Mooncake for Little Star (Preschool and Two's SRP)

Group and Preschool Storytime:

                       

Opening: Big Books

Book: The Moon Might Be Milk

*I had so much fun reading this book to my preschool kids! I used a lot of props with this, which made it come to life for the preschoolers. The premise of the book is that all the animals in the book think that the moon is made of all the ingredients it takes to make sugar cookies. Here at the library we were blessed to get some new kitchen play items, so I used our sugar cookies as a prop for this. I took the plain cookies and hid them inside my bowl, so the preschoolers thought that I was actually making cookies while I was reading. I took real flour and sugar and sprinkled it into my bowl. Some of it I would blow into the air to show that it was real. Then we all rolled our hands to mix it up and viola! I pulled out the play sugar cookie from the bottom of my bowl. The group that I did storytime for were just spellbound! I placed my cookies on a tray, and put them in my pretend oven. (This was my camera case, which I have a picture of below.) While the cookies were baking, my volunteer put the topping on them, which made some of them turn white on top. The kids were just amazed, which made me so happy!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Moon Hiding Game

Little moon, little moon, hiding in the sky.

Is that you behind the blue cloud I spy?

Credit: Storytime in the Stacks

Fingerplay/Flannel: 5 Little Dinos Jumping on the Bed

*For this, I've printed out five dino astronauts, that way we can sing five little dinos jumping on the bed. It just makes it easier on the preschoolers.

Book/Flannel: I Will Chomp You!

*It has been so long since I've read this book in storytime, and that is such a sad thing to write! The preschoolers went crazy over it! Probably because they got to do nothing but chomp the whole time. I do have to say, that was quite fun!

Fingerplay: 5 Candles

Five bright birthday candles and not one more,

The red one got blown out  (blow)

Then there were four.

Credit: Annes Library Life

*For this, I have a giant birthday cake, but mine only has three candles. I have the original rhyme that I found online, but I just say three candles. We all try our best to blow the candles out, but sometimes they just come back up! I hold up the cake, and slowly pull the candles down from the back. The preschoolers loved when the candles would just magically pop back up! I've included two pictures of the cake, front and back, to show how the candles are attached.

Action: Feed Monkey Bananas

Extra Books:

Time for Two’s Storytime:

                            

Opening: Big Books

Book/Flannel: Little Mouse and the Big Cupcake

Fingerplay/Flannel: Moon Hiding Game (Picture below)

Little moon, little moon, hiding in the sky.

Is that you behind the blue cloud I spy?

Credit: Storytime in the Stacks

Fingerplay: Three Candles

Five bright birthday candles and not one more,

The red one got blown out  (blow)

Then there were two.

Credit: Annes Library Life

Book: Mixed-Up Truck

Fingerplay/Flannel: 5 Dinos Jumping on the Bed

Our craft today was an adorable monkey! I was so excited to see how these turned out, but unfortunately I was out sick. I do have a picture of ours, and we changed ours from the original to match the space theme.

Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf_1_5wvB5Y

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess! (Preschool and Two's)

Preschool Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Action: Real vs. Silly Cake Ingredient Sort

*I was so excited to do this activity for the preschoolers! I used a cute little flannel oven I had, and brought real flour and sugar to sprinkle into my bowl. Then I put my "dough" into my flannel oven and pulled out my birthday cake! Usually when I do something like this the preschoolers are so happy, but for whatever reason they weren't as thrilled this time. But that's okay, it's still such a cute idea to use silly ingredients!

Credit: Storytime in the Stacks

Book: Wolf’s Coming (Special guest doing ASL)

*This is my go-to book for a birthday or pizza storytime. I was afriad the preschoolers would be tired of this book, but thankfully they still loved it!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Cat in the Hat

*For this wonderful idea, I put up Cat in the Hat, but without his hat.  Then I asked the preschoolers to help me find his hat! Of course, I put up many things that aren't correct, until I find the one that fits just right!  I couldn't link the website, because it isn't secure, but I'm sure you can find it!

Credit: Storytime Thoughts

Book: Hop on Pop (Read two pages where we jump up and down)

*I am trying to add more elements from my recent storytime training, and this presented the perfect opportunity. I made a "stop" and "go" sign. Before I read the two pages out of our book, I held up the two signs and asked the preschoolers if they could tell me what my signs said. Quite a few of them could tell me, which was great! After that, I pointed to each letter and we all said the letters of each word together. Then I told them that I would hold up the go sign and we would all jump! When I held up the stop sign, that would me stop! We ended up doing this three times before we stopped.

Book: Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes

*I have to read my favorite book about cupcakes this time of year and Pete the Cat is the best!  For this book, I have ten cupcakes set up behind me on the puppet stage.  As I'm reading, my volunteer will pull the cupcakes down behind me, much to the preschoolers delight!

Book: The Mixed-Up Truck

*I am so happy that I used this book with props! I decided to bring actual flour with me, to show the preschoolers what the mixed-up truck was using. I took some of the flour, put it in the palm of my hand and blew on it so that it would fly through the air. In no way did I expect the reaction of the preschoolers! They begged me to do it over and over! Next time I will bring powdered sugar, just because it's easier to handle. The best part of this book was the ending. Why? Because the adorable truck causes bubbles to happen! Of course, I had to do this too! We have to fabulous hand-held bubble machines, that run on batteries. You literally just fill them with solution, turn them on, and instantly bubbles will come pouring out of them. On two tables I had both machines prepped and ready to go, but I covered them up so that none of the preschoolers would know about them. All I told them was that there would be a surprise at the end of the book. When I showed the page of the book where mixed-up truck created bubbles, my volunteer and I turned on the bubble machines. POOF! Bubbles went flying everywhere and the preschoolers loved it! I was afraid instant chaos would have ensued, but everyone was very courteous to each other. I think the biggest factor in this was because we had two machines. I don't break out the bubbles very often, but they are beneficial. Kids of all ages can get a lot out of bubbles because they help develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Today we played games! Click here to check out what all we did.

Our craft today was a birthday cake! I don't know why, but the preschoolers love making any craft that has to do with food.

I never pass up an opportunity to dress up for the preschoolers, so today I had to be the Cat in the Hat!

Extra Read-Alouds:

Time for Two’s Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Fingerplay: If You Want to Hear a Story

Book: Pete the cat and the Missing Cupcakes

Fingerplay/Flannel: Cat Guessing Game

Cat in the hat, all white and black?  Behind which colored hat are you at?

http://strongstart.blogspot.com/2012/03/cat-in-hat-felt-game.html?m=0l

Book: Hop on Pop (Read two pages where we jump up and down)

*I am trying to add more elements from my recent storytime training, and this presented the perfect opportunity. I made a "stop" and "go" sign. Before I read the two pages out of our book, I held up the two signs and asked the two's if they could tell me what my signs said. A few of them could tell me, which was really good! After that, I pointed to each letter and we all said the letters of each word together. Then I told them that I would hold up the go sign and we would all jump! When I held up the stop sign, that would me stop! We ended up doing this three times before we stopped

Book: Where Is Baby’s Birthday Cake?

Fingerplay: Five Little Cupcakes in the Bakery Shop

Down around the corner at the bakery shop

Were five yummy cupcakes with sprinkles on top

Along came ________ with a dollar to pay

He/she bought a cupcake,  and took it away!

Credit: Flannelboard Fun

Today we played games! Normally the two's stick around and play games, but for whatever reason many of them left. But you can still check out what all we did here.

Extra Read-Alouds:

Our craft today was a birthday cake! I don't know why, but the preschoolers love making any craft that has to do with food.