Family Storytime: Dads

Clipart by Krista Wallden of Creative Clips. Graphic designed on PicMonkey.

Our family storytime basket this week was Father's Day themed.  I wanted to share books that showed male caregivers playing, cooking, talking, reading, etc.   I did share one book that was Father's Day related, but the rest were centered around the daily activities of a male caregiver and the child in their care.

Since I am all about full disclosure on this blog -- I plumb forgot that I was due to facilitate storytime this week (#SummerReadingBrain) so I didn't have time to look for some books about uncles and grandpas!  

Pre-Storytime Music

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

"Because I Love You"

"L-O-V-E"

Pre-Storytime Activity: Words of Kindness

I purchased the clipart for this activity from the amazing Krista Wallden of Creative Clips.

I placed the words around the room for participants

Since the words of kindness activity was such a hit, I decided to do it again for this storytime.  I encouraged participants to find a word in the room that described their caregiver.  I also had blank ones that participants could take home, color, write on, and give away to someone they think is special to them.  

family_storytime_activity_my_dad_june_2018.pdf
File Size:	227 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

Hello Song: We'll Wave Hello Together
Credit: Verona Storytime

To the tune of: Jolly Good Fellow

We’ll wave hello together,
We’ll wave hello together,
We’ll wave hello together,
Because it’s fun to do.

We’ll give a hug together,
We’ll give a hug together,
We’ll give a hug together,
Because it’s kind to do.
​
We’ll high five together,
We’ll high five together,
We’ll high five together,
Because it’s fun to do.

Letter of the Week: Ff

letter_f_pictures.pdf
File Size:	509 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

When I introduce the letter of the week I like to ask the participants if they recognize the letter.  I had the kiddos practice making the sound of the letter F. 

​Then we drew the letter F in the air.  When I do this activity, I like to have the kids draw a big square in the air and I like to tell them that is their paper. 

fter we drew the letter of the week, we talked about the pictures in the collage.  As we talked about the pictures we made frog and fly sounds and I had kids raise their hands if they like french fries.

I purchased the clipart for this collage from the amazing Krista Wallden of Creative Clips.

Recorded Music

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

"Can't Wait to Celebrate"

"One, Two, Three, Whee!

"Head & Shoulders"

"Legs and Arms"

Flannel
Credit: Storytime Bandit

Oh, my little red heart, I love you.
Oh, my little red heart, I love you.
Oh, my little red heart, I love you.
Then the orange heart asks, “Do you love me, too?”

Repeat with yellow, green, blue, and pink

*I used clipart from Graphics from the Pond on Teachers Pay Teachers to create this flannel.  To protect the artist and their work, I am not including a downloadable PDF of this flannel*

Action Rhymes & Fingerplays

I Have a Little Heart
Credit: Jbrary

I have a little heart, (place hand over heart)
And it goes thump, thump, thump (pat chest three times)
It keeps right on beating,
When I jump, jump, jump (jump three times)
I get a special feeling, when I look at you.
(point to child)
It makes me want to give you a hug or two. (hug)

My Family
​Credit: Preschool Education Songs

If you peek into my room at night                  (stand on toes as if peeking)
My family you will see                                      (nod head)
They kiss my face and tuck me in tight,       (blow kiss)
Why? Because they love me!                         (hug yourself)

One Hand Can Wave
Credit: Jbrary

One hand can wave
And one hand can snap
But it needs a friend
To clap, clap, clap!

Little Mousie Brown
​Credit: Jbrary

Up the tall white candlestick
Went little mousie brown.
But when he got up to the top,
He could not get back down.
called for Mama, "Mama, Mama!"
But Mama was in town.
So she called for daddy, "Daddy, Daddy!"
But Dadddy wasn't around
So little mousie curled right up
And rolled right down.

Books

 The Night Before Father's Day has some The Night Before Christmas roots.  The children work hard to make sure their dad has a very special day.

​Papá and Me is a wonderful story about a boy and his Papá and their daily activities.  Some Spanish words are woven into the text.  The illustrations are dreamlike and colorful.

Peek!  A Thai Hide and Seek is a really great book to use for group participation.  The kiddos loved looking for the little girl and making the animal noises with me.  I did some research on how to say "Jut-Ay" (Shut-A) and practiced saying it a couple of times before reading it in storytime.

Every Friday is about a young boy and his father and who have a tradition of going to breakfast together on Fridays.

Goodbye Song: Say Goodbye

This is the goodbye song that we used in storytime.  If you are interested in checking out this song, the album covers is linked to Amazon so you can listen to a sample and purchase this song.

Post-Storytime Music

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

"Best Day Ever"

"My Family"

"It's a Happy Day"

Storytime Book Display

We have been toting a cart of books to storytime so participants can grab a book (or ten), check them out, and head home. 

I thought it would be a good idea to display some of the books on a table instead of the cart so that there won't be a large mob around the tiny book cart after storytime.

The option of grab & go books on the cart and table have been a crowd pleaser.  An added bonus is that we have managed to give our circulation stats a little baby boost!  Score!

Meet Pico!

I have my very own puppet stash. I am slowly reaching the point where I may need a larger bin for said puppet stash because it keeps growing! I was recently gifted this fuzzy fluffy monkey (on the left). My mother in law was doing some spring cleaning and found this lil' fella. He used to belong to my husband, MLaw, back in the day. Which makes this guy extra special. I love greeting the kiddos as they come into storytime with a puppet. Today was Pico's storytime debut! He recieved a warm reception! Yay, Pico!