5 Little Owls

I made up this little rhyme, trying to come up with something not too Halloweeny - for Halloween :) I actually made the owls over the summer when I saw a flannel friday post on
http://rovingfiddlehead.com/kidlit/?p=429, called Five Hoot Owls - I thought they were totally cute!!! (The original pattern for the owls came from http://sunflowerstorytime.com/2011/03/22/owls/)

5 Little Owls
5 little owls swooping through the night
gliding and diving in the moon’s bright light.
Dipping and flipping, it was quite a sight …
until one little owl swooped out of sight.

4 little owls swooping through the night
gliding and diving in the moon’s bright light.
One little owl flapped with all his might,
and one little owl swooped out of sight.

3 little owls swooping through the night
gliding and diving in the moon’s bright light.
A bat flew by and gave a little fright,
and one little owl swooped out of sight.

2 little owls swooping through the night
gliding and diving in the moon’s bright light.
A mama owl hooted, “It’s time to say good night”,
and one little owl swooped out of sight.

1 little owl swooping through the night
gliding and diving in the moon’s bright light.
Then the moon began to fade and the sky got light,
and one little owl swooped out of sight.

I didn't picture it here, but I have a bat puppet to fly by in verse #3.

The Three Little Penguins

Sometimes when I can't find a good flannelboard to do with a storytime, I write my own. A few times this past year I have used classic tales (fairy/folk) and transformed them into my own unique versions, below is one I did for my Penguin Storytime.

The Three Little Penguins came about as a result of three ideas all merging together. First, back in the winter someone posted a penguin flannelboard and I thought the penguins they created for the flannelboard were so cute, I had to make a few of my own and come up with something to use them in. I found the penguin they had used to create their pattern in an Internet clipart search and quickly made myself a few, because … second, I was putting together a Penguin Storytime. And third, while I was looking for Penguin books to read, I came across a book "totally made up by" Ashley Spires called Penguin and the Cupcake, in which Penguin leaves his home in Antarctica to travel to the Northern Hemisphere in search of a pink icing-topped cupcake. It's a fun book, but also an environmentally informative book – and inspired me to write my own little penguin story with a bit of an environmental twist. I used The Three Little Pigs as the basic concept of my story, but instead of having to deal with a big bad animal, since really penguins are the only animal in Antarctica, the penguins had to deal with global warming. I am not going to post the whole story here, but basically the penguins head out on their own, each builds a house, but the first two little penguins have to flee their houses because the houses are melting. Below is a picture of my three little penguins - Brody, Jimmy & Max.

It was a fun to create and I enjoy writing my own little stories. Happy Friday!

Penguin Storytime

Who doesn't love penguins?! Following is a preschool storytime I did this past winter all about penguins:

To start with I had everything I was using for storytime hidden and read a little riddle I found so the could guess what storytime was about. I can't remember where I found the riddle, may have been a book or the Internet, so if anyone needs to be given credit, please let me know and I will give credit. The song is already posted, you can go to the Bird Themed Program Ideas to find the words and motions, and I will talk a little about the flannelboard tomorrow for the September 23rd Flannelboard Friday.

Penguin Riddle:
I am a bird you know quite well,
All dressed in black and white.
And even though I do have wings,
They're not designed for flight.
I waddle, waddle, waddle,
On my funny little feet.
Across the icy snow I go,
To find a fishy treat!
Book: If You Where a Penguin by Wendell & Florence Minor
Book: Penguins by Liz Pichon
Song: "The Penguin Song"
Penguin Jokes: (I love silly jokes)
Q: Why do penguins carry fish in their beaks? A: Because they don't have pockets!
Q: What do penguins order for lunch? A: Iceburgers!
Book: Sergio Makes a Splash by Edel Rodriquez
Book: A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis
Flannelboard: "The Three Little Penguins"
Book: Penguin and the Cupcake by Ashley Spires

Happy Waddling :)

Silly Bird Storytime

This is my all time favorite preschool storytime!!! I know it seems like a lot of books to get through, but they are all pretty short and simple, and when I have done this storytime the kids (and adults) have enjoyed themselves and been attentive the entire time. The two songs and the flannelboard are both already posted, you can go to the Bird Themed Program Ideas to find the words and motions. Enjoy -

Book: Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard
Song: "If You're Grump and You Know It"
Book: Ducks Don't Wear Socks by John Nedwidek
Book: Chicken Little by Rebecca Emberley
Flannelboard: "Three Short-Necked Buzzards"
Book: I'm Not Cute by Jonathan Allen
Book: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems
Song: "The Penguin Song"

For an art project at the end, I found simple clip art outlines of silly looking birds on-line, and copied them onto pieces of construction paper. Then I set out wiggles eyes, colorful feathers, sequins, foam shapes, glitter and markers and let the kids each create their own SILLY BIRD.

Trash to Great Storytime Art Projects …

For this week's Trash to Great Storytime Art Project I decided to stick with my bird theme and do Bird Feeders made out of recycled items. However, I don't have any instructions written up or any bird feeders on hand to take pictures of, so I decided to post a few websites I found with instructions and pictures for making bird feeders out of everyday recyclables.

First, from Family Fun, a bird feeder made out of a cardboard milk or orange container, with a fancy popsicles stick roof:

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/make-recycled-bird-feeder-710474/

Next the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources site for kids has instructions for making a variety of bird feeders out of a milk jugs and cartons, pie plates and several other ideas:

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/recycle/rbirds.htm

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/cool/ameliabackyardfeeders.htm

Hands on Crafts for Kids has a flower shaped bird feeder made out of a two liter bottle that is sure to brighten up any snowy backyard this winter:

http://www.craftsforkids.com/projects/1100/1102/1102_2.htm

Lastly, this blog out of Costa Rica has not only an idea for a small juice bottle bird feeder, but also a bird house and an easy way to provide nesting materials for the birds come spring:

http://crquilter.wordpress.com/2010/08/21/making-bird-feeders-from-recycled-stuff/

Some of the projects above a pretty fancy, but you can always simplify them for younger kids or have a special program for families or tweens to make the more involved projects. Collecting the recyclable materials shouldn't be too difficult, just give yourself about a month and ask family, friends, co-workers and patrons to bring in their empty (and clean) milk jugs, juice cartons and soda bottles (big or small) and you should have enough. Read a book or two about birds, hand out a list of the various seeds different species of birds like to eat, have coloring pages of some of your local birds and you have a great program. You could even contact your local park district or Audubon Society and see if a staff member or volunteer is willing to come out and talk a little bit about bird watching, and maybe even take participants on a little walk around the outside of your library to see what bird are hanging out nearby.

Enjoy and happy birding!

3 Short-Necked Buzzards

This week's post is a sort-of flannel board that goes along with a song that has movements, and is from a Silly Bird storytime I did last fall. I read four silly books about birds, including I'm not Cute by Jonathan Allen and Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard, plus we sang several silly songs about birds and did this flannel board. It was a very fun storytime with a lot of giggling and goofiness – the kids enjoyed it too J I will share the entire storytime plan in a post in a post next week, so everyone can be a silly bird!

"3 Short-Necked Buzzards" is a camp song I use to sing back in my former life at the YMCA and various Nature Centers.

I searched clipart on-line for a buzzard, which I printed, colored and laminated.

Instead of using a flannel board for this one, I use a chalkboard and drew a dead tree on it. Then I just taped the buzzards up and removed them and put them back up as the song went on.

Three Short-Necked Buzzards (hold up three fingers and scrunch shoulders) repeat 3x's
Sittin' on a dead tree. (make a tree shape with arms)
One flew away. (flap arms)
What a shame. (shrug and lift hands)
How many left?

Two Short-Necked Buzzards (hold up two fingers and scrunch shoulders) repeat 2x's
Sittin' on a dead tree. (make a tree shape with arms)
One flew away. (flap arms)
What a shame. (shrug and lift hands)
How many left?

One Short-Necked Buzzard (hold up one finger and scrunch shoulders)

Sittin' on a dead tree. (make a tree shape with arms)
One flew away. (flap arms)
What a shame. (shrug and lift hands)
How many left?

No Short-Necked Buzzards
Sittin' on a dead tree. (make a tree shape with arms)
What a shame. (shrug and lift hands)
But one has returned.
Let us rejoice!

One Short-Necked Buzzard (hold up one finger and scrunch shoulders)
Sittin' on a dead tree. (make a tree shape with arms)
What a shame. (shrug and lift hands)
But one has returned.
Let us rejoice!

Two Short-Necked Buzzards (hold up two fingers and scrunch shoulders) repeat 2x's
Sittin' on a dead tree. (make a tree shape with arms)
What a shame. (shrug and lift hands)
But one has returned.
Let us rejoice!

Three Short-Necked Buzzards (hold up three fingers and scrunch shoulders)

The Penguin Song

I just realized that I meant to post this yesterday ... one of my favorite storytime songs ...

"The Penguin Song"
Penguins attention (children stand at attention)
Penguins begin
Right arm (flap right arm like a penguin)

Chorus

Penguins attention (children stand at attention)
Penguins begin
Left arm (flap left & right arm like a penguin)

Chorus

Penguins attention (children stand at attention)
Penguins begin
Right leg (flap left & right arm like a penguin and waddle like a penguin with right leg)

Chorus

Penguins attention (children stand at attention)
Penguins begin
Left leg (flap left & right arm like a penguin and waddle like a penguin with left & right leg)

Chorus

Penguins attention (children stand at attention)
Penguins begin
Head (flap left & right arm like a penguin, waddle like a penguin with left & right leg and nod head)

Chorus: Have you ever seen a penguin come to tea?
If you look at me a penguin you will see!

Bird Books

Here is a list of some of my favorite books to use for bird themed storytimes for mostly Toddler and Preschool ages, but a few books could be used with the babies. Some of the books are a not neccessarily non-fiction but are a bit more factual and some of them are just plain silly.

The Birdwathcers by Simon James
Two Blue Jays by Anne Rockwell
Little Green by Keith Baker
Bird Talk by Ann Jonas
Owl Babies by Maritn Wadell
Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard
Birds by Kevin Henkes
The Bickleby's Birdbath by Andrea Perry
Ducks Don't Wear Socks by John Nedwidek
Chicken Little by Rebecca & Ed Emberely
I'm Not Cute by Jonathan Allen
Calvin Can't Fly: The Story of a Bookworm Birdie by Jennifer Berne
Purple Little Bird by Greg Foley
Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (and other Pigeon books) by Mo Willems
It's a Hummingbird's Life by Irene Kelly
Cock-a-doodle-hooooooo! by Mick Manning
Fledgling by Robert Blake
In My Nest by Sarah Gillingham
Whose Chick are You by Nancy Tafuri
If You Were a Penguin by Wendell & Florence Minor
My Penguin Osbert in Love by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Penguins by Liz Pichon
Sergio Makes a Splash by Edel Rodriguez
Penguin and the Cupcake by Ashley Spires

Next week, I will post my plans for two specific Preschool storytimes I did this past year - Silly Birds and Penguins, where a good time was had by all!

"If You're Grumpy and You Know It"

I made up this version of "If You're Happy and You Know It" to go along with Jeremy Tankard's Grumpy Bird - it was great fun!!!

If you’re grumpy and you know it scowl like this
If you’re grumpy and you know it scowl like this
If you’re grumpy and you know it, then your face will surly show it
If you’re grumpy and you know it scowl like this

If you’re grumpy and you know it stand on one leg
If you’re grumpy and you know it stand on one leg
If you’re grumpy and you know it, then your face will surly show it
If you’re grumpy and you know it stand on one leg

If you’re grumpy and you know it flap your wings
If you’re grumpy and you know it flap your wings
If you’re grumpy and you know it, then your face will surly show it
If you’re grumpy and you know it flap your wings

If you’re grumpy and you know it do all three
If you’re grumpy and you know it do all three
If you’re grumpy and you know it, then your face will surly show it
If you’re grumpy and you know it do all three

Check in tomorrow for another silly bird song, my personal favorite, "The Penguin Song".

Trash to Great Storytime Art Projects …

I am a bit of a "bird nerd", so this week I am going to post from a few of my favorite bird themed storytimes. First the Trash to Great Storytime Art Project is a Binoculars.

The trash – toilet paper or paper towel rolls

The additional supplies – yarn, stapler, hole punch, scissors and crayons, markers, stamps or stickers are optional

Take two toilet paper rolls, or one paper towel roll cut in half, and staple them together at the top and the bottom. Punch two holes – one at the top of each tube – like the picture above, and cut a length of yarn to tie into each hole so your little ornithologists can wear their binoculars around their necks. When I use these as a storytime art project, I have all the binoculars already made and put out stuff for the kids to decorate them if they want. I have also used this project with preschoolers at summer camp and they loved them, we went on a bird hike after they made theirs and they were all very serious, quiet and excited about bird watching – we saw a lot of stuff that morning through our toilet paper binoculars:

Check in throughout the week – I will be posting some of my favorite bird story books and songs, and my Flannel Friday post will be about birds too!

5 Little Ducks

A simple one this week - these are my 5 Little Ducks finger puppets.

And the back – little loops of cardstock taped to the back of each duck – so I can waddle them around on my fingers.

Quack – Quack!