C is for Camping Out (Preschool)

*I have to admit, I wasn't super excited about the camping theme, but as I planned this storytime I became more and more enthused.  This ended up being a very enjoyable storytime!

Opening: Big Books

Action: Show Letter C

Book: Goodnight Underwear (Bear in Underwear)

*This was my first time reading a "Bear in Underwear" book, and I was a little nervous that the kids and parents wouldn't like it.  Boy, was I wrong!  Right away the kids laughed hysterically at bear in  his underwear.  I'm sure it helped that I had my big bear puppet wearing Dr. Seuss underwear behind me as I read the book!

Flannel: Blankets On My Head (Book: 1,000 Fingerplays & Action Rhymes)

A blanket on my head, a blanket on my head, hey ho, I’m cozy-o, a blanket on my head.

The wind blows tonight, the wind blows tonight, hey ho, I’m freezing-o, the wind blows tonight.

(Repeat until you get to five blankets.)

Five blankets on my head, five blankets on my head, hey ho, the wind doesn’t blow.

Take these blankets off my head!!!

*The kids loved seeing me with blankets on my head, especially when the last blanket covered my face!  I was only brave enough to do three blankets.

Fingerplay/Flannel: Hunt for Bug Under the Rug

Credit: Mel's Desk

Book: One-Dog Canoe 

*This was a fun book to read, and I wanted to make this more interactive.  So I took some empty boxes that I use to retell stories with, that are already wrapped in white paper.  I printed out all the animals from the story,the red canoe and taped each one to a box.  As I was reading, my volunteer stacked each animal on top of each other.  By the end of the story, we had quite a tower of animals going on!  The best part was when all the animals fall out of the canoe.  Why?  All of the boxes were knocked off my table!  Some of the kids were shocked and others absolutely loved it!

Fingerplay: Insect Animal Flash Cards

Credit: Click here to view the flash cards.

Skit: Fishing

*This is something we do quite often in storytime, where the kids help me go fishing.  I have a puppet stage up behind me, covered in water.  I tell the kids I'm going to catch a fish, and to let me know when they see it.  My volunteer will pop the fish up when I have my back turned, but I never turn around in time to see that fish!  I will then catch everything from a sock to an empty candy wrapper before I catch the fish.  But not the big giant fish the kids see, but a little tiny fish they haven't seen.  The best part that happened was when I showed the kids my empty bag of M&M's and asked them if they ate my candy.  I was only joking with them, and a little girl came up to me and said that she did!  I thought I was going to lose all my compsure right there!  The kids went crazy screaming and shouting every time they saw the fish pop up!!!

Our craft today was a cute little owl!  The kids glued everything down and  had star stickers to add.  We decided to use scrapbooking paper for the wings.  Pictured below is what our owls looked like.

Credit: B-Inspired Mama