Chickens....but not really!

Well, I tried to get a chicken storytime together.  I gave it a go twice, but it fell flat, so I reverted back to a garden storytime that I did last April (2013).  I don't know why the chickens failed me!  Perhaps I didn't have the right books.  More songs?  Better flannels? I don't know.  Perhaps you can tell me!

Here's what I planned:

Storytime Apron:  This actually worked very well.  I pulled out an egg, and then another.  One, two, buckle my shoe.  And on and on until I came to a big fat hen at the end.  So far so good!

The first book I tried to share was Little Rooster's Diamond Button by Margaret Read MacDonald.  I generally love her stories but this one is rather odd, don't you think?  Well, I put it aside and tried:

 

Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman.  This is a fun book, but rather silly.  It went OK, but wasn't exactly the ticket either.

 

How about Is Everyone Ready for Fun? by Jan Thomas?  This was really FUN, but still not exactly a perfect storytime read.

 

Then I tried Chicken Little by Emberley.  And I liked this one, but...

I tried using another librarian's flannel board, The Most Wonderful Egg in the World, but it fell very flat!  I didn't know it well enough since I hadn't created it or something. (?)
So, then I tried:

Ten Fluffy Chickens

Ten Fluffy Chickens
Five eggs and five eggs
And that makes ten
Sitting on top is Mother Hen
Cackle, cackle, cackle
And what do I see?
Ten fluffy chickens
Yellow as can be!

 

This didn't work as the chicks were way too heavy and fell down off of the flannel board.  I guess you could do it and just hold up the eggs, but...

The storytime wasn't a complete flop as I brought out the shaky eggs and, of course, we sang my shakey egg song:

 

Shake, shake, shake your egg!  Shake, shake, shake your egg!
Shake, shake, shake your egg!  Shake your egg and put it on your head!
Put it on your....(get suggestions from the children)
And then finally,
Shake your egg and put it in it's nest!  (the plastic container that I store them in.)

And then we sang Laurie Berkner's song, "Oh, I Know a Chicken!"  That was fun!  This one may be even better with technology.  Her band does a really fine job and there's no problem with forgetting words or a verse.

 

For a puppet, I used...a really cute idea from Future Librarian Superhero.  It was cute, but it didn't last very long!
"Come, little chickens," calls Mother Hen (Beckoning motion)
"It's time to take your nap again."
And under her feathers the small chicks creep.
(Chicks creep into the palm of your hand, the Mother Hen.)
And she clucks a song til they fall asleep.
(Fold fingers to cover chicks, and make a rocking motion while clucking a lullaby.)

All in all, I was very disappointed in my effort.
Maybe I was just having a rotten day.  Maybe I should have tried a second day, but I threw it all aside and went back to the good old garden storytime which I tweeked a little and it's been fine.  Problem is, a few pre-schoolers do remember it from last spring. A two year rotation of storytimes is good for this very reason.  I do the same storytime all month for about 41 times.  You gotta love it if you do it that much!

Well, maybe you can get this chicken theme up and running.  Please let me know if you do!