Summer Storytimes, Here We Come!
Coming up: Not one but TWO great Little Hands Signing webinars to help you prepare for summer and summer reading storytimes! Register now!
Little Hands Signing Professional Development: Summer Reading Special (1 hour webinar)
Tuesday, May 23, 2023 from 12 PM -1 PM Eastern/11 AM-12 PM Central/10 AM-11 AM Mountain/9 AM-10 AM Pacific.
Online session via Zoom (1 hour webinar). Includes recording access for though June 24, 2023.
In this interactive session, we’ll focus on basic ASL vocabulary for friends and togetherness, to go with the Collaborative Summer Library program theme, All Together Now: Todos Juntos Ahora.
Individual: $40. Get 20% off individual registration when you enter promo code SUMMER at the top of the ticket form! Group rates and direct invoicing available; contact info@storiesbyhand.com for more info.
Little Hands Signing Professional Development: Summer Signs (1 hour webinar)
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at 2 PM Eastern/1 PM Central/12 PM Mountain/11 AM Pacific Online session via Zoom (1 hour webinar). Includes recording access for 30 days.
Learn basic American Sign Language for summer storytimes in this interactive online session!
Individual: $40. Get 20% off individual registration when you enter promo code SUMMER at the top of the ticket form! Group rates and direct invoicing available; contact info@storiesbyhand.com for more info.
Add some signs to your Spring storytimes!
Little Hands Signing Professional Development: Spring Signs (1 hour webinar)
Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 11 AM Eastern/10 AM Central/9 AM Mountain/8 AM Pacific
Online session via Zoom (1 hour webinar). Includes recording access for though April 30, 2023.
Learn basic American Sign Language for spring storytimes in this interactive online session!
Individual: $40. Get 20% off individual registration when you enter promo code READANDSIGN at the top of the ticket form! Discounted group rates and direct invoicing available for groups of 10 or more. Contact info@storiesbyhand.com for details.
Celebrating Earth Day in Storytime
Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970, in San Francisco, California. Since then, over one hundred countries have joined together for this annual environmental event. This Earth Day, help the little ones in your life appreciate nature and learn about protecting the environment with this roundup of our favorite Earth day resources from Storytime Stuff and beyond!
Here at StorytimeStuff.net:
Bringing Nature Inside for Storytime – bring the best of the outdoors to your classroom or storytime room!
Nature Around the World Storytime – bring a multicultural touch to your Earth Day celebration!
Springtime Fun Storytime – celebrate the sounds, smells, and sights of spring!
Around the Web:
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Earth Day for Kids Website – lots of storytime suggestions and printable resources.
Preschool Earth Day Storytime from Library Village – rhymes, songs, book suggestions, and a supercool recycling craft that easy to make.
Reading for the Earth: Ultimate Earth Day Resource Roundup – a comprehensive roundup of lesson plans, books suggestions, activities, video links and more at the Lee & Low Books blog.
Share This Book: And Then It’s Spring
And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2012.
After a long winter, a boy and his dog decide to do something about the brown that is all around, they plant a garden! Simple text and illustrations tell this delightful story of a boy waiting for spring to arrive. The boy looks all around at the brown, plants seeds, worries about his seeds, wishes for rain, and waits. As time goes by, the illustrations show that the weather is warming, the brown is changing, until one day it’s spring!
After the winter we’ve had, we can all sympathize with the boy’s watchful waiting!
Brilliant Bean Bags
Bean bags may be some of the least appreciated storytime props – after all, they are easy to make, cheap to buy, and they can be used for so many different activities across a variety of age groups and storytime themes. But that’s not all! Bean bag activities also help children to:
- develop directionality and orientation in space, which supports writing skills
- improve self-control
- develop hand-eye coordination, an important early literacy skill
- improve gross motor skills
- understand the rhythm of language with their whole bodies
Here are some fun ideas for using bean bags in your programs, and links for more ideas!
1) Butterfly
On each line, move both hands from sides to up in the air above the head. Each time your hands go above your head, pass the beanbag to the opposite hand.
Butterfly
In the sky
Flap your wings
And up you fly
Back and forth
To and fro
Up, up, and
Away you go!
2) Froggy Hop
(to the tune of “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush”)
For baby and toddler storytimes: Give a bean bag to each caregiver and have them hop it on the baby’s toes, knees, etc. as described in the rhyme.
For older children: Follow the directions below to make this a balancing activity.
Froggy’s hopping on my toes, on my toes, on my toes (balance bean bag on toes)
Froggy’s hopping on my toes –
RIBBIT! (move bean bag to knee)
Froggy’s hopping on my knee…
Froggy’s hopping on my tummy…
Froggy’s hopping on my shoulder…
Froggy’s hopping on my head, on my head, on my head (balance bean bag on head)
Froggy’s hopping on my head –
RIBBIT! (make bean bag jump to floor)
He hopped away!
3) At the Circus
Place a masking tape line on the floor to act as a tight rope. Invite the children to balance their beanbags on their heads as they walk across. If they drop them, encourage them to pick them up and keep trying!
With my bean bag on my head,
I stand so very tall.
I walk along my own tightrope
And will not let it fall.
4) Cook Out
This is a fun bean bag activity for food or summer themed storytimes. As a bonus, when you are moving the hamburger from hand to hand in the first part of the rhyme, you are also signing HAMBURGER in American Sign Language. Click here to see a video of the sign.
(Hold bean bag in right hand. Hold left hand facing up. Turn right hand over to deposit bean bag into left palm. Then turn both hands and repeat it the other way, as if you are shaping a hamburger patty. Repeat this rhythmically through the first verse.)
I’m making a hamburger for the grill.
Will I eat it? Yes I will!
(Place bean bag on flat left palm. Use your right hand as a spatula to lift the beanbag and flip it over. Then switch hands. Repeat this motion throughout verse 2.)
I’m flipping my hamburger on the grill.
Will I eat it? Yes I will!
(Hold bean bag in left palm. Pretend to squirt on ketchup, mustard, etc. with other hand.)
Now I’m fixing my hamburger from the grill.
Will I eat it? Yes I will!
(Place bean bag in left hand. Raise hand toward mouth, then down to right hand. Switch the bean bag to the right hand and repeat.)
Now I’m eating my hamburger. This is fun!
Did I eat it? Yes, all done!
(If desired, sign ALL DONE at the end. Click here for a video of the sign.)
5) Vacation
I went to the train station
To take a little vacation (Pass bean bag back and forth between hands for the first 2 lines)
I went to the beach (Move bean bag diagonally away from you, starting at your right side, and ending up far out in front of your on you left side)
And then came home (Bring bean bag back to right side)
And had some relaxation. (Place bean bag into left hand)
Repeat, replacing “the beach” with vacation destinations chosen by the children. Each time you begin, you should be starting with the bean bag in the opposite hand from the previous time. Make sure the diagonal cross-body movements also alternate hands between verses. This simple motion of crossing the midline improves communication between the two hemispheres of the brain.
Got a great bean bag activity that you use in your programs? Tell us about it in the comments below or by sending an email to storytimestuff@gmail.com and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a copy of our latest storytime resource book!
More Bean Bag Activities:
http://www.philosophyoffreedom.com/node/1654
http://www.ehow.com/way_5414552_bean-bag-activities-kids.html
http://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/bean-bag-games.html
http://craftulate.blogspot.com/2013/02/bean-bag-tutorial-and-games.html
Sign This!: Weather Song
(to the tune of “London Bridge”)
Click on these links to learn the signs RAIN, SNOW, and WIND. Introduce these signs and then encourage the children to use them during this simple song. Experiment with the size of the movement to covey a drizzle versus a thunderstorm, a flurry versus a blizzard, and a breeze versus a gale.
See the rain come falling down, falling down, falling down
See the rain come falling down on this rainy day.
See the snow come floating down, floating down, floating down
See the snow come floating down on a snowy day.
Feel the way the wind does blow, wind does blow, wind does blow.
Feel the way the wind does blow on this windy day.
Storytime Plan: Spring!
Spring!
Recommended Books
And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano. New York, NY: Roaring Brook Press, 2012.
Brown is all around, and the illustrations and simple text portray a boy eagerly waiting for the spring green to arrive. The boy waits week after week for his seedlings to sprout, until one day… green!
I See Spring by Charles Ghigna. Mankato, MN: Picture Window Books, 2012.
Bold colors and simple text describe all the things you see in spring, from raindrops falling to blue birds riding the breeze.
Flannelboard
Little Seed
(Pieces needed: seed, watering can, sun, green stem and leaves, flower top.)
We plant a little seed, (put seed in ground)
and we add a little water. (add watering can)
The sun shines bright, (add sun)
and the ground gets hotter.
Soon the seed sprouts,
and the green leaves rise. (add stem and leaves)
Out pops the flower, (add flower top)
what a beautiful surprise!
Rhymes, Songs, and Bounces
Spring is in the Air
Green grass beneath us, (look down)
Blue skies above, (look up)
Warm air all around us, (turn in circle with arms our)
I feel the love! (get a hug from caretaker or wrap arms around yourself)
Traditional rhyme
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.
Craft
Cupcake Wrapper Flowers
Create your own garden of cupcake wrappers.
(Supplies needed: construction paper, cupcake wrappers in a variety of colors, pom-poms, crayons, and glue.)
- Give each child a piece of construction paper, 2 or 3 cupcake wrappers, a few small colorful pom-poms, crayons, and glue.
- Have the children create a garden scene. Encourage them to color the sky, dirt, and stem of plants.
- At the top of the stem, have them glue cupcake wrappers or pom-poms to create a flower. A pom-pom can also be placed inside of a cupcake wrapper.
Action Song: “I’m a Little Flower”
I’m a Little Flower
(to the tune of: “I’m a Little Teapot”)
I’m a little flower, watch me grow.
I start as a seed in the ground so low. (lie on the ground in a small ball)
When the sun is shining up I go, (slowly rise)
I open my petals, just like so! (pop up and stretch arms to the sky)
Super Scarves: 7 New Ways to Use Them in Your Programs
Beyond peek-a-boo and freeze dances, what can you do with a scarf? Plenty!
1) Windy Days:
Perfect for weather or springtime storytimes, the activity encourages children to imitate the qualities of the wind with their scarves. With or without music, ask the children to move their scarves as they would in a light wind, a medium wind, and a heavy wind. They can even be the wind and blow their scarves into the air! Ask older children to make two lines facing one another and wave their scarves at shoulder height, then have each child take a turn walking through the lines and experiencing the indoor “windy day”!
2) Kites:
Using the song “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” from the Mary Poppins soundtrack or the original song below, encourage children to fly their kites through the air.
“Kites Are Flying” (to the tune of “Frere Jacques”)
Kites are flying, kites are flying
In the sky, in the sky
See them in the springtime,
In the windy springtime
Kites fly by, kites fly by.
Blue kites flying, blue kites flying…
Red kites jumping, red kites jumping…
Yellow kites circling, yellow kites circling…
Green kites diving, green kites diving…
Orange kites turning, orange kites turning…
Purple kites wiggling, purple kites wiggling…
(Adjust color verses to the scarf colors you have; End by repeating first verse)
3) Waves in the Ocean:
Pass out scarves and encourage the children to wave them at waist height to mimic the waves as you tell the story below.
Ocean Journey
We’re going on an ocean trip
We’re boarding a great big ship.
Se the tiny waves below
In the harbor rippling slow.
Now we’re leaving from the shore
And the waves are moving more.
Slow and steady, our ship goes past
But now the waves are getting fast.
Here comes a wind, the waves get bigger.
Will we make it, do you figure?
The ship is rocking to and fro
As higher and higher the waves go.
A storm is coming, see the clouds?
This is getting scary now!
The waves are huge! Big and rough!
I’m getting seasick! I’ve had enough!
But look! The sun is shining through.
The waves are growing calmer too.
They are still big, but getting slow.
Back and forth and to and fro.
Now we’re almost safe in port.
And the waves are getting short.
Little ripples in the water.
And we’ve arrived at the shore, just like we oughta.
The waves are waving, small and shy
So we wave too, and say goodbye!
4) Butterflies:
Make a beautiful butterfly using American Sign Language along with your scarf! First, hold both hands up facing away from you. Then hook your scarf over one thumb. Next, cross your wrists. Now carefully turn your palms so that they face you. (Don’t drop the scarf!) Hook your thumbs together and wiggle your fingers and you’re signing “butterfly”! Play instrumental music or a freeze dance as the children make their butterflies fly around the room!
See a video of the sign BUTTERFLY.
5) Flag-waving Fun:
Have a Fourth of July Parade! Pass out scarves in red, white, and blue and play patriotic music as your storytimers march through the library! Make it a St. Patrick’s Day Parade by using green, white, and gold scarves.
6) Washcloths:
Read Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodds and invite the children to “scrub” the colorful spots off the dog with their scarves when he takes his bath. Then invite everyone to scrub-a-dub with Bert and Ernie as you sing “Everybody Wash” from Splish Splash: Bath Time Fun.
Click here for a free flannelboard pattern for Dog’s Colorful Day, courtesy of artist Melanie Fitz.
7) Soup-Stirring Tissue:
Share Monkey Soup by Louis Sachar, and invite the children to “stir” the soup with their “tissues” (scarves). This book lends itself well to a flannelboard or prop story presentation.
Click here for a free flannelboard pattern for Monkey Soup, courtesy of artist Melanie Fitz.
Ribbons and Streamers: Not Just for Parties
Ribbons and streamers are fun to incorporate into storytime and can be used in a variety of ways, all of which promote development of gross motor skills. You can use sturdy pre-made ribbons from a school and library supply company (our favorites are Lakeshore Learning’s Wrist Ribbons, which are just the right size for young children), or you can make your own using lengths of ribbon tied to dowel rods. For a less sturdy take-away streamer, tape a length of crêpe streamer to a straw.
Here are some ideas for using your streamers in storytime:
1. Share an ancient tradition:
The Ribbon Dance is a two thousand year old Chinese folk dance. Dancers use long ribbons attached to sticks to represent clouds and are supposed to bring rain and plentiful crops. Invite the children to move their ribbons in different ways as you show the sun, rain, wind, and clouds.
2. Catch a Wave:
Ribbons and streamers make wonderful waves. Make waves to your favorite Beach Boys tune, or go under the sea with a Calypso rhythm. Invite the children to stand in two rows, waving their streamers up high. Let the children take turns “swimming” between the rows so they feel they are under the sea!
3. Make a Rainbow:
Pass out streamers in a rainbow of colors. Wave them above your head when practicing your colors, singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, or during a book when a rainbow is mentioned. Or share the rhyme below to reinforce color knowledge.
If your streamer is red, wave it over your head!
If your streamer is blue, shake it by your shoe!
If your stream is yellow, wave it at a fellow!
If your streamer is green, shake it while you lean!
If your streamer is pink, shake it however you think!
4. Share a Star:
Sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” as you gently wave your streamers to show the shimmering starlight, or share the shooting star rhyme below:
“The Star”
There once was a star who lived up in the sky (wave streamer above head)
He twinkled and twinkled at all who came by (move streamer in small movements to represent twinkling)
He twinkled left and he twinkled right (move streamer left, then right)
He twinkled through the day and he twinkled through the night (continue twinkling)
He twinkled down at the earth and he twinkled at me (point streamer down and keep twinkling)
Until he decided Earth was where he wanted to be.
So one day he twinkled as brightly as could be (move streamer in large back and forth movements)
And became a shooting star who came down…to..me! (slowly make streamer descend to the ground)
5. Race a Rocket:
Mark off a “course” on the floor using plastic cones or masking tape. Let the children take turns becoming “rockets” with the streamers as the fire coming out of their engines, as they skip or dance along the course.
Rocket Song (to the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel”)
(Name) is blasting off into space
In a big red rocket
First we count and then we blast off
(5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Blast off!) (slowly raise streamer during countdown)
ROAR! Goes the rocket. (go along course with streamer behind you)
6. Fly a Kite:
Play “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” from Mary Poppins and pretend your streamer is a kite in the sky.
7. Share a Shape:
Use your streamer to create shapes in the air as you sing this song.
Shape Song (to the tune of “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain”)
Can you draw a square, draw a square?
Oh can you draw a square, draw a square?
Draw a line and then three more
They are all the same for sure
Oh can you draw a square, draw a square?
Can you draw a circle, draw a circle.
Oh, can you draw a circle, draw a circle?
A circle is round
With no corners to be found
Oh, can you draw a circle, draw a circle?
Can you draw a triangle, draw a triangle?
Oh, can you draw a triangle, draw a triangle?
Make one side and then make two,
Then make a third, that’s all you do,
Oh, can you draw a triangle, draw a triangle?
8. Write a Word:
Use the streamer to write words or letters in the air. Encourage the children to make their letters as large as possible. This activity encourages letter knowledge, gross motor skills, and prewriting skills. As you lead the letters, describe exactly how to move the streamer to create them. For example: “Let’s make a letter A. We start at the top, then make a slanted line down to the bottom. Now back up to the top, and make a slanted line going the other way. Now make a little bridge to connect the lines. We made an A!”
Storytime Stuff 