Puppets Looking Sharp

My library system's early literacy program is celebrating it's tenth year and last week was its birthday week.  I did Happy Birthday storytimes for both my Preschool and Toddler storytimes.  Because they are so similar and I've already gone over the hello/goodbye songs and quieting down fingerplays I'll be using for both storytimes, I'll combine both storytimes into one post.

For my happy birthday storyimes I enlisted the help of teen volunteers to make a crazy amount of party hats. My library uses six animals to represent six different early literacy skills. I found clipart of the six animals and made six different kinds of party hats in a rainbow of colors. I also made a hat for each of the puppets that represent the skills and created a matching game that was out-of-this world amazing.

"Happy Birthday" Preschool Storytime Books:

Bears and a Birthday by Shirley Parenteau and David Walker. This was the favorite book in both storytimes. There's a moment when the birthday bear says "pickle" and "poo," and everyone had a grand time saying those words with me.

Early Literacy Skill: "How do you get ready for a birthday party for a friend? Do you bake the cake or wrap presents first?"

When's My Birthday? by Julia Fogliano and Christian Robinson. We had fun counting lots of things in this book. 

Early Literacy Skill: "Talk about the pictures in books and let your child identify things they see."

"Happy Birthday" Toddler Storytime Books:

The Birthday Box by Leslie Patricelli. They loved this book.

Early Literacy Skill: "Look at the present on the front of this book and ask your child, 'What gift do you think is inside the box?'”

I Got a Chicken for My Birthday. They loved this book even more. 

Early Literacy Skill: "Notice print all around you. There are lots of signs in this book. Can we find them all and read them together?"

Activities for both storytimes:

Making a giant cake using numbers activity. First we counted to ten. Then we added a layer at a time. When they got stuck we would count over again until we reached the number they were stuck on. This was a lot of fun, and a few of the kids were experts at making a ten-tiered cake.

Puppet Activity: We matched pom poms and ribbons to the right puppets and helped the puppets get ready for the birthday party. Even though a lot of kids struggled to attach the pom poms to the hats (I used adhesive velcro), they still wanted to do it, and their scrunched-up faces as they concentrated on the task at hand were soooo cute. The ribbons were much easier to place around the hats (they're not pictured here).

This activity took some time, but it was so worth it. As kids and their grown-ups decorated the puppets we talked about the colors of the hats/pom poms/ribbons, what sounds the puppets make, and so much more. 

Instruments Activity: After we helped the puppets get ready for the party, we brought out the instruments again and did the same instruments activity as last week and then played an outstanding Happy Birthday song that everyone danced to.

Hokey Pokey: I tried out a new hokey pokey in both storytimes. I know this is going to surprise the heck out of you, but after the first week of storyime I am officially tired of the hokey pokey. This fun version helped me cobble together some enthusiasm for the song. Everyone trying to find their hips and shoulders and figure out how to hokey pokey them was a hilarious bonus.