STORYTIME CRATES

My library system seeks to be as efficient as possible and to avoid duplication of workload. Some tasks are centralized (i.e. collection development). Other tasks and responsibilities are split between a team of librarians. This is the case with storytime planning. Nine of us are responsible for planning and presenting storytime sessions. We split the year up into four seasons, and every season each one of us is responsible for planning 1-2 storytimes crates (or 4-8 per year).

Crate guidelines dictate we include 12-14 of the best picture books related to the theme, a minimum of 2 board books and 2 bilingual or Spanish books, ephemera (flannelboards, puppets, musical cds, etc), a sample storytime handout, an comprehensive list of extension activities, coloring sheets, and sample crafts. I tend to go a bit overboard. OCD and the artist within dictates I include a minimum of 3 coloring sheets, and 2-3 craft ideas. The idea is to include more than can be used during any one storytime session, but enough to provide each other is a variety of thematic options.

These thematic storytime crates then circulate to a different district location  based on a predetermined weekly rotation cycle. Instead of planning each weekly storytime session from scratch (I LOVE planning storytime sessions, but its an incredibly time consuming process!) I simply explore my colleague’s crates and tweak a few things here and there to fit my needs. Sometimes that means I’ll use a different picture book, or add my own puppets or flannelboards to the mix, or research a different extension activity. I’ve planned a handful of crates up until this point, but this is the first I’m featuring via the blog.

I’ve included photos of the Milk & Cookie themed flannelboards I created for the crate.For added thematic flair, I borrowed a child sized baker costume from my library’s early learning space and dressed up a stuffed dog in order to flesh out my crate. I even threw in my rolling pin. I LOVE ephemera!

Baker Dog, Five Chocolate Chip Cookies with Dough and Rolling Pin

Five Animal Shaped Ginger Cookies Flannelboard

Cookie Shop Flannelboard

Four Gingerbread Cookies Flannelboard

It Looked Like Spilt Milk Flannelboard

…..

DOOR 2 DOOR STORYTIME

EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY SKILL: Print Motivation

FIVE DAILY ACTIVITIES: Talk. Sing. Read. Write. Play.

BOOKS TO DISPLAY

The Best Mouse Cookie by Laura Numeroff (Board Book)
May I Have a Cookie Please? by Jennifer E. Morris (Board Book)
Si le da una Galletita a un Raton by Laura Numeroff (Spanish)
La Primera Luna Llena de Gatita by Kevin Henkes (Spanish)
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson
Mr. Cookie Baker by Monica Wellington
Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
The Duckling Gets a Cookie by Mo Willems
Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? by Karen Beaumont
Milk and Cookies by Frank Asch
Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar? by David Shannon
The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins

BASIC TIMELINE

Intro
Hello Song
Storytime Rhyme
Read-a-Loud Book
Finger Rhyme
Action Rhyme
Action Rhyme
Read-a-Loud Book
Flannelboard Rhyme
Flannelboard Rhyme
Action Rhyme
Read-a-Loud Book
ASL Goodbye Song
Craft

READ-A-LOUD BOOKS

Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar by Bonnie Lass
The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson
It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw

ACTIVITIES

Hello Song: Bread & Butter, Marmalade & Jam
Bread and butter, marmalade and jam,
Let’s say hello as quiet as we can.
Hello.
Bread and butter, marmalade and jam,
Let’s say hello as loud as we can.
Hello.
Bread and butter, marmalade and jam,
Let’s say hello as high as we can.
Hello.
Bread and butter, marmalade and jam,
Let’s say hello as low as we can.
Hello.

Storytime Rhyme: Open Them, Shut Them
Open them, shut them, open them, shut them,
Give a little clap!
Open them, shut them, open them, shut them,
Lay them in your lap.

Finger Rhyme: Dance Your Fingers
Dance your fingers up
Dance your fingers down
Dance your fingers to the side
Dance your fingers all around
Dance your fingers on your tummy
Dance your fingers on your head
Dance your fingers on your shoulders
Now put them all to bed.
Action Rhyme: Boys and Girls
Boys and Girls, turn around 3x
Boys and Girls, touch the ground
Boys and Girls, reach up high and touch the sky
Boys and Girls, blink your eyes
Boys and Girls, touch your nose
Boys and Girls, wiggle your toes
Boys and Girls, slap your knees
Boys and Girls, sit down please

Action Rhyme: Making Cookies
I am making cookie dough. (hold out arms in a circle, like a bowl)
Round and round the beaters go. (roll hands)
Add some flour from a cup. (shake a pretend cup)
Stir and stir the batter up. (stirring motion)
Roll them, cut them nice and neat. (rolling pin motion)
Put them on a cookie sheet. (place pretend cookies)
Bake them, count them 1-2-3. (counting motion)
Serve them to my friends for tea. (take a bite!)

Flannelboard Rhyme:  Five Ginger Cookies
Five ginger cookies lying on a tray
One jumped up and flew away. (Take away the butterfly)
Four ginger cookies lying on a tray
One jumped up and hopped away. (Take away the frog)
Three ginger cookies lying on a tray
One jumped up and swam away. (Take away the fish)
Two ginger cookies lying on a tray
One jumped up and hopped away (Take away the rabbit)
One ginger cookies lying on a tray
He jumped up and flew away (Take away the bird)
No ginger cookies lying on a tray
I should have eaten them right away.

Flannelboard Rhyme: Cookie Shop
Down around the corner in the bakery shop
Were five little cookies with sprinkles on top…
Along came someone with a nickel to pay
And they bought a little cookie and they took it away.
(Continue until all the cookies are gone)

Action Rhyme: Great Big Cookie
I am a great big cookie, (circle hands over head)
Chocolatey and round, (extend hands out to sides)
Filled with lots of chocolate chips, (point to chips)
The best that can be found. (rub tummy)
I am a great big cookie, (circle hands over head)
Take a bite of me. (make chewing motions)
Tasty, sweet, delicious, (extend hands out to sides)
I’m oh-so-yummy! (rub tummy)
I WAS a great big cookie, (circle hands over head)
The very best around. (extend hands out to sides)
Now there’s nothing left of me, (shake head)
Just crumbs upon the ground. (sit down)

Ending Song:  Goodbye Friends
Goodbye friends.
Goodbye friends.
Goodbye friends.
It’s time a say goodbye.

CRAFT: Giant Sugar Cookie with Sprinkles, Letter C is for Cookie, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Paper Bag Puppet!

I selected Milk & Cookies as the theme for my Spring 2016 storytime crate. As per crate guidelines, I included a number of different coloring sheet and craft options. Kiddos who attended my outreach storytime sessions at Head Start, the developmental preschool and the elementary school received coloring sheets. For my in-house storytime sessions, I opted to go with the Giant Cookie with Sprinkles Craft (inspired by Lil Busy Bodies Blog) given it’s simplicity. I created a set of templates. The largest cookie outline was printed onto brown cardstock. I printed the smaller, inner cookie template on different colored pieces of cardstock. My volunteers cutout all of the cookie pieces, and then I supplied attendees with glue, crayons, markers, pom-poms, rickrack, foam and sticky jewels. My sample is bit simpler as you can see.

The idea for the Letter C Cookie Craft came from The Measured Mom.

While my Give a Mouse a Cookie Paper Bag Puppet was inspired by Lindsey Foushee’s original, which I found via Pinterest.

REVIEW:

Storytime went really well with one exception: kiddos had a hard time focusing during the reading of Who Took the Cookies From the Cookie Jar. Luckily, I was able to adapt my read-a-loud for subsequent storytime sessions during that week (I ended up performing this storytime 9 times in 1 week due to my outreach storytime schedule). So, it got better… despite the fact I just could not get any audience to buy in and repeat repetitious phrases with me. I’m glad I made so many flannelboards, because the kiddos really enjoyed the three I used. To be honest, I decided to tell the flannelboard version of It Looked Like Spilt Milk. 

 

. . . Spring 2016 . . .

 

Cookies Felt Flannelboards If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Library Milk Storytime Storytime Props