Farm Animals

Let's start storytime with a guessing game!  I'll say a riddle and you guess what is in the apron pocket!  OK, ready?

On grass and hay I chew and chew
I give you milk and say' "Moo Moo!"

 

Maa Maa Maa is what I say.
Maa Maa Maa all the day.
(They always guess sheep, but it's another animal that gives us milk.  It rhymes with boat.)

 

In mud and dirt I like to play.
Oink, Oink, Oink is what I say!

 

I'll give you rides, that's lots of fun!
Neigh Neigh Neigh, I gallop and run!

 

My feathers can be yellow, white or black.
Waddle, waddle, waddle, quack, quack, quack!

 

Baa Baa Baa, yes I have some wool,
Baa Baa Baa, three bags full!

 

If I'm your friend, you're never alone,
Woof!  Woof!  Woof!  Give me a bone!

 

I have whiskers and very soft fur.
I like to sleep and I go Puurrr, Purrr.

 

I'll lay eggs for you in my nest.
Cluck, Cluck, Cluck, I'll do my best!

 

Where do all of these animals live?  Yes, the farm!  Let's have a farm animal storytime!

We start with a really great farm animal book:  Duck on a Bike by David Shannon.

This one is a winner!  Kids of all ages love it-especially the ending!

 

Then we put the flannel animals into the barn (the flannel board) but leave the farmer's dog.  His name is BINGO!

 

 

Do you know the song?  We sing a verse and then talk about the tricky part:  turn the first letter over and clap that letter.  Don't sing it!  These children have some mad clapping skills!

 

 

 

Time for another great farm animal story:  The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson.

 

Such a fun, repetitive book with another great surprise ending.

 

Then, it's time to see what's in the 'big red barn', a 'bag o' puppets'.

 

It's Old MacDonald's farm!

And we sing:

With a moo moo here:

 

 

With a baa baa there:

 

 

Here a meow:

 

 

There a quack:

 

 

every where an oink oink!

Old MacDonald had a....Monkey???

 

Old MacDonald, You're silly!   Monkeys don't live on the farm.  Where do they live, children?  Right, the jungle!  Well, silly Old MacDonald had a Monkey.  What do Monkeys say?  oooooo  eeeeee!  With an ooooo oooo oooo here and a eee eee eee there...

Old MacDonald ends with a little chick.

 

It quiets the room down to hear a little peep peep here and there. 

This is a fun and silly storytime, perfect for Spring!

 

 



 





Re-Visiting Space

I decided to repeat my space storytime from two years ago.  Here's how it went:

I told the story of Eight Spinning Planets with the Storytime apron.  This is a great rhyming story to flannalize:

 

 

Then I read the book, Here in Space by Milgrim  It's helpful to point out to the children that the boy in this adventure story picks something up from each place he visits.  See?  What did he pick up on this page? 

 

 

Time for a stretch after the book:

Zoom!  Zoom! Zoom!

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom.  (Hand in prayer position and push up three times)

We’re going to the moon.  (Point up to the sky)

If you want to take a trip,

Climb aboard my rocket ship.  (Climbing motion)

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We’re going to the Moon.  (repeat)

Count down!

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

(Crouch down with hands together)

Blast off!

(Jump up and shoot arms into the air)

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,

We’re going to the Moon!

 

 

Rocket Ships:

 

Five litte Rockets blasting out the door!

One goes to Mars and then there are four.

Four Little Rockets winking at me.

One shot off and then there were three!

Three little rockets with nothing to do.

One shot off and then there were two!

Two Little rockets afraid of the sun.

One shot off and then there was one!

One little rocket alone is no fun.

It shot off and then there were none.

 

 

 



As I said, I did this Space storytime about two years ago and it went really well, but I was bothered by the lack of a puppet.  I always have a puppet to help end storytime, but didn't have one for this theme.  Buzz Lightyear?  No, too Disney.  Then I came across this post which I had pinned to my pinterest Board:
Litte Astronauts by Storytime Katie. 

 

Instead of just two, I had to make five and then I had to make one more little rocket ship. 

Five Litte Astronauts

Five little Astronauts floating in space

The first one said, "Let's get out of this place!"

The second one said, "Off to the moon!"

The third one said, "I'll be there soon!"

The fourth one said, "My space ship is ready!"

The fifth one said, "Wait!  Hold it steady!"

Then Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, they took off on their flight

And the five little Astronauts zoomed out of site.

(Have a safe trip!)

 

 

This storytime worked well for all ages, and by that I mean toddlers to Pre-schoolers.  We had to talk about why you couldn't see the Astronauts eyes (they have helmets on) and there were other very interesting discussions!  It was a blast!