Summer Reading 2013: Dig Into Reading

   Although Summer Reading has technically started at my library, the programs officially start next week. We have a full week of programming for ages 1-14 (the part time librarian does the tween/teen programming). Our slate of programming this summer includes: storytime (2 identical sessions to accomodate the larger amount of children who attend over the summer), storytelling in action (interactive storytelling and craft), arts and crafts, Teen Space summer programs, board games and chess Tournament. In addition we have several one time programs that include: scavenger hunt, Girl Scout Day, Dig Into Stories with Storyteller Carl Gussin and create clay animals.

  Already Arts and Crafts is full and storytelling in action is nearly full. The programs for the school age children always seem to fill up first. Several programs this summer are new to Summer Reading. I have done storytelling in action for Summer Reading at another library but not this one. I did try it in the winter once at this library but found it was better to do it in the summer because we get a larger audience during this time.
The chess tournament idea is new too. We have had chess classes for about 5 or 6 years. The instructor who has helped us in the past now has a full time job and we cannot find a time that accomodates both of us. We also have a new instructor who has helped us during the school year but he will be away part of the summer, so he didn't think it would be fair to commit when he won't be here the whole time. Both are volunteers, so I was appreciative of any help they were able to give. We are fortunate to get a program from our Central library Program and Services Department for July (storyteller Carl Gussin) and we have another volunteer who is going to do the clay program.

 This year I am also fortunate to have a library assistant on staff to help coordinate and lead the programs with me. In addition, I have four (and maybe more volunteers) to help with craft preparation and assistance to children at the program.

 I look forward to seeing what this summer brings. More details later as the summer reading program begins.

My Flannelboard sets

   I am introducing my flannel board sets I made. The first two were for a recent storytime (last week) and the second two are for Summer Reading Club.

  Here they are:

 Five Little Apples

 Five Little Aliens

 Ten Potatoes in a Pot

Five Enormous Dinosaurs

  I actually made my first flannel board set a few years ago but these were my first successful ones. I did not know you can use sandpaper to make them stick to the board. Once I found this out, I wanted to make some. In the past, I shied away from the felt pieces because they were so hard to cut and took so long to decorate. I hope you enjoy. If you need any more information, let me know.

Toddler Time 5/20

   This was the last session of Spring Toddler Time. I usually take about a 6 week break until Early Literacy Summer Reading story time. This week's theme was bugs/caterpillars. We had a good turnout. These are the books we read:

Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (I had a nice flannelboard set for this book that I inherited (picture below
Ten Wriggly Wiggly Caterpillars by Debbie Tarbett

Here is the flannelboard set:

 

 These are the songs we did:

1. Hello Everyone

2. Shake Shake Your Hands

3. Flutter, Flutter Butterfly
Flutter, flutter, Butterfly
Sung to: "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
Flutter, flutter, butterfly.
Floating in the summer sky.
Floating by for all to see,
Floating by so merrily.
Flutter, flutter, butterfly,
Floating in the summer sky.

4. Bumblebee, Bumblebee

Action Rhyme: “Bumblebee, Bumblebee”
Bumblebee, bumblebee, landing on my nose.
Bumblebee, bumblebee, now he’s on my toes.
On my arms, on my legs, on my elbows.
Bumblebee, bumblebee he lands and then he goes.

5. Ants Go Marching (first 5 verses)

Ants Came Marching

The ants came marching one by one, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants came marching one by one, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants came marching one by one
The little one stopped to suck his thumb.
They all go marching down around the town.
Boom, Boom, Boom.

The ants came marching two by two, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants came marching two by two, Hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants came marching two by two
The little one stopped to tie his shoe.
They all go marching down around the town.
Boom, Boom, Boom.

Other Verses:
The ants came marching three by three...
The little one stopped to climb a tree.

The ants came marching four by four....
The little one stopped to shut the door....

The ants came marching five by five...
The little one stopped to take a dive...

6. Itsy Bitsy Spider

7. If You're Happy and You Know It

8. Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes

9. Ring Around the Rosie

10. Farmer in the Dell

11. Teddy Bear Teddy Bear 

   We did a caterpillar coloring page and a butterfly coloring page. Much fun was had by all.

Toddler Time 5/13

   This is the next to last week in our Winter/Spring Toddler Time Session. Today's theme was A is for Apples and Aliens. This is the first time in a while that I used flannel board sets I made. I am going to try to get pictures, as soon as I can get my hands on the library camera. The children enjoyed the two songs we did with the flannelboard. Here are the books we did:

Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

Clifford Picking Apples and Pumpkins by Norman Bridwell

The Aliens are Coming by Colin McNaughton

   These are the songs we did:

1. Hello Everyone

2. Shake, Shake Your Hands

3. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

4. 5 Little Apples (flannel board song)

Five little apples
Lying on the floor
One rolled away and that left four
Four little apples
Hanging on a tree
I picked one off and that left three
Three little apples
I know what to do
I put one in my pocket and that leaves two
Two little apples
Sitting in the sun
I'll pick one up and that leaves one
One little apple
Waiting in my lunch
I'll eat it up with a crunch, crunch, crunch

5. Old Mc Donald Had a Farm

6. Five Little Aliens (flannel board song)

Five Little Aliens Flying Out in Space
the first one said, let’s have a race.
The second one said, watch me go
The third one said, that’s so slow
The fourth one said, my ship’s fast
The fifth one said, I’m always last.

7. If You're Happy and You Know It

8. Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes

9. Ring Around the Rosie

10. Hokey Pokey

11. Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear

   We did A is for Apple and an alien coloring page. Much fun was had by all.

Toddler Time 5/6

   There was not a theme this week and this was reflected in the books and songs. Originally we were going to do books on both boats and mothers, but I was only able to obtain the mother book. I requested the book I'm Mighty by Kate McMullan for boats, but it never made it to my library. I still kept the boat song because I thought the children would enjoy it, and they did. These are the books we used:

Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

Don't Slam the Door by Dori Chaconas

Mama Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joose

   These are the songs we did:

1. Hello Everyone

2. Shake Shake Your Hands

3. This Old Man

4. 

Action Song: “Riding ‘Round in My Little Boat”
Riding ’round in my little [red] boat
Riding ’round in my little [red] boat
Riding ’round in my little [red] boat
Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, splash!

5. Itsy Bitsy Spider

6.

M-O-M-M-Y

(tune of BINGO)

I love her and she loves me

And Mommy is her name-o

M-O-M-M-Y

M-O-M-M-Y

M-O-M-M-Y

And Mommy is her name-o.

7. If You're Happy and You Know It

8. Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes

9. Farmer in the Dell

10. Ring Around the Rosie

  We did a Mother's Day coloring page and a boat coloring page. The children had fun but I noticed they were a bit fidgety today. We were barely able to get through the last story.

Toddler Time 4/29

   This week's Toddler Time theme was imagination. These fun books illustrated some funny and exciting things from children's imaginations. I began by explaining about imagination and gave them some examples. This storytime had good attendance. These are the books we read:

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle

That's How by Christoph Niemann

These are the songs we did:

1. Hello Everyone

2. Shake Shake Your Hands

3. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

4.

Let’s Hear You Roar..

Let's hear you roar like a lion!
Let's see you jump like a frog!
Let's see you snap your jaws like a crocodile!
Let's hear you howl like a dog!
Pretend you're an elephant with a big, looooong, truck.
Pretend you're a monkey. Let's see you jump, jump, jump!
And now you're a mouse. Just let me see
How very, very quiet you can be.

5. I'm a Little Teapot

6.

Five Little Speckled Frogs

Five little speckled frogs (Hold five fingers (frogs) on top of your
other arm (log)
Sat on a speckled log
Eating the most delicious bugs. Yum! Yum!
One jumped into the pool (jump a finger off the log into the pool)
Where it was nice and cool
Now there are Four green speckled frogs (Hold up four fingers) (continue down to one)

7.  If You’re Happy and You Know It

8.  Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes

9. Ring Around the Rosie

10. Farmer in the Dell

11. Teddy Bear Teddy Bear

   There were coloring sheets relating to the imagination. It was a great storytime.

Toddler Time Monday 4/22

  Sorry for not posting for so long. In today's storytime, I decided to try something a little bit different. Instead of only using traditional picture books, I wanted to use some books from the non-fiction section about nursery rhymes. We had a decent turnout for this program. These are the books we used:

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

Mother Goose by Dan Yaccarino

Other Goose by J. Otto Seibold

We choose songs we did in the past (see past blog entries) and did some song versions of the nursery rhymes as well.

Our coloring pages were from various nursery rhymes.