Music Makers: Food

Music Makers is a thirty minute registered program for 2 and 3 year olds and their caregivers. The focus of the program is music and each storytime concentrates on music, singing, and movement. I usually read two books during the program, but they are all "sing-a-book" titles so I actually end up singing the books instead of straight reading.

I don't normally use a theme when I plan Music Makers. After I planned this current session I noticed that each week had some vague similarities/theme qualities so I went ahead and labeled them. Just remember that it's a very loose theme and not everything pertains to it.

Dewey Bear

Dewey Bear greets everyone on the way in with hugs and high fives

Opening Song:
"Tony Chestnut" by Carol Hammett from Toddlers on Parade

Book:

Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Play Rhyme illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott

Movement Songs:
"Peanut Butter" by Jean R. Feldman from Keep On Singing and Dancing with Dr. Jean
"We Will Stomp" by The Learning Groove from Yummy Yellow
"The Slow Fast Soft Loud Clap Song" by William Janiak from Songs About Me

Prop Songs (shakers):
We use these mini-rainshakers from Lakeshore (unfortunately they are discontinued now). We chose this set because they are not choking hazards for under 3 year olds like most egg shakers are.

"Fruit Salad Salsa" by Laurie Berkner from Victor Vito
"Shake With You" by The Learning Groove from Bouncy Blue


Shared Board Book:

It's Raining, It's Pouring by Iza Trapani

Jazz It Up Moment:
"Five Green and Speckled Frogs" with puppets

I'm trying a new thing this session where I incorporate a re-telling of a classic song either with puppets or flannel each week. This forces me to think creatively at times and I feel like it's really pushing me to think outside of the "song-book-song" routine.

"Five Green and Speckled Frogs" is one that most parents know so I was pleased to discovered these cute finger puppets. The blue flannel easel we have was great for a log/pond set-up and the frogs got to jump all the way down to the little tray where the were hidden from view. The children were all engaged and I even got the grown-ups to sing along with me!

Closing Song:
"Skinnamarink" by Carole Peterson from Stinky Cake

Dewey Bear

Dewey Bear says goodbye to everyone on the way out with hugs and high fives.

I ran out of time and wasn't able to do "The Slow Fast Soft Cloud Clap Song". But overall it was a great storytime!

Karma Wilson

Week Two of my Author Highlights: Karma Wilson


This plan is for a preschool storytime, a registered program for 3-5 year olds that attend the program independently without a caregiver.


Opening Activity:
Little Mouse

Books:

Bear's Loose Tooth by Karma Wilson
The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson
Moose Tracks! by Karma Wilson
Mortimer's First Garden by Karma Wilson
Sakes Alive! A Cattle Drive by Karma Wilson

Jazz It Up Moment/Song:
"Cake" by Juice Box Heroes from No Sugar Added

I tried something new with this song, normally I encourage the kids to free dance and jump whenever they hear the word 'cake', which is pretty often (it's to the tune of "Faith" by George Michael). This time I decided to introduce a new prop, Boomwhackers!

Boomwhackers are big plastic, hollow tubes that make specific musical notes. The longer the boomwhacker, the lower the note. We have used rhythm sticks a lot in storytime so the children are familiar with the general rules of a prop this shape and size. The difference with these is that they are specific to musical notes! We discussed that and then listened to the different notes and what was high and what was low. Every child got one shorter boomwhacker and one longer one.

Then I just let them go! We danced and hit our boomwhackers along with the song. A lot of them mimiced me when I slammed my boomwhackers on the ground every time I heard the word 'cake'. The loved the colors, the size, and all the noises they could make! I'm really encouraged now to take the next step with these props and assign notes to each child and possibly play a song together.

Closing Song:
"Goodbye" by Old Town School of Folk Music from Songs for Wiggleworms



What Went Not So Great

• Moose Tracks is a hilarious story with a great punch line. Unfortunately none of the children got it and were just kinda lost at the end.
• Sake's Alive! A Cattle Drive is another story that the kids didn't really get all the humor. They didn't really understand what a cattle drive was so they missed the main plot of the book. However, they really loved watching the silliness of the cows driving the truck all around.

What Went Right

• Mortimer's First Garden went really well even though I was very nervous. I was concerned because it discusses God and  miracles, but I just changed the words a bit and made it more of a story about Spring and the miracle of growth. The older kids really enjoyed it.
• The boomwhackers were an enormous hit! The children really seemed to understand that the longer ones made lower notes and the shorter ones made higher notes. A great success and first try-out with the props.
• Bear's Loose Tooth was a great choice because a lot of the the children could really relate to Bear and his loose tooth. The only I would do different is allow more time for discussing this book because every child wanted to tell me story about their loose tooth or one of their siblings'.

Margaret Wise Brown

Week One of Author Highlights: Margaret Wise Brown

This plan is for a preschool storytime, a registered program for 3-5 year olds that attend the program independently without a caregiver. This is the preschool version of the author highlight I did in Toddler Time.

Opening Activity:

Little Mouse Flannel Game

Opening Song:
"These Are My Glasses" by Laurie Berkner from Whaddaya Think of That

Books:

Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown - I used the Big Book version of this.
The Diggers by Margaret Wise Brown
The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown
Sleepy ABC by Margaret Wise Brown

Jazz It Up Moment:
I brought in a small biography, Margaret Wise Brown by Jill C. Wheeler. The cover had a nice big picture of her on the front. We started by talking about what the word author meant (which almost all of the children knew). I told them that Margaret Wise Brown was the author of every book we were going to read to today and then pointed out her name on every cover of the books I had displayed.

Next I asked them if they knew what the word biography meant. A lot of them thought it was the illustrator of the book. I explained what a biography was and that they are different kinds of books they seemed to get it. I liked having the opportunity to bring up new vocabulary in storytime.

I quizzed them throughout the program on who Margaret Wise Brown was and each time I did this program (four, if you're counting) I had at least one little person shout..."ME!". Most of the older kids got it and would point to the biography I brought in when I asked that question.

Songs:
"The Wheels on the Bus" by The Learning Groove from Groovy Green
"Rhythm in the Scarves" by Johnette Downing" from Second Line Scarf Activity Songs 

Closing Song:
"Goodbye" by Old Town School of Folk Music from Songs for Wiggleworms 


What Went Not So Great

• It was a bit of an overload to do Little Mouse and an opening song. Next time I'll just pick one or the other, or a song that the kids are more excited about. I think my kids are starting to get bored with "These are My Glasses".
• The biography discussion seemed to go over the younger kid's heads (my preschool programs are 3-5 year olds without adults). 
• Sleepy ABC was just a big fat fail, it is just better suited for one-on-one reading I think.

What Went Right

• I can never stop using Little Mouse. The children will revolt and stop coming to storytime. He is the biggest draw, by far.
• Diggers was one of the most successful books. They liked talking about digging a hole big enough for a train to fit in.
• "Rhythm in the Scarves" made the kids really happy. Giving each of them a scarf to dance around with just seems to make their day. Plus this song focuses on counting, which I think is great to reinforce early literacy without beating them over the head with it.

Music Makers: Nursery Rhymes

Music Makers is a thirty minute registered program for 2 and 3 year olds and their caregivers. The focus of the program is music and each storytime concentrates on music, singing, and movement. I usually read two books during the program, but they are all "sing-a-book" titles so I actually end up singing the books instead of straight reading.

Program Note: I'll list the books, songs, and Jazz It Up Moment in no particular order because that's how I plan. I always think on my feet in the storytime. I used to plan them in order, but it would always change depending on the crowd and the attitude of the kids.

Dewey Bear

Dewey Bear greets everyone on the way in with hugs and high fives

Opening Song: 

"Tony Chestnut" by Carol Hammett from Toddlers on Parade

Book:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by Jane Cabrera

Songs:

"Warm Up Time" by Georgiana Stewart from Action Song for Preschoolers

"Jump Up Turn Around" by Jim Gill from Jim Gill Sings Moving Rhymes for Modern Times

"Little Red Wagon" by The Learning Groove from Yummy Yellow

"The Grand Old Duke of York" by Carol Hammett from Toddlers on Parade

"Nursery Rhyme Tap" by Pamela Schiller from Leapin' Literacy

We have a white board easel in our program room and I use it in every Music Makers as a welcome. I also feature one song from the program each time. I put the title and artist and then put down some of the actions so that it's easy to follow along with. I like doing this because it brings some text into the storytime and enforces that early literacy component. Caregivers can also participate easily this way because they know exactly what to do...no excuses for not dancing!

Shared Board Book:

Five Little Ducks by Raffi

Jazz It Up Moment:

I know this is stretching it for a Jazz It Up moment, but it's the first storytime of the session and I wanted to get a feel for the kids and their caregivers and what they could handle.

Right before the closing song I made a quick announcement. I introduced some books that I encouraged the children and caregivers to check out. I had the books displayed during the whole program and right before I gave my little speech a little kid asked if I was going to read all of those books. It was a great transition into discussing checking out books to take home and share. 

I chose these particular books because they are all simple presentations of nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and classic songs. I talked about the importance of nursery rhymes and how they are easy to sing and repeat without books and how that can really enhance early literacy. The books are all from Child's World and there are a few different sets: Children's Favorite Poems and Songs, Favorite Mother Goose Rhymes, Children's Favorite Activity Songs, and Aesop's Fables.

Of all the books I set out (you can see it was a lot from the pictures) I only had about 5 left that I needed to re-shelve, so it was a success!

 

Closing Song:

"Skinnamarink" by Carole Peterson from Stinky Cake

Dewey Bear

Dewey Bear says goodbye to everyone on the way out with hugs and high fives

It was a great first storytime of the session! A brilliant success and I can't wait for the next one. Unfortunately I spent so much time talking at the beginning and introducing the program (which I do at the beginning of every session) that I didn't have time to read "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". It's such an awesome book so I'll save it for later.

Meet Dewey Bear!

Music Makers is the toddler program I do weekly at my library. It is a registered program for 2 and 3 year olds and their families. It's 30 minutes and focuses heavily on music, singing, and movements - all elements that increase early literacy skills.

I have a mascot for my Music Makers program, Dewey Bear!

Dewey is a Folkmanis puppet that allows you to put your arms in his and move them about. This is a great puppet to use in storytime because it allows me to give the children a hug without actually hugging them myself. Dewey always greets the children with a hug, high five, or wave as they come into the program room and then he does the same thing as they leave. He is hugely popular!

Toddler Time: Margaret Wise Brown

When we plan our storytimes at my library we decide to choose one theme a week for the registered storytimes across the board for all ages. That way we can have a big pool of ideas and resources for all the storytime presenters to choose from. It's a great way to collaborate and talk about new ideas and what works and what doesn't.

For our six week long session this time we decided to focus on authors. Each week we highlight a different author. The thought behind this was it would be great way to talk to preschoolers about what an author is and the different parts of a book. We also liked it for the toddlers because the parents are in the program with them and thougt the children might not get the theme, the parents would and we want to use this opportunity to introduce parents to some great authors.

I usually do 2 preschool storytimes a week and one music program for 2 and 3 year olds. My music program never follows the group theme, but this week I filled in for a co-worker today and got to do a Toddler Time (just 2 year olds and a caregiver) on the theme! Because I filled at the last second...there is no glaring Jazz It Up moment. Hopefully you'll forgive me.

This week's author: Margaret Wise Brown

 

Opening Song

"Tony Chestnut" by Carol Hammett from Toddlers on Parade 

I start all my toddler-based programs with this song. It's a great song to use while sitting down, and it points out a bunch of body parts that young ones know. In all of Carol Hammett's songs she sings through the song once, does an instrumental version, then sings it again. The repetition is perfect for the toddlers who end up signing with me by the last time through.

Movement Songs
"Warm Up Time" by Georgiana Stewart from Action Songs for Preschoolers
"Jump Up, Turn Around" by Jim Gill from Jim Gill Sings Moving Rhymes for Modern Times

Book
My World of Color by Margaret Wise Brown, Illustrated by Loretta Krupinski

I had never used this book in storytime before, and had actually never heard of it. I decided to share because I liked the idea of sharing something that wasn't as insanely popular as Goodnight, Moon with the crowd. The whole idea of this author highlight is to introduce people to new things! The children really enjoyed it and shouted out the different colors featured on every page. While the text may have been a bit high for the toddler crowd, they really enjoyed "helping" me read it.

Sitting Song
"Little Red Wagon" by The Learning Groove from Yummy Yellow

Even though this song takes place sitting, it's still very high energy. I have every child find an adult lap and then we just bounce up and down, tickle, and sway along with the song. I use a puppet to demonstrate while the toddlers sit with their caregivers.

Shared Board Book
Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown, Illustrated by Felicia Bond

Each child/caregiver pair gets a board book to follow along with as I read the story aloud. This is a great bonding activity for the child/caregiver pairs and it allows book exploration for the children.

Rhythm Stick Song
"Nursery Rhyme Tap" by Pamela Schiller from Leapin' Literacy

I love using props with toddlers and this is a fun beginning prop song because the whole thing takes place sitting down! 

Closing Song
"Skinnamarink" by Carole Peterson from Stinky Cake
 
Overall it went really well. As always the movement and prop songs were the most successful. I really like having board book sets so that we can do shared reading. I think allowing the little ones to hold their own books help a lot with print awareness. I had fun doing Toddler Time this week, but I'm looking forward to putting all my focus back into my regular storytimes.

Paints and Colors

These past two weeks I've had preschool visits at the library. Two different preschools in the area took field trips to the library and requested a storytime and tour. Over the two weeks I saw over 300 children and completed the same storytime about 12 times. This is an annual visit and every year I'm exhausted afterwards, but so glad that the schools choose us every year as one of their very few field trips.

This year I put together a great storytime with a colors/paint theme that I knew I could jazz up to the extreme. I really wanted these kids to leave the library filled with excitement and the desire to go home and beg their parents to bring them back.

A quick note on my plans...I always over plan. I prepare more materials then will normally fit in my 30 minute format because each group of children is different and has a different dynamic so I want to make sure I have ideas and options for every possibility. 

Books:

Opening Activity:
Little Mouse Flannel Game

Discuss the number of houses and color of the houses with the children and explain that there is a mouse hiding under one of the houses that we MUST find! Hide other flannel pieces under the remaining houses that relate to the theme of the storytime. Only call on "quiet hands" to help you decide which houses to look under.

Song:

"Dance, Freeze, Melt" by The Learning Groove from Rockin' Read

This is a song that I've had huge success with for all ages. It's really easy to learn and it incorporates counting and "freezing", which most preschoolers LOVE. Children dance (for 8 counts), freeze (for 8 counts), then melt to the ground. This is repeated with jumping, twirling, and flying in place of the dancing verse. Perfection.

Jazz It Up Moment #1:
This idea came from Amy over at Catch the Possibilities, Amy is a good friend of mine and I often pick her mind for some good Jazz It Up moments and together we came up with this activity. 

Give every child a paintbrush and have them follow along with "I Ain't Gonna Paint No More" by Karen Beaumont. 

As the little boy in the book paints various body parts encourage the children to pretend to paint their own body parts as well. This encourages body part identification, good listening skills, and gives the opportunity to talk about pretending and imagination.

Jazz It Up Moment #2:
Retell "Mouse Paint" by Ellen Stoll Walsh using small paint cans and different colored mice. 

Start with three white mice and put the other colored mice in the paint cans ahead of time (Blue Can: blue and purple mice, Red Can: red and orange mice, Yellow Can: yellow and green mice) for sneaky removal later. Basically this works very simply: as you put a white mouse into a can, you pull out the appropriate colored mouse it changes into, and then do it again as you continue to mix your colors. At the end have the children help you turn the mice back to white by using their "magic". Have the children shout a magic word and then pull out the white mice at the very end.

It works best to complete this activity if the cans are on a book cart and high enough that the children can't see inside the cans. You don't want to ruin the mystery of the story by letting the kids see into the cans. If done right this story mystifies the kids and really blows their little minds with all the "magic" you've done. This is also a great activity to use for color mixing.

The paint cans are available at any home improvement store for a very small amount of money. The mice were originally made as finger puppets, but I have never used them that way.

What Went Not So Great

• "I'm the Biggest Artist in the Ocean" went so-so. The children enjoyed the giant fold-out in the end, but it was a little slim on plot and the children just weren't that into it. I got a lot of, "that was a short one!" after finishing the book. They enjoyed seeing the various sea animals, but the whole concept of art and painting went over their heads. I could have taken the time to discuss the book more, but I was crunched for time. (I only read this in a handful of the storytimes as a quick filler.)
• The paintbrush activity with "I Ain't Gonna Paint No More" was a bit of a fail. I found that the kids were so distracted with having their very own prop that they didn't catch on to the rhyming aspects of the story, in fact they didn't pay that much attention to the book at all. I enjoyed that we could practice body identification and holding a writing utensil is a great early literacy skill. If I do this activity again I'd read the book first without the brushes, then read the book a second time and introduce the brushes then. That way I could take the time to discuss it and hit all the positives of this activity: writing, body identification, rhyming, and prediction skills.

What Went Right

• Little Mouse is always a HUGE success on so many levels. I've been using this as an opening activity for years for a reason.
• Books: "Press Here" and "Pete the Cat"
• Song: "Dance Freeze Melt"
• Jazz It Up Moments: "Mouse Paint" and encourage the children to use their "magic" to help me

Why I Jazz Up My Storytimes

Welcome! I'm glad you found me! I sure hope you're in the right place.

My name is Lora and I've been a children's librarian in a public library setting for about 7 years. In that time I've done a lot of storytimes, for all ages. I have the most experience with preschool storytimes (which is also the best storytime to plan and execute). I also believe strongly in early literacy and introducing those practices to children and caregivers in any way I can, whether it be subtly or punching them in the face with it.

Because I have been doing these programs for so long I've started to notice that I'm getting bored with my format and style. I felt like I was in a storytime rut that just consisted for reading stories, dancing occasionally, and throwing in a story enhancement once in a blue moon. I decided to start challenging myself more and adding new and exciting elements to the program. I wanted the preschoolers to leave the storytime with excitement and be able to remember the awesome activities we did together.

I decided to start bringing the "jazz" to storytime. I want to make each program unique and fill it with flannel stories, retellings, puppets, games, music, dance, participation, action rhymes, reading, early literacy elements, and anything else that I think will make the storytime meaningful for the children.

This blog was created to help me keep track of these challenges I'm giving myself. I wanted a place to record the new techniques I'm using, successes, and inevitable failures. I follow a lot of other storytime/librarian blogs and get inspired every day to try new things. My coworkers and friends encouraged me to join the ranks of those awesome bloggers and start recording my own experiences.

I hope you will find this to be a place of inspiration, or at the very least, someplace to make you feel not so alone in the library world.