Springtime Storytimes

Planning a seasonal storytime can be a little overwhelming because there are SO many books, songs,  and rhymes about seasons. I've tried to divide up the book suggestions by putting them in sub-categories. The book lists are at the bottom of this post. First here are some action rhymes, songs and crafts all about springtime. 

Spring Action Rhymes and Songs and Crafts
     Most of these rhymes I've used for years, some are traditional, some are adaptations. I didn't make note of where I got them, so I'm sorry I can't give credit. If you know the origin of any of these, leave a comment. 

Craft: Tissue Paper flowers. Cut circles in tissue paper. Pile up a dozen or so layers. Fold in half and punch a hole at the center, bottom edge. I use a small bore 1/8" hole punch. Thread a chenille stick through the hole and twist the stick to secure it. . Unfold and lightly crumple the layers. They look like ranunculus, very pretty! 

Action Song: The Gardener  tune: The Farmer in the Dell
     actions: match actions to words
The gardener plants the seeds
The gardener plants the seeds
Hi ho the cherry-o
The gardener plants the seeds

v. 2    The sun shines down so warm...
v. 3    The rain falls gently down...
v. 4    The plants begin to grow...
v.5     The flowers smile and sway...

Action Song: Roots, Stem, and Leaves and Flowers   tune: Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes
I may have written this, I don't remember. I've used it for years and it's lots of fun to do. 

Roots, stem, and leaves, and flowers
leaves and flowers.
Roots, stem, and leaves, and flowers
leaves and flowers.
Butterflies, bees, and sunshine and rain showers,
Roots, stem, and leaves, and flowers
leaves and flowers!

Talk through the song and actions once or twice till kids know what to do. Sing once slowly.  Repeat several times getting progressively faster. Sing last time at normal pace.

Actions
Roots  -   touch toes
Stem   -   stand up straight and clap arms to sides
and leaves  -   bend elbows and hold hands out at sides
and flowers  -  frame face with fingers and flutter fingers like petals

Butterflies   -  make butterflies with your hands - cross at wrist, palms facing you, link thumbs and
                                flutter fingers like wings
Bees            -   make an OK sign with thumb and forefinger, and waggle hand
and sunshine   -   circle arms overhead
and rain showers -  fingers flutter down

Craft: Zip Bag Butterfly  Have kids fill zip top bags with scraps of tissue paper. Zip closed. Fold the zip top down. Twist a chenille stick around the middle and curl the tips. Cute & fast! I've also done this with fold over sandwich bags.

Action Poem : Spring

Showers   -   flutter fingers down
Flowers   -   hands grow up
Trees       -    yoga tree pose, sway
Bees       -     make wings with arms & buzz
Sun      -      circle arms over head
Fun    -   jump up and down
Muck   -  pretend to be stuck 
YUCK!

Craft: Honey Bee  Use up your construction paper scraps. You can do this in different ways. Have kids glue skinny scraps onto a rectangle scrap. (I believe artists can use any colors.) Then cut out the bee body shape (oval or jelly bean shape, or give them a pattern or template). Or have them cut the bee shape first, glue on stripes then trim along the edge. Add an eye and face. Stick on some antennae (paper or chenille sticks), add a stinger. The main thing that is distinctive and cool is the bubble wrap wing - you could put one on each side. We always have boxes full of bubble wrap saved from packages, it's a great craft material.

Fingerplay Song:  Spring is Here!  tune Are You Sleeping  (Frere Jacques)
I think I found this in one of Jean Warren's Piggyback Songs books
 
I see flowers                        - "grow" hand up through other fist
I see birds' nests                  -  cup hands
Butterflies                            -  link thumbs with palms facing you, flap hands
Rainy skies                           -wiggle fingers down through air
Everything is growing             -wiggle fingers up through air
The wind is gently blowing     -sway hands back and forth
oo-ooo-oo
Spring is here! 


Action Poem: A Robin
When a robin cocks his head       -make wings with arms 
Sideways in a flower bed            -tilt head to side
He can hear the tiny sound         -tap ear, cup ear
of a worm beneath the ground    - wiggle finger

 
Craft: Rockin' Robin  I like to play the song Rockin' Robin at our spring storytimes. I use either the Jackson 5 version or the Toddlers Sing Rock and Roll version. The kids love to get up and dance. It's just a little too long at 2 and half minutes. And here is a rockin' robin craft.   from Happy Hooligans. There are a lot of versions of Rockin' Robin, but this one is the cutest I think. The original instructions start with painted paper plates, but at library storytimes we don't have time to wait for paint to dry so we just use circles cut out of construction paper. It works just as well. Tap the corner of your bird and it will rock. If you want a more realistic robin see the same Happy Hooligans website for the robin colored craft.

________________________
Okay enough rhymes and songs and crafts for now. I will do Spring showers in another post.
Here are a few of my favorite springtime books.



Spring Flowers
The Happy Day / Ruth Krauss
Buster and the Dandelions / Hisako Madokoro
Dancing the Breeze / George Shannon
Planting a Rainbow / Lois Ehlert
Alison's Zinnia / Arnold Lobel
Flower Garden / Eve Bunting

Spring Robins
My Spring Robin / Anne Rockwell
Little Robin Redbreast / Shari Halpern
Round Robin / Jack Kent
Robin's Home / Jeanne Atkins
    2 nonfiction picks to show kids:
A Nest Full of Eggs / Priscilla Belz Jenkins
The Robins in Your Backyard / Nancy Carol Willis

Spring is Coming
Possum and the Peeper / Anne Hunter
It's Spring! / Samantha Berger

Flannel Friday: Green Eggs and Ham

Here is my Flannel Friday post. See more great felt board ideas this week at Story Time Secrets.


We celebrated Dr. Seuss last week and included Green Eggs and Ham, of course.
For a stretch between stories, I adapted the traditional rhyme, "Way Up High in the Apple Tree" and created a felt board to go along with it. We stood up and acted it out using the felt board as a visual aid.

Way Up High in the Green Egg Tree

Way up high in the green egg tree,             ~ point way up high
Two green eggs smiling at me!                   ~ make 2 fists up high 
I shook that tree so hard and fast,             ~ with both hands shake imaginary tree trunk
And Noooooooooo!!!!                            ~ look up horrified
Down came the green eggs                       ~ lower fists quickly toward your face
Splat! Splat!                                             ~  Splat hands over face

I cut out a Dr. Seuss-like tree from light blue stiffened felt for the trunk and red stiffened felt for the tree top.  Then I made eggs and added google eyes and smiles drawn with a sharpie. The eggs are double sided as you can see in the next picture.The tree trunk is about 12 inches long, the eggs are the size of real hen's eggs. I didn't use patterns.

During the last 2 lines of the rhyme, I take the eggs off the tree and hold them way up high over my face and bring them down in slow motion while I cry out, "No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!" Then I flip them over on top of my eyes so the yolks show. They look like big eyeballs. The kids loved it!

This is a super simple felt board design. I love the stiffened felt which we bought from the School Specialty Art Education catalog.

Wockets in my Pockets - Celebrating Dr. Seuss

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!  

When I was about 4 years old my mother brought home The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss, and I was completely hooked. When she brought home The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, I was ecstatic. This was the late 50s, and the books were not only brand new, but they were a brand new kind of children's literature. Learning to read has not been the same since.

Book: There's a Wocket in my Pocket

This is not a narrative story - it's a list of wacky rhymes describing unusual household creatures. You could stretch this book by asking kids to make up their own wacky rhymes.

Action Song: Five Wockets in my Pocket
I adapted this song from Music with Mar, Five Fingers in my Pocket, which you can download or purchase on CD   

I've got five wockets in my pocket      ~   hold up five fingers
Five wockets hidden away                    ~   put hand in pocket or behind back
Five wockets in my pocket, Look!        ~  hold up four fingers (back of hand facing children)
Oh, no! One went away.                    ~  count fingers, then start song over

I've got four wockets in my pocket, etc.        (Be sure to act this out with facial expressions,
                                                                      look disappointed when a wocket is missing, make
Repeat till you have NO wockets:                   your voice sound sad. The kids think this is hilarious.)

I've got no wockets in my pocket
No wockets hidden away
No wockets in my my pocket, Look
Oh! Five wockets here to stay!                 ~  pull hand out with five fingers showing


Book: Green Eggs and Ham

This was my son's favorite book when he was about 2 years old. He asked for it so often and I read it so many times, he memorized the text, and would sit and look through the pages and recite it. When I read this book in storytime many of the kids recited the lines along with me.

Action Rhyme:  The Green Egg Tree

I took the traditional rhyme, Way up High in the Apple Tree, and adapted it for this storytime. I also created a felt board to go along with it. 

Way up high in the green egg tree,             ~ point way up high
Two green eggs smiling at me!                   ~ make 2 fists up high 
I shook that tree so hard and fast,             ~ with both hands shake imaginary tree trunk
And Noooooooooo!!!!                            ~ look up horrified
Down came the green eggs                       ~ lower fists quickly toward your face
Splat! Splat!                                             ~  Splat hands over face

Here is my version of a Dr. Seuss tree, cut out from stiffened felt. The eggs have google eyes and smiles drawn on with a sharpie. The eggs are also double-sided.

During the last two lines of the rhyme, I took the eggs off the tree and held them way up high over my face and brought them down in slow motion while I cried, "No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!" Then I flipped them over on top of my eyes so the yolks showed. They look like big eyeballs. The kids loved it and laughed and laughed. And we had to do it again.




Book: The Cat in the Hat

Echo Song: Cat in the Hat
For this song I used the tune and style of the Crazy Moose Song (although I can never remember tunes correctly - the kids didn't seem to care). I dashed off new lyrics, and then realized after I printed the song sheets that I had mixed up both Cat in the Hat books (the cat cleans up the mess with Mom's dress in the second book.) Oh well, everybody makes mistakes.

Leader sings the line and kids echo. Each line is sung twice.

There was a great big cat               ~ make whiskers with fingers
He liked to wear a great big hat     ~ raise hand high over your head
There was a great big cat
He liked to wear a great big hat
Sing wayo wayo wayo                 ~ swish hands and arms back & forth over head
Sing wayo wayo wayo                ~  swish hands and arms back & forth in front of knees

The cat came in one rainy day     ~ hands wiggle down for rain
He had a lot of tricks to play       ~ rub hands together and smile
The cat came in one rainy day
He had a lot of tricks to play
Sing wayo wayo wayo
Sing wayo wayo wayo

But the goldfish said NO NO!    ~make fish with hands, shake finger sternly
Tell that Cat in the Hat to go!    ~Jerk thumb over shoulder
But the goldfish said NO NO!
Tell that Cat in the Hat to go!
Sing wayo wayo wayo
Sing wayo wayo wayo

Then that cat made such a mess   ~ wave arms haphazardly OR put hands on hips and frown
But he cleaned it with Mom's dress  ~ make feminine hourglass shape with hands
Then that cat made such a mess
But he cleaned it with Mom's dress
Sing wayo wayo wayo
Sing wayo wayo wayo

Now the cat has gone away           ~  wave bye bye
But he'll come back again someday   ~  smile knowingly
Now the cat has gone away
But he'll come back again someday
Sing wayo wayo wayo
Sing wayo wayo wayo

Crafts
I was inspired to make wockets after reading Miss Alison is Blogging. I used a slightly different pattern for our wockets from 30 Minute Crafts and also included the yottle in a bottle craft from the same cool website. The kids colored their Wockets and Yottles and then I laminated the creatures and adults cut them out. My little Scotch desktop laminator is my new favorite toy.  On the back of the Wocket picture are instructions to take your Wockets in your pockets wherever you go, then take picture of the Wockets and send the digital pictures to the library. We will post the pictures on our website, FB page, and this storytime blog.

Beach Party Storytime!

Oh, winter, is it over yet? Nope. The wonderful thing about books is that they can take you anywhere! Yay! Let's go to the beach!

The Books

 Senses at the Seashore / Shelley Rotner
This will give us an idea of what the beach looks, smells, sounds, feels and tastes like.

Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey / Mini Grey
What fun! And one of the characters is named after me:  the fully posable Beach-Time Brenda!

Harry by the Sea / Gene Zion
An oldie but a goodie, my oldest two children (now in their mid-thirties) loved the Harry books and this one was a special favorite. I confess I did the unthinkable: I left out the word "fat" when reading about how Harry walked in lady's shadow.

Sand Castle / Brenda Shannon Yee
There is nothing particularly creative or wonderful about this book or its illustrations except...it just showed a typical time at the beach, and I really wanted to show my Iowa kids what that looked like. No sea monsters, no superheros, no goofy dialogue, just kids playing in the sand with the water nearby. Also, this is a beach at a lake, which may be more familiar to some of our midwestern kids.

More Books about the Beach: 
Sally and the Limpet / Simon James
Stella, Star of the Sea / Marie-Louise Gay
Seven Little Mice Go to the Beach / Haruo Yamashita
Sally Goes to the Beach / Stephen Huneck
On the Seashore / Anna Milbourne
Out of the Ocean / Debra Frasier
Curious George Goes to the Beach / (Rey)
D. W. All Wet / Marc Brown

The Stretches

For Flannel Board Possibilities click here.

Action Song: Baby Shark
 - There are many versions of this hilarious song - just check them out on YouTube and get ready to smile. I actually learned this song from one of my Sunday School kids, who had learned it at church camp. It's one of our favorite songs.

Baby Shark do do  do do dah do
Baby Shark do do do do dah do
Baby Shark do do do do dah do
Baby Shark!

Repeat with Mama Shark, Daddy Shark, Grampa Shark, I went swimming, Saw a shark, Swam faster,
Lifeguard running, Saved my Life

This looks long, but the song goes pretty fast, in the following two videos you will see that the song is completed in 1 min. and 36 seconds.

Click here for video with lyrics and tune.

Click here for video of same version with arm motions.

Cold Water Pokey
I am a Hokey Pokey girl and I use a variety of Pokey songs throughout the year including a Halloween Monster Pokey and a Christmas Reindeer Pokey. Here's the beach or pool version: 

You dip your toe in
You dip your toe out
You dip your toe in
and you jump and scream and shout!  (shout: It's so cold!)
You do the Cold Water Pokey
And you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about!  (clap! clap!)

Then do as many body parts as you want. I used toes, waist, shoulders, head, and whole self.) 

After the Stories
Because this was a "Beach Party" I had more than just a craft. I filled a wading pool with playground sand and tossed in some plastic cups so kids could build sand castles. I brought out beach balls (buy them by the dozen from Oriental Trading),  a snack cabana with fruity ice pops (left over from a summer program), and I had many sea shells scattered along the edges of the room so kids could collect them. Each child could take 1 sea shell home. My shells were donated from a patron who spends her winters at Sanibel Island in Florida, but you can buy real sea shells from Oriental Trading as well.

For our craft we made Jelly Fish out of Bubble Wrap and pieces of ribbons. Easy and cute.

We had such a good time at our Beach Party on a snowy, snowy day in Iowa.

The storytime setting.

I am lucky enough to have the jaws of a bull shark.(Thank you to my son Andrew, who has never asked for this after he left home!) Only adults may handle as the teeth are razor sharp! It is fascinating to see the many rows of extra teeth.

A generous patron gave us a huge jar of shells she had gathered at Sanibel Island. I scattered these around the story room so the kids could do some beachcombing after the stories. Each child picked out one shell to take home.

Starfish are also worth examining.

Kids sat on beach towels for the storytime.

Building sand castles was a popular activity!

We made jelly fish out of bubble wrap and ribbon scraps.

Cute!

One of the best purchases we ever made was a dozen beach balls from Oriental Trading. We gave most of them away as summer prizes, but kept a few for storytimes. They are crazy popular among the wee folks. We bring them out regularly after our baby storytimes. They are light, so they don't hurt the building or people.

Another generous patron donated this little lemonade stand/grocery store. I took off the vinyl awning and replaced it with some shredded cardboard packaging to make it look like a tiki hut. Then I stashed an ice chest full of popsicles behind it so everyone could have a sweet treat.

A good time was had by all!












 

Flannel Friday Beach Party

I created 3 felt board sets to go along with my Beach Party Storytime. I will use just one, Five Little Sandcastles, and save the other two for another time.

Five Little Sandcastles

Five little sandcastles built by the shore,

Along came a wave and WHOOSH!

there were four. 

Four little sandcastles built by you and me,

Along came a wave and WHOOSH!

there were three. 

Three little sandcastles built by me and you,

Along came a wave and WHOOSH! 

there were two. 

Two little sandcastles built in the sun,

Along came a wave and WHOOSH!

there was one. 

One little sandcastle built just for fun,

Along came a wave and WHOOSH! 

there were none. 

I believe I first found this rhyme at read1more.wordpress.com, but I've seen it on many other sites. I don't know the original author. 

I used sandpaper for my sandcastles. My artistic daughter designed them and cut them out for me. I discovered that if I used double-stick tape and attached scraps of sandpaper on the backs of the sand castles, that it worked just as well as velcro and better than flannel or felt. Very cool!

When reciting the rhyme I will use a blue scarf as the wave and swoosh it across the board to remove the castle. You could also pick a child or five children to take away a castle. 

I almost always leave my felt board set up after the storytime so children can play with the pieces.

Five Little Seashells

Five little seashells lying on the shore,

Swish! went the waves

and then there were four.

Four little seashells pretty as can be,

Swish! went the waves 

and then there were three. 

Three little seashells all pearly new,

Swish! went the waves

and then there were two.

Two little seashells lying in the sun,

Swish went the waves

and then there was one. 

One little seashell lying all alone,

I picked it up

and I took it home!

Apparently this is a traditional rhyme and you can find it in many places. I discovered it on Songs for Teaching: http://www.songsforteaching.com/hughhanley/5littleseashells.htm. 

I made my seashell set using photographs of real shells, laminated. I also made an identical little set for use on a felt storytelling glove. You could use real shells set on a lap board, or the floor if you have a small group. Wouldn't that be fun?

Five Cranky Crabs

Five cranky crabs were digging on the shore,

one swam into a net and then there were four. 

Four cranky crabs were floating in the sea,

one got tangled up in seaweed, then there were three. 

Three cranky crabs were wondering what to do,

one dug a deep, deep hole, then there were two. 

Two cranky crabs were warming in the sun,

one got scooped up in a cup, then there was one. 

One cranky crab was smarter than his friends,

he hid between the jagged rocks, that's how this story ends.

This is another rhyme that can be easily found with a keyword search. I found this version at preschooleducation.com

Holiday Grandparent / Grandchild Storytime

A Grand Family Storytime

Over the years I've noticed that many extended families come into the library the day after a major holiday, and often they ask me, "do you have a storytime today?" Um, well, no, we don't. 

This year I decided to offer storytime on December 26, for visiting grandparents and grandchildren. I'm calling it a Grand Family Storytime.

The books I chose to read: 

In the Rain with Baby Duck / Amy Hest
   The Grandfather in this story is wise and compassionate and understanding, and Baby Duck is fussy and funny. Kids can pat their knees with their hands to make the rain sound effects. Baby Duck's song can be sung with great heaving sobs and sniffs.

Full, Full, Full of Love / Trish Cooke
   This is a very sweet story of a Sunday afternoon with Grandma. Illustrator Paul Howard does a beautiful job with the artwork, the pictures are warm and inviting. I want to have Sunday dinner with this family too! Each page spread ends with some sound effects or actions which you could act out with the children. Example "splash, splish, wiggle, wiggle"  - clap twice and wiggle.

Whose Mouse Are You / Robert Kraus
    I love this story. Mouse is all alone - his family members are scattered, and some are in grave danger. Mouse has to save his family and bring them all together again. The pictures and text are simple, touching, and sometimes amusing. The mouse family does not mention grandparents, but I couldn't resist including this book because it is all about family love and belonging. I think I will have the kids and adults help me out with adding another verse about grandmother and grandfather and make up a "page" of pictures using a felt board.

Sleepytime Rhyme / Remy Charlip
   This is my go-to book for Valentine's Day, storytimes about family, babies, love, sleep/bedtime, and bodies. Remy Charlip's free form art features a baby and a woman, she could be a grandmother, and his text uses the word "grand" twice, so it's just perfect for my Grand Family Storytime.  If you wanted to integrate some actions into the story, ask  the families to snuggle up and have adults gently touch their children: " I love your hands, your teeth, your nose, your ankles, feet, and all ten toes." This is the last book in the storytime, a nice ending with a cuddle and lots of smiles. 

Songs and Stretches

If you search through books or online for action rhymes about grandparents you are sure to find the one that begins: Here are Grandma's glasses. Cool, right? Plus the second verse is about Grandpa. Unfortunately, the ending is really lame, with Grandma putting her hands in her lap, and Grandpa folding his arms. Boring Grandma and Grandpa. I tweaked both rhymes. Here is my version, which I hope you will use, because it is so much cuddlier! 

Grandma's Glasses / Grandpa's Glasses

Here are Grandma's glasses (circle fingers around eyes)

Here is Grandma's cap (cover head with hands)

And here's the way she wraps her arms

around me in her lap!  (hug self)

Here are Grandpa's glasses

Here is Grandpa's hat

And here's the way he folds his arms

around me just like that!

Here's a variation of "Johnny Pounds With One Hammer"  that you can use for any member of the family, and you can change the tools too. This is one of those cumulative rhymes - each verse adds another action using another body part - the actions here are simple compared to My Aunt Came Back, but still tons of funs for kids and grown ups alike. For a good example of how to do the hammer rhyme, check out this you tube video posted by the King County Library System.

Grandpa Pounds with One Hammer

Grandpa pounds with one hammer

one hammer, one hammer,

Grandpa pounds with one hammer

Then he pounds with two. 

2 hammers - 3 hammers - 4 hammers - 5 hammers - then he goes to sleep!

Grandma's Little Baby / Grandpa's Little Baby

My mother used to sing me Short'nin Bread when I was really little, and when I had children of my own, I continued the tradition. They loved clapping along with the tune. 

I was really pleased to find a new version about Papa's Little Baby. 

For this storytime of course, I used Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandma's little baby loves
Short'nin', short'nin',
Grandma's little baby loves
Short'nin' bread,
Grandma's little baby loves
Short'nin', short'nin',
Grandma's little baby loves
Short'nin' bread.

 Put on the skillet,
Slip on the lid,
Grandma's gonna make
A little short'nin' bread.
That ain't all
She's gonna do,
Grandma's gonna make
A little coffee, too.  (repeat verse 1)

For Grandpa's version, get up and dance!

Grandpa's little baby loves

dancing, dancing,

Grandpa's little baby loves to 

dance round.

Grandpa's little baby loves

dancing, dancing,

Grandpa's little baby loves

to boogie on down. 

Lean to the left

Lean to the right

Hug that child 

nice and tight

Lean to the left 

Lean to the right

Hug that child 

nice and tight!  (repeat verse1)

The last song we sing is Skidamarink (aka Skinnamarink).  If you're not familiar with the tune or actions, watch this.

Skidamarink

Skidamarink a dink a dink

Skidamarink a doo

I love you!

Skidamarink a dink a dink

Skidamarink a doo

I love you!

I love you in the morning

and in the afternoon

I love you in the evening

and underneath the moon.

Skidamarink a dink a dink

Skidarmarink a doo

I love you!

(You can add a few little personal flourishes at the end, like Sharon, Lois & Bram did in the video!Very cute to end with a Boop Boop a Doop) 

Make and Take or Snack Time

I often have a craft for kids to do after storytime, but for this one, I think we might have a snack of short'nin' bread!

***************************

More Good Books about Grandparents

Please add your favorite rhymes, books, or links in the comments. 

Vera's Baby Sister  / Vera Rosenberry  - Vera is jealous of her new baby sister, so Grandfather dreams up a plan to keep Vera busy and happy, constructing her own green bean teepee. After reading this story I was inspired to build my own green bean teepee, but the bunnies ate all the little seedlings. Next year my teepee will have a fence. : /


Grandmother and I,   and  Grandfather and I, both by Helen E. Buckley - Both books are told from the point of view of a grandchild, about why Grandmothers and Grandfathers are so important. 

Our Granny / Margaret Wild - I love that the author's name is wild, because this book is wildly hilarious. It's about all the different kinds of grannies, fancy grannies, comfy grannies, swimming grannies, working grannies and more, all delightfully illustrated. This book makes me smile. 

So Much / Trish Cooke  - another book about family love - this one is about how each person in the family has a unique way of showing love to the baby. Lots of fun action in this story.

"More More More," said the Baby : three love stories / Vera B. Williams - three little stories about a daddy, a grandma, and a mommy and the babies they each love. Lively illustrations match the lively text, a fun book to read. 

Bread Baking Storytime

November 17 is National Homemade Bread Day. To celebrate we presented a Bread Baking Storytime

Because we don't have an oven at our library, I baked bread in a slow cooker, which is really easy: just line the bottom of the pot with parchment paper and put in your risen bread dough. A full loaf will take 3-4 hours. I used the "high" setting, and the bread was overcooked on one side of the bottom. A "low" setting might do a nicer job of baking.

By the time the families arrived for the story time, the room was filled with the aroma of baking bread.

After the story time the kids got to mix up their own batch of bread dough in a zipper bag. I found perfect instructions at Something Edible. Many thanks to the owner of the blog, Beau Dealy  for his inspired recipe instructions.

For the story time I started with a great non-fiction book Bread Comes to Life, by George Levenson. Photographs and simple text explain the creation of bread from planting the seed to baking the dough.

I followed that with the familiar folktale of the The Little Red Hen. We have several versions of this in the library, I used Byron Barton's book because I really like his simple, straightforward illustrations.

I ended the story time by telling the story of The Gingerbread Man. We have several versions of this tale also, but none of them felt right to me. I was looking for the book I had owned when I was a child, with the chant,
                         "Run, run, as fast as you can,
                          you can't catch me,
                         I'm the gingerbread man.
                         I ran away from the little old woman,
                         I ran away from the little old man,
                         and I can run away from you,
                         I can, I can, I can!"

So I decided to tell the story, only I added a twist - yoga poses. For each character and some scenes, the kids and I adopted a yoga posture.This was a lot of fun, and really engaged the kids in the story. Many thanks to Dana Robinson of Sweet Feet Yoga for her yoga storytelling class at ILA this year, and to Sydney Solis for her great book, Storytime Yoga. Here are the poses I used for the story.