Storytime: Penguins

Have I been replaced at work?!

Penguins in March?! Yes. Because even though I originally did this storytime in January, penguins can be enjoyed all year long. Yep, I'm going with that reasoning rather than the truth, which is I'm two months behind on storytime posts. :P

BOOKS:

Ten Little Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromenthal

Penguins, Penguins, Everywhere! by Bob Barner

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester

Penguin on Vacation by Salina Yoon

Up & Down by Britta Teckentrup

RHYMES & SONGS:

Two Little Penguins

Two little penguins, sitting on the ice (hold up two fingers)

One bows once, the other bows twice (made index fingers bow)

Waddle little penguins, waddle away. (put fingers behind back)

Come back penguins, time to play! (bring fingers to the front)

Source: King County Library System

"Have You Ever Seen a Penguin?"

(tune: "Have You Ever Seen a Lassie?")

Have you ever seen a penguin, a penguin, a penguin?

Have you ever seen a penguin swim this way and that? (make swimming motions with arms)

Swim this way and that way? Swim this way and that way?
Have you ever seen a penguin swim this way and that?

...slide this way and that? (make sliding motions with arms)

...waddle this way and that? (feet close together, make tiny waddling steps)

...flap this way and that? (arms close to sides, flap hands like "wings")

Source: Perpetual Preschool

"The Penguin Song"

by Carole Peterson from album Stinky Cake

This is a fun marching song. I handed out shaker eggs and had the kids shake and walk around pretending to walk like penguins.

Pippa's Penguins

Source: Susan M. Dailey

I used this story as a flannelboard. The story and pattern can be found on Susan Dailey's website (link above). I modified the story for the different age groups and for the colors of felt I had. I made it interactive by handing out felt penguins and calling the kids up one by one to put their color penguin on the board. They loved it!

CRAFT:

We made Tacky the Penguin as our craft! There are several ideas online, but I found a nice template on Sturdy for Common Things. It has all the penguin parts, which makes this librarian's life easy when it comes to prepping a craft for 20 kids. My assistant Kelly, who is a life-saver, cut out all the pieces ahead of time, so all kids had to do was assemble their "Tacky" with a glue stick and add wiggle eyes. Isn't he adorable?

Storytime: Dr. Seuss!

Dr. Seuss' birthday was on March 2, so in honor of it, I planned a Seuss-centered storytime for my preschool group. It was a lot of fun and I found so many ideas online that I decided a Dr. Seuss Party is in order for this summer. That way, I can do even more activities and crafts. Oh, yeah!

BOOKS:



One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
Green Eggs and Ham
Oh, the Places You'll Go!
The Cat in the Hat

RHYMES & SONGS:

"If You Like Dr. Seuss"
(tune: "If You're Happy and You Know It")

If you like Dr. Seuss, clap your hands.
If you like Dr. Seuss, clap your hands.
If you like Dr. Seuss when the Grinch is on the loose,
If you like Dr. Seuss, clap your hands.
If you like Green Eggs and Ham, stomp your feet.
If you like Green Eggs and Ham, stomp your feet.
If you like Green Eggs and Ham, then go tell Sam I Am,
If you like Green Eggs and Ham, stomp your feet.
If you like the Cat in the Hat, shout hooray!
If you like the Cat in the Hat, shout hooray!
If you like the Cat in the Hat, though he makes the fish so mad,
If you like the Cat in the Hat, shout hooray!

Source: City of North Mankato

One Little Cat
(this can be used a a fingerplay with cat finger puppets or you can make "Cat in the Hat" puppets, which I didn't have time to do)

One little cat on a sunny day
Put on his hat and went out to play
Two little cats when the sky turned dark
Put on their hats and went to the park
Three little cats when the sky turned blue
Put on their  hats and went to the zoo
Four little cats by the kitchen door
Put on their hats and went to the store
Five little cats on a sunny day
Put on their hats and they all ran away.

Source: Mel's Desk

CRAFTS:

We usually only do one craft after I've finished reading books, but there were so many Seuss-themed crafts, that I planned two.

1. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
With their grown-up's help, children traced their hands onto four colors of construction paper and then cut them out. Using a glue stick, they glued their "fish" onto yellow construction paper to mimic the cover art of the book and finished the project with markers to make faces and water bubbles.

I want to give a shout-out to my helpers, LM and AM, who made the "example" crafts seen in both pictures. You did an awesome job!

2. The Cat in the Hat Prop
This is super-easy. You'll need craft sticks, red pom-poms, and black construction paper, cut into strips (three strips per person). Arrange them to look like whiskers and glue them onto the craft stick. Miss Maggie and I rock this look!