It’s my fifth year in a row doing this storytime theme and it never gets old! This time I didn’t need to ask any coworkers for box donations… I had PLENTY leftover from moving. My partner was so happy to get their parking space back in the garage when I took all the boxes to work!
This was also my very first storytime at my new library. I love the wide variety of ages you get at weekend storytimes. I had a small but mighty group for my first Saturday storytime: two toddlers, a preschooler and a second grader. We were such a small group, we read three books instead of my usual two!
Sing: Good Morning to You*
Welcome/Introduction
Sing: If You’re Happy & You Know It…*
Sing: If You’re Ready for a Story…*
Read: Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
After reading, I asked the kids if they could remember which animal was “too naughty” to keep? The monkey!
Rhyme: Monkey See, Monkey Do
Monkey see, monkey do.
Little monkeys at the zoo.
Little monkeys in the tree,
Can you clap your hands like me?
(repeat with other actions)CREDIT: STORYTIME KATIE
Which animal was too scary? The snake!
Shakers: Snake in the Grass by Mr. Jon & Friends
Pause: Snake Breaths
Then we took some calming snake breaths with Kira Willey:
Read: Gift & Box by Ellen Mayer
Like Sofia does at the end of the story, we pretended we were flying round the room in airplanes!
Dance: Fly by Sugar Ray (scarves)
I like to turn this into a stop and go song by periodically pausing the music and making everyone freeze!
Read: Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
The book ends with bunny blasting off to space in a rocket, setting the stage perfectly for…
Sing: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom with Extra Verses
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…
BLASTOFF!Repeat: far to the stars, fun to the sun
CREDIT: JBRARY
Play: Boxes!
*Please visit this page to learn more about my regular storytime songs and routines.
Storytime in the Stacks 