s Day by Sean Callahan

Final Activity: We gave out paper neck ties and then had the children act out father activities: golf, fish, eat, etc.