Little Me: Bugs and Insects

Monthly Theme for April: Spring

Weekly Theme for 26 April: Bugs and Insects

Story Time Plan

-Opening

• The More We Get Together
• Bread and Butter
• Up, Down, Turn Around

-Book

• Ten Little Caterpillars / Bill Martin, Jr.

-Finger Plays

• It is Springtime
• Nine Little Flowers
• Here is a Beehive

-Book

• Butterfly, Butterfly / Petr Horacek

-Nursery Rhyme

• Little Bo Peep

-Finger Plays

• Bumblebee, Bumblebee
• Five Little Flowers

-Felt Board

• Pretty Ladybugs

-Finger Plays

• I’m a Little Planted Seed
• Dig a Little Hole
• The Gardener Plants a Seed

-Big Book

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar / Eric Carle

-Musical Movement: Scarves

• Wave Your Scarves
• We Wave Our Scarves Together

-Closing

• Up, Down, Turn Around
• Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye

-Activities

 

Thoughts

It was an antsy crowd today, so I skipped a book and some songs to shorten the story time session down.

Little Me: Flowers and Gardens

Monthly Theme for April: Spring

Weekly Theme for 19 April: Flowers and Gardens

Story Time Plan

-Opening

• The More We Get Together
• Bread and Butter
• Up, Down, Turn Around

-Book

• My Garden / Kevin Henkes

-Finger Plays

• It is Springtime
• Nine Little Flowers
• Here is a Beehive

-Book

• Flower Garden / Eve Bunting

-Nursery Rhyme

• Little Bo Peep

-Finger Plays

• Bumblebee, Bumblebee
• Five Little Flowers

-Felt Board

• Five Little Tulips

-Finger Plays

• I’m a Little Planted Seed
• Dig a Little Hole
• The Gardener Plants a Seed

-Big Book

• Growing Vegetable Soup / Lois Ehlert

-Musical Movement: Shaker Eggs

• Shake Your Shaker
• We Shake Our Eggs Together

-Closing

• Up, Down, Turn Around
• Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye

-Activities

 

Thoughts

 

I think everyone was having a rough day today…lots of tears! Because of that, I cut some of the songs out to shorten it.

Little Me: Baby Animals

Monthly Theme for April: Spring

Weekly Theme for 12 April: Baby Animals

Story Time Plan

-Opening

• The More We Get Together
• Bread and Butter
• Up, Down, Turn Around

-Book

• Wee Little Bunny / Lauren Thompson

-Finger Plays

• It is Springtime
• Nine Little Flowers
• Here is a Beehive

-Book

• A Book of Babies / Il Sung Na

-Nursery Rhyme

• Little Bo Peep

-Finger Plays

• Bumblebee, Bumblebee
• Five Little Flowers

-Felt Board

• Animal Pairs

-Finger Plays

• I’m a Little Planted Seed
• Dig a Little Hole
• The Gardener Plants a Seed

-Big Book

• Barnyard Banter / Denise Fleming

-Musical Movement: Bells

• Let’s Make a Rainbow
• Wave Your Ribbons

-Closing

• Up, Down, Turn Around
• Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye

-Activities

 

Thoughts

 

I was feeling a little under the weather, so I cut this story time short. I learned a valuable lesson…always, always, always bring your water bottle into story time!

Little Me: Spring

Monthly Theme for April: Spring

Weekly Theme for 5 April: Spring

Story Time Plan

-Opening

• The More We Get Together
• Bread and Butter
• Up, Down, Turn Around

-Book

• Mouse’s First Spring / Lauren Thompson

-Finger Plays

• It is Springtime
• Nine Little Flowers
• Here is a Beehive

-Book

• When Spring Comes / Robert Maass

-Nursery Rhyme

• Little Bo Peep

-Finger Plays

• Bumblebee, Bumblebee
• Five Little Flowers

-Felt Board

• Something in the Garden

-Finger Plays

• I’m a Little Planted Seed
• Dig a Little Hole
• The Gardener Plants a Seed

-Big Book

• In the Tall, Tall Grass / Denise Fleming

-Musical Movement: Bells

• Shake Your Bells
• 1, 2 Shake it on Your Shoe

-Closing

• Up, Down, Turn Around
• Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye

-Activities

 

Thoughts

I used the ASL sign for “bee” in the Bumblebee, Bumblebee song, and everyone picked it up quickly! I was also able to use it in some of the later songs and In the Tall, Tall Grass, and people remembered it then, too.

A note about the books, I skipped a lot of pages and words in When Spring Comes. I used it mainly for the pictures and talked about spring arrivals.

Little Me: Boats

Monthly Theme for March: Things That GO! / Transportation

Weekly Theme for 22 March: Boats

Story Time Plan

-Opening

• The More We Get Together
• Bread and Butter
• Up, Down, Turn Around

-Book

• Busy Boats / Susan Steggall

-Finger Plays

• I’m Sitting in a Boat
• Zoom Down the Highway
• Little Red Train

-Book

• Boats: Speeding! Sailing! Cruising! / Patricia Hubbell

-Nursery Rhyme

• Row, Row, Row Your Boat

-Finger Plays

• Stop Light Colors
• A Little Tire

-Felt Board

• Five Little Boats

-Finger Plays

• Have You Ever Seen A Sailboat
• Pete the Pilot
• My Bike

-Book

• Boats Afloat / Shelly Rotner

-Musical Movement: Animal Shaker

• Animal Shakers Up
• 1, 2 Shake it on Your Shoe

-Closing

• Up, Down, Turn Around
• Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye

-Activities

 

Thoughts

For all three books, I skipped some sections to shorten them down to a reasonable length for this story time.
Also, I was gone on vacation last week, and it was so sweet to have all the caregivers tell me that their child missed me and noticed I was missing. One girl even came up to give me a hug! It made my heart quite happy.

Little Me: Trains

Monthly Theme for March: Things That GO! / Transportation

Weekly Theme for 8 March: Trains

Story Time Plan

-Opening

• The More We Get Together
• Bread and Butter
• Up, Down, Turn Around

-Book

• Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo / Kevin Lewis

-Finger Plays

• I’m Sitting in a Boat
• Zoom Down the Highway
• Little Red Train

-Book

• I Love Trains! / Philemon Sturges

-Nursery Rhyme

• Row, Row, Row Your Boat

-Finger Plays

• Stop Light Colors
• A Little Tire

-Felt Board

• This Little Train

-Finger Plays

• Have You Ever Seen A Sailboat
• Pete the Pilot
• My Bike

-Big Book

• Freight Train / Donald Crews

-Musical Movement: Shaker Eggs

• We Shake Our Eggs Together
• Can You Shake Along with Me?

-Closing

• Up, Down, Turn Around
• Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye

-Activities

 

Little Me: Cars and Trucks

Monthly Theme for March: Things That GO! / Transportation

Weekly Theme for 1 March: Cars and Trucks

Story Time Plan

-Opening

• The More We Get Together
• Bread and Butter
• Up, Down, Turn Around

-Book

• Red Light, Green Light / Anastasia Suen

-Finger Plays

• I’m Sitting in a Boat
• Zoom Down the Highway
• Little Red Train

-Book

• A Truck Goes Rattley-Bumpa/ Jonathan London

-Nursery Rhyme

• Row, Row, Row Your Boat

-Finger Plays

• Stop Light Colors
• A Little Tire

-Felt Board

• Driving Round in My Car

-Finger Plays

• Have You Ever Seen A Sailboat
• Pete the Pilot
• My Bike

-Big Book

• The Wheels on the Bus / Jerry Smath

-Musical Movement: Scarves

• Wave Your Scarves
• Toss Your Scarves

-Closing

• Up, Down, Turn Around
• Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye

-Activities

 

Thoughts

Stop Light Colors has three different ASL signs: stop, go, and wait.