Happy Musical Monday and Earth Day!  This is our 10th  Musical Monday!
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Today I am going to talk about how I used ETM in my Tales for 2’s and 3’s storytime programming and I am also going to reveal the fancy Booklist that I have been curating on Pearltrees!

How is it April already?  Gah!  Only two more weeks of Tales fun then it's all over (sad panda).  

I like to end every storytime session with a month of my favorites.  Sometimes my favorite action rhymes and songs don't fit into a specific theme, so a "Favorites" theme allows me to incorporate them.

The big hits today were Wiggle by Doreen Cronin, Where's Mouse?, and the Shape of the Week.

Since this is a new month, I decided to try a shape of the week.  This was a HUGE hit!

I found these adorable shape posters from Teachers Pay Teachers.  I used the Circle poster to introduce today's shape of the day.

We practiced drawing circles in the air with our pinky, with our favorite finger, we also made big circles and teeny-tiny circles.

I found a really neat printable from Kidzone that I made copies of for the kids to take and color after storytime.

Sometimes a simple flannel is best.  I have been trying to use pieces from sets that I already created to try and get myself to think outside of the box.  I used the heart set I made for February and the mouse from my animal set I made in the fall.  I hid mouse behind the purple heart.  The kiddos loved this guessing game.

I thought it would be fun to trot out some of our puppets and do a spin on an old favorite.  

We had a real blast in Tales for 2's & 3's today.  I seriously love reading Is Everyone Ready for Fun?  It is such a great interactive book and always is quite the hit whenever I use it in storytime. I particularly enjoy busting out my "irritated chicken" voice.  The other crowd favorite of the day was Mr. Jon's snake in the grass with scarves.  The kiddos thought it was a hoot!

Today we sang about the horse, rooster, and pig.

This month is almost over!  We have one more week of this theme. "Walkin' Ol' Joe" was an absolute hit with the kiddos today.  They loved the "Whoaaaa" part.  We were using bells with this song, so I leaned back and stuck the bells up in the air on the "whoaaa" part.  The kids thought this was pretty funny.  Knock on the Door is always a hit with the kiddos.  They love getting to knock, wave to the animals, and make the animal noises.  Our book for today got a few giggles.  The kids loved saying "NO!"  I'm sure their grown-ups were really happy about that after storytime (sorry!)

Today we sang about the dog, mouse and pig

These cute little animals are from a flannel set that I made back in October.  I created them out of construction paper, drew the details on with my "fancy" markers, and laminated them.

Today we sang about the rooster, horse, and cat.

I cannot believe this is the 4th week out of 12 in the spring session.  We are flying through spring programming!  Hopefully that means spring weather is on it's way!

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This month has felt like it has lasted a year.  A large part of that has been due to the lovely gray weather and the odd mixtures of snow, rain, and ice that we have been repeatedly doused with. Needless to say, storytime is definitely a highlight on gray and gloomy days.  

Today's Tales was definitely a bright spot.  I had no idea that Pop Goes the Weasel with scarves would be a belly-laugh-inducing and rollicking good time for my Little Friends.  They thought that this song was hilarious!  Every time we sang "pop!" there were squeals and giggles of pure delight followed by scarves being joyously tossed in the air.  It was awesome.  

Credit: Storytime Katie
To the tune of “BINGO”

There is a shape and it means love
And heart is its name-o.
H-E-A-R-T, H-E-A-R-T, H-E-A-R-T,
And heart is its name-o!

There is a shape and it means love
And heart is its name-o.
H-E-A-R-T, H-E-A-R-T, H-E-A-R-T,
And heart is its name-o!

There is a shape and it means love
And heart is its name-o.
H-E-A-R-T, H-E-A-R-T, H-E-A-R-T,
And heart is its name-o!

We had a real blast today in Tales for 2's and 3's!  The biggest hits today were our hello song (nothing cuter than tiny hands waving hello), I Have a Little Heart, and the egg shakers.  

At the end of storytime, I like to give the kiddos a hand stamp.  One of my little friends asked for a hand stamp for "mommy."  I thought that it was so sweet that they thought to ask!  "Mommy" was very obliging and the whole exchange made me smile!

Credit: Storytime Katie

Six little Valentines were sent to my house,
The first one said, “I love you, From Mouse.”
Five little Valentines in my mailbox,
The second one said, “Be mine, Love Fox.”
Four little Valentines full of love,
The third one said, “You are sweet, From Dove.”
Three little Valentines just for me,
The fourth one said, “Be my honey, Love Bee.”
Two little Valentine’s mailed with care,
The fifth one said, “Here’s a hug, From Bear.”
The last little Valentine, from my friend Jay,
This one said, “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

It feels so nice to be back into the swing of things!  We kicked off our spring session of Tales for 2's and 3's today.  This is my second session facilitating the Tales for 2's and 3's storytime.  This is a 20 minute storytime for children that are 2 - 3 years old and and an adult caregiver.

This month's theme will focus on love and family.  I have been wanting to do an "author" theme for a while so I am trying it out with Todd Parr.

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?”

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

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

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

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

Oh, my little pink heart, I love you.
Oh, my little pink heart, I love you.
Oh, my little pink heart, I love you.

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 yourself)

To the tune of “1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little”

1 little, 2 little, 3 little hearts
4 little, 5 little, 6 little hearts
7 little, 8 little, 9 little hearts
10 little hearts and a kiss!

​Skinnamarink e-dink, e-dink,
Skinnamarink e-doo,
I love you. 
(repeat)
I love you in the morning,
And in the afternoon;
I love you in the evening,
And underneath the moon.
Skinnamarink e-dink, e-dink,
Skinnamarink e-doo,
I love you.

from Carole Peterson's Tiny Tunes album 
Adapted by Nicole Lawton
To the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”

Now it's time to touch your toes
touch your toes, touch your toes
Now it's time to touch your toes
Touch them now

Now it's time to touch your nose
touch your nose, touch your nose
Now it's time to touch your nose
Touch it now

Now it's time to touch your head
touch your head, touch your head
Now it's time to touch your head
Touch it now

Now it's time to wave goodbye
Wave goodbye, Wave goodbye
Now it's time to wave goodbye
​See you all next time

​I always like to bring in all of my favorite songs, action rhymes, and books during the last few weeks of the storytime session.  The kiddos really loved singing and playing “Come Along and Walk with Me.”  They left the laps of their caregivers so that they could wiggle, hop, and creep with me!  It definitely was the highlight of my day.

Click here for today's storytime outline.

​Hickory dickory dare
The (animal) flew up in the air
Captain Brown soon brought him down
Hickory dickory dare