Holly Jolly Christmas Storytime & Party (Preschool and Two's)

Preschool Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Book: Here Comes Santa Cat!

*This book is the best! What I like to do is have someone read the book for me,
while I act out the part of Santa cat! It works out wonderfully, and the kids get
a big kick out of me being Santa cat!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Five Little Gingerbread Jumping on the Bed

*I didn't change the fingerplay this year but normally we will sing five little
santas jumping on the bed

Book: Don’t Push the Button! A Christmas Adventure

*The kids loved this book! It's a great interactive book to use.

Action: Decorating Tree

*We ran out of time to decorate our flannel tree, but hopefully next year we'll
do this!

Extra Books:





We didn't have a craft today because it was our Christmas party!  We had snacks after storytime and games.  To check out our games, click here!

Time for Two’s Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Book: Click, Clack, Ho, Ho, Ho!

*For this book, I have an empty box decorated as a chimney. All the animals in the book get stuck
inside the chimney, so all my puppets get stuck upside-down in my box! The kids were so cute
to watch as my animals all got stuck right in front of their eyes!

Fingerplay: Gingerbread House Hunting

Fingerplay: Christmas Action Cards

Board Book: Little Blue Truck’s Christmas

*I had my volunteer behind me with the puppets, and as I read this book I fed my puppets
a Christmas tree. The kids really enjoyed seeing each puppet get a Christmas tree.

Action: Five Little Gingerbread Jumping on the Bed

We didn't have a craft today because it was our Christmas party!  We had snacks after storytime and games.  To check out our games, click here!

We are taking one week off for Christmas, so please check back the first week of January for more storytime themes!  But I do want to wish everyone a very blessed and Merry Christmas!  Please remember, it's not about what presents we get from under the tree.  It's all about the present that we received a very long time ago, the precious baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  If you don't know him, please take the time right now and invite him into your heart.  How, just say your ABC's!  Ask, Believe, Confess.  I'm here if you have questions, just leave a comment. If I don't have the answer, then I'll ask someone!  Please, don't let this blessed season pass without having the greatest present of all inside your heart.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Sensory Bins

This month our sensory bins were centered around Christmas, of course!  


1. Penguin Bowling
I ordered this adorable bowling set from Oriental Trading.  I received ten bowling pins and two bowling balls.  The kids go crazy over any bowling set, and today was no exception.
Credit: Oriental Trading


2. Santa Alphabet Matching & Gingerbread Alphabet Matching Sensory Bin (Preschool Only)
I decided to put two different matching games on one table this time, and the kids did great with it!  One was a really cute Santa and reindeer game, which you can download for free.  The really wonderful thing about it was, you decide what you'd like for it to say, so I went with S-A-N-T-A!  The otherside is already made for you, with a full alphabet set to choose from, so we spelled out G-I-N-G-E-R-B-R-E-A-D.
Credit: Totschooling and Teachers pay Teachers


3.  Reindeer Nose Matching Sensory Bin
This game was so much fun and really easy to do!  It's as simple as printing and cutting out the reindeer.  After that, just cut out circles and hide them in bowls if you'd like to make this a sensory bin, which I did.  Or you could use pom-poms instead.  The kids love digging through my bows to find things to match, that's why I didn't use pom-poms.
Credit: http://www.archjrc.com/childsplace/images/rudolphcolours.gif


4. Christmas Tree Pom-Pom Push
It never ceases to amaze me how much the kids love pushing pom-poms through holes!  I love that they enjoy this, and it's so easy to make new games!  I had this game from last year, but the prep is super easy.  Just take an old shoebox, cut your holes in it beforehand, then make your tree, place over it, and then cut your holes again.  I like to use a LEGO box lid to store my pom-poms in, that way they don't "roll" away!
Credit: I Can Teach My Child


5. Gingerbread Sponge Ball Push
My kids adore playing with these fun sponge balls, so I wanted to make a game would use the sponge balls.  I just took a box I keep back for our sensory games.  I printed out three gingerbread men and cut holes out for the sponge balls to fit through.  The oddly placed gingerbread house?  That's covering up a hole that was already cut out in the box that I didn't need!  But thankfully nobody tore the house off the box, so it all worked out!  I ordered the sponge balls from Oriental Trading, and they are so wonderful!  They fit perfectly in the kids hands, and work wonderfully for any type of game.

N is for Noel (Preschool and Two's)

Preschool Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Book: Click, Clack, Ho, Ho, Ho!

*The kids were so cute today with their reactions! What I did was take an empty box and covered the outside to look like bricks. As I'm reading, my volunteer takes all the puppets and sticks them inside my chimney. It's really fun to act out this story while you are reading it.

Fingerplay/Flannel: Five Little Gingerbread Jumping on the Bed

*Instead of monkeys we acted like gingerbread cookies jumping up and down today.

Book: Dream Snow

*At the last minute I changed out what book I wanted to read, since the crowd was really young today. I am so glad I did! The kids loved guessing what animals were hiding beneath the snow.

Fingerplay: Five Little Candy Canes

Credit: http://www.susanmdailey.com/Christmas.htm

Book: What Am I? Christmas

*I didn't read all of this book, only about half.  But the kids loved guessing what was hiding out inside my book!

Fingerplay: Rudolph's Noses

*I believe I got this fingerplay from Mailbox.  You change out the nose on Rudolph, and each nose has a rhyme that goes along with it.  For instance, when Rudolph has a black nose you say the following.  Rudolph, Rudolph, nose so black.  Rub your tummy and pat your back.  The kids had a lot of fun telling me the colors and doing the actions too.

Today our craft was a Christmas wreath!

Credit: Sunflower Storytime

*I love dressing up for the kids, and I decided to wear my Santa dress for them!

Time for Two's Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Book: Dear Santa

*I really enjoy using this book with the two's, and they seemed to enjoy all the presents in the book.

Fingerplay: Five Little Candy Canes

Credit: http://www.susanmdailey.com/Christmas.htm

Fingerplay/Flannel: Gingerbread House Game

Book: Dream Snow

*At the last minute I changed out what book I wanted to read, since the crowd was really young today. I am so glad I did! The kids loved guessing what animals were hiding beneath the snow.

Action:  Five Little Gingerbread Jumping on the Bed

Today our craft was a Christmas wreath!

M is for Milk and Cookies (Preschool and Two's)

Preschool Storytime:

*We had a shortened storytime today, because we had a special guest!  A very talented ballet dancer from the Nutcracker visited us!  After I did the beginning of the program, then our dancer's mom read the Nutcracker for us.  Then our dancer came out and did a beautiful dance for us in her costume.  The kids were in love with her dancing and especially her costume!

Opening: Big Books

Fingerplay/Flannel: Pete the Cat Gingerbread

*I was really excited to do this, but I ran out of time to make it for this storytime. But I hope to use it next year. Please be sure to check it out!

Credit: One Little Librarian

Book: Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar? (With puppets)

*This book is so much fun to read! I have a flannel cookie jar that I use, and it opens up to reveal ten cookies inside it. As I'm reading, I feed a cookie to each animal puppet that pops up behind me. The kids really enjoy seeing my animals take off with my cookies! What's really fun with this book is as you turn each page a cookie disappears from the book!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Five Little Gingerbread Jumping on the Bed

*Instead of monkeys we acted like gingerbread cookies jumping up and down today.

For our craft, we made a gingerbread house!

Time for Two’s Storytime:

*I just want to say how happy and fulfilling today's storytime made me feel.  I absolutely adore doing storytime, but sometimes I feel like I'm just not doing a good job of it. That nobody is enjoying the stories, or I need to do something different, or I'm not being animated enough.  I know we all feel that way, right?  Surely I'm not alone?  But seeing the kids reactions today just filled my heart with joy.  Yes, the puppets popping up behind me had a lot to do with that, the two's just adore those puppets!  But seeing them interacting with me while I read the book let me know I am doing the right thing.  I hope that this storytime theme is as fun for you as it was for me!

Opening: Big Books

Fingerplay: If You Want to Hear a Story

Book: Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar? (With puppets)

*This book is so much fun to read! I have a flannel cookie jar that I use, and it opens up to reveal ten cookies inside it. As I'm reading, I feed a cookie to each animal puppet that pops up behind me. The kids really enjoy seeing my animals take off with my cookies! What's really fun with this book is as you turn each page a cookie disappears from the book! The two's went wild over this book today, which just made me so happy!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Five Little Gingerbread Jumping on the Bed

*Instead of monkeys we acted like gingerbread cookies jumping up and down today.

Book: Who Ate All the Cookie Dough?

*I love using this book for a cookie storytime, and I was hoping the two's wouldn't be tired of hearing it. Thankfully not! If you're not familiar with this book, the phrase is repeated throughout "Eeny, meeny, miney, moe. Who ate all the cookie dough?". At one point, I asked the two's, did you eat my cookie dough? This adorable blonde-haired little girl, said no! You did! That's what makes doing storytime worth it!

Fingerplay/Flannel: “Which House?”

   Gingerbread man, quiet as a mouse.

   Where are you hiding, behind which house?

Credit: Blissful and Domestic

Fingerplay: Christmas Action Cards

Action: Cookie Dancing & Feed Cookie Monster

*Today, after dancing with our cookies we put them up on our flannel board around the cookie jar. But another great idea is to feed them to cookie monster!

Credit: Fun With Friends at Storytime

Our craft today was a gingerbread house!

Extra Read-Aloud:

L is for Leaf Hunt (Preschool and Two's)

Preschool Storytime

Music: I decided to change up our music and use something from the internet today.  To listen to what I played, click here. 

Opening: Big Books

Book: We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt

*I wanted to change up how I read this book, so I had my volunteer behind me with puppets.  When I find a leaf while I'm reading the book, I stop and ask where my leaf is?  Then the puppet appears behind me with the leaf in it's mouth.  The kids went crazy!

Flannel: Hunt for bird under tree.

Credit: Sunflower Storytime

File Folder Story: Fall Is Not Easy

*My boss made a fabulous file folder story of this book, and I love using it!  

Fingerplay: Scarecrow, Scarecrow

Scarecrow, scarecrow, turn around

Scarecrow, scarecrow, touch the ground

Scarecrow, scarecrow, clap your hands and touch your knees.

Scarecrow, scarecrow, turn around and stomp your feet.   

Swing your arms so very slow.

Now real fast to scare the crows!

Tap your head, now jump up and down.

Turn around and sit back down.

Credit: Play-and-Learn!

Book: Where, Oh, Where is Baby Bear?

*This is a new book, and i"m in love with it!  I had my volunteer pop up the bear puppet after the kids found baby bear inside book.  They went crazy telling me the bear was behind me!

Fingerplay: “5 Little Acorns”

    3 little apples sitting in a tree

Teasing Mr. Horse, you can't reach me!

Along came Mr. Horse as hungry as could be

and SNATCHED that acorn right out of the tree!

* I changed the words to the original, which you can view.  I was really impressed with the kids, by the time we got to the end of the song they had caught on to the tune and was singing along with me.  I changed the words to a horse and 3 apples)

Credit: The Dilley Dally

Book: Tap the Magic Tree

*This is my all-time favorite book to use, and I love to make all the parts of this book.  When the apples would fall from the tree inside the book, I would have paper apples to "rain" down on the kids.  They went crazy over this happening!

Our craft today was an autumn tree. The leaves and trunk are all torn-paper.

*We had games this month and you can check them out here!

Time for Two’s Storytime

Opening: Big Books

Fingerplay: If You Want to Hear a Story

Book: We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt

*I wanted to change up how I read this book, so I had my volunteer behind me with puppets.  When I find a leaf while I'm reading the book, I stop and ask where my leaf is?  Then the puppet appears behind me with the leaf in it's mouth.  The kids went crazy!

Flannel: Hunt for bird under tree.

Credit: Sunflower Storytime

Fingerplay: Scarecrow, Scarecrow

Scarecrow, scarecrow, turn around

Scarecrow, scarecrow, touch the ground

Scarecrow, scarecrow, clap your hands and touch your knees.

Scarecrow, scarecrow, turn around and stomp your feet.   

Swing your arms so very slow.

Now real fast to scare the crows!

Tap your head, now jump up and down.

Turn around and sit back down.

Credit: Play-and-Learn!

Book: Tap the Magic Tree

*This is my all-time favorite book to use, and I love to make all the parts of this book.  When the apples would fall from the tree inside the book, I would have paper apples to "rain" down on the kids.  They went crazy over this happening!

Our craft today was an autumn tree. The leaves and trunk are all torn-paper.  For the two's we had the brown trunk already glued down.



*We had games this month and you can check them out here!

November Games and Sensory Bins

This month our games were centered around autumn and Thanksgiving!

1.) Cornucopia Word Matching
I was worried the kids would have trouble doing this, but they were excellent at it!  Secondly, I was hesitant to use feathers to hide the words in, but no problems there either!  All the kids loved the texture of the feathers.  Only the preschoolers did this sensory game.
Credit: In My World

2.) Turkey Feather Matching
This was another fun matching game, and I hid the feathers in leaves.  The two's and preschoolers did a great job in matching the feathers!

Credit: In My World

3.) Scarecrow Knockdown
For this game, I just took empty boxes and covered them.  This scarecrow I bought years ago at a dollar store.  I took him apart and taped him to the boxes.  That's all it takes!  Your game is ready for the kids to stack and knock over again and again.

4.) Pumpkin Soup Dipping
I didn't take a picture of this, but it's simple to do.  I took two of our plastic cauldrons and filled them with water.  Then I dumped some foam gourds, pumpkins and acorns into them.  I laid out some slotted spoons and bowls.  I put a plastic tablecloth underneath all this to help with the cleanup.  The preschoolers loved this, but only a few of the two's came over to play with it this year.