Virtual Storytime Spotlight: Imagination

Sing: Good Morning to You*

Welcome/Introduction/Announcements

During my welcome and pre-storytime announcements, I asked the adults to stay nearby to help type their child’s answers to questions in the chat box and to turn the camera on/off. I also asked them to grab ten SOMETHINGS to build with later – blocks, cups, whatever.

I had some puppets who were also VERY excited to say good morning to my storytime friends:

Sing: When Animals Wake Up in the Morning…

When cows wake up in the morning, they always say good day.

When cows wake up in the morning, they always say good day.

Moo, moo, moo, moo, that is what they say.

Moo, moo, moo, moo, that is what they say!

Seems like there are a gazillion slightly different ways to sing this song: Miss Carole | Jbrary | KCLS | Nancy Stewart

We repeated this puppet song with a few other animals that would appear in our first book:

Read: Animal Sounds by Christopher Silas Neal

If a dog says “bark” and a pig says “oink,” what does a doggy-pig say? Read this fabulously inventive and fun book to find out! This is one of my favorite storytime books to hit the shelves in 2020. 😍

Sing: Sleeping Bunnies by Kathy Reid Naiman (x3)

Then we used our imaginations to pretend we were sleeping bunnies (and some other animals, too).

Screenshot: Jessica pretends to be sleeping. She is using a virtual facial bear filter and has a bear snout/ears.

Turn/Talk/Type: Animal Suggestions

I asked the kids to make suggestions in the chat box for additional verses.

Read: Mama Zooms by Jane Cowen-Fletcher

This 1993 book is such an oldie but a goodie. A young child, their mom and mom’s zooming machine (her wheelchair) have all sorts of fun imaginary adventures. The child wears a different hat in each scenario: a derby hat, a race car helmet, an aviator cap, etc.

Talk: Hat Sort

There were so many hats in that story! I asked the kiddos to help me look through a stack of hats and find the right one to wear for a trip to outer space. Once we found my astronaut helmet, we hopped in a rocket and took a little imaginary ride.

Screenshot: Jessica wears an astronaut helmet and appears to be floating in front of a virtual outer space background. 

Sing: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom…

Zoom, zoom, zoom.
We’re going to the moon!
Zoom, zoom, zoom.
We’re going to the moon!
If you want to take a trip,
climb aboard my rocket ship.
Zoom, zoom, zoom.
We’re going to the moon!
In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
Blast off!

Turn/Talk/Type: What do you see in outer space?

My storytime friends saw so many things: planets, the sun, shooting stars and even aliens!

Sing: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star / ¿Estrellita, Donde Estas?

Speaking of stars…

Read: Bigger, Bigger! by Leslie Patricelli

We came back to Earth in order to read one last book.

Lit Tip: Benefits of Block PLAY

Grown-ups, I love this book because it highlights the many skills your child learns through block play. When children play with blocks, they develop spatial reasoning as they’re stacking, narrative skills as they tell stories, and even social emotional skills like sharing and growth mindset!

Rhyme: One Block, Two Blocks

Flannelboard: Ten blocks of various shapes and felt colors arranged like a rocket ship.

After I built something with ten blocks on the flannelboard, I encouraged the families to make something with their ten-somethings and turn on their camera to share!

Share: Ten Something Show and Tell

Sing: Our Storytime is Over…*

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*Please visit this page to learn more about my regular storytime songs and routines.