Friends!

Presented at Bellevue Public Library on Wednesday, September 18, 2013.

Books:
My Friend and I by Lisa Jahn-Clough

A Friend Like You by Tanja Askani

(For this book I used story walking instead of reading the entire book.  Story walking is ideal when your child is too wiggly to sit through an entire book, or the text is just too long for them.  Story walking allows you to go through the book at a pace that you and your young one like, skipping some pictures or text, pausing to enjoy an eye-catching illustration, talking about what you think might be happening, or what might happen next.  This book has many photos of real-life "friendships" between unusual pairings of animals.)


Songs:

Everybody Say Hello!
(tune: "London Bridge")

Everybody say hello, say hello, say hello,
Everybody say hello, hello Wesley!

(Wesley is my turtle puppet who pops out of my apron pocket whenever we sing this song.  Then he sits quietly on his rock and listens to the stories and sings along with us.  At the end of storytime he says goodbye to the children, gives them high fives, eats pretend food from their hands, blows kisses, and plays hide and seek!)


Good Morning!
(tune: "Frere Jacques")

Good morning! (echo)
How are you? (echo)
I'm so glad to see you! (echo)
Wesley is too! (echo)


If You're Ready For a Story
(tune: "If You're Happy and You Know It")

If you're ready for a story, take a seat.
If you're ready for a story, take a seat.
Clap your hands and stomp your feet,
Make your hands all nice and neat.
If you're ready for a story, take a seat.


The More We Get Together

The more we get together, together, together,
The more we get together the happier we'll be!

'Cause your friends are my friends,
And my friends are your friends.

The more we get together the happier we'll be!


Playtime Activities:

Puppets:

Puppet play encourages children to make up stories about the various animals, talk about what each animal eats, where they live, what sounds they make, etc. It also helps sparks their imagination. 

Today the children also had the choice to play with my mouse puppet, inspired by the book Lunch by Denise Fleming.  This is a fun way to engage your child in exploring colors, as well as talking about their food preferences and where each food is grown (a tree, a bush, above the ground, below the ground, etc. )





Flannel Stories:

"Community Helpers"

Playing with flannels such as these can encourage children to use and develop their narrative skills.  Invite your child to talk to you about the various people and occupations.  Does she know someone who is a mechanic or a chef?  What kinds of things do they do in their work?  Why do some people wear special clothes?  Holding conversations with your child is a valuable experience that encourages them to use their imagination and their story-telling skills.

"Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed"  This favorite of many children exposes them to some of the individual sounds that make up words.  As we chant, we hear, "Five li-ttle mon-keys..."  This is also a fun counting game!



Here are photos from today's storytime:

Next week's theme: The Zoo!
Click here to learn more about this theme which will weave its way in and out of Toddler Storytime over the next 7 months!



We had a huge turnout today (49!) for our first Toddler Storytime of the school year.  I hope everyone was able to see and hear and that their children were engaged and entertained.  If these attendance numbers hold steady over the next few weeks I may look into offering a second Toddler Storytime each week.  If you think you might prefer another day/time, with a smaller class size, please feel free to leave me a message below or email me at alice.boeckman@bellevue.net.  I welcome your thoughts and input!  Please be as detailed as possible in letting me know what days/times also work for you!

Each Toddler Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).

Every Child Ready to Read^® @ your library^®, PLA and ALSC logos are registered trademarks of the American Library Association and are used with permission.