J and K are for Jungle Jam with Kangaroo! (Preschool and Two's)

Preschool Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

App: Guess Jungle Sounds

*This is a wonderful app I found on Google play.  The kids loved guessing the animal sounds.  The only thing I would do differently is have a wireless speaker, to help amplify the sound.  That's something I am investing in very soon.

Book: Pouch!

*This is a great book to get the kids up and moving!  Or jumping!

Fingerplay: Kangaroo’s Pouch Guessing Game

*The kids did really well with this guessing game.  Check it out here!

Book:  Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Cabrera (With Puppets)

*This is a favorite book of mine to use with a jungle or water theme.  The kids loved seeing the animals pop up behind me!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree

Book: Parrot Tico Tango

*This is the first time I've used this book in storytime, but I love it!  Unfortunately, the copy I used didn't have the sing along CD, but I wish it did!  Parrot Tico Tango keeps taking food from all the other animals, but the book does teach you at the end that this isn't nice to do.  I had my volunteer behind me, and all the puppets would pop up behind me, holding all the food inside their mouths.  I would take the food from my puppets.  My plan was to make small cutouts of all the food and at the end throw this out on the kids. This did not happen, but hopefully next time!

Fingerplay: Lion Hiding Behind Door Guessing Game

Action Song: “Here We Go Jumping”

*We didn't do this fun jumping fingerplay, but you can find it here.

Action: We’re Going on a Lion Hunt!

*The kids were getting a little restless at this point, so we didn't go hunting for our lion at this storytime.  But it's always a fun thing to do!

Our craft today was the letter "J" for jungle! The kids glued down everything.

Credit: Blessings Overflowing

Extra Books:

Time for Two’s Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Fingerplay: If You Want to Hear a Story

Book: Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera

*This is a favorite book of mine to use with a jungle or water theme.  The kids loved seeing the animals pop up behind me!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Jungle Animal Action Cards

Fingerplay: Lion Hiding Behind Door Guessing Game

Book/Flannel: Pouch!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree

Fingerplay/Flannel: Jungle Animal Action Cards

Our craft today was the letter "J" for jungle! The kids glued down everything.

Credit: Blessings Overflowing

Extra Book:

November New Books

*This is such a cute book!  This isn't your traditional take on the song we all know and love, but I fell in love with this board book!  I can't wait to use this book in storytime and shake everything up!  Not only can the kids sing along as you read, but the words encourage them to get up and dance too!



*Oh my, pizza pie!  The "Cook in a Book" series are so cool!  There are more than just this one, and I would love to have them all at my library!  This book has so many cool features to it!  For instance, one know will turn the oven to a certain degree, another will make the sauce appear on your pizza.  This is truly a pizza inside the book!


*What is taking all the food from our garden? Why the pest, of course!  I'd love to turn this into a puppet show while I'm reading, and have all the yummy food disappear behind me.


*When I saw this book online, I had my hopes up that it would be cute.  But I had no idea how mind-boggling it would turn out to be!  Every time you turn the page another spinning gear pops up, until you get to the end with lots and lots of gears all spinning.


*I love rhyming books, and Bitty Bot hits the spot!  The illustrations are so bright and colorful, and this is perfect for a robot or bedtime storytime.


*Yes, I work in a library, but I love construction vehicles!  This book just stole my heart!  But don't you just want to squeeze that litlte construction cone that the bulldozer is cuddling?  Little boys and girls alike will want to be read this sweet little book at bedtime.



*Good ole Larry the lovable monster is back, but this time in a Christmas adventure!  What a great interactive book to use this time of year.


*Oh me, oh my!  The little penguin is back with his lollipop!  If you haven't read the first book, then put it on hold immediately!  I think this book would be hilarious to read at storytime, and I plan to use it at my winter themed storytime.


*I can't get enough of Peep and Egg!  Please tell me you've read these, if not then go now!  Little, sweet Egg will not take a bath, no matter what.  Until all the barnyard animals join him.  But where?  In the pond, of course!  I love the cover of this book, with the towel wrapped around Peep's head!


*Wow, there is so much goodness and life lessons packed into this book!  The timid little koala on the front cover learns that life isn't all about clinging to a tree, it's about letting go and living!  Yes, that sounds deep for a kids book, but trust me.  From my own experiences, let go of the tree and cling to God!  Back to the book, the illustrations are breathtaking.  Especially the page with all the animals marching along the water, and their reflections appear below them.  There aren't a lot of words to each page, but everything rhymes which makes the book flow wonderfully.  Can you tell how much I enjoyed this book?


*Normally, I don't like wordless books at all, but this book made me laugh so much!  Each page builds upon the previous letter, which just adds to the madness!  I would love to use this in storytime, but you really need to see each tiny, hilarious detail!  Check out the letter "E", it's my favorite!  In case you missed what each letter represents (which I did) the last page will give you a cheat sheet.


*This book took me by surprise, but in a good way.  Blue and yellow are having a fight over who is better?  But after they collide and make green, then they come to an agreement that they are both good!  But stop!  What about red?   If a book makes me chuckle at the end, then it's a winner!


*This is just a cute, silly book with wonderfully drawn animals!  Be sure to look for the mouse on each page, I think he's the bees knees!


*Baby bear is hiding from Mama bear all through this book, and I think the kids would love hunting for him!  I plan on using this in storytime, along with my big bear puppet.  I believe the kids would have fun not only hunting for baby bear inside the book but also seeing him pop up behind me!


*This book is so cute!  Yes, it's simple, but such a fun read-aloud.  I'd love to have a dinosaur pop up behind me while I'm reading this, to make it interactive and a bit sillier too!


*Oh my goodness, I knew by the cover this book would be a smash, but I had no idea!  With each turn of the page, you smash something else the opposite page.  My storytime kids love interactive books like this, and I know this one will entertain them!


*This is such an amazing guessing book, and I can't wait to use it with my storytime crowd!  The author gives great clues to the animal that's being guessed, and the illustrations are wonderful!




*You will need a box of tissues when you read this book.  I don't even know what to say, except after reading this, I have a new perspective on life.  To value everything God has given me, absolutely every single thing.  What this man went through, and he never gave up.  We can all learn something from this, and I hope that you do after reading it. 

Pumpkin Party (Preschool through Elementary)

It's that time of year again!  Time for our annual pumpkin party!  Every year we have a party filled with crafts, games and food.  It's open for ages preschool through elementary.  The kids are welcome to come dressed in costume.  This year was a good turnout, with 54 kids and 46 adults.  All of the crafts went over great, except for the monster weaving.  Not sure why, but that happens sometimes.  All of the food was eaten very quickly, we didn't have hardly any left!  Off to plan for next year!

Food:


Credit: Pretty Providence




Credit: Shaken Together


*I found a great deal on a skull cookie cutter, so I had to make skull brownies!  I just cut out the brownies, dusted them with powdered sugar and added candy eyes.  I bought the wrong size icing, so the mouths of the skulls didn't turn the way I wanted.  The tip was way too big.  But they all got eaten very quickly!


Crafts:

Credit: I Heart Crafty Things


Credit: Make and Takes




Credit: Easy Peasy and Fun


Credit: Glued to My Crafts






Games:

*Mummy bowling that my fabulous co-workers made for me!


*Musical tombstones.  I was very lucky to find these fabric chair covers on vacation one year.  The kids go crazy over this game!  It's just like musical chairs, and whomever wins will get a prize!


*Halloween Bingo
Credit: Crazy Little Projects

Decorations:
My boss made all of these wonderful wall hangings, which I love!  Don't you?






This year I was Little Miss Muffet.  I wanted to try and wrangle my curly hair into a spider.  Let me tell you, that was not easy!  Kudos to my mom who made this happen!

I is for I Spy (Two's and Preschool)

Unfortunately, I was sick to present this two's storytime, but my wonderful co-worker stepped in for me!  Below is what I had planned out, thank goodness for planning ahead!

Time for Two's Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Song: If You Want to Hear a Story

Book: My First Peek-a-Boo Animals 

*I was really excited to use this book, plus it's from Eric Carle, which always makes it a winner in my book!  After I read a page, I planned on having the puppet pop up behind me.

Fingerplay/Flannel: Hunting Game 

To change up what he hunt, we looked for a little duck behind the barns.  Also, there were other items hidden behind the barns, for a little added surprise.

Credit: Ms. Kelly at the Library

Fingerplay/Action: I see something that is green..

         I see something that is green.  Do you see it too?

         I see something that is green.

         HOP there if you do.

         With a hop, hop here.

         And a hop, hop, there.

         Here a hop, there a hop.

         Everywhere a hop, hop.

         I see something that is green.  Do you see it too?

         (Have puppets pop up: snake and alligator.)

*This is a great fingerplay to get the kids up and moving.  I have no idea where I found it, so if it's your idea, please let me know so that I can give you credit!

Book: I Spy on the Farm 

Fingerplay/Flannel: “I spy with my little eye… 

…an animal who’s big, brown and furry and who loves honey (bear).

…an animal who’s long and green and slithers on his stomach (snake).

…an animal who’s white and who has long ears, and loves carrots (rabbit).

*The two's are crazy over puppets, so after I read a line I like to feed them food!  It's not only a fun way to help teach the kids what animal they are seeing, but also to help teach them what animals eat.  I place the food on my flannelboard and have the kids tell me what food to feed each animal.

Fingerplay: Animal Action Cards

Book: Meet My Feet!

Our craft today was a cute little cat!  I tried to give credit for this, which I found online, but I couldn't find the website to link this to.  Below is what our cats looked like.

Extra Books:

Preschool Storytime:

*We had very low attendance...bad weather could have been factor?  A lot of kids might have been sick too, possibly. We had 12 kids and 12 adults. But I have to say, once the kids got settle in, they all seemd to have a great time!

Opening: Big Books

Book: What Does the Bee See?

*I love using this book, and most of the kids figured out right away what the bee was seeing. But they all still enjoyed guessing along with me!

Fingerplay/Action: I see something that is green..

I see something that is green.  Do you see it too?

      I see something that is green.

      HOP there if you do.

      With a hop, hop here.

      And a hop, hop, there.

      Here a hop, there a hop.

      Everywhere a hop, hop.

      I see something that is green.  Do you see it too?

    *The kids love jumping up and down, and when the alligator and frog popped up behind me, just an added bonus! I have no idea where I found it, so if it's your idea, please let me know so that I can give you credit!

Book: What Am I? By N.N. Charles

*This is a really fun guessing book, and the kids enjoyed it.

Fingerplay/Flannel: Hunting Game

To change up what he hunt, we looked for a little duck behind the barns.  Also, there were other items hidden behind the barns, for a little added surprise.  The preschoolers

Credit: Ms. Kelly at the Library

Book: What Am I? By Trapani

*The kids loved guessing and having the animal pop up behind me!

Fingerplay/Flannel: “I spy with my little eye…

…an animal who’s big, brown and furry and who loves honey (bear).

…an animal who’s long and green and slithers on his stomach (snake).

…an animal who’s white and who has long ears, and loves carrots (rabbit).

…an animal who’s brown, likes to eat carrots and neighs (horse)

Our craft today was a cat! The preschoolers did a wonderful job!