And ended with Baths and Bunnies! Here’s one of my recent flow storytimes for a mixed-age family group. This month we’re focusing on Letter Knowledge.
Welcome & Set Expectations
*Sing: Clap Everybody & Say Hello
Sing: What is the Weather?
Sang this all the time as a classroom teacher, but I’ll be darned if I can remember the tune! We started storytime by looking outside the windows and chatting about what we like to do outside in sunny weather.
*Sing: If You’re Ready for a Story…
Read: Stick by Irene Dickson
“Our first book today is called Stick. The author is Irene Dickson, who is really talented because she writes the words AND draws the pictures in her stories! Irene likes to write stories about things in everyday life, like playing with blocks or playing outside. I wonder what game they’re playing on the cover?”
Sort: Real vs. Silly Bath Props
After reading, I asked the crowd what they remembered from the story. “Remember when they played in the mud and got really dirty? I bet they needed a bath when they got home!”
Then we had fun sorting which objects were appropriate for bath time. There was some dissension over whether or not you can read books in the bathtub, but at least we all agreed on no socks!
Sing: If You’re Taking a Bath, Grab Your Towel…
While sorting, we sang a simple bathtime song with the objects we kept to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”
Flannel: D-U-C-K-Y
Oh no! We forgot something important for bathtime… ducky! 🙂
I was actually planning on doing a completely different literacy tip, but one of my kiddos came up to the board and pointed out how some of the ducks were the same and different, which led to a great moment to talk about…
Lit Tip: Building Visual Discrimination Skills & Letter Knowledge
“Grown-ups, learning the letters in the alphabet is hard work – especially because so many of them look alike, like lowercase b and p and d! When you talk about how things are the same and different together, you help your kids build visual discrimination skills. Making comparisons helps your child learn to notice small details, which helps them recognize alphabet letters.”
Read: How Do You Take a Bath? by Kate McMullan
Such a great book to reinforce making comparisons and talking about how animal baths are the same/different from people baths! Kids love saying “No!” to the silly questions:
Sing: Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes (scarves) x3
We used our scarves as towels to wash ourselves from head to toe! We started slow, then went faster and faster. I shared that when I was little, I didn’t like to take baths and I was always washing up too quickly to get clean – and I always used to forget to wash behind my ears!
Read: Whose Ears? by Sue Tarsky
Speaking of ears… This new book is just beautiful for storytime! I love the descriptive vocabulary (big, little, floppy, pointy, etc.) and the endpapers, which have all the answers to the clues. Just in case.
Sing: Bunny Hop by Katherine Dines
Which animal had floppy ears? The bunny!
Sing: Sleeping Bunnies
All that hopping tired this big bunny out, so we used our scarves again as blankets!
Learning Through Play
I made sure to bring out the alphabet magnets during play today and the sweetest thing happened! One of my storytime friends spelled her name on the whiteboard, so I sang…
I have a friend in storytime, and Sara is her name-o!
S-A-R-A, S-A-R-A, S-A-R-A
And Sara is her name-o!
When I looked over my shoulder, I had two kiddos waiting who wanted me to sing about their names, too! All the storytime feels. ðŸ˜
*Please visit this page to learn more about my regular storytime songs and routines.
This one went a wee bit too long today – I’d probably skip the third book next time.
Storytime in the Stacks 