Time for Two’s can be a rambunctious storytime. I was prepared this time with lots and lots of wiggle songs!
Here’s what we did:
I always start with the same warm ups:
- Song – Top of the Morning
- This is a good song to warm up with because we stretch all the parts we will be using in storytime. Eyes, arms, legs, mouth, nose.
- ASL – Hello FriendsI like to use sign language in my story time. We go over the signs for: Hello, Friends, Time and Say. Thanks to Jbrary for this one!
- Movement Exercise – Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
- We do this three times, faster and FASTER each time.
- Song – SkidamarinkIt’s a classic, I know you all know it!
Then I get into my theme. This time we did all things camping!
- Story – We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Micheal Rosen
- This one is great for repetition. The kids almost know the words before you reach the end. You can throw in some movements too, which helps because it is a little long.
Song – Do Your Ears Hang Low
- We love to sing around the campfire right? First we practiced the words using a flip chart and then I put on the song for us to dance to.
- Flannel – Five Little KernelsThis is just a simple flannel that you can work on counting with. It is also fun to go POP! and pop goes the kernel.
- Rhyme – Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- This is a classic. I asked the kids if they ever look up at the stars when they go camping and then we do you simple movements to the rhyme. Repeat twice.
- Song – The Ants Go Marching
- I used Freegal to download a decently paced version of this song. We only let it play to 5 ants marching.
- Story – Scare a Bear by Kathy-jo Wargin
- Our library didn’t have a copy of this one so I had to get it from ILL. But it was a great one because the rhyme was fun and at the end I pulled out my bear puppet and all the kids got a chance to scare him!
- Song w/ Shakers – Chug-a-lug-a Choo Choo
- We just shake our shakers and dance. By this point in storytime we just need to dance!
Finally, I always end with the same three things:
- Movement Exercise – If You’re Happy and You Know It
- I tell the kids that I want to know how happy they are.
- Rhyme – Say Goodbye
- This is the same rhyme we started with, so the new guys are familiar with it by the end of storytime.
- Song – Goodbye, So Long, Farewell my Friends by Music Together
- I always put this one on as I go to open the door. Its a nice, slow, peaceful song to wind down on.
How’d it go:
Overall, things went pretty well this time. We did just enough to keep us happy and not too much to get all fidgety. I was glad I had all my songs prepared because this is a loud group, so anytime I don’t have to sing/shout over the kids, I’m happy. I do need to find another version of Do your hears hang low; the song was a little too fast for us, so we mostly just swayed to the music.
That’s all for now!
-M-
