Sometimes I feel… Storytime

Today we’re going to have stories all about how we feel . What are some feeling that you have? Does anyone feel silly? Let’s shake those sillies out!

Opening: Shake My Sillies Out – Raffi

There are lots of things to like, but hopefully you all like each other, and yourself. 

Book: I Like Me! – Nancy Carlson

 

(A nice simple book. I’m probably a bit jaded due to nostalgia, it’s one of my mom’s favorites!)

Puppet: Worm Watches – from the book by Kathy Caple

Worm watches lots of different movies, how do you think they make him feel?

Worm watches a movie with clowns. Worm laughs!

Worm watches a movie with monsters. Worm hides.

Worm watches a movie with crying. Worm cries.

Worm watches a movie with kissing. Worm falls asleep.

I guess worm watched too many movies! Sometimes movies make us sad, what do you do if your friend is sad? Do you try to make them happy? That’s what Piggie does in this next book, lets find out if it works!

Book: My Friend Is Sad – Mo Willems

 

(What isn’t to like about Mo Willems!)

Song/Activity: If you’re happy and you know it

Gerald ended up happy! What do you like to do if you’re happy and you know it? Clap our hands! There are other things you can do for other emotions too.

(I love that the song expresses such a wide range of feelings, happy, sad, scared, mad. And it doesn’t hurt that it includes reading too!)

Book: The Day Leo Said I Hate You! – Robie H Harris

…If you love and you know it give a hug!’ That’s a good way to show you love someone. Who is someone that you love? You love your mom too? Good, but sometimes we can get angry at the people we love. Then we might say something we don’t mean to say.

 

(So good! The illustrations express Leo’s emotions so well, even the parents gasped on the spread where Leo says ‘I Hate You!’)

Flannel Board: Never Too Little to Love – Jeanne Willis

Leo really did love his mom. Sometimes it can be hard to show someone you love them.

 This is Tiny too-little. He loves somebody. But she’s way up high.

 And that’s a long, long way if you’re tiny and you really want a kiss. He tries to reach her but he’s far too little. Even on tiptoes.

He’s too little even on tiptoes on a thimble.

He’s too little, even on tiptoes on a matchbox, on a thimble.

…(continue adding other items)

He’s too little, even on tiptoes,

on a cupcake, on a clock, on a candle, on a cabbage, on a teacup, on a watermelon, on a matchbox, on a thimble.

Tiny too-little reaches way up.

Wobble… wobble… wobble…CRASH!

Topsy too-tall sees tiny too-little. She loves him. But he’s way down there.

It’s a long way down if you’re tall. But it’s an even longer way up in you’re tiny.

So she bends down and gives him a great Big kiss.

Which just goes to show that, even if you are tiny… you are never too little to love.

Book: What Was I Scared of? – Dr. Seuss

Isn’t it nice when you can show someone you care about them? Sometimes, though, it can be a little scary to meet someone new.

 

(I skipped the pages with the bike, I don’t know if the kids were loosing interested, or just sluggish from the heat, but they still seemed pretty engaged.)

There are lots of different feelings we talked about today, which feeling do you like best? I like to be happy! Do you want to know something that makes me happy? Bubbles do!

Activity: Bubbles

(Played ‘Sometimes‘ from Frances England’s CD Fascinating Creatures while the kids played in bubbles.)

Garden Storytime

Opening: Shake My Sillies Out – Raffi

Book: And Then It’s Spring – Julie Fogliano

This time of year is called spring, and it’s when all the plants grow. But it takes some time.

(An adorable book about a boy waiting and waiting for brown to turn to green. My favorite spread is when he worries about bears stomping in the garden ‘because bears can’t read signs that say things like ‘please to not stomp here – there are seeds and they are trying.”)

Activity: Rainstorm

Do you remember what the boy wished for right after he planted his seeds? [show the picture] He wished for Rain! It looks pretty sunny outside, but we can make a rainstorm if we all work together.

(Follow me, do as I am doing)
brush fingers together
Do I hear the pitter patter of some raindrops? Listen closely
Clap softly
Oh, I do think it is going to rain
Clap loudly
It IS raining!
Slap thighs
Wow, it’s really getting wet out there
Stomp feet
My, oh my, I’m glad I’m not outside right now!
~now reverse, add a commentary as you go:
until…
Tapping fingertips together, and stop
What a beautiful rainstorm that was!

from Laptimeandstorytime

Book: I Love Bugs – Emma Dodd

After the rain, some little animals like to come out in the garden. Bugs! Do you like bugs? The boy in this little book Loves bugs.

(And he loves the spider that shows up in the end, because it sends him squealing! Super cute illustrations and a very fun ending).

Activity: Mr. Sun – from the CD Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi

After the rain falls, the flowers need something else to help them grow.

Planting Seeds

First you take the seed and you plant it in the ground (pretend to plant seeds in hand)
Next a little rain cloud comes that waters all around (Use hand to simulate rain)
And the sun sends beams, shining bright without a sound (make circle over head with arms)
Then in a few days, a flower can be found! (cup hands together, then open fingers with wrists touching.)

(We also did this fingerplay in the musical interlude during Raffi’s song.)

Mr. Sun
Mr. Sun, sun, Mr. Golden sun,
~arms up, rock in time to the rhythm

Please shine down on me.
~wiggle fingers down toward face
Oh Mr. Sun, sun, Mr. Golden sun,
~arms up again
Hiding behind a tree
~ASL sign for ‘tree’ in front of face to ‘hide’

These little children are asking you,
~gesture towards children

To please come down
so they can play with you,
~sign ASL sign for ‘Play’

Oh, Mr. Sun, sun, Mr. Golden sun,

~arms up again

Please shine down on me.
~wiggle fingers down toward face

Book: Up Down All Round – Katherine Ayres

After the rain falls and the sun shines, the plants grow! But they don’t all grow in the same way.

 (The kids were fun to shout out the ‘up, down, all around!’ and we pointed or circled our fingers for each one).

Activity: There’s Something in my Garden

Do you think it would be fun to eat food from the garden? Some animals think so too! Oh, I think I hear something!

There’s Something in My Garden

There’s something in my garden,
Now what can it be?
There’s something in my garden
That I can’t really see.
Hear its funny sound….
RIBBIT – RIBBIT – RIBBIT.
A FROG is what I found!
RIBBIT – RIBBIT – RIBBIT.

(continue with other animals. I pulled some from my critter bin: a frog, rabbit, chicken, bird, and mouse.)

From SurLaLune Storytime

Book: Little Green – Keith Baker

We got all of those animals out of the garden, but there are some animals that are nice to have in the garden. Like this one! A hummingbird called Little Green.

 

(nice vibrant illustrations and a simple story make this a fun read).

Activity: Streamers

The boy painted all the ways that the bird flew, and now you can make the shaped with streamers! Try circles and zig zag, and going way up and down. (played Family Garden from the CD Family Garden by John McCutcheon while they played with streamers).

Pets Storytime

Opening: Shake My Sillies Out – Raffi

Book: Rrralph – Lois Elhert

 

Ask kids what a dog says, and you’ll get a few responses, but Rrralph is a dog who can talk! It’s great fun trying all the noises a dog makes in this story.

Song: The Pets I love – from the CD Baby Signing Time Vol 1.

I used animals from this ‘Hunting We Will Go‘ set, sadly no longer shared, as visuals for our flannel board. We learned sign language for all the animals, and then did them with the song!

Book: Me Want Pet – Tammi Sauer

 

The little cave boy wants a pet, but his parents find something wrong with all of them. Eventually they prove their worth. Originally Gilbert Goldfish Want a Pet by Kelly DiPucchio was in this spot (ironically, both illustrated by Bob Shea!) but it felt a little long, so when this new book came in I tag teamed them.

Activity: Pet School

Do you think it would be fun to be a pet? Let’s give it a try in Pet school! We practiced being a dog who sat up and rolled over, a horse who galloped and jumped, a fish that held it’s breath, a bird that flapped it’s wings and talked, and a cat that washed it’s face and took a nap.

Book: Children Make Terrible Pets – Peter Brown

 

In this book you can find out just how much trouble a child would be as a pet. Eventually Lucy learns the best place for her ‘pet’ is with it’s family…and she finds a replacement.

Activity: Dear Zoo

 

This book was turned into a puppet play. “I wrote to the zoo and asked them to send me a pet, and they sent me… ” Pull out each ‘pet’ that they sent, and have the kids say why it wouldn’t be a good pet (most of the responses were it would bite you, or it would eat you!) We had an elephant, a lion, a crocodile, a skunk, a spider, and a monkey.

Book: Aarrgghh! Spider! By Monks, Lydia

 

But maybe a spider would make a good pet after all! In this book a family eventually learns to appreciate the spider that is determined to be their pet. Very cute and popular.

Craft: Pet puffs

(one of the kids creations)

Then we made our own pets! I wasn’t able to get rocks, so we used big puff balls, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes to create our very own pets.

Masha and the Bear

A Russian tale

Masha lived in a little cottage with her grandfather. Once day she asked him

“May I go out into the woods to gather mushrooms?”

“Very well,” he said “But stay close to the path so you won’t get lost.”

So Masha went into the forest, she passed an old tree stump, and a larger rock. she was having such a good time that she forgot her grandfathers warning, and soon was far away from the path. Just ahead she saw a little hut.

“I’ll go and see who lived there.” she thought. Do you know who lived in the hut? It was the Bear! He was very excited to see a little girl in his hut.

“Aha”, said he, “now I’ll never let you go!. You will live here in my house as meek as a mouse, and you will cook my dinner and my breakfast too, and be my servant, faithful and true.”

Masha was scared, but she was also brave. She told the bear, “All right, I’ll stay here and clean and cook for you, but first you must let me take some pies to my grandfather. He is all alone and won’t have anything to eat.”

The bear thought it might be a trick, so he said. “You can place the pies in a basket or sack, but I will take them,  you might never come back!”

So Masha thought and came up with a plan. “Very well, I’ll put the pies in a basket. But they are for my grandfather, so to make sure you don’t eat them on the way I’ll climb the tallest pine tree and watch you the entire way!”

While the bear went to check the weather Masha found  a big basket and climbed inside, then covered the top with a cloth. The bear came back and saw the basket.

“Masha must have already climbed the tree, and perched on a bow. I’ll takes these pies to her grandfather now.”

Tramp-tramp went the bear amid the spruce trees. Clumpity-clumphe went amid the birch trees, up hill and down dale went his long winding trail, and on and on he walked. At last he got tired and sat down to rest.

“If I don’t rest my bones I think I will die, So I will sit on a stone And I’ll eat a pie”, said the Bear.

But was it really pies in the basket? No, it was Masha! She called out from the basket:

“I see you, I see you and don’t eat my pie, but take it to my Grandfather, say I”.

“Dear me what sharp eyes eyes Masha has”, said the bear, “she sees everything”.

He picked up the basket and went on. He stopped again and said:

“If I don’t rest my bones, I think I will dies, so I’ll sit on a stump and eat a pie”.

But Masha called out again from the basket:

“I see you, I see you and don’t eat my pie, but take it to my Grandfather, say I”.

“What a clever little girls Masha is”, said the bear. “She is sitting high up in a tree and she is far away, but she sees all I do and she hears all I say”.

So the bear went all the way to Grandfathers house, but Masha had a dog who smelled the bear, and chased it far away and it never came back!

Grandfather heard the noise and came out of the house to see what was happening. Masha jumped out of the basket and told him everything that happened. He said she was a very clever girl, and she was, wasn’t she?

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