Often times the book chooses the theme for my story times. I was so excited to use Buster and the Baby in story time with its active repetitive sounds and fun exploration of spatial concepts. This led to a very interactive "Up, Down, & All Around" experience. Here's the plan:
1. Hello!
2. Welcome Song: "The Story Time Ball"
tune: "Wheels on the Bus"
(Roll ball back and forth to each child)
The story time ball rolls back and forth,
back and forth, back and forth.
The story time ball rolls back and forth,
Let's see who it found. Hi ______!
Now roll it back to me.
(Keep rolling back and forth until each child has said their name.)
3. Crossing-the-Midline (CTM) exercise: "Picking apples"
Reach up and over to one side to pick your apple from the imaginary tree branch.
Place that "apple" down and over into your imaginary basket.
(repeat on the other side)
Crossing our arms or legs over the center line of our body is an important skill that contributes to our body's bilateral coordination. Children who have difficulty with this skill may have difficulty completing tasks such as dressing, walking, catching/throwing, and other tasks that require coordinating both sides of the body.
4. Flannel rhyme: "Hickory Dickory Dock"
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one
The mouse ran down
Hickory hickory dock.
5. Story (with flannels): Buster and the Baby by Amy Hest
Our wonderful clerical assistant, Jennifer, created flannels for this story. I had kids take turns coming up to the flannel board to place Buster under the table, behind the chair and bear, and under the covers while reading this fun story.
6. Bean bag rhyme: "Bean Bag Song"
I loved using our new (and fun textured) bean bags we just got in!
Put your bean bag in your hair, in your hair.
Put your bean bag in your hair, in your hair.
Put your bean bag in your hair,
and leave it right there.
Put your bean bag in your hair, in your hair.
Put your bean bag on your toes, on your toes...
Raise it high and raise it low...
Put your bean bag in your hand, in your hand...
Toss it up and watch it land...
(source unknown)
7. Sensory story: Where is Jumper? by Ellen Stoll Walsh
I used our mouse flannels from Mouse Count and our flannel log from the "5 Green & Speckled Frogs" set to place on our flannel board while reading. I also placed our mole puppet inside our touch/feel box for kids to touch (and then lift the flap to see him "underground"). A larger puppet version of "Jumper" and smaller flannel mice were placed in a sensory bin filled with textured paper leaves, straw, corn, and sticks for the kids to find at the end.
8. Parachute activity: "Noble Duke of York"
Oh the noble Duke of York,
He had 10 thousand men.
He marched them up to the top of the hill
then marched them down again.
And when you're up, you're up.
And when you're down, you're down.
But when you're only halfway up,
you're neither up nor down!
Raise and lower parachute as directed.
9. Goodbye song and stretch: "Tickle the Clouds"
Tickle the clouds.
Tickle your toes.
Turn around and tickle your nose.
Reach down low.
Reach up high.
Story time's over.
Wave goodbye!
10. Play time: We put together a tactile path to walk on and played with balls and toy cars up and down the cushion "hills" and through our tunnel.
