Winter Woolies

Made this kitty paper-doll thing to go with Douglas Florian's poem, "Winter Wool" from his book Winter Eyes. Probably best printed on card stock. Remember: color before cutting!
The pants and the boots aren't mentioned in the poem, but there was room for them and perhaps some kitties would rather wear pants than skirts (but I made the skirt a kilt anyway).
The cat form is based on a sweet bear paper doll by Karen available here, but I made the clothes.
Feel free to use!

Summertime Storytime

Magnolia Park

This has probably been my least successful summer storytime experience. I had high hopes for the "Every Hero Has a Story" theme because it would give me a chance to break into the folktales, many of which are a bit beyond the usual pre-school level I aim at during the school year. What folktale doesn't have its hero?

Summer storytime at our library takes place mostly at the local parks, lovely venues with a shelter that offers shade. This began in the days when the air conditioning in the Children's Room was not working. It was a constant 82 degrees in there and at 10 am it would be cooler in the park, especially with a nice breeze going. They tried numerous times to repair the a/c, but if it worked, the a/c in the rest of the building didn't. Three years ago we moved into a brand new building and now freeze our toes off in summer.

I have discovered limitations to park storytimes including and not limited to: breezes blowing the flannelboard over (fixed that by using one that hung around my neck or one on a stick), hands getting too sticky for hand puppets (only stick puppets now), and groundskeepers' noise (... no real fix for that). Otherwise, we continue doing storytimes in the parks even though we have the lovely new building and working a/c.

The parks usually have children already there, whether they expected storytime or not. It might be difficult to get them to come listen but then again it acquaints more people with our library programs, so it's great PR. This year I had a bumper crop of kids from a nearby church's summer camp, but they weren't interested in storytime. Even after the adults forced them to get off the playground equipment and come sit in the shade, they would get bored and wander off. Subsequently, they were coerced before I got there to stay put, but I could see that they just weren't into what I was doing although the books were clearly aimed at the predominant group of older kids.

I had to rethink my whole plan. I set aside all the books I'd been so excited about (Robin Hood, Perseus, etc.) and fell back on Shark In the Park! I made 30 shark masks and combined two paper towel rolls to make a telescope. The storytime dwindled from 30 minutes to 15.

After July 4th, it usually all peters out and it happened again. The group didn't come and I had 30 Midas Mouse (I was sneaking some folktale back in with stick puppets) coloring sheets that were barely used. I had two kids and their grandma and they could not sit still.

It crept back up again when a different group came by last week. They had no idea I had been doing storytimes every week. Hurray! Now they know - although there are only 2 weeks left. Next week it's monkeys. It's more like pre-school storytime, but I just don't know who will be coming.

I will still continue with storytime in the parks, but I am on the fence about continuing with the summer themes in storytimes. On the one hand, it did not serve me well this summer and I had to throw out all the preparation I'd done (which was only one month's worth, but still!). On the other hand, the themes give me a chance to stretch myself. I might be choosing books I do not normally use and have to augment those choices with new flannel boards and fingerplays.

The main lesson is, and this works for all kinds of storytimes, Don't Be Afraid to Throw It All Out and Start Over.

Cambridge Park

If You're Happy And You Know It

I'm considering adding some new verses to this perennial favorite opening song.

If you're happy and you know it squeal in a pitch that makes paint peel.
If you're happy and you know it squeal in a pitch that makes paint peel.
If you're happy and you know it, your high-pitched squeal will show it.
If you're happy and you know it squeal in a pitch that makes paint peel.

If you're happy and you know it roll backwards and then forwards and slam your feet on the floor.
If you're happy and you know it roll backwards and then forwards and slam your feet on the floor.
If you're happy and you know it your somersaults will show it.
If you're happy and you know it roll backwards and then forwards and slam your feet on the floor.

My storytime regulars are so enthusiastic. No amount of correction from the mom seems to curb them. Don't squeal! No amount of correction from me seems to help. Stay seated!
And it just encourages the other children to try these variants on storytime behavior.

Sigh, only two more weeks of storytime and by the time I see them again, they'll be three to four months older and we'll see if we can start off with an Expected Behavior Lecture.

Mommies Talk During Storytime

We all remember Miss Marf's cellphone song:

I [C] went to the storytime (or  puppet show)] [Am] with my mom,
[F] but she left her [G] cellphone on.
The [C] cellphone rang and she [Am] took the call.
[F] Now we're [G7] not allowed back [C] in at all.

Followed by: Now, let's turn off our cellphones [mime this] and put them away [mime putting in your pocket].

I've added a verse for the mommies that talk during storytime. Not just a bit, but all through storytime.

We [C] love our storytime, [Am] but as we sat,
[F] some of the mommies in the [G] back would chat.
Soon [C] no one paid attention and [Am] Miss Marf got sore.
[F] Now our story [G7] teller is a [C] mean dinosaur.

I resisted the insertion of a verse about how Miss Marf retired in a snit (because of the tempting rhyme problems) or a huff.

[Edit: Likely ukulele chords added later. Arrange your own tune around it, or write your own.]

Secondhand PLA

I'll have a crocodile sandwich ... and make it snappy.

My supervisor described to us in a quick meeting Thursday morning a program she would like to do aimed at autistic children ... something she saw at PLA.
[We are not a large or rich library system, so only a few are able to go to the big conferences. We have been told that if we don't share the information we get, we won't be allowed to go to another, so when I get back from classes, etc. to which only I was privy, I write it up and post it for everyone. It's up to them to read it or not. That said, the write-up is not just for the director to prove you went to the programs. Ahem.]

Anyway, one tiny idea mentioned at this quick meeting stuck in my head, and most fortuitously. My supervisor also decided that she wasn't up to doing the toddler storytime that day ... that would happen in about an hour. She asked if I would just use whatever I had done the day before with the preschoolers.
Panic ensued. But then that little idea she mentioned earlier popped back up to save me.

At these autistic child-oriented programs, they gave the children something to hold in their hands that was relevant to the storytime. I had been doing crocodile stories, so I scrabbled around in the supply cabinet for all the green foam sheets I could find. We have a small alligator/crocodile die and I could get six of them off of a sheet of foam.

As the kids came in, I handed the moms (mostly - one might be a gran') the sheet of songs and poems and each child got a die-cut green foam crocodile. I wasn't sure what they would do with it. Many of them were babies and might try to eat it. From what I could tell, most of them just held it.

Later, one of the moms said that the kids were much quieter because of holding the crocodiles. Really? That was quieter? Must be chaos normally!

I reported this success to my supervisor. She might want to try that herself.

Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone

It was probably five years ago I resolved to add more music to my storytimes.  I'd done the "add more puppets" and the "add more creative dramatics" but I wanted to add music.  And I didn't just want to give the boom box more to do.  I had purchased for the library some rhythm sticks, enough to handle 30 kids, each with two hands.  Yep, that's a lotta rhythm sticks.  I acquired research material (Musical Story Hours: Using Music With Storytelling and Puppetry by William M. Painter) and presumably read it.

Last year, around January, I apologetically announced to my brilliant fingerstyle guitarist husband, Husbob, that I had ordered a ukulele.*  It was my plan to learn to play it a bit and use it in programming.  So far I've learned "Lola" by the Kinks and a bucketload of Beatles' tunes.**  I like to think my storytimes are slightly subversive, but I can't see a "Lola" singalong.

But today I launched the first in a month-long string of storytimes where I will put weapons and noisemakers in the hands of small children.  It wasn't half bad.

 

There was a bit of the Kodo drummers playing on the boom box as a processional.  I started with the "If you're happy and you know it" song, because I always do and this year I am finishing with the "MackChicken Dance" by Greg and Steve - because I like to have something familiar to open and close.  I chose three books, and augmented one with items for the flannelboard (for my pre-school walk-ins who like to put things on and take things off the flannelboard): Bring on that beat by Rachel Isadora, The cha-cha chimps by Julia Durango, and Max found two sticks by Brian Pinkney.  I printed off some little chimp faces from clip art and then one larger one I stuck a bow and some lips on for the momma chimp.

After the Brian Pinkney book, I got out the basket of rhythm sticks and began with the warning that We Do Not Hit Other People with them.  We did "This is the way we tap our sticks," "She'll be tappin' round the mountain," and "The sticks on the bus go tap-tap-tap."  Then I put the Kodo drummers back on for some freestylin'.  No one hit anyone else and they were all happy to put the sticks back in the basket.  I sent them away with 2 popsicle sticks each (a quieter version) and their teachers said that they would decorate them when they got back to their class.

I was thrilled to hear that.  I hand out stuff to other groups that come to storytime and they just send it home with the rest of the stuff they've accumulated during the day.  They are definitely going to get better than hand-out sheets if I'm doing something more elaborate with the walk-ins.

I had time constraints, but we got out early enough for my co-worker to set up for her baby storytime and they looked like they were having fun.  Next week I'm going to add some jinglers and shakers and we'll make jinglers with jingle bells and chenille stems and shakers with cups, rice (maybe), duct tape, and stickers.  And the moms will hate me.  Yaaay!

Here is a link to Richard G's Uke website which has a great selection of ukulele songs, including some Jefferson Airplane. Woot!  "Teddy bear's picnic" and the like can be found on Dr. Uke's site.  The ukulele came from Music for Little People, which has terrific kid cds and occasional deals on instruments for kids but I'm currently annoyed with them and the company that does their fulfillment. 

 *Oh, look!  That's him on the left in the video bar!
**Okay, and also "Inch by inch: the garden song" and "Teddy bear's picnic."  And I can do the opening chords to "Smoke on the water" - which people my age recognize and find hilarious.