Bear Storytime

Opening: Shake My Sillies Out – Raffi

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Book: It’s the Bear – Jez Alborough

(This is pretty adorable, the kids had a good time with it.)

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Activity: Somethinglocks…
(See the full version here)

(It took a little while for the kids to warm up to this, I think it works better later in the program, but it was still fun!)

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Book: Bears on Chairs – Shirley Parentheau

(It might have just been my brain, but this felt a bit long, or maybe it was just the pacing. The kids stayed engaged for the whole thing, and the illustrations are adorable!)

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Activity: The Cool Bear Hunt
(from the CD Dr. Jean Sings Silly Songs)

We’re going on a bear hunt,
We’re going to catch a big one!
Big green eyes, fuzzy little tail.

Candy Factory – eat through it
Peanut Butter River – swim across it
Jell-O swamp – wiggle through it
Cave – go through it, and find the bear!

(This was a good time.)

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Book: …the Big Hungry Bear – Don and Audrey Wood

(Always goes over well, a cute story with lovely pictures.)

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Activity: Where is Bear?

(Slightly less enthusiastic group than I’ve had with this before, but that just means they were manageable!)

tune: Thumbkin

Where is bear? Where is bear?
Here I am. Here I am.
How are you this winter?
Very tired, thank you.
Go to sleep. Go to sleep.

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Book: Snow Bears – Martin Waddell

(I thought this might be a bit too long for our last story, but the kids stayed engaged, and giggled throughout!)

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Activity: Bubbles

(We ended the program by letting the kids be ‘snow bears’ in our bubble blizzard!)

Polar Bear and Penguin Storytime

Opening: Shake My Sillies Out – Raffi

 Book: Ted, Bo, and Diz The First Adventure – Jason Chapman

(I really like this book, and the kids do too!)

Activity: Polar Bear Ball – I got this from Falling Flannelboards

Polar bear wants to play!  He wants to catch the red ball today.

Who has the red ball?  Look and see. If you have it bring it up to me.

(The kids had a blast with this …as long as they weren’t too shy to put their ‘balls’ on the board.)

Book: Baby Penguin Slips and Slides – Michael Tietelbaum

 

(I love using photo books, and this was perfect! Just ignore the little fact bubbles on each page.)

Activity: 5 penguins in the Bathtub

Five Penguins in the bathtub going for a swim

Knock, knock (clap hands)

Splash, splash, (slap knees)

Come on in!

(count up to five penguins)

(A fun counting activity.)

Book: Sergio Makes a Splash – Edil Rodriguez

(I’ve used this often, and it’s always well recieved.)

Activity: Polar Bear, Polar Bear, turn around

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, turn around,

  Polar Bear, Polar Bear, scratch the ground.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, Roar out loud,

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, touch a cloud.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, win a race.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, jump in place.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, stop and pause,

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, touch your claws.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, sit right down.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, make no sound.

(Adapted from the classic ‘Teddy bear, teddy bear”. The kids love it!)

Book: Oh! What a Surprise – Suzanne Bloom

(I think this series is adorable, and fox is such a fun character to read.)

Activity: Streamers

(Then I pulled out a surprise for the kids, streamers to play with!)

Bear Storytime

Opening: Shake My Sillies Out – Raffi

Book: Panda And Polar Bear – Matthew J Baek

(This wasn’t the biggest hit, but I thought it was nice to include more than just the brown bear. And it still worked fine.)

Activity: Masha and the Bear – traditional (see full version here)

Book: It’s the Bear – Jez Alborough

(So much fun, the engagement of the kids is palpable.)

Activity: Silly Bear Hunt – from the CD Dr. Jean Sings Silly Songs

(A fun twist on the Bear Hunt, you eat through a candy factory, swim across a peanut butter river, wiggle thorough a jell-o swamp, and finally find the bear in the cave. I held up the images to demonstrate the ‘over, under, around’. )

Book: The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear – Don and Audrey Wood

(A lot of the kids know this book, and were very excited to see it.)

Activity: Bear Wants More (from the book by Karma Wilson)

Bear wakes up hungry! Throughout the story he has friends who lead him to different foods. I handed out different colored bean bags before introducing the Big Bear, and when he found the food , whoever had that color of beanbag got to come up and feed it to bear! (above you can see him with mouse, who leads him to Strawberry Vale)

The kids loved guessing which color would be next, based on what the friends led him to. I chaned some of the animals for what I had on hand, and this is how it played out for me.

Bear eats grass – green beanbags

Mouse lead to strawberry vale – red beanbag

Hare leads to blueberry bush – blue beanbag

Skunk leads to fish feast – purple beanbag

Bee leads to honey cakes – yellow beanbag

Then bear is full, full, full, and doesn’t want any more.

Then we said ‘Goodnight’ to bear, and he went off to take a nap.

(One of the first things I ever made was this big bear, with a mouth and stomach, specifically for this story. Now, some three years later, I finally did it! The first time was fantastic, the second group got a little excited and the bear was mobbed a bit, even if the kid didn’t have anything to feed the bear.)

Book: Big Smelly Bear – Britta Teckentrup

(This is a great book, nice big pictures and an easy storyline. You can tell it’s good if it can keep the kids interest after big bear!)

Activity: Parachute

(Some of bears snacks were left over, so we bounced them on the parachute.)

Fairy Tale Storytime

Opening: Shake My Sillies Out – Raffi

Book: Waking Beauty – Leah Wilcox

(The kids really liked this, fun story and illustrations)

Flannel Board: Five Knights in Shining Armor (from Moxie)

Five knights in shining armor,

Fearless and brave,

Went hunting for a dragon

In a deep dark cave.

The dragon breathed some fire,

The knights were all aquiver

And one little knight

Ran and dove into the river!

(Count down remaining knights)

Book: Paper Bag Princess – Robert Munch

(There always seems to be someone know know this story, and is excited to hear it again!)

Activity: Pinocchio – Super Simple Learning

 Everybody in. [Move forward.] Everybody out. [Move back.]
Everybody turn around. [Turn around.] Everybody shout, “Hey!” [Jump up and shout, “Hey!”]
Everybody ready? Here we go. [Put your hands on your hips and sway side to side.]
Let’s do The Pinocchio. [Make a Pinocchio nose by putting two fists in front of your nose, and then make it “grow” by moving one hand forward.]
Right arm! [Hold up your right arm as if it were a puppet’s arm.]

[Keep your right arm up as you dance in and out.]
Everybody in. Everybody out.
Everybody turn around. Everybody shout, “Hey!”
Everybody ready? Here we go.
Let’s do The Pinocchio.
Right arm! [Hold up your right arm.]
Left arm! [Hold up your left arm…continue with right leg, left leg, chin up!]

(A fun new activity for the kids! I was so pleased to find this.)

Book: Interrupting Chicken – David Ezra Stein

(A fun story, great opportunity for voices, and the kids were quite engaged.)

Activity: Somethinglocks (full version here)

Little Chicken didn’t quite get the stories right, and I might need some help with this one!

Essentially, it’s the story of Goldilocks and the three Bears, but I kept messing up and having the kids help me out.

…you mean she didn’t want to eat the bear’s big plate of spaghetti?

(The kids loved helping me get this right, and playing with the pieces after the storytime was over.)

Book: Musicians of the sun – Gerald McDermott

(This was a bit of a droop after the Somethinglocks excitement, but the images are so awesome, and it still held the kids attention pretty well.)

Activity: Instruments

(Then we were the musicians! They always love the instruments, some ended up with handfulls in my Thursday group.)

Somethinglocks and the three somethings

I know this is a story about a little girl who goes into the woods and finds a house where three things live, and she eats their food, but I don’t think I remember it all quite right. So you might have to help me if I mess up.

Once there was a girl named Brownielocks, and she went to the house of the three dinosaurs.

…oh, it wasn’t Brownielocks? Or dinosaurs? Ooops! I think I remember now.

Baldielocks was skipping through the woods when she came to the home of the three clowns…

oh, I’ve gotten it wrong again. Who was it? Goldielocks! And the 3 bears? okay, I think we’re on the right track now!

There was a papa bear, a momma bear, and a baby bear, and they went for a walk in the woods.

So Goldilocks came inside and ate the cookies the bears left for their breakfast.

…oh, not cookies? Oh yeah! It was a big plate of spaghetti!

Porridge? That’s right! Three bowls of porridge. The first bowl was too moldy. Oh, Cold! The second bowl was too spicy. Hot? I meant hot. And the third bowl was…? Just right! Of course. And she ate it all up!

Then she wanted to sit down for a while, so she went to the garage where the bears kept their car.

…oh, that isn’t right? Was it the hen house?

Oh yeah, I remember! She went to the living room and sat on chairs!

The first chair was too…? Hard. You are so smart! What about the second chair? It was too soft, and the third chair? Just right! …but it broke? Oh no!

That’s okay though, because Goldilocks was getting sleepy, so she went to take a nap on the giant chicken.

Not a chicken? Are you sure? I guess beds do make more sense. The first bed was too…? Hard, and the second bed too…? Comfy! And the third bed? Just right! Well that’s nice, and Goldilocks fell fast asleep.

Then the three bears came home, they found the porridge (baby bear said ‘Good! I don’t like porridge anyway!’ …oh he didn’t? She ate it all up! Goodnesss!) They found the three chairs (baby bear said, ‘yea, now I can jump on my chair!’ …no? Oh, he was sad! Poor baby bear.) And they found the three beds (Baby bear said ‘Horray! A new stuffed animal!’ …someone was sleeping in my bed, and here she is? Yeah, that’s how it goes!)

And Goldilocks never went into a strangers house again!

Thanks for helping me! You sure know your stories. =)

The kids loved helping me get this right, and playing with the pieces after the storytime was over. I created the Goldilocks pieces for this, and just pulled random stuff from flannel boards I already had for the rest!

(This weeks Flannel Friday is hosted by Storytime Katie.  For all things Flannel Friday, check out the official blog.  Also, make sure you stop by the Flannel Friday Pinterest page for an excellent flannelboard resource. )

Hugs and Kisses Storytime

Opening : Shake My Sillies Out – Raffi

Book: Waking Beauty – Leah Wilcox

(Just a bit wordy, but it still had a good response. I might see if I can clip some pages for next time. Very fun!)

Puppets: Stop Kissing Me – from the book by Eric Long

Puppy just won’t stop kissing kitty! Finally kitty finds out why, and doesn’t mind as much.

(The kids love this!)

Book: Kitty’s Cuddles – Jane Cabrera

(Since kitty prefers hugs, this was a nice transition. Nice big illustrations, simple story.)

Activity: In the Valentine Forest

In the Valentine Forest there was a valentine house,

In the Valentine house, there was a valentine room,

In the Valentine room, there were some valentine drawers,

In the valentine drawers, there was a valentine box,

In the valentine box, there was…

…some candy!/a frog!/a kiss!/

(The kids really get into this, and the surprised different endings were fun! …I did it once more at the end of the storytime with the Valentine stickers ending, and then gave each child a sticker. It was made by printing images onto paper, then putting them in sheet protectors which I tied together with ribbon. Easy flipping to reveal the next page.)

Book: Hugless Douglas – David Melling

(This was a nice story, but you do have to explain some of the action [a bush turning into a bunch of sheep, for example] but still jolly good!)

Activity: Mother, Mother, I Want Another – from the book by Maria Robbins

(This had sort of lukewarm reception as a puppet story. I had fun with it though!)

Book: How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? – Jane Yolen

(It’s always nice when I can add a book from this series to a program. They’re super duper!)

Activity: Bubbles (little kisses)

(Then we played in the bubbles and got their little bubble kisses, and everyone got a valentine sticker!)

Thank You Bear – Storytime Visual

This week’s storytime was prepared by our new teen librarian, so I suggested a puppet adaptation of Thank You Bear by Greg Foley’s for her Friends theme (I’d used it for my Boxes Storytime). I used to have a little mouse, but it vanished! I searched around locally but didn’t find anything I liked, so I made one instead. All of the other characters were puppets we have on hand.

I created the pattern first with paper, to work out the kinks, then cut it out of felt. Using hot glue I attached the tummy piece on the sides and top, then glued down the top of the nose. Voila! Add the eyes, ears and nose and it’s good to go!

Choosing a tail. I also stitched in some whiskers, and added a dot of whiteout on the eyes.

And mouse is all ready for his gift from bear.

Anne at So Tomorrow is hosting the round up this week. Make sure you fill our our Where in the World is Flannel Friday survey. We want to hear from everyone who participates in Flannel Friday, both bloggers and readers.

Snow Storytime

Opening: Shake My Sillies Out – Raffi

Book: The Greatest Snowman in the World – Peter Hannan

 

(The kids loved seeing the snowman these friends built, though the ice cream snowman at the end took a little explaining, but the kids liked that idea too!)

Activity: Snowflakes Fell all Around (variation of ‘Green Grass Grew All Around’)

There was a man, the snowiest man that you ever did see! And the snowflakes fell all around, all around, and the snowflakes fell all around.

And for his buttons he had some stones, the shinest stones that you ever did see! …

‘…carrot for a nose, and buttons for it’s eyes, and berries for it’s mouth, and stones for it’s buttons, and branches for it’s arms, and a top hat for it’s head, and a scarf for it’s neck, and snowflakes fell all around all around…’

 

(This was fun, I asked the kids what the snowman needed next and then I’d introduce what we’d use for it. We also added snowflake ‘toes’, which I hadn’t thought a snowman needed! Silly me.)

Book: The Snowy Day – Ezra Jack Keats

 

(A lovely classic, the kids were quite engaged, and knew just what was going to happen to the snowball Peter decided to keep for later!)

Activity: Boot Prints

How can we walk to make these prints in the snow? We did toes turned out, toes turned in, hopping, train tracks, and tightrope.

  

(I guess the crowd was a bit young, most of them ended stomping around the room with normal feet positions, except for when we made train tracks. They still had fun thought!)

Book: Bedtime for Bear – Brett Helquist

 

(This was quite engaging. Cute pictures, nice characters, and a fun little adventure.).

Activity: Funny Little Snowman

 A funny little snowman
Had a carrot nose.
Along came a rabbit
And what do you suppose?

That hungry little rabbit
Looking for his lunch,
Ate that snowman’s nose
With a crunch, crunch, crunch!

(The snowman went back on the flannel board after our boot prints, and the rabbit came out to sneak bits of him away! He also ate the berry mouth, the branch arms, the scarf, and tried the button eyes, but decided that buttons are Not for eating!!)

Book: Snowmen at Night – Caralyn Buehner

(Perhaps a bit long for the last book, but it still worked well enough.)

Activity: Parachute with Cotton Balls

(Out came the parachute, which the kids always love! The cotton ball snow didn’t stay on it very well, but no one really minded.)

Penguin & Polar Bear Storytime

Opening: Shake My Sillies Out – Raffi

Book: Ted Bo and Diz The First Adventure – Jason Chapman

 

(A fun little adventure, with a lovely penguin surprise at the end! Well received.)

Activity: 5 Little Penguins (tune: Farmer in the Dell)

 Five Penguins in a row, Five penguins in a row,

One slid down low, where did he go?

I don’t know.

(continue with remaining penguins)

(to end, show all penguins) …to play with his friends in the snow

(Works well as a finger play too, good stuff.)

Book: If You Were a Penguin – Wendell and Florence Minor

 

(Lovely big pictures. We went through twice, and identified the things people do the second time.)

Activity: Penguin, Penguin (tune: Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around)

Penguin, penguin turn around. Make a little penguin sound. eeerk!

Penguin, penguin reach up high. Penguin, penguin touch the sky.

Penguin, penguin bend down low. Penguin, penguin touch the snow.

Penguin, penguin, go to bed. Penguin, penguin rest your head.

Penguin, penguin, turn off the light. Penguin, penguin say goodnight.

(A fun variation. This pattern always works well in a program.)

Book: My Little Polar Bear – Claudia Rueda

(Not such a hit. I think some of the pics were too ambiguous, and the text not engaging enough for a group.)

Activity: We’re All Going To the North Pole – from the CD Songs for all Seasons by Geoff Johnson

(We went on a trip to find Santa, but this Polar Bear was everywhere we looked! Was a bit flat this go round.)

Book: Flip and Flop – Dawn Apperley

(The kids were quite engaged for this, even though I worried a bit about the length.)

Activity: Bubbles

(We pretended it was snow! Played Doing the Penguin from the CD Hot! Hot! Hot! Dance Songs during the bubbles.)

Letter B Storytime

Opening: Shake My Sillies Out – Raffi

Book: The B Book – Stan and Jan Berenstain

(The kids were quite interested in this, particularly later in the book, as things get more chaotic. I think they didn’t quite get the bursting balloon though.)

Flannel Board: The Hat (from Squid and Octopus by Tao Nyeu)

  Squid finds a fantastic hat, (but is it really a hat?) his friends all think it has different uses, from a flower vase, a soup bowl, and a doorstop, until Squid shows up with an idential hat, just like octopus knew it was.

(This was good, not stand out either way.)

Book: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons – Eric Litwin

(A great addition to the Pete series. Really, the only one I like other than the original.)

Activity/Song: Beanbag Song (Totline Magazine)

(Sung to:  If you’re happy and you know it)

Put your beanbag on your hair, on your hair

Put your beanbag on your hair, on your hair

Put your beanbag on your hair and leave it right up there

Put your beanbag on your hair, on your hair.

…Put your beanbag on the ground, now step and step around…

…Put your beanbag on your toe, lift it high and and lift it low…

…Put your beanbag in your hand, toss it up and watch it land…

 (The kids got to play with beanbags, what’s not to like! We did it twice.)

Book: Big Smelly Bear – Britta Teckentrup

(This was more popular than I expected. Nice big pictures!)

Activity: Sleepy Bear (from Storytime Katie)

“Sleepy Bear” (Tune: “Thumbkin”)
Where is bear? Where is bear?
Here I am. Here I am.
How are you this winter?
Very tired, thank you.
Go to sleep. Go to sleep.

(I think we could have done this for the entire storytime and the kids would have had a blast. Eventually, bear decided to go somewhere more quiet to hibernate. …for my Thursday group, I had to let the kids know that screaming didn’t wake up bear, only saying ‘wake up bear!’ did.)

Book: Baby Bird – Joyce Dunbar

(Fun and simple, with nice pics and interactive element having the kids help with the animal noises.)

Activity: Bubbles

(And Bubbles! Butterfly by Imagination Movers was our background music for bubble time.)