Preschool Storytime: The Amazing ME!

This storytime had some hits and misses. I took a lot of suggestions from storytime katie and Sunflower Storytime and some worked. I had a few restless children, but I also had 25 kids plus 20 adults. It was a lot for one little room, but I believe this taught me that summer themes need to be simpler. For example, the counting storytime I did in May would have gone wonderfully both with a small group or big group. The Amazing ME topic worked fine with my two year olds, a much smaller group, who were more than happy to shout answers. With 25 preschoolers, shouting caused complete chaos which made part of my storytime frustrating. If I were to do this topic again, I would wait for winter when I usually see around 11-15 kids.

Welcome motion: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.

This is a favorite of mine and you will see it often on my storytime lists. I am thinking of doing a multicultural storytime and using this as a base to teach different languages. I can sing the song in French without even thinking about it.

Book: I like myself by Karen Beaumont

This was the favorite of the preschoolers. It gets pretty silly at the end with the horned nose and polka dotted lips, which caused some kids to snicker. I really liked this one too and will definitely use again.

Song: Me, Complete

I have ten little fingers and ten little toes

Two little arms and one little nose

One little mouth and two little ears

Two little eyes for smiles and tears

One little head and two little feet

One little chin and that’s me complete! 
Simple motion to get those wiggles out.

Book: Freckleface Strawberry by Julianne Moore

This one was not as big of a hit as I hoped. I thought the lesson learned from the book would have resonated well. No matter your freckles or glasses or hair color, you should just be you. Even if friends tease you slightly, they are friends and love you for you. I don’t think the kids quite got that. There were parts they loved like the little brother, but I think they tuned out towards the end.

Flannel Board: ME (based on a flannel board by storytime katie)

I used the premise that I can sometimes forget where the different parts of the body go. This was a huge success with the two year old class. I had a small enough group that I had one or two kids come up and show me on the board where the label should go. The preschoolers, however, shouted at me. I tried to reel them in a little by saying can you show me by pointing on you, e.g. hand, foot, shoulder. BUT they mostly just shouted. This is more for a smaller group.

Song: This is way… 
This is the way we wash our face, wash our face, wash our face

This is the way we wash our face, so early in the morning.
(Brush our teeth, comb our hair, put on clothes, ask kids for suggestions) 
The goal of this song was to get kids thinking about how they take care of themselves in the morning. Mainly, it was just a nice way to do some basic motions. I like asking the children for suggestions. Some of the ones I heard were eating breakfast, exercising, and driving to school.

Book: Incredible Me by Kathi Appelt

I really like this book. It is super cute and the rhyme scheme is wonderful. Some kids liked this one, but there were some who could not pay attention. I will try this again next winter.

Craft: Coloring portraits. Using template from Sunflower Storytime

I loved everyone’s portraits. I showed mine as an example, but encouraged all children to use whatever colors they wanted and draw whatever features excited them. I had pink and orange hair, creepy teeth, and mixed up eyes. The parents love the coloring crafts as most of these young ones will need to get better before Kindergarten this August.