Game Stretchers

I really want this blog to survive and even thrive, but I've done very little lately to contribute to it--apologies! Maybe if we all try to post at least once or twice more before this session and re-evaluate whether we wanna keep it for the spring schedule?

Anyway, I thought I could share a couple of things that always work for me, especially in a mixed-age grou. First is "The Rhyming Game" (fancy name, huh?). I usually read the kids a rhyming book (this time it was the excellent and relatively new "Rhyming Dust Bunnies") and ask them if they know how to rhyme. When they inevitably insist that YES THEY DO! I ask them to stand up and repeat after me...

Me: Say 'red'...
Them: RED!
Me: And touch your...head! Now, say 'jelly'...
Them: BELLY!
Me: And touch your...belly! Wow, you really are good rhymers!

Of course, I'm always pointing to the body party I'm asking them to guess while I say the first word. Even then, it takes a few rounds for kids to use the hints. But it's the sort of stretcher you can make as long as you want (they don't seem to lose interest) and just make up as you go along. I always end by asking them to say "belbow," which gets a laugh, because even 3-year-olds know that's not a real word.

Another game I like to use as a stretcher is "Librarian [instead of Simon] Says"--the Pajama Storytime kids dig this. I try to make it library-relevant by asking them to "read a book" or "point to your grown-up" or "wave at the librarian" or whatever. Younger children don't really get the elimination aspect of the game, nor do older kids like the elimination aspect, so I...yeah, generally ignore it. Right at the end I'll shake my head NO emphatically and tell the kids to do something without first saying "Librarian says..." and cheerfully ask them all to sit down. Because they're all out at that point.

Bird storytime

I had never done the Saturday storytime, and the kids were definitely younger than I expected, so I'm glad I had a few back-up books. (Thank you Charlie Chick!). I read Ducks Don't Wear Socks, and the kids were a little slow getting into it, but once the duck was in his underwear, they were excited. Also, the parents seemed to enjoy that one. I did Little White Duck, and a little girl sang the entire book along with me. I was very thankful for the vocal accompaniment. I was going to read Penguin by Polly Dunbar, but switched to Cock-a-Moo-Moo. The kids liked this story. Then, I finished with Charlie Chick. Some of the really little ones were wandering a bit, but they were very intrigued by the duck puppet for Five Little Ducks. Also, I am becoming a true believer in the felt board because the kids were almost silent for Two Little Blackbirds, even when I messed up and couldn't remember the birds (although the parents chuckled).

Moral of today's story: A duck in his underwear is real comedy.

Ground Control

My storytime this Saturday was themed "Race to Space." One of the best things I did was "Two Little Aliens" with these adorable alien hand puppets we have (that Lori pointed out). I managed to read Beegu (Deacon) without crying, which is always a triumph. [It's one of those rare books, though, where I think a bit of supportive/explanatory talking makes it better and more enjoyable for the kids.]

I also read "Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me," which I practically have memorized, and that's always a hit--as long as you introduce it with a short discussion about how the moon changes.

One thing that struck me, though, was how many kids seemed to show up specifically for the "space" theme. And I didn't actually have a ton of spaceman/space travel/planet material, which I think was maybe disappointing to those patrons.

Forest Friends Storytime

We had about 12 mostly two year olds at this Saturday's storytime. I read I'm not Cute, A Good Day, Busy Little Squirrel and Owl Babies. I should have followed the maxim of reading the books again before sharing them with the kids, because I picked I'm Not Cute off the shelf rather than the storytime cabinet and it was missing two pages. That was awkward. I had never read A Good Day in storytime before, but it was perfect for this group and worked well with the Hap Palmer "High and Low" song.

The Gray Squirrel song, adapted to work with our brown squirrel puppet, was popular as was the Little Acorn rhyme. I had the kids stand up to do the I'm A Nut refrain and told them to be super silly. They loved this. Also, by popular request we did Alice the Camel. We ended with Rock-a-bye your Bear from the Wiggles which I can't get enough of. Thanks for sharing this one with me Andy.