Opposites Surprise (Preschool and Two's)

Preschool Storytime:

*I am trying to do one new theme a month, and this month was opposites! I was really afraid starting out that I wouldn't find any good read-aloud books. That wasn't a problem! This has turned out to be one of my favorite themes! I do have to admit, this wasn't a favorite topic for the two's, and unfortunately I ended up being sick on the day of the two's storytime. Because of that, I don't know how the two's responded to everything, but hopefully they loved it all!

Opening: Big Books

Big books, little book, short book, tall!

Fat book, skinny books, I love them all!

*Every week we say this before storytime, without every knowing it, we are learning opposites!

Book:  Go! Go! Go! Stop! (With signs to hold up)

*This is a book that I've used before during a construction theme, and the preschoolers loved it! To help incorporate early literacy skills, I made three signs to hold up during storytime. Two of the signs we used very often and I asked the preschoolers what they said. They were "Stop" and "Go"! To go along with the book, every time I would hold up each sign, we would say that word, either loudly or softly, depending on what I would ask them to do. They loved this book, even though it was slightly longer than what I would usually read to them.

Fingerplay: Five Clean and Dirty Pigs (Only did four pigs)

Five pigs so squeaky clean, cleanest you've ever seen

One jumped into the mud

Landed with a big THUD! (make a big clap to some sound effect, if you want)

Then there were four clean squeaky pigs.

Repeat, counting down

One pig so squeaky clean, cleanest you've ever seen

He jumped into the mud

Landed with a THUD

Then there were no more clean squeaky pigs

Source: Mel's Desk via Storytime Katie

Link for printable: https://sunflowerstorytime.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/clean-and-dirty-pigs-printable.pdf

*This was so much fun to do with the preschoolers!  We all stood up and jumped around while my volunteer flipped our pigs over on the flannelboard.  The next time I do this, I think I will make some big pigs to go on the puppet stage behind me.  That way, we can repeat this as much as we want.  For instance, when we are almost down to one pig, my volunteer can flip some of the pigs back over to being dirty so that we can start over again!

Book: Opposite Surprise

*Before I even opened this book up, the preschooler got excited about seeing the fish inside! I told them that we would learn opposites, and one little girl told me that an opposite was something that was different. I was blown away by this explanation, and how many opposites the preschoolers knew! This book is amazing because it shows you the first opposite, with both words, and then folds out to show you the rest. The preschoolers went crazy when I showed them the fold-out page! Even though the book is simple, it's a great learning book for all ages.

Fingerplay/Flannel: Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree

*This song is great to use for this theme because it teaches us that the monkey is high and the alligator is low.

Book: Near, Far

*This is another great example of our opposites with near and far! I love this book because it's a guessing book. Unfortunately we had run out of time, so we only did a few animals in the book. You get two chances of seeing the animals, very up close, before the animal appears. I had my volunteer behind me, so that the puppet could pop up and surprise us!

Fingerplay:

*USE SCARVES!!!!

I say up and you say…. DOWN!
I say fast and you say…. SLOW!
Up! Down! Up! Down!

I say fast and you say…. SLOW!

Fast! Slow! Fast! Slow!

I say shrink and you say… GROW!

Shrink! Grow! Shrink! Grow! (Hunch down on floor, then jump up tall!)

I say stop and you say… GO!

Stop! Go! Stop! Go!

(I added the bold lines.)

Credit: Miss Meg Storytime

*I had so much fun dancing around with the preschoolers and this rhyme! I wanted to sneak a few more opposites and this was perfect!

Our craft today was a giraffe with the words "front" and "back".

Credit: Craftulate

Time for Two’s Storytime:

*Unfortunately I was sick for this storytime, but my wonderful boss stepped in for me and let me know how everything went!

Opening: Big books

Fingerplay: If You Want to Hear a Story

Book: Opposite Things

Fingerplay/Flannel: Five Clean and Dirty Pigs (Only do four)

Five pigs so squeaky clean, cleanest you've ever seen

One jumped into the mud

Landed with a big THUD! (make a big clap to some sound effect, if you want)

Then there were four clean squeaky pigs.

Repeat, counting down

One pig so squeaky clean, cleanest you've ever seen

He jumped into the mud

Landed with a THUD

Then there were no more clean squeaky pigs

Source: Mel's Desk via Storytime Katie

Fingerplay/Flannel: Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree

*This song is great to use for this theme because it teaches us that the monkey is high and the alligator is low.

Book: Big Bug

*The two's loved seeing the animals in this book and making all the sounds too!

Fingerplay: (Use scarves)

Fast! Slow! Fast! Slow!

I say up and you say….DOWN!

Up! Down! Up! Down!

I say happy and you say… SAD!

Happy! Sad! Happy! Sad!

I say over and you say… UNDER!

Over! Under! Over! Under!

and you can add as many verses as you would like!

http://missmegsstorytime.com/opposites-storytime/

*My boss added some wonderful actions to this and I can't wait to use them myself!  She had the two's lay the scarves down on the ground and jump "over" them, and then the threw them in the air to go "under" them.  How wonderful is that!  

Our craft today was a giraffe with the words "front" and "back".

Credit: Craftulate

Pajama Party (Preschool and Two's)

Preschool Storytime:

*Normally, the kids are very excited but manageable for storytime. I don't know what it was about this particular day, but it was wild and woolly! It could have been our number of kids, which was way above normal, or the fact that we were all in our PJ's. I don't feel like this time was a total flop, but I do feel like I could have done a lot better with it. Do you ever feel that way? I do love all the books I read, but might have changed the second book, looking back on it. That's one of the main reasons I keep this blog, for reflection back on what did and didn't work. All that being said, Pajama storytime is a favorite theme of mine and I will definitely be repeating it!

Opening: Big Books

Book: Ten Pigs in Bed

*For this, I have ten pigs that I prop up on my puppet stage behind me. As I'm reading, my volunteer will take down a pig. This is set to the traditional song "Six in the Bed." When things disappear behind me, the preschooler go crazy screaming at me, and they didn't let me down!

Flannel: Five Cozy Blankets

5 cozy blankets with patterns galore,

1 covered Rabbit and then there were four.

4 cozy blankets as snuggly as can be,

1 covered Raccoon and then there were three.

3 cozy blankets with dots red and blue,

1 covered Fox and then there were two.

2 cozy blankets made just for fun,

1 covered Bear and then there was one.

1 cozy blanket left out in the sun,

It covered Owl and then there were none.

Credit: Flannel Board Fun

*One thing I will do differently with this the next time is have five actual blankets instead of the flannelboard sets I used. I would like to take my blankets and physically cover up the puppets with the blanket. I think the preschoolers would love this!

Book: Twinkle, Twinkle, ABC

*I was so excited to read this book, especially because I've never read it before in storytime.  After I read the title and asked the preschoolers to tell me the letters on the cover, it got very interesting.  Two or three preschoolers had to sing the alphabet song to me, and I think that kind of got everyone a little distracted.  Still, I think this is a wonderful movement book to use.

Fingerplay/Flannel: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Fingerplay/Flannel: What’s That Noise?

Credit: Librarian vs. Storytime

Our craft today was a sleeping bear! I apologize, I tried to give credit for the website where I found this craft, but the website wouldn't work for me.

Extra Books:

Time for Two’s Storytime:

*Hopefully our crowd will pick back up, but my attendance has been dropping for two's. Ideally I love to have around twenty kids for two's storytime. To me, this is a great balance because the two's help each other feel comfortable and they seem to interact better with me and each other. For this storytime we had five show up and they all seemed to have a great time. When I have a low number of two's show up for storytime, they tend to get very shy and don't always interact as well as when I have a bigger number. But once we got going with the first story everyone seemed to have a good time.

Opening: Big Books

Fingerplay: If You Want to Hear a Story

Book: Ten Pigs in Bed

*For this, I have ten pigs that I prop up on my puppet stage behind me. As I'm reading, my volunteer will take down a pig. This is set to the traditional song "Six in the Bed."

Fingerplay/Flannel: What’s That Noise?

Credit: Librarian vs. Storytime

Book: Everyone Is Yawning

*My two's adore lift-the-flap books and this book doesn't disappoint!  We all had fun hissing, oinking and hooting like animals!

Flannel: Five Cozy Blankets

Credit: Flannel Board Fun

Fingerplay/Flannel: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Action: Six in the Bed

*Instead of singing the song again, I handed out teddy bears to all the two's. I have a big bed with velcro on it, that I stick to my flannelboard. The teddy bears have velcro on the back of them, so that they will stick to the bed. The two's love to put anything on my flannelboard, so this was a lot of fun for them.

Our craft today was a sleeping bear! I apologize, I tried to give credit for the website where I found this craft, but the website wouldn't work for me.

Soup's On! (Preschool and Two's)

 Preschool Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Fingerplay: Mitten Match-Up

*The preschoolers love to tell me when I have something wrong on my flannelboard, and without them knowing it they are learning something also! For this game, I take some mitten cut-outs that I have. I will place one mitten on the flannelboard and tell them that I want to find my other matching mitten. Then I will purposefully hold up many wrong mittens, so that the preschoolers can tell me that it's not the correct mitten. Sometimes I will ask them why, so that they can tell me it's the wrong color or pattern. After many tries, I will find the correct one, place it on the flannelboard alongside the correct one.

Book: I Really Like Slop! (Volunteer acted out part of Piggie)

*This is the first time I've done this book in storytime, and it was so much fun! My volunteer played the part of Piggie, and I was Elephant. I still read everything from the book, but I add a big pot of pretend soup! If you're familiar with the book, Piggie is bringing his friend Elephant soup. The fun twist is Elephant doesn't want to eat some smelly looking soup. This makes it fun, because I get to squelch, holler, and end up taking a small bit of my pretend soup. The preschoolers really enjoyed watching me squirm and holler after eating this pretend soup.

Fingerplay/Flannel: Snowman

Snowman, snowman, hat so red, pat your legs and nod your head.

Snowman, snowman, hat so blue, touch your knee, then your shoe.

Snowman, snowman, hat so white, clap your hands with all your might.

Snowman, snowman, hat so green, jump up like a jumping bean.

Snowman, snowman, hat so brown, reach up high then touch the ground.

Snowman, snowman, hat so black, rub your tummy, then touch your back.

Snowman, snowman turn around and sit back down!

Book: There’s a Giraffe in My Soup! (With animals in soup bowl)

*This is my go-to book for soup storytime. Can you guess why? The giraffe on the front is so adorable! I have a soup pot that has a lid on top, which makes it perfect to hide little tiny animals inside. My volunteer will deliver my soup to me, multiple times, with zoo animals hiding inside it! The preschoolers went wild each time I pulled out a different animal! This book is so much fun to read or act out. I promise it will bring about lots of giggles and screams!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Winter Hiding Game???

Snowman, snowman, cold and round.

Where are you hiding? On the ground?

*For this game, I will take different winter items that I've printed out of clipart. I hide them behind different colored mittens on my flannelboard. The preschoolers love any kind of hiding game like this, and it's easy to change out what you're looking for.

Book: Is That Wise, Pig?

*This is another new book that I've never read in storytime, but it was a lot of fun!  My volunteer put all of our ingredients into our soup pot as I read them out.  All throughout the book, pig keeps trying to add galoshes and an umbrella to the soup.  Why?  Because pig has invited ten friends to eat the soup!  The characters in the book put on the galoshes and put up the umbrella to keep the soup from splashing up on them.  What I did in storytime was I put on my own galoshes and my volunteer put up an umbrella.  Why?  Because we both threw little paper cutouts of soup onto the preschoolers!  

Our craft today was a pot of soup that you could open up!  The preschoolers love any craft that opens up to reveal what is glued inside.

Extra Books:

Time for Two’s Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Fingerplay: If You Want to Hear a Story

Book: There’s a Giraffe In My Soup!

(With animals in soup bowl)

*This is my go-to book for soup storytime. Can you guess why? The giraffe on the front is so adorable! I have a soup pot that has a lid on top, which makes it perfect to hide little tiny animals inside. My volunteer will deliver my soup to me, multiple times, with zoo animals hiding inside it! The two's weren't sure what was going on at first, but quickly caught on with much excitement and delight.

Fingerplay/Flannel: Snowman

Snowman, snowman, hat so red, pat your legs and nod your head.

Snowman, snowman, hat so blue, touch your knee, then your shoe.

Snowman, snowman, hat so white, clap your hands with all your might.

Snowman, snowman, hat so green, jump up like a jumping bean.

Snowman, snowman, hat so brown, reach up high then touch the ground.

Snowman, snowman, hat so black, rub your tummy, then touch your back.

Snowman, snowman turn around and sit back down!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Winter Hiding Game???

Snowman, snowman, cold and round.

Where are you hiding? On the ground?

Book: Yum Yum!

*I decided to use this book at the last minute, and I'm glad I did! It's a great book to use with the two's, but the only thing I wish was that I had pulled the puppets to go with it. Why? Because I would have loved to had the food out on the flannelboard. This way, I could reach over, take the food off the flannelboard, and feed the food to the animals. The two's love it when I feed my puppets. Oh well, I can at least do this next time, right?

Fingerplay/Flannel: “Vegetable Soup” (tune: Farmer in the Dell)

       The soup is bubbling up (raise hands in air)

       The soup is bubbling up (raise hands in air)

       Stir it slow, around we go, (stir soup)

       The soup is boiling up (raise hands in air)

               Now we add some {carrots}

                       Now we add some {carrots}                           

Stir it slow, around we go, (stir soup)

Now we add some {carrots}

       *Repeat first line: The soup is boiling up (raise hands in air)

       Now we add some {corn}

           Now we add some {corn}                  

Stir it slow, around we go, (stir soup)

Now we add some {corn}

*Repeat first line: The soup is boiling up (raise hands in air)

Credit: Storytime With Miss Tara

*I had good intentions with this, I wanted to sing these lines as we were all putting our vegetables into our pot. But the two's were so excited to help me make pretend soup, they all rushed forward, and went crazy over putting items into my pot!  I really need to do this more often with them. It's great for working on fine motor skills.

*I got the best reaction out of the two's and their parents with the craft! I showed them the pot of soup and told them there was as surprise to it. I opened up the pot and revealed all the vegetables and a ladle (which isn't pictured below). They all oohed and aahed! It just warmed my heart and made me so happy!