an unexpected pleasure

A surprising email from late yesterday afternoon brings the pleasure of preschool storytime this morning. Hooray! Short notice is just part of the deal when you do fill-in storytimes at my library. It's good to take my basic storytime outline and work in some old and new elements, all with an eye to having fun. I know the kids are not necessarily expecting Mr. Ted, but I strive to make their storytime as awesome as possible.

1. Opening: We Wave Hello Like This
2. Song/Activity: Open Them, Shut Them
3. Stretch: Way Up High In The Apple Tree

This is my standard library storytime opening sequence. I am pretty loathe to deviate from it.

4.  STORY: Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy / Jan Thomas

I picked this up a few weeks ago on (more or less) an impulse; I'm excited to see how it goes. Who doesn't love Jan Thomas? There's a great lullaby to sing with a Texas twang and (hopefully) lotsa laffs.

5.  FP: The Itsy-Bitsy Spider 6.  Song/Activity: If You’re Wearing Red Today [tune: The Muffin Man]

7.  STORY: Trashy Town / Andrea Zimmerman
8. Stretch: A Sailor Went to Sea
9. FP: Two Little Red Birds

I'm bringing my two little red birds for this storytime: Quiet (pictured left) and Loud (pictured right).

10. Song/Activity: The Wheels on the Bus

11. STORY: Go Away, Big Green Monster! / Ed Emberly 12. Song/Activity: Can You Shake Your Egg With Me? [tune: London Bridge]

Being able to bring shakers and have fun with music and movement (read: marching around the library) is one of the things I so appreciate about library storytimes. I have done a couple fill-ins with no shakers available, so now I bring my own. 

13.  Closing:  We Wave Goodbye Like This