Toddler Story Time - Jingle Bells

Jingle bells..  Jingle bells.. Jingle all the way!

We had a great time jingling bells and sharing wonderful Christmas stories this week in toddler story time.  The holiday spirit was definitely in the air and the little ones were full of Christmas cheer!  Fortunately, I had lots planned to keep us moving and shaking our sillies throughout the morning.

Book I read..

Bear Stay Up for Christmas By Karma Wilson

Lovely Christmas story, but there were a few bumps in the road while I read this story.  Lets just say that some little ones heard it (and enjoyed it!) and the rest of the room did not.  It was a little longer than I usually read, but worked okay as the first book.

Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear By Don and Audrey Wood

We loved The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear!  So of course I had to read this Christmas story featuring the same characters. I love the interaction between Mouse and the little ones as I read the story.

Jingle-Jingle By Nicola Smee

I was so excited to use this book because I was already planning to use jingle bells.  It fit so nicely into my story time.  The little ones did a wonderful job jingling the bells with Mr. Horse and his sleigh!

How it went..

We started our Jingle Bell story time off with a couple great Christmas action rhymes to get us in a holly jolly mood.  The first was Santa's Workshop.  The little ones did a great job following the simple hand movements!  If you love it too, you can find the rhyme here! 

Santa's Workshop

Here is a great big Christmas tree, (Put tips of fingers of both hands together)
Trimmed with lights and balls
Here are Santa's little elves, (Hold up ten fingers and wiggle them)
They run when Santa calls.
This is Santa's workshop, (Use both hands to form a house over your head)
Filled with gifts and toys
The elves and helpers fill the sleigh,
For all good girls and boys.

I love rhymes that are cute and helpful!  Santa's Spectacles fit that description perfectly.  THe rhyme and movements were simple and easy for little ones and they (hopefully) ended up with their hands in their laps and ready to listen to the first book.  Christmas shout out to Perry Public Library Storytime and their wonderful story time ideas!

Santa's Spectacles

These are Santa's spectacles (circle eyes with fingers)
And this is Santa's hat (make pointed shape on head with hands)
This is the way he folds his hands
And puts them in his lap! (place hands in lap)

After our first book, we had fun with the finger play Five Little Candy Canes.  The little ones got the giggles at the end when we pretended to eat the last candy cane!  Thank you Susan Dailey for such a sweet finger play!

Five Little Candy Canes

Five little candy canes
Hanging on the door.
Santa ate one.
Then there were four.
Four little candy canes
Hanging on the tree.
Mrs. Claus ate one.
Then there were three.
Three little candy canes
Lying by a shoe.
An elf ate one.
Then there were two.
Two little candy canes
Lying in the dun.
A reindeer ate one.
Then there was one.
One little candy cane
By the chimney.
Santa put it in his bag
And brought it to me. (Yum, yum, yum!)

Time to get up and move a bit with the song Let's All Do a Little Clapping from Storytime Katie.  This song is sung to the tune of We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  My favorite verse was the twirling!

Let's All Do a Little Clapping

Let's all do a little clapping
Let's all do a little clapping
Let's all do a little clapping
And spread Christmas cheer.
...Jumping...bending...twirling...

Onto one more rhyme before the second book!  (I told you this story time was full of excitement!)  This time we pretended to be pine trees.  I'm a Little Pine Tree, is, of course, to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot.  This and other great rhymes can be found here.  The little ones did a great job growing up to be beautiful Christmas trees!

I'm a Little Pine Tree
I'm a little pine tree - as you can see, (crouch down with hands over head like a tree)
All the other pine tree are bigger than me.
Maybe when I grow up - then I'll be
A great big merry Christmas tree! (stand up and be a big tree!)

Flannel Friday this week featured Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  What would happen if his nose wasn't red?  Well, we found out this week!  Thanks to Storytime Katie for the fantastic idea!  Check out our Flannel Friday post with more holiday flannels like this one!

Rudolph, Rudolph

Rudolph, Rudolph, what will you do?
You can't guide the sleigh if your nose is blue.
Rudolph, Rudolph, you're such a silly fellow
Who will know it's you if your nose is yellow.
Rudolph, Rudolph, your way cannot be seen,
Through the wintry weather if your nose is green.
Rudolph, Rudolph, it's time to fly at night
But you can't get through the snow if your nose is white.
Rudolph, Rudolph, it's time to go to town
But you can't help Santa if your nose is brown.
Rudolph, Rudolph, what a groovy glow
Your nose looks a little like a rainbow.
Rudolph, Rudolph, the children are in bed
And now we an get on our way because your nose is red.

Jingle.. Jingle.. Jingle..
It's finally time for some jingling!  I passed out jingle bells to all the little ones for some musical fun.  After reading our last book, it was time for a song or two.  We began with the song, Bells on the Sleigh.  This fun song is to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus.  Another awesome idea from Susan Dailey!

Bells on the Sleigh

The bells on the sleigh go ring, ring, ring (ring bells)
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring
The bells on the sleigh go ring, ring, ring
All through the sky.
(More verses!)
The toys on the sleigh say "Let's have fun!"... (throw hands into air)
The reindeer on the sleigh fly way up high... (hands upward in diagonal direction)
The snow on the sleigh falls gently down... (flutter fingers and move downward)
The driver on the sleigh says "Ho, ho, ho!"... (pretend to drive sleigh, say "ho, ho, ho" in deep voice)

We ended our Jingle Bells story time with (you guessed it!) Jingle Bells!

Jingle Bells

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh - hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh!

And with on last giant shake of the bells, our story time was a wrap!  What a great morning celebrating the holidays!

For those brave moms that wanted to craft with their toddler, we made Christmas tree "stained glass" ornaments.  This craft was so cute and easy to do that several moms were excited about making more at home with their little ones!  How cool is that?!

To Make:
Trace a design on a piece of wax paper.  Ours was a Christmas tree.  Spread glue stick all over the design.  Let your little ones place small squares of tissue paper on the glue.  You could be finished there, but I had the moms spread more glue over the tissue paper and place a plain piece of wax paper on top.  This helps to seal down any loose pieces.  Why dry, cut out the design and punch a hole for some yarn.  Many thanks to Miss Sue for the idea!

Looking forward to 2014 and many more awesome story times!

Preschool Story Time - Jingle Jingle Jingle

There is excitement in the air at the Library Village!  The busy librarians are all crafting their finest story times to bring the children tidings of good cheer.  My preschool story time this week takes flight in a sleigh full of joy and laughter.  Off we go!

Llama Llama Holiday Drama - by Anna Dewdney

Oh dear, the holidays are stressful aren't they?  Everyone loves Llama Llama so I decided to use this book as the ONLY book that I read during this story time.  No really!  The kids are very squirrely at this time of year, so I opened with a book, and then pulled out my huge bag of tricks for the rest of story time.  And as always, I needed to be ready with more material than I actually used!

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C Moore

When I became a children's librarian, a friend gifted me a huge box of professionally made story boards.  It was the equivalent of my mom getting me my first briefcase after I graduated college.  I usually make my own sets now, but look how great these are!  I don't think I could do better, so I was very excited to use them.

Preschoolers are definitely old enough for this poem.  Use your story telling skills and the kids will be rapt!


For Halftime (cue the music - I normally do 'Popcorn' by Greg and Steve so we can stretch and get the wiggles out), I decided to use a Christmas song.  I thought Jingle Bells would be a great choice and it was. We got out the instruments and shook it!

Pete the Cat Saves Christmas  - by James Dean and Eric Litwin

So yes, I read this book, technically, but I also sang it!  After the first verse, the kids were singing too!  I love interactive books.

Did you catch our awesome Flannel Friday Holiday Blog Post???
All three of us posted great flannel board ideas for the holidays.  Check it out!  Mine was this tree that we used to the tune of Old MacDonald.

Old St. Nicholas had a tree
Ho, ho ho ho ho!
And on that tree he had some lights
Ho ho ho ho ho
With a blink, blink here and a blink, blink there
Here a blink, there a blink
Every where a blink blink
Old St. Nicholas had a tree
Ho, ho ho ho ho! 

Then the song continues with the rest of the verses:
Ornaments - glow
Drums - boom 
Bells - ring
Candy Canes - Yum
Star - Shine

Click HERE for more information on how I made this board and how I used it.

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

If you follow our blog, you know I do an Old Lady book pretty regularly.  The kids get excited to see what the Old Lady swallows and what will happen at the end.  I have flannelized almost all of Lucille Colandro's books.  I did NOT flannel this story, however, because I already had two for this story time, but I do sing this book, and prompt the kids to sing along with me.  Another interactive book!

Well, we had to finish story time with a bang, so instead of doing the Freeze Dance, by Hap Palmer, we danced "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" with alternate lyrics:
We wish you a Merry Christmas (x3)
and a Happy New Year.
Let's all do a little clapping (x3)
and spread Christmas cheer!
Let's all do a little stomping (x3)
and spread Christmas cheer!
Let's all do a little twirling (x3)
and spread Christmas cheer!
We wish you a Merry Christmas (x3)
and a Happy New Year!

My craft was pretty simple, but I have found that preschoolers love to place things on paper - so anything with stickers, bling, tissue paper squares, or even cotton (as shown here), keeps them happy and focused, and really helps with fine motor skills.  I found this image online (if you Google 'Santa Craft Preschool', you will see a dozen examples of this craft so I am unsure who to credit) and created a template for the face and hat.  Knowing the kids would be excited, I had everything cut out for them so I didn't have scissors in the room.

Happy Holidays from Miss Sue and everyone at the Library Village.  
See you next year!

Flannel Friday - Must Be Santa!

Last year our fabulous teen librarian, Miss Carol, came up with a great idea to get a large group involved in the song/book "Must Be Santa."  She made props that each child can hold up!

Her artwork was based on the book Must Be Santa by Tim Moore, illustrated by Pete Whitehead:

The song was originally written by Hal Moore and Bill Fredericks, and you gotta love the version by Raffi:



So..."Who's got a beard that's long and white? Santa's got a beard that's long and white!"
       "Who comes around on a special night? Santa comes around on a special night!"

"Special night! Beard that's white! Must be Santa, Must be Santa,

Must be Santa, Santa Claus!"

"Who wears boots and a suit of red?..."

"Who wears a long cap on his head?..."

"Who's got a big red cherry nose?..."

"Who laughs this way? 'Ho, ho, ho!'..."

"Who very soon will come our way?..."

"Eight little reindeer pull his sleigh!..."

With about six copies of each prop, we had plenty for our big holiday crowds last year, and the children were delighted!  It is so much fun to involve every child in story time, and we hope to use these props year after year!  Right now they are just are cardstock, so we definitely need to get them laminated soon!

Happy Holidays from Miss Kristen, Miss Kristie and Miss Sue (and Miss Carol!)! This has been a great year for us! Thanks for welcoming us into the blogging world!



Flannel Friday - Holiday Edition!

We are winding down 2013 here at the Library Village, and the Jingle Bells Story Time is the LAST story time for our babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.  But before we close the picture books on 2013, we have to contribute our holiday Flannel Friday post!

Happy Holidays from Miss Sue's Preschool Story Time:

Old St. Nicholas Had a Tree

All of my online resources say this song has an unknown author but what a great song to make a flannel board for!!  My preschool group loves to handle the felts, so I made this flannel board just to let the kids touch and sing and have fun!

The flannel tree is large - as big as the flannel board - so the photo doesn't show the detail on the pieces.  Many of the pieces are on sparkly felt, and some others are done with multi-colored puffy paint.  Before our song, I set down a basket with the pieces for the kids to choose.  I keep one of each type with me, however, so I can hold up what one looks like.  Then we sing our song to the tune of Old MacDonald Had a Farm:

Old St. Nicholas had a tree
Ho, ho ho ho ho!
And on that tree he had some lights
Ho ho ho ho ho
With a blink, blink here and a blink, blink there
Here a blink, there a blink
Every where a blink blink
Old St. Nicholas had a tree
Ho, ho ho ho ho! 

Now the first time I say 'lights' - I hold up one and ask all of the kids who have a light to put up their item anywhere they would like on the tree.  Then we continue with the song (and hand motions! Don't forget to 'blink' your hands!!!)

Then the song continues with the rest of the verses:
Ornaments - glow (jazz hands)
Drums - boom  (bang on a drum)
Bells - ring  (shake arm like you are bell ringing)
Candy Canes - Yum  (pat your belly)
Star - Shine (back to jazz hands)

And note there is but ONE star!  Since EVERYONE wants the star, Miss Sue puts the star on.  Let's hear it for Holiday Harmony!  I also have more pieces than shown here.  I never know what size crowd I will get, so I am ready with 40 pieces now and will probably add horns or gifts next year!

Happy Holidays from Miss Kristie's Toddler Story Time!

Rudolph, Rudolph

We found this flannel story on Storytime Katie last Christmas and immediately made our own set.  This year I decided to cartoon it up a bit for my toddler crowd.  I also added a line about a rainbow nose.  I think the little ones will love Rudolph's new groovy rainbow nose. 

Rudolph, Rudolph, what will you do?                                     
You can't guide Santa's sleigh if your nose is BLUE.
Rudolph, Rudolph, you're such a silly fellow                        
Who will know it's you if your nose is YELLOW.
Rudolph, Rudolph, your way cannot be seen,     
Through the wintry weather if your nose is GREEN.               
Rudolph, Rudolph, Santa gave a wink                                    
But what will he say if your nose is PINK?  
Rudolph, Rudolph, it's time to fly at night
But you can't get through the snow if your nose is WHITE.
Rudolph, Rudolph, it's time to go to town
But you can't help Santa if your nose is BROWN.  
Rudolph, Rudolph, what a groovy glow
Your nose looks little like a RAINBOW.                           
Rudolph, Rudolph, the children are in bed
And now we can get on our way because your nose is RED.





Happy Holidays from Miss Kristen's Baby Story Time!

5 Little Christmas Presents

Last year I wanted to share Jean Marzollo's Ten Little Christmas Presents, but decided it was a little too long for my wiggly babies.  Instead, I adapted the words in the book into my own flannel story.  It was thrown together rather quickly; I'm sure you crafty crafters could make a nicer version!

Five little presents on a snowy floor,
Someone got a snowsuit! Now there are four.

Four little presents - what will they be?

Someone got mittens! Now there are three.

Three little presents - each brand-new.

Someone got a jacket! Now there are two.

Two little presents - what a lot of fun!

Someone got a Santa hat! Now there is one.

One little present, the last gift of all,

Someone got a scarf! And snow begins to fall.

Five little presents were opened with great cheer,

It's time to celebrate because Santa was here!

(written by Jean Marzollo, adapted by Miss Kristen from Let the Wild Rumpus Start)

(Paper presents with real ribbons)

(A tiny strip of Velcro makes it stick to the board)

(The felt gifts are hidden behind the packages)

(A snowsuit, mittens, a jacket, a Santa hat, and a scarf)

 **  A big shout out and Thank You to Mollie at "What Happens In Storytime" blog for hosting this week's Holiday Extravaganza!  If you would like more information on how to participate in Flannel Friday, click HERE!    **

From our Library Village to yours - we wish you much peace and happiness throughout this holiday season and into the bright New Year!  
- Miss Sue, Miss Kristie, and Miss Kristen