Preschool Story Time - Easter Bunnies

It's hard to imagine that Spring will come, but it will.  We have had two very cold winters in a row here in Ohio and as I type this, the snow is softly falling.  But I wanted to make sure I blogged my Easter story time for all those who are preparing for Easter in their communities.  I have to be fair and state that this Easter story time does not have very much to do with religion, and that is so it can be inclusive. You will see a lot of bunnies, chocolate, and bonnets, (as anyone would see in the stores) but I stayed away from any religious overtones.

Max Counts His Chicks - Rosemary Wells

A counting book, and a book with a moral all rolled into one!  How would you feel if Ruby kept finding all of the chickens?  Have fun counting up to 10 and back again!

Jelly Bean Countdown- Poem and Felt

So I found this great lesson plan on 123 Learn Curriculum (Click HERE for the entire lesson and templates).  It suggested I use real jelly beans or flannel ones.  I chose flannel simply because some kids have allergies to the dyes in jelly beans and I thought this way there would be no hurt feelings.

5 little jelly beans
I wish I had more!
I'll eat the (color) one
Now there are four!

4 little jelly beans
Tasty as can be
I'll eat the (color) one
Now there are 3!

3 little jelly beans
Only a few.
I'll eat the (color) one
Now there are 2.

2 little jelly beans
Eating them is fun
I'll eat the (color) one
Now there is one.

1 little jelly bean
The last one for me
I'll eat the (color) one
I'm as happy as can be!

Easter Parade - Berlin

Most of you may never had an Easter Bonnet, or walked in an Easter Parade.  It seems like its a pastime of yore.  I had an Easter Bonnet as a child though, and I remember learning and singing this song every year.  If you know the song, why not teach it to another generation?  I promise you that you will get a lot of blank stares, but the grandmas in the room will think it's great.  So go ahead!  Just make sure you know how to pronounce rotogravure before you get to that part of the song!

Song:

Easter Parade:

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it, you’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.  I’ll be all in clover, and when the look you over, Ill be the proudest fella in the Easter Parade.

On the avenue, 5th Avenue, the photographer will snap us, and you’ll find that you’re in the rotogravure.  Oh I could write a sonnet, about your Easter Bonnet, and of the girl I’m taking to the Easter Parade.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick - Lucille Colandro

Because I really enjoy all of the "Old Lady" books, I especially like to sing and immortalize these books in felt.  The kids love the silliness and love to let me know when she is eating something that is ridiculous.  Here is my felt set.  I like to let the kids put the items in or near the basket.  The artwork  is directly out of the book.

Time for a DANCE!   Here is The Bunny Pokey

You put your bunny ears in, you put your bunny ears out, you put your bunny ears in and you  shake them all about.  You do the bunny pokey and you hop, hop up and down.  That’s what it’s all about!

Continue with:
Bunny paws
Bunny nose
Bunny Tail
Whole Bunny

Easter Bunny's Assistant - Jan Thomas

This book cracks me up!  I love all of Jan Thomas' books.  You will learn which of your kiddos have that preschool-humor down as the skunk...well, skunks up the place when he gets SO EXCITED!!  Use your big voices for this hilarious book!

STEM activity - Shaker Eggs

This was GREAT fun.  What happens when I put beans in the eggs and shake them up?  What if I put in pennies.  Does it sound the same?  How about rice or marbles or feathers?  We tried a few things to see what they would sound like, then I let the kids fill eggs with what they wanted.  Together we used the shaker eggs to shake our sillies out in song and dance.

ALTERNATE FELT SET!  

Since doing this particular story time, I have done more with bunnies.  Actually, I have done another Easter story time too.  Click HERE for more resources for Easter.  The felt set above is simply a fun bunny story that has the kids saying "OH NO NOT AGAIN!" It is called Too Many Bunnies by Matt Novak and you can CLICK HERE for more on this felt set....including the entire story in case you don't have the book on hand.

Craft - Bunny Collage

Look at how cute!!  These bunnies are made by swirling a little white paint with a Q-Tip, and then using Q-tips for ears.  Simple and fun for the kids!

I hope this helps while putting together some of your trickier holiday story time themes!  Thanks for stopping by!

Preschool and Toddler Dance Party!

The Library Village decided to dance away our winter blues recently with a Preschool and Toddler Dance Party!  Forty little ones joined us for an hour of dancing and fun!  Can someone say bubble machine?  Oh yes.  We had one of those too. 

We decided to use all prerecorded music for our dance party.  This way we could burn all of the songs to one cd and not have to fumble around between songs.  (By the way, this worked great because we were able to keep the little ones attention throughout the entire program)  We also knew we wanted to use instruments and other fun props so we grouped songs based on the prop with a sprinkling of free dancing in between.  This really helped keep the program moving and allowed us the opportunity to pass out and collect the various props. 

The dance party was divided into two sections, each thirty minutes long.  The first thirty minutes we all danced together to our playlist.  The kids loved all the songs (with the exception of The Fox song.. What!?)  And the ending?  It was magical.  We watched all the little ones sing their hearts out to Let It Go while throwing their scarves into the air.  Wow. 

After all that dancing, we slowed it down for the second half.  We supplied a small snack and juice box to our tiny dancers and offered them the opportunity to make a craft.  We chose paper cup maracas.  They were super simple to make.  Take two paper cups (we had different colored paper cups), fill with some macaroni, and tape together with decorative duct tape.  We also had stickers to add more pizzazz.  Remember I mentioned a bubble machine?  It was the hit of the party!  Poor Miss Kristen was surrounded by little ones, holding the bubble machine, until the cd finally ended.
 

After it was all over, we really couldn't think of how it could've gone any better!  And that is an awesome feeling to have after a program! We are already planning another for in the summer! 

The Playlist:

Clap Your Hands - cd: They Might Be Giants - No!
Shake Your Sillies Out - cd: Raffi - More Singable songs
The Milkshake Song - cd: Songs for Wiggleworms (shakers)
Sugar Ant - cd: Caspar Babypants - Hot Dog! (shakers)
The Freeze - cd: Greg and Steve - Kids in Motion
Bean Bag Rock - cd: Bean Bag Activities and Coordination Skills (bean bags)
Hot Dog! - cd: They Might Be Giants - Here Come the 123s (bean bags)
The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) - cd: Ylvis
We are the Dinosaurs - cd: The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band (marching)
List of Dances - cd: Jim Gill Makes It Noisy in Boise, Idaho
Thanks A Lot - cd: Raffi - baby Beluga (rainbow scarves)
Let It Go - cd: Frozen Deluxe Edition Soundtrack (rainbow scarves)

Baby Story Time - Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day was all about hugs and kisses at Baby Story Time! Spending the morning with these little sweeties is the best Valentine's Day gift of them all!

OPENING SONG: "The Hello Song" *

GREETING SONG: "Hello" (Name Song) *

WAKE-UP RHYME: "Up, Up, Up!"
Up, up, up in the sky likes this!
     (lift baby up)
Down, down, down for a great big kiss!
     (lower baby and give a kiss)
Up likes this,
     (lift once more)
Down for a kiss,
     (down once more)
You're my special baby!
     (give baby a big hug!)

1st Book: Huggy Kissy by Leslie Patricelli

I love the silly baby who stars in all of Patricelli's board books - in this one he gives all different kinds of hugs and kisses.

 

FLANNEL BOARD SONG: "Five Little Valentines" (Sung to the tune of "Five Little Ducks")
(I adapted this from a song I found on Mel's Desk about five little cookies.)

Down around the corner at the Valentine shop
Were five little hearts with polka dots.
Along came Mommy with a nickel to pay
And she bought a Valentine and took it away.

 

 (Remove one heart from board, count how many are left, and keep counting down!)

 

LAP BOUNCE RHYME: "Acka Backa" (from Baby Rhyming Time by Linda Ernst)
Acka backa soda cracker, acka backa boo!
     (bounce baby)
Acka backa soda cracker, I love you!
     (bounce baby, then give a hug)

Acka backa soda cracker, acka backa boo!
     (bounce baby)

Acka backa soda cracker, UP goes you!
     (bounce baby, then lift in the air)

Acka backa soda cracker, acka backa boo!
     (bounce baby)
Acka backa soda cracker, I love you!
     (bounce baby, then give a hug)

 

2nd Book: I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rosetti-Shustak

This sweet and simple book reminds us of all the ways we love our little ones!

 

LAP BOUNCE RHYME: "One I Love You"
One I love you, two I love you, three I love you so!

     (Bounce baby)
Four I love you, five I love you, rock you to and fro!
     (Rock baby side to side)
Six I love you, seven I love you, eight you love me too!

     (Bounce baby)

Nine I love you, ten I love you, my bouncing buckaroo!
     (bounce really quickly!)

 

ACTION SONG: "Baby Hop" (to the tune of "The Bunny Hop" from the cd Diaper Gym)
(This song is a little corny but oh so cute! It's also really easy to follow the directions!)
 

Snuggle up together, baby's in your lap,
Snuggle up together, and clap, clap, clap.
Snuggle up together, don't you nap!

Snuggle up together, and tap, tap, tap.

 

You're working out together, baby don't stop,
You're working out together, so hop, hop, hop.

 

Snuggle up together, baby's in your lap,
Snuggle up together, and clap, clap, clap.
Snuggle up together, don't you nap!

Snuggle up together, and tap, tap, tap.

 

Now our song is over, get ready to stop.
Now our song is over, so hop, hop, hop!

3rd Book: Kisses by Barney Saltzberg



You can play the recording of the author singing this sweet lullaby, or just listen to it a few times and sing it yourself! This book has pull-out surprises on every page - it's a favorite of mine!

 

CLOSING SONG: "If You're Happy and You Know It" *

GOODBYE SONG: "Babies, Bye-Bye" *

CLOSING RHYME: "Thank You" *



*Check out my Baby Story Time page for the words to all of my weekly songs and rhymes.

We kept it simple this week without any instruments, but such a sweet and cuddly story time it was! Hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day!