I like to open every meeting with an ice breaker.  I think it is a fun way to get everyone acquainted.  I broke the group up into two separate teams.  Each team received a deck of Book Besties cards. The team that correctly matched the Book Besties the fastest was declared the winner.

​These are the songs that we listened to before storytime began.  If you are interested in checking out these songs, the album cover images are linked to Amazon so you can listen to a sample and/or purchase these great songs!

The storytime theme for this week has #KidPresident vibes so I had to include some Kid President wisdom into storytime. 

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the awesome human being that is Kid President - here is one of my favorite KP YouTube videos:

There is a book called Kid President's Guide to Being Awesome that is a fabulous read for grown-ups and kids!  The ideas for today's pre-storytime activity hails from KP's Guide.

When I introduce the letter of the week we talk about the initial sound that the letter makes.  I also like to have the caregivers draw the letter on their child and the kiddos (if they are old enough) "draw" the letter in the carpet or in the air. 

​Then we talk about the collage.  I will ask the kids questions about each of the objects pictured in the collage.  For example: I pointed to the nose and I asked "Do you have one?  What is it? Where is it?"

These are the songs that we danced to during storytime.  If you are interested in checking out these songs, the album cover images are linked to Amazon so you can listen to a sample and/or purchase these great songs!

Busy Hands
Credit:  Fingerplays & Action Rhymes
​
Hands on shoulders, hands on knees
Put them behind you if you please
Raise them up high in the air
Down at your sides, now touch your hair
Hands at the side now you may place
Touch your elbows, now your face
Raise hands high up as before
Now you may clap 1,2,3,4

Clap, Slap, Tap
Credit:  Fingerplays & Action Rhymes

Clap, clap, clap, clap   (clap hands)
Slap, slap, slap, slap  (slap legs)
Tap, tap, tap, tap (tap hands on head)

We Can Jump
from Storytime Katie Blog

We can jump, jump, jump
We can hop, hop, hop
We can clap, clap, clap
We can stop, stop, stop
We can nod our heads for yes
We can shake our heads for no
We can bend our knees a little bit
And we can sit down really slow

Wiggle, Wiggle, Wiggle
Credit:  Fingerplays & Action Rhymes
​
A wiggle, wiggle here, 
A wiggle, wiggle there,
Wiggle your hands,
Up in the air.
Wiggle your shoulders,
Wiggle your hips,
Wiggle your knees,
and move your lips.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle,
And wiggle and bend,
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle,
And that is the end!

​by  Cherise Mericle Harper
To the tune of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

There was a bold lady who wanted a star.
I don’t know why she wanted a star - it seemed too far.

There was a bold lady who bought some shoes.
She ran for miles and then stopped for a snooze.
She bought the shoes to catch the star.
I don’t know why she wanted a star - it seemed too far.

There was a bold lady who bought some skates.
She slid and slipped down hills and through gates.
She bought the skates to replace the shoes.
She bought the shoes to catch the star.
I don’t know why she wanted a star - it seemed too far.

There was a bold lady who bought a bike.
What’s not to like about riding a bike?
She bought the bike to replace the skates.
She bought the skates to replaces the shoes.
She bought the shoes to catch the star.
I don’t know why she wanted a star - it seemed too far.

There was a bold lady who bought a car.
She drove for a while but she couldn’t go far.
She bought the car to replace the bike.
She bought the bike to replace the skates.
She bought the skates to replace the shoes.
She bought the shoes to catch the star.
I don’t know why she wanted a star - it seemed too far.
There was a bold lady who bought a plane.
She flew through the snow and she flew through the rain.
She bought the plane to replace the car.
She bought the car to replace the bike.
She bought the bike to replace the skates.
She bought the skates to replace the shoes.
She bought the shoes to catch the star.
I don’t know why she wanted a star - it seemed too far.

There was a bold lady who bought a big rocket.
Then zoomed up and caught the star in her pocket.
She rode the rocket back to the plane.
She flew the plane back to the car.
She drove the car back to the bike.
She pedaled the bike back to the skates.
She skated on skates back to the shoes.
She ran for miles and didn’t stop for a snooze.

There was a bold lady who wanted a star.
Now I know why she wanted the star.
To put in a jar (so, it wasn’t so far).

Sung to the tune of "Jolly Good Fellow"

​The bear went over the mountain,
The bear went over the mountain,
The bear went over the mountain,
To see what they could see.
And all that they could see,
And all that they could see,
Was the other side of the mountain
The other side of the mountain,
The other side of the mountain,
Was all that they could see.

​These are the songs that we listened to after storytime.  If you are interested in checking out these songs, the album cover images are linked to Amazon so you can listen to a sample and/or purchase these great songs!

This week, I set-up an art gallery wall for storytime participants to look at as they walked into storytime.  I went to Pixabay to look for watercolor artwork.  I printed off the images I selected and temporarily mounted them on cardstock to really create the "art gallery" feel. 

In true Nicole fashion, I forgot to take a picture of it.  Ha!

The letter of the week this week was the letter Cc.  We did some alphabet "yoga" and we made the letter Cc with our bodies.  Then we went through the pictures in the collage and I had the caregivers and children talk about what their favorite colors and types of cookies are.  We made the animal noises for cat and cow.

It would not be an art storytime without Harold and the Purple Crayon.  I super nerded out and wore my Harold and the Purple Crayon tee shirt from Out of Print Clothing.  I love the simple drawings and storyline of Harold.  

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More is a fabulously fun book to sing if you are familiar with the tune "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More".  I had the kiddos point to the different body parts that our mischievous protagonist painted in the story.

Beautiful Oops!  is one of my favorite books.  It has such a great message - it's okay to make mistakes!  I love how positive and delightful this book is.  The illustrations, cutouts, and flaps are fabulously fun.  This is a smaller book, but I am able to project it up onto a screen since we have a document camera that allows for us to do that.  I would not recommend Beautiful Oops for a big group if you do not have a way of enlarging the wonderful details.