Mel’s Desk

Halloween is this weekend! I don’t like to get too spooky for the babies, plus I don’t want to assume everyone celebrates this holiday, so I try to stay focused mostly on pumpkins and animals rather than on the supernatural or on dressing up. Though I’m such a big Rosemary Wells fan it made my day to have my friend Max came to storytime dressed as a bunny!

OPENING SONG: Hello Song*

OPENING FINGERPLAY: Open Them Shut Them*

BOOK: Pumpkin Pumpkin by JEAN TITHERINGTON
We have the big book and it works well for baby storytime.

ACTION SONG: Pumpkin, Pumpkin
From our files, I wish I knew who to credit! Sing to Twinkle, Twinkle.

Pumpkin, pumpkin on the ground,
How’d you get so big and round?
Once you were a seed so small,
Now you are a great big ball!
Pumpkin, pumpkin on the ground,
How’d you get so big and round?

LITERACY TIP: Narrative Skills Narrative skills have to do with learning how to describe things and being able to tell stories. Little stories, like the one in this song, are great for babies to start learning how stories work. “First the pumpkin is a seed, then it is a plant, then it is a pumpkin!”

FLANNEL RHYME: Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, “Oh, my, it’s getting late!”
The second one said, “There are witches in the air!”
The third one said, “But we don’t care.”
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run.”
The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun.”
Then OOOOOO went the wind and OUT went the light,
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

FLANNEL RHYME: Brown Bat, Brown Bat, What Do You See?
My girls brought home a rhyme like this as homemade books in first grade, and when I Googled it, I found versions all over the web. They are lots of fun and include blue monsters, purple goblins, red vampires, green witches…all sorts of great Halloweeny things. I went and stood in front of all our Ellison dies and came up with this set for my little ones. All the grownups chanted it along with me! We’ve read Brown Bear Brown Bear a couple of times already this fall, so this was a great extension.

FLANNEL SONG: A Hunting We Will Go*
I did cat/hat, bat/mat, owl/towel…and spider/glider!

SONG WITH PUPPET: There’s a Spider on the Floor
We have a spider glove puppet that I use for this song.

There’s a spider on my leg, and he’s really really big…
There’s a spider on my tummy, and he feels kind of funny…
There’s a spider on my head, oh, my face is really red…
But he jumps off!
There’s a spider on the floor…

RHYME WITH PUPPET: Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey
Along came a spider and sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Many Mother Goose rhymes are little stories, with a beginning, middle and end! Learning these rhymes is another great way to build Narrative Skills.

ACTION RHYME: This is Big Big Big*

CLOSING SONG: Sneeze Game*

*Check out the My Baby Storytime page for the words and/or citations for these weekly activities!

If it’s 30 degrees one day and 70 the next, it must be fall in Colorado!

OPENING SONG: Hello Song*

OPENING FINGERPLAY: Open Them Shut Them*

BOOK: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by BILL MARTIN JR
I used the original picture book, but I stopped at the page where all the letters fall out of the tree, where the board book ends. Right before I turned to that page, I asked, “All the letters are up in the tree! What do you think is going to happen next?”

LITERACY TIP: Narrative Skills
Narrative Skills are being able to describe things and to tell stories, and helps with comprehension. Ask your baby what happens next as you read together. They can’t answer now, but it’s a great habit to get into!

GUESSING GAME: Little Bird, Are You in the Green Tree?
Follow the link to see this flannel!

FLANNEL SONG: A Hunting We Will Go*
Animals who live in trees today! owl/towel, bug/rug, bee/tree…and cat/hat.

BOOK: Leaf Walk by ME!!
I was so amazingly bored by my usual fall books, all of which I have to edit down and skip pages to use in baby storytime, that I made my own this year. I had a blast. Follow the link for more about my book!

FLANNEL RHYME: Five Little Leaves**

5 little leaves in the tall tall tree
As bright and pretty as they can be
Along came the wind
Blowing all around
And one bright leaf
Fell to the ground

Four little leaves…

BOOK: Max’s Ride by ROSEMARY WELLS
I forgot that Max ends up in a pile of leaves in this book!

FLANNEL RHYME: Blue is the Sky**

Blue is the sky
Yellow is the sun
Silver are the stars
When the day is done
Orange is the leaf
Brown is the tree
Red is the apple
For you and me

ACTION RHYME: This is Big Big Big*

CLOSING SONG: Sneeze Game*

*Check out the My Baby Storytime page for the words and/or citations for these weekly activities!

**These flannels I adapted from rhymes in our storytime files. I don’t have any attribution info.

I am always looking for good big books to use in baby storytime. There aren’t that many books that are short, have clear, simple images, and come in an oversize format. I tend to use certain titles over and over again. This year, as I was putting together my Fall Colors storytime, I thought I’d try making my own big counting book!

I used 12 x 18″ white construction paper and painted the images with acrylic paints. I am no Mary Cassatt! For some of the leaves I started with stencils I made from clip art images. I typed out the text in Century Gothic, which is a nice sans serif font with no unorthodox letter shapes. We have a 12″ Xyron laminator at work, so I glued the words to the back of each picture, and ran each page through. I punched holes along the left edges with a 3 hole punch, and fastened them with binder rings from an office supply store. The book held together very nicely and the pages turned easily.

Here are a few pages.

This is the first page of the story.

“I saw 2 green gingko leaves.”

“I saw 3 brown oak leaves.”

I had a blast making this and sharing it with my babies. I hope you are inspired to make your own big books!

I love doing guessing games with my babies in storytime! Here’s my newest one, made for my Fall Colors storytime.

When I set the pieces on the board, I tuck the bird behind one of the trees.

Then I say, “Look at all the trees with different color leaves! I wonder where Little Bird is. Little Bird, are you in the brown tree? Where’s the brown tree?” Then I lift the brown tree. No Little Bird! We go one by one until we find her.

The bird and the tree I found in the Microsoft Word clip art files. I used Edit Picture to change the colors of the trees! I print the images on cardstock, laminate them, and put Velcro dots on the back.

You’re welcome to use my file. Have fun!

Babies love to wiggle and move!

OPENING SONG: Hello Song*

OPENING FINGERPLAY: Open Them Shut Them*

BOOK: My Nose, Your Nose by MELANIE WALSH

ACTION SONG: Where Is Big Toe?
Sing to: Where is Thumbkin?

Where is big toe? Where is big toe?
Here I am; here I am!
Touch baby’s toe
Wiggle, wiggle, big toe
Wiggle, wiggle, big toe
Wiggle baby’s toe
My big toe, my big toe.

Where is elbow…bendy, bendy elbow
Where is tummy…squishy, squashy tummy
Where are two eyes…winky blinky two eyes
Where are two hands…happy clappy two hands

LITERACY TIP: Narrative Skills Being able to describe objects is a part of narrative skills. Describing things helps children understand them, and builds comprehension skills they will need when they are readers.

FLANNEL SONG: A Hunting We Will Go*
Today I described each animal as I put it on the board: “Here’s a cat, she is gray and sleepy.”

BOOK: What’s On My Head? by MARGARET MILLER

ACTION SONG: Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes

Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose
Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes

TICKLE: Pizza Pickle Pumpernickel

Pizza pickle pumpernickel
My little guy shall have a tickle
One for his nose
One for his toes
And one for his belly where the hot dog goes!

BOOK: Charlie Chick by NICK DENCHFIELD

ACTION RHYME: This is Big Big Big*

CLOSING SONG: Sneeze Game*

*Check out the My Baby Storytime page for the words and/or citations for these weekly activities!