Reminder: Love StoryTime 2/8 TUESDAY 10:30am - this week!

valentine-clipart.com

 This week we will have a special Storytime on Tuesday 2/8 instead of Thursday. Time will remain at 10:30am.

Stories will all be about LOVE and we will do some songs/fingerplays, and make some animals out of cut out hearts!  Sure to be a good time for all!

Hope to see you there!
Ms. Vanessa

Owl Storytime ~ 2/3/2011

Brrr! That's what I said this morning, but SOOO very glad I was able to do storytime again this Thursday at The Book Spot in Round Rock!

Today's storytime was all about Owls - Hoooo Hoooo Hoooo!

Of course we started out with our Hello Song! :-) Then talked about an owl and how they make the sound WHOOOO WHOOOO WHOOOO!

This week I had many books to choose from, but chose the top 3 to read and another book to help with talking about animals that owls see at night (really about animals they 'hunt' at night, but downplayed that part for our little listeners!)

Books:

• Bear’s New Friend by Karma Wilson - about a new friend that Bear makes on his search of who was making sounds and then hiding in a deep hole! Who??  An Owl!!
• "I’m Not Cute!” by Jonathan Allen - A cute book about a baby owl who doesn't think he's very cute - or does he?  Cute story and the kids and moms seemed to really like this one!
• Owl babies by Martin Waddell - story about 3 owl babies who live in a tree and wake to their mom being gone one night! In the end the mommy owl comes back of course and loves on her babies!
• We then talked about how owls can see in the dark and I wanted to discuss what animals are active at night by using the book Whoo goes there? by Jennifer A Ericsson.  This book has great illustrations and I had the kids help identify all the pictures from the pages - mouse, bird, porcupine, beaver, cat, etc. This activity kept the kids attention and was good to get them engaged!

Songs/Rhymes (Original Authors Unknown):

We then did some great finger plays that I found online. I love that the kids are starting to do some of these with me. I hope that continues!

5 Little Owls-Fingerplay
5 little owls on a moonlit night 5 little owls are quite a sight.
5 little owls Are you keeping score? One flew away! And then there were 4.
4 little owls Happy as can be, One flew away! Then there were 3.
3 little owls Calling "Whoo! Whoo!" One flew away! And that left two.
2 little owls having lots of fun. One flew away! And that left 1.
1 little owl We are almost done. He flew away! And that leaves none.

IF YOU WANT TO BE AN OWL by Jean Warren
Tune:  “If You’re Happy And You Know It”
If you want to be an owl, shout – Who! Who!
If you want to be an owl, shout – Who! Who!
Then you get to sleep all day
And at night you get to play.
If you want to be an owl, shout – Who! Who!

Wide Eye Owl
There's a wide eye owl (make fingers in large circles and cup over eyes)
With a pointed nose (use fingers to make a triangle & point out for nose)
2 pointed ears (use fingers for ears)
and claws for toes (wiggle fingers like toes)
he lives way up in the tree (point up to tree top)
and when he looks at you (point at kids)
he flaps his wings (use arms for wings, and flap)
and says whooo whooo (continue flapping wings)

We then talked about how Owls are silent flyers and reiterated that they say HOOO HOOO HOOO!  We then all pretended to be owls and flew around the kids area saying HOOO HOOO HOOO! We all flew around and ended up at the craft table! CRAFT TIME!!

Craft:

For today's craft we made Owl Masks!  I also handed out a couple coloring sheets and the kids seemed to really like it!  Here are some pictures from our activity!

During the Activity:

Completed Masks:

Our Youngest Attendee!

Had to take a picture of Ms. Vivi with her beautiful coloring page!  Love this girl and her creativity!

 
I had such great fun time today and it was great to stay warm inside with our friends even when it was so cold outside! Thanks to everyone who attended!

Next week's storytime will be on Tuesday instead of Thursday!  So I hope that some of you can come out on Tuesday 2/8 10:30am for a Valentine/LOVE Storytime with some great books and heart animal craft!

Until Next Time! Keep Reading!
Ms. Vanessa

Bear/Hibernation Storytime @ The Book Spot on 1/27/2011

I really enjoyed out Bear/Hibernation storytime this week because I LOVED the books and enjoyed singing songs with those that attended. I must apologize for being late on posting this and for forgetting to take pictures of the awesome bears that the kids made!  They were much more creative than mine!

The kids were awesome and did a good job listening. Several of the kids were playing with the letters on the magnet boards right before storytime and were building words like GUM, STOP, etc.. they did a great job making up words and overall I was very impressed!

Of course we sang out welcome song and I think it's a great way to catch the kids attention because they sit and actually look at me! :-)

We talked briefly about hibernation and how we would read our books, then sing, and then they would get to make their own bears! They especially liked that idea!

Books:

Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! by Maureen Wright - In this book the wind tries to tell Mr Bear that it's time to Sleep, but he keeps hearing the wrong things and so he goes around driving a jeep, sweeping, diving deep, and climbing a mountain steep! Kept the kids attention VERY well!

Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming - Very cute story that investigates many different animals that sleep during the winter and they all tell each other that winter is here and they should hibernate/sleep.  I asked the kids which animals were mentioned in the story and spent some time discussing all the animals that sleep during the winter.

Old Bear by Kevin Henkes - I think the kids were tired at this point, but I wanted to push through this wonderful story.  The pictured are very colorful because the bear in the story is sleeping and dreaming about all the other seasons.  I say, even for the kids that were half listening, it was a great story!

Honorable Mention:

Hibernation Station by Michelle Meadows - I didn't get to read this story this week, but if you are looking for another book about all the different animals that Hibernate this one worked great at home with my kids.  Had good rhymes and very vivid pictures.

Songs/Rhymes (Original Authors Unknown):

The songs were a great hit this week! We also added If you are happy and you know it and Head shoulders, knees and toes to get the kids moving before our craft!

Hibernation Song - sung to "Are You Sleeping"

Bear is sleeping, bear is sleeping

In the cave, in the cave.

I wonder when he'll come out, I wonder when he'll come out

In the spring, In the spring.

Birds are flying, birds are flying

In the sky, in the sky.

I wonder when they'll come back, I wonder when they'll come back,

In the spring, in the spring.

Mr. Bear - sung to "If You're Happy And You Know It"

Mr. Bear says all he wants to do is sleep

Now that winters here and snow is very deep

He has curled up in his den

And we probably won't see him

Till the spring when all he'll want to do is eat!

A cute action poem:

Winter is cold (Hug yourself and shiver)

There is snow in the sky (Flutter fingers above your head)

The squirrel gathers nuts (Pretend to gather nuts)

And the wild geese fly (Flap arms)

The fluffy red fox (Cup hands over head to form ears)

Has his fur to keep warm (Stroke arms as if stroking fur)

The bear's in her cave (Form a cave shape with your arms)

Sleeping all through the storm (Fold hands under cheek and pretend to sleep)

Craft: Work with Circles and make a bear! :-) Sorry I didn't get a picture of some of the other kids as they were doing their craft,  but they were all awesome!

We then sang our goodbye song and we were done!  It was an awesome time!

I hope to see some of you this coming week.. This week's theme: OWLS!

Until Next time! Keep reading!

Ms. Vanessa

Penguin StoryTime @ The Book Spot 1/20/2011

Hi Everyone! We had another wonderful storytime this week focused on Penguins!

The Book Spot has done some remodeling of the children's area and it looks great! More space for reading time, relaxing, and playing! Enjoy!

This week was all about Penguins.  When I asked what sound a Penguin made I got several answers - "Quack", "Tweet", and "Squawk" - LOL.  We aren't sure, but it's definitely fun to try to figure it out!

Of course we sang our welcome song - I'm hoping in a few weeks everyone will join me in singing. Everyone found a spot to sit, and we started to read!

Here is the list of books I read this week:

Penguins by Liz Pichon - cute story about some penguins who find a camera that was dropped by a little girl at the zoo! FLASH! CLICK! ;-)

A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis - Story about Edna the penguin that is searching for something that isn't white, black, or blue!

Where is Home, Little Pip? by Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman - Little Pip wanders away from home and goes on a search to find home and in the process talks to several different animals who tell us where their home is.  In the end mama and papa find Little Pip and we find that home is where we are with our families and where we feel safe and loved! Nice message!

Five Little Penguins Slipping on the Ice by Steve Metzger - of course always the crowd pleaser!

Songs were a big hit with everyone, even the little ones that attended the storytime.  So much fun!
 
Songs/Rhymes (Original Authors Unknown):

“I’m A Little Penguin”

I'm a little penguin

Black and white,

Short and wobbly

An adorable sight.

I can't fly at all

But I love to swim,

So I'll waddle to the water

And dive right in!

I’m a Little Penguin

In the sea.

I can swim as fast as can be!

When I catch a fish, just look at me.

I’m as proud as I can be.

Penguin Family

One royal penguin . .feeling very blue (hold up one finger)

Called for his brother then there were two (hold up two fingers)

Two royal penguins. . .swimming in the sea (swimming motion)

Called for their sister then there were three (hold up three fingers)

Three royal penguins waddle on the shore (waddle)

Call for their mother, then there were four (hold up four fingers)

            Four royal penguins learning how to dive (Make diving motion)

            Call for their father, then there were five (hold up five fingers)

 

After storytime, songs, and our good bye song we went ahead and did our awesome craft: Penguin Puppets!  We had such a good time gluing down our pieces to make our penguins! Several of the children named their puppets and pretended that they were eating fish!

After craft time we also shared blueberry banana muffins! YUM YUM!! :-)

MUFFIN TIME!!!

Until Next time, keep reading!
Ms. Vanessa

This week's storytime - PENGUINS!

I hope everyone is getting excited! This week's storytime will be on Thursday 1/20/2011 at 10:30am again at the great Book Spot in Round Rock!

This week's storytime is inspired by PENGUINS!  We'll again have a few great stories, songs, and craft!

I hope you can make it!

Until then!
Ms. Vanessa

Snowman StoryTime @ The Book Spot 1/13/2011

I was so very excited and nervous for my first storytime at The Book Spot today, 1/13/2011!  I was so honored to have some friends show up to support me and I think they (and their children) enjoyed the storytime! YAY!

In case you didn't know - Snowmen are pretty cool!  They were the topic for Today's storytime!  I'll try to keep track of what we are doing during storytime - stories, songs, crafts. :-)

I hope you enjoy!

Of course we had to start with a Welcome song to say Good Morning to all the kiddos!  Then we dove into the world of snowmen!

I read the following books today, and I think they went over pretty well!
Books:

Snow Family by Daniel Kirk

Snowmen At Night by Caralyn Buehner

Snow Friends by M Christina Butler and Tina Macnaughton

All You need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle

Even the babies wanted in on the action! ;-) The kids were great listeners!

Songs/Rhymes (Original Authors Unknown):

Five Little Snowmen (sung to: "5 little monkeys")

Five little snowmen riding on the sled (pretend five fingers are sledding)

One fell off and bumped his head (pretend one finger falls off...rub head)

I called Frosty and Frosty said (dial imaginary telephone)

"No more snowmen, riding on that sled!" (say in a deep voice)

Four little snowmen... etc

5 little snowmen: (sung to "5 little pumpkins)

5 little snowmen sitting on the ground, (pat hands on floor)

the first one said; "oh my aren't we round." (make circle with arms)

The second one said; "there are snowflakes in the air." (wiggle fingers above head)

The third one said; "but we don't care." (shrug shoulders)

The fourth one said; "lets run and run and run. (pat hands quickly on the floor)

The fifth one said; "I'm ready for some fun." (smile)

Whew went the wind (blow) and out came the sun (make circle with arms over head)

and the five little snowman knew their fun was done.( pretend your melting)

Disappearing Snowman Cookies

Five cookie snowmen sitting on a tray.

Five cookie snowman smiling all day.

Along came a little child, rubbing his tummy.

One cookie disappeared,

Yum, Yum, Yummy!!

             Repeat to all the cookies are gone.

After Storytime and Songs it was time to do our craft!  Today we decorated our own Snowman Sugar Cookies using raisins, twizzler, M&Ms, Dots, chocolate chips - it was AMAZING!  So much fun!!

I had a blast reading to the kids and am so honored and blessed to have this opportunity!

Lots of fun! Until Next time! :-) 
 Ms. Vanessa