Night and Day Storytime
Scott Bahlmann
Opening: Shake My Sillies Out – Raffi Book:
Daytime Nighttime – William Low
(This was a wonderfully simple book with emphasis on large beautiful images. We let the kids identify each animal that was seen, and made some noises where appropriate as well.)
Activity: Hey diddle diddle (cow jumped)
(Having ended with an image of the moon, I asked the kids if they knew a nursery rhyme with something that jumped over the moon. Then we had a special guest appearance!) The cow tried to jump behind, under and onto the moon, before the kids helped it remember where it should go. Over the moon! Then we all stood up and did the rhyme with actions.
Hey diddle diddle, the Cat and the fiddle,
(pretend to play fiddle)
The Cow jumped over the moon.
(jump up)
The little Dog laughed to see such fun,
(hold or tickle belly)
And the Dish ran away with the Spoon.
(run in place)
Book: Let’s sing a lullaby with the Brave Cowboy – Jan Thomas
(Jan Thomas is always great, this was a load of fun. We swayed side to side during the lullaby, and the whole crowd got into it.)
Activity: Flap any way you want to -
adapted from dance any way you want to (Ralphs World)
(A fun activity to get some wiggles out. For some reason, kids love to pretend to be sleeping!)
Flap anyway you want to, flap anyway you please,
flap anyway you want to, but stop when I say 'sleep.'
(Then we flapped fast, slow, high, and anyway again.
I have a sun/moon that I can flip around, with the moon out for the flapping,
and the sun out for the sleeping!)
Book: Wow! Said the Owl – Tim Hopgood
(A nice interactive book, we let the kids identify all the colors as we came to them. It was a hit!)
Activity: The Napping House - Wood
(We used our flannel board to tell The Napping House. The kids were well engaged with it.)
Book: Night Light – Nicholas Blechman
(And our last book implemented counting! Each spread lets you count the lights, then turn the page to reveal the vehicle. A very good fit.
Activity: Parachute
(Then we bounced yellow and blue balls (the sun and moon) on our parachute. Soo many kids, we ended it a bit shorter than expected but it was still fun!)