My computer is on it’s way out, but it appears to be working now so I’ll try to get a post in!
Here are my story time plans….which my dog just stole off the table and my husband had to bribe her with a treat to get it back. The paper is a bit soggy and has teethmarks. In case you wanted to know.
Ahem….
Story Time – Art (ages 3-5)
- Introduction (if there’s anyone new I’ll introduce myself and say a little bit about what we’re going to do. I usually ask how everyone is doing, if they did anything fun over the weekend. If there’s a birthday, we’ll sing 🙂
- Announcements (I’ll let parents know about upcoming programs or remind them that there’s no story time the next week, etc.)
- Opening Song: “My Hands Say Hello” (to the tune of “the farmer in the dell”)
My hands say hello, my hands say hello / Every time I see my friends, my hands say hello (Ask kids to name body parts and sing the lines again – as many times as your sanity allows.)
- Books (part 1)
Patrick Paints a Picture by Saviour Pirotta Art by Patrick McDonnell
Art is a really cute book about a boy named Art who does….you guessed it! Art. The kids really liked this one. Highly recommend it!! Love all of Patrick McDonnell’s books!
- Song/Dance Break (I find that I can sometimes get 3 books out of them if we stop for a song/dance break. I usually use “Shake Your Sillies Out” by Raffi. I have no idea what tune this is supposed to go to, so I sort of made one up. It’s great for an especially rowdy group.)
- Books (part 2)
~If I think they’ll make it through one more book, then I go for it. The third book I read was The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle. This is a great book because it shows the kids that art can be anything you want it to be.
- Game/Activity (we played The Color Game – which is a song by Jim Gill. I have bags with construction paper circles of each color he mentions in the song and we go through and talk about what colors things are so they are ready for the song (it goes a bit fast.) We had Jim Gill at our library a few years ago and he was AWESOME!
- Walking, Walking – I usually end with this game/activity/song. They LOVE it. Have them line up in a circle behind you and start walking in a big circle, saying the words and doing the actions.
Walking, Walking (to the tune of “Frere Jacques“)
Walking, walking Walking, walking Hop, hop, hop! Hop, hop, hop! Running, running, running Running, running, running Now we stop Now we stop.- Craft (using Bingo Daubers the kids made their own “modern art” pictures. Fun & easy, especially as this particular story time doesn’t leave as much time for a long craft.
- Snack (Yeah, I usually have a snack. I started it and now I can’t go back. I chose rainbow goldfish for this one, but I also try to get something healthy and allergy-free to go with it. Pre-cut apple slices in a bag (I’ve only been able to find these in larger bags at Walmart or Target) work well and the kids really like them. So do the parents!
Fin. 🙂