Happy Halloween! (Two's)

Happy Halloween!

Time for Two’s Storytime

Opening: Big Books

Fingerplay: “If You Want to Hear a Story”

Book: “Little Blue Truck’s Halloween”

*The kids really enjoyed this book, and it's my favorite too! We used puppets to pop up after the kids guess what animal was hiding inside the book.

Fingerplay/Flannel:”If You’re A...”

If you’re a ghost and you know it, just say boo!

*If you’re a bat and you know it flap your wings.

*If you’re a monster and you know it, stomp
your feet.

*If you’re a spider and you know it, spin your
web.

*This is to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it". The kids had so much fun singing and acting out all the motions for each verse.

File Folder Story: “Ghost’s Dinner”
*This version is a great take on the chocolate chip ghost story. The kids loved seeing the ghosts change color right before their eyes! You use a file folder and when the ghosts change colors, you pull out the sheet to make them change. Here is the link for a PDF where I found this fa-boo-lous idea!

Board Book: “Where Is Baby’s Pumpkin?”

*This went over great with the two's, they loved hunting for baby's pumpkin

Fingerplay/Flannel: “Make a Jack-O-Lantern”

*We ran out of time for this flannelboard. We've always had this at my library, and I just made a new version to use. You take a pumpkin, without a jack-o-lantern face and tell the kids you want to make a jack-o-lantern for them. Instead of adding your black triangles for the eyes, you add something silly. Like a flower, or a car. The kids usually tell me very quickly that's wrong, and then I'll add the black triangles. I will do this for the nose and mouth until I get everything right for my jack-o-lantern.

Extra Read-Alouds:

Boo! A Book of Spooky Surprises

Boo, Bunny!

Click, Clack, Boo!

It’s Halloween Night!

Just Say Boo!

Monster Needs a Costume

Spooky Wheels on the Bus

10 Busy Brooms

We’re Going on a Ghost Hunt

What Am I? Halloween

Where Is Baby’s Pumpkin?

*This month we had snacks brought by our parents, because we had a Halloween party! We also had games to play, and they are listed below.

Sensory Games:
*The most popular game was putt-putt with the pumpkin, and here is the website where I found the idea for it.
*We also had a pumpkin match-up, which you can download for free here. The kids really seemed to enjoy matching the cute pumpkin shapes.

*Last, but not least we had pumpkin beanbag toss. We took a huge box and cut a jack-o-lantern face out of the front of it. Then we had our beanbags ready and turned the kids loose!

*This year I dressed up as a yellow crayon!

Happy Halloween! (Preschool)

Happy Halloween!

Preschool Storytime

Opening: Big Books

Book: “Halloween Sky Ride”

*For this book, I took clipart of the characters from the book and taped them to boxes. We lined up all of the characters on my table in the order that the rode the broom. When they fell of the broom, they were knocked off the table. The kids enjoyed this book, but didn't seem to get into it as much as I thought they would.

Fingerplay/Flannel:”If You’re A...”

If you’re a ghost and you know it, just say boo!

*If you’re a bat and you know it flap your wings.

*If you’re a monster and you know it, stomp
your feet.

*If you’re a spider and you know it, spin your
web.

*This is to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it". The kids had so much fun singing and acting out all the motions for each verse.

Book: “Peep and Egg: I’m Not Trick-or-Treating”

*The kids seemed to enjoy this Halloween book filled with cute jokes. My favorite part of this was at the end, when I asked what do birds say when they go out trick-or-treating? A little boy screamed at the top of his lungs "TWEET TWEET TWEET!" It was all I could do not to fall over from laughing, and I said, "Yes! They say, Trick-or-TWEET". Priceless!

File Folder Story: “Ghost’s Dinner”

*I ran out of time for this, but this version is a great take on the chocolate chip ghost story. You use a file folder and when the ghosts change colors, you pull out the sheet to make them change. Here is the link for a PDF where I found this fa-boo-lous idea!

Book: “It’s Halloween Night!”

*I love this guessing book, and we ran out of time to read it. It's a simple but really cute book that lets the kids guess what costume everyone is wearing.

Tablet Game: “Shadow Guessing”

*This was my first time using an app as a game with the kids, and they went crazy! I found this app on Amazon, and follow this to get to it. We've done an animal game, where I played the sounds of the animals and they guessed, but nothing like this. What the game consisted of was a shadow appeared related to Halloween. You could leave the shadow alone, or you could rearrange the squares to make it easier. I showed it to the kids, and after they guessed, I typed in the answer. After you type in your answer, the shadow will appear like normal. The kids went crazy and didn't want to stop playing. I will definitely be on the hunt for more games and apps to use!

Fingerplay/Flannel: “Make a Jack-O-Lantern”

*We ran out of time for this flannelboard. We've always had this at my library, and I just made a new version to use. You take a pumpkin, without a jack-o-lantern face and tell the kids you want to make a jack-o-lantern for them. Instead of adding your black triangles for the eyes, you add something silly. Like a flower, or a car. The kids usually tell me very quickly that's wrong, and then I'll add the black triangles. I will do this for the nose and mouth until I get everything right for my jack-o-lantern.

Extra Read-Alouds:

Little Blue Truck’s Halloween

Peep and Egg: I’m Not Hatching!

Room on the Broom

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat!

This is the House That Monsters Built

Turkey Trick or Treat

What Am I? Halloween

*This month we had snacks brought by our parents, because we had a Halloween party! We also had games to play, and they are listed below.

Sensory Games:
*The most popular game was putt-putt with the pumpkin, and here is the website where I found the idea for it.
*For sensory, I found the most adorable haunted house matching game, which you can download for free here. I took the pictures the kids matched up and stuck them down into rice bins. They really enjoyed them. Next time I may take one set and have the pictures taped onto the haunted house to make it easier on my younger kids.

*We also had a pumpkin match-up, which you can download for free here. The kids really seemed to enjoy matching the cute pumpkin shapes.
*Last, but not least we had pumpkin beanbag toss. We took a huge box and cut a jack-o-lantern face out of the front of it. Then we had our beanbags ready and turned the kids loose!

*This year I dressed up as Little Miss Muffet, complete with spiderweb eyelashes!

Pumpkin Party (Ages 4-10)

Once a year we throw a big Pumpkin Party at my library.  I am so excited to say that we had a great turnout this year!  We had 85 kids and 45 adults making a grand total of 130 people!  Yeah!  We like to call our party pumpkin party instead of Halloween so that those who don't celebrate Halloween can feel more comfortable attending.  I have included a picture of our crafts below, along with links to the websites we based them off of.  

Food:

We also had one family size bag of plain chips and a brain jello mold with gummy worms.  For drinks we served orange soda and sprites.  

Crafts:

 For this craft, the kids glued black torn paper onto the plate.  Then they added the ears, eyes and whiskers.

Here is the website where I found the craft.

For this craft, the kids glued green torn paper onto the plate.  Then they added the ears, mouth and hair.

Here is the website where I found the craft.

For this craft, the kids glued white paper onto the black circle.  Then they added the eyes and mouth.

Here is the website where I found the craft.

For this craft, the kids glued everything onto the bag.  Then they added foamies and ghosts.  

I couldn't find the specific website where I found the pattern for this.

For this craft, the kids glued everything you see.  The clothes, face, cape, etc.



Here is the website where I found the craft.

For this craft, the kids weaved yarn through holes punched in the paper plates.  After that they glued on spiders.  I didn't expect them to enjoy this so much, but they loved weaving!

Here is the website where I found the craft.


This was a pre-made kit.

Games:

The favorite game of the night was musical tombstones.  You play just like musical chairs.  We lucked out and found these chair covers at the Dollar store a couple of years ago.



*Halloween bingo was the second most popular game, and I used a free download this year for our cards.  Check it out by clicking here!

*Our third game was pumpkin beanbag toss.  For this we took a huge box, and cut out a jack-o-lantern face.  Then we let the kids have fun tossing beanbags into it.

This year I dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, so much fun!

Monster Mash (Two's)

Monster Mash

Time for Two’s Storytime

Opening: Big Books

Fingerplay: “If You Want to Hear a Story”

Book: “Monsters Love Colors”

*The kids loved this book! I got the idea for using prop monsters from this website. Below is a picture of what I did during storytime. What I do is I hide my monsters (made from construction paper and laminated) inside a cauldron, behind a pocket. Then I show the kids my empty cauldron. As I read the book, I will put in my two monsters that make a color, and pull out of the pocket the monster that we've created. Then I will place the monsters on the flannelboard and go back to mixing again. At the end of the book you make a rainbow monster. For that, I put all my monsters inside the pocket that I have taped inside the cauldron. Before I pull out the rainbow monster, I will show the kids the empty cauldron and ask them what they did with my monsters. Then, viola! I pull out the rainbow monster and they went crazy! Such a fun book that teaches how mixing colors will create new colors and it makes you look like you're magical too!

Fingerplay: “Monster, Monster”

Monster, monster, turn around

Monster, monster, touch the ground

Monster, monster, touch the sky

Monster, monster, wave goodbye

Monster, monster, pat your head

Monster, monster, go to bed

Monster, monster, turn around

Monster, monster, sit back down

Fingerplay/Flannel: “Monster, Monster”

Monster, monster, where can you be?

Shout out a color on the count of three!
*I came up with this fingerplay because I wanted to have a hiding game to use with a monster. I used the same pieces from a previous flannelboard where we hunted for a lion, and you can see it here. I just switched the lion out for a monster.

Book/Flannel: “Tickle Monster”

*Here is where you can view the flannel I made to go along with this ticklish book! The kids really enjoyed seeing what our monster turned into!

Fingerplay/Flannel: “Five Little Monsters Jumping on the Bed”

*Here is the website where you can print out some adorable monsters for your flannelboard. We had a blast jumping up and down! Of course, if you're jumping the kids will want to do this again, and they did.

Book/Song: “If You’re a Monster and You Know It”

*We ran out of time to sing and read this book. It's a great standby for this theme.

Book: “Go Away, Big Green Monster!”

* A classic book that I love, but we ran out of time today to read it.

Below is our craft, and here is the website where it was found. There are a lot of other cute variations of it also. My favorite part of this craft is that the mouth of the monster opens up to reveal the tongue and teeth. I think that was the kids' favorite thing about it.

Extra Read-Alouds:

Boogie Monster

Nighty Night, Little Green Monster

Dancing Feet!

Don’t Push the Button!

New Books for October (Part 2)

Here is the next batch of new books!


Doesn't the cat look so grumpy that you want to cuddle him?  Now, I'm not a cat lover at all, but this book did turn me into loving cats more.  The adorable cat wonders why his owner brings home a new item, but soon finds out its not so fun after all.  The adorable illustrations and storytime will steal your heart and leave you in stitches!  (I had to sneak that in there, I couldn't help it.)


The bouncy little bears are back for a romp in the snow.  The rhyming words will make you feel like you are sliding down the hills with the cuddly bears.  A perfect read for a snowy storytime.


I am in love, love, love with this board book.  I can't begin to do this book justice, but I will try.  Each page has the letter raised up off the page, and on the opposite side the letter will set inside the space cut out for it.  For instance, V is for Volcano.  I spent a crazy amount of time feeling the letters and spaces of this book, and I promise you'll do the same.  There are others in this series, and I can't wait to see them too!


I am such a big fan of this author, but this book fell a little short for me.  As you turn each page, you will see each animal shedding little tears.  But the surprise is something is appearing on the opposite side, a beautiful rainbow.  I do love that part of the book, but some of the animals aren't as cute as I had hoped they would be.

 
The cuddly, fuzzy, red love monster is back at it again!  This time he's trying to go to sleep, but a monster is after him.  Who could it be?  You must read this book to find out.....


How are dragons supposed to act?  According to the father of this bubble breathing dragon, they shouldn't spew out whipped cream or band-aids!  I can't wait to use this book in storytime and make it interactive.  What I'd like to do is every time the dragon spits something out, I hope to throw that item out onto the kids.  Everything except the whipped cream, of course!


Who took Pete's missing cupcakes?  Which friend of his is the culprit?  What a fun guessing book starring our favorite cat of them all, Pete!  


I have been looking for a long time for a book that has great music for the five speckled frogs song.  Finally, I've struck gold!  Not only is the music filled with authentic sounding frogs, but this version adds a new verse to the song.  After all the frogs jump in the river, they jump back onto the log.  A great sing-along version that your kids will love!  

Tickle Monster Flannel

It's that time of year again, Halloween!  I love using the book Tickle Monster!

To make this adorable monster disappear, you tickle his horns, ears, etc.  In turn, they will move to another part of the page and make something else.  To make this more interactive, I made my own tickle monster.  While I read the book and have the kids tickle their own body parts, my volunteer will move the corresponding flannel pieces.  The best part is when the kids can tell me what our monster is turning into!  Can you guess?

Monster Mash (Preschool)

Monster Mash

Preschool Storytime

Opening: Big Books

Book: “Monsters Love Colors”

*The kids loved, loved, loved this book! I got the idea for using prop monsters from this website. Below is a picture of what I did during storytime. What I do is I hide my monsters (made from construction paper and laminated) inside a cauldron, behind a pocket. Then I show the kids my empty cauldron. As I read the book, I will put in my two monsters that make a color, and pull out of the pocket the monster that we've created. Then I will place the monsters on the flannelboard and go back to mixing again. At the end of the book you make a rainbow monster. For that, I put all my monsters inside the pocket that I have taped inside the cauldron. Before I pull out the rainbow monster, I will show the kids the empty cauldron and ask them what they did with my monsters. They got super quiet at this point and had the cutest expressions. Then, viola! I pull out the rainbow monster and they went crazy! Such a fun book that teaches how mixing colors will create new colors and it makes you look like you're magical too!

Fingerplay: “Monster, Monster”

Monster, monster, turn around

Monster, monster, touch the ground

Monster, monster, touch the sky

Monster, monster, wave goodbye

Monster, monster, pat your head

Monster, monster, go to bed

Monster, monster, turn around

Monster, monster, sit back down

Book/Flannel: Monsters Go Night-Night”

*This book was the favorite pick by the kids. They asked that I read it again, which hasn't happened in a while. Each page opens up with a monster, and a question. You have four choices to pick from. I asked the kids what they thought the answer was, and it's always the silliest choice. I either had a flannel piece to put on the board or the actual prop to show them to correspond with each correct answer. They laughed more and more with each page, except for the page about where do monsters go to the bathroom. I thought that would be the funniest page, but it ended up not being so. Awesome book that I highly recommend doing and I plan on using it again next year!

Fingerplay/Flannel: “Five Little Monsters Jumping on the Bed”

*Here is the website where you can print out some adorable monsters for your flannelboard. We had a blast jumping up and down! Of course, if you're jumping the kids will want to do this again, and they did.

Fingerplay/Flannel: “Monster, Monster”

Monster, monster, where can you be?

Shout out a color on the count of three!

*I came up with this fingerplay because I wanted to have a hiding game to use with a monster. I used the same pieces from a previous flannelboard where we hunted for a lion, and you can see it here. I just switched the lion out for a monster.

Book: “Monsters Love Underpants

*The cover of this book cracks me up everytime I see it! Sadly, we ran out of time for this book. This is a great rhyming book and the illustrations are hilarious. Definitely a great read-aloud.

Song: “Silly Dance Contest”

*You can't have a monster mash storytime without dancing! We got up danced, shaked and clapped. I was surprised, but the kids wanted to dance again. This reminded me that I need to do more dancing and music with them, which is always fun.

Book: “Go Away, Big Green Monster!”

*Classic book, that you can't go wrong with. The kids were very engrossed with this book and started screaming as I made the monster disappear. I've read it many times, but they really got into it this time. I had so much fun reading it and it's a standby that I will always go to. 

Below is our craft, and here is the website where it was found. There are a lot of other cute variations of it also. My favorite part of this craft is that the mouth of the monster opens up to reveal the tongue and teeth. I think that was the kids' favorite thing about it.

Extra Read-Alouds:

Quit Calling Me Monster!

Pumpkin Trouble

Monster Trouble!

Little Shop of Monsters

Don’t Touch This Book!

Monster Trucks! by Denise

What Do You Do When a Monster Says Boo?

Go to Bed Monster!

There Was an Old Monster

Monsters Go Night-Night