SENSEational Story Time: "All Around the Farm"

Fall is here! That means visiting the animals at the farm, picking out our pumpkins for halloween, and taking a hayride. I had so much fun doing some outreach story times at our local school farm a couple weeks ago, so I decided to keep the farm theme going for sensory story time at the library. We had a small crowd on this day with only one child and her caregiver, but we had so much fun exploring and playing together!

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. Yoga pose: "Downward Dog" (adapted pose placing our hands on floor and keeping legs bent for our attendee who has some mobility difficulties in her legs)


4. ASL rhyme: "I Went to the Farm" (We went over the ASL signs for pig, horse, and chicken and then signed the words in our rhyme. This was excellent practice for our attendee who is also primarily nonverbal and just learning sign language!)
I went to the farm, and what did I see?
A big chubby pig oinking at me!
I went to the farm, and what did I see?
A big brown horse neighing at me!
I went to the farm and what did I see?
A fluffy chicken clucking at me!
(source unknown)


5. Story: I Spy on the Farm by Edward Gibbs
We used our board book set, so everyone could look through the spy-cut pages as we read along to see which animal was next.


6. Stretch band rhyme: "Clippety-Clop"
(Pull stretch band up and down as the rhyme goes.)
Clippety clippety clop.
The horsie like to trot.
The feisty mare goes up and down,
until it's time to stop!
(source unknown)


7. Sensory Story: The House that Zack Built by Alison Murray
I love this interactive story! After discovering it for story time, I decided to assemble a story box for it to be added to our circulating collection of accessibility support materials for youth with disabilities. (Note: I am so very excited to announce that this collection, which opened over ten years ago, is getting a name change very soon. More on that coming in another post!) Story boxes are a great way to build comprehension for tactile learners to touch and feel manipulatives that represent items in the story while they are listening. We put together "Zack's house" with the blocks and then our attendee and caregiver helped me use the farm animal puppets and fly to interact with the story as I was reading. 

8. Parachute rhyme: "Ring Around the Pumpkin"
Our attendee loves sitting underneath the parachute as we go around, so she was our pumpkin in the middle. (Walk around the "pumpkin" in the middle, holding the parachute, raising high like the leaves in the tree then lowering as the leaves fall down.)
Ring around the pumpkin,
pocket full of nuts.
Leaves, leaves,
they all fall down!
(source: Everything Preschool)


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: Block play
I had some pig pictures ready to "muddy up" with some textured brown finger paint, but our attendees wanted to build some more, so we got out our large set of colorful blocks and continued to build more things on the farm like Zack's house. Flexibility is always best!

SENSEational Story Time: "Nighttime"

            

This month we explored the sights, sounds, and feeling of nighttime. I was excited to incorporate some of the fun activities put together by Meagan K. Shedd, PhD, and the Library of Michigan's Youth Services Advisory Council for the Ready to Read Michigan 2019 title Touch the Brightest Star by Christie Matheson. I love using Christie Matheson's interactive books in story time, and the experience is even better when using a set of board books for every child and caregiver to interact with.

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. Yoga pose: "Star pose" 

After mindful breathing in and out, feeling the stretch to all five points, let's count those five points on our body! With our arms and legs extended out, we can touch our (left) hand, head, (right) hand. Now reach down and touch your (left) foot, and (right) foot.

4. Finger puppet rhyme: "4 Little Stars"

(using 4 star finger puppets)

Four little stars winking at me,

one shot off and then there were three.

Three little stars with nothing to do,

one shot off and then there were two.

Two little stars afraid of the sun,

one shot off and then there was one.

One little star not having any fun,

it shot off and then there were none!

(source: Child's Play)

5. Story: Night Owl by Toni Yuly

Before reading, I gave each child one of the animals or things creating a sound in the story to place on the magnetic board when we heard its sound in the story.

6. Stretch band rhyme: "Bend and Stretch"

Bend and stretch, reach for the stars.

(bend down and reach up high, pulling your stretch band up to the sky)

There goes Jupiter, here comes Mars.

(reach out left to Jupiter and right to Mars, stretching out to both sides)

Bend and stretch, reach for the sky.

(bend down and reach up high, pulling your stretch band up to the sky)

Stand on tip-e-toe, oh! So high!

(standing on your toes, or pointing with your toes if seated, pull stretch band high to the sky)

(Source: Child's Play)

7. Interactive Story: Touch the Brightest Star by Christie Matheson

We used our board book set to read and interact together. After reading the story, I got out some of the (enlarged and laminated) activity cards in the Ready to Read Michigan guide and had each child choose a card. 

For the touch (the fireflies) card, I had each child touch/feel and squeeze our firefly finger puppet, watching as it lights up each time it's squeezed.

For the Pat (the deer) card, I had each child "pat" the soft deer puppet.

We tapped (the tree), counted (the stars), and blinked our eyes as we found the brightest star on the flannel board (next to the moon in the nighttime sky!).

8. Parachute activity: "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom"

Zoom, zoom, zoom

I'm going to the moon.

If you want to take a trip,

Climb aboard my rocket ship.

Zoom, zoom, zoom

I'm going to the moon!

(Raise and lower parachute - raising really high when you go to the moon.)

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 and discovery time: light panel play with some colorful animals we may see or hear at night and exploring sounds around the world at nighttime

After playing with our animal shapes on the light panels and making each animal's sound (or talking about how some animals are pretty quiet, like the fish), we gathered in front of our interactive touch screen panel and explored the different sounds heard around the world in the nighttime with this very cool Nature Sound Map site. You can touch any of the pinpoints on the map to hear an actual recording of nature in that location. This was a big hit!

SENSEational Story Time: "Same, Alike, & Different"

 


This month's SENSEational Story Time began with a few unexpected happy tears. We had a cozy little group of four kids and their caregivers on a snowy Saturday, who thanked me for these story times they have been coming to on a regular basis for the past two years. One of the moms thanked me for making such an impact on her child, who is now able to say her name when the story time ball comes to her, and... I was told she not only recognizes me but asks for "Ms. Jen" whenever they visit the library. As if that wasn't enough to make my day, one of my other kids, who has been mostly nonverbal, is now saying "all done" with us when we finish an activity and engaging more each time. This is also the first time she reached for the story time ball and rolled it back to me. These are just a few of the wonderful progressive steps I love observing and why we do sensory story time!

On to the story time! We explored things that look the same, things that are similar, and opposites that are completely different.

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. Yoga pose: "Reclining twist" pose

We did this seated and then tried it lying down with help from our caregivers, placing our folded legs to one side and our arms to the opposite side, while our head faces in the same direction as our legs.

4. Flannel rhyme: "Six Little Ducks"

Six little ducks that I once knew,

fat ones, skinny ones, fair ones too

but the one little duck with the feather on his back

he led the others with a quack, quack, quack.

Quack, quack, quack

quack, quack, quack

He led the others with a quack, quack, quack.

(repeat, pointing out the ducks that are the same, similar, and different)

5. Story: Black? White? Day? Night!: A Book of Opposites by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

6. Stretch band song: "The Elevator Song"

(Tune: "Do Your Ears Hang Low?")

Oh the city is great and the city is grand

There's a whole lot of people

on a little piece of land

And we live way up on the 57th floor

and this is what we do when we go out the door

We take the elevator up and the elevator down

Take the elevator up, take the elevator down

Take the elevator up and the elevator down

and we turn around.

(source: Jbrary)

7. Story: Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox

I love this simple story of sheep that look the same, sheep that are different, and sheep that are doing opposite things. I placed a blue, red, and eventually a green flannel sheep on the board while reading the story. After the story, we played a little memory game on the flannel board. I placed a black flannel square over each of the sheep and then we recited: "Here is the blue sheep. (We uncovered the blue sheep.) Here is the red sheep. (We remembered where the red sheep was.) But where is the green sheep? Of course, the green sheep was the last one to uncover. I turned the board around the second time, mixing them up to see if we could find them after moving the sheep around. Then I had the kids find the green sheep I had "hidden" in low spots around the room and place them on the board. We found more green sheep that look the same!

8. Parachute activity: "Big and Little Clocks"

(This is a fun one for our sitters underneath the parachute!)

Big clocks tick so slowly,

tick-tock, tick-tock (say slowly while slowly walking in a circle, back and forth)

Little clocks tick faster,

tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock (say faster and walk faster)

Watches on your wrist fo even faster,

tick-a-tock-a, tick-a-tock-a, tick-a-tock-a, tick (say really fast while raising the parachute up and down fast)

(source: everythingpreschool.com)

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. Sensory craft and activity: We made our own green sheep to take home and hide/find by dipping cotton balls into green finger paint and blotting green onto our sheep outlines. While our sheep were drying, we explored causation and correlation on our colorful liquid floor tiles.

        

SENSEational Story Time: "Winter is Here!"

 

As I write this, I am staring at the snow out my window and wondering how much snow we are getting from the next snow storm on its way tomorrow... It may not have been snowing on the Saturday of this story time a couple weeks ago, but we still had some snowy fun inside!

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. Yoga poses: "Winter" yoga flow
(source: Kids Yoga Stories)
We got ready for some winter fun outside with the "snowboarder" and "downhill skier" poses.


4. Flannel rhyme: "Where's the Snowball?"

Snowball, snowball, cold and round!
Behind which mitten can you be found?
Put colored mittens on the board (hiding snowball behind one) and tell kids one of the mittens is holding a snowball. Repeat by having kids close their eyes while you move it or turn around flannel board and move it.
(source:AnnesLibraryLife)



5. Story with sensory experiences: No Two Alike by Keith Baker
We talked about how some things may look the same, but when you look closer, they are different (i.e. snowflakes). A great lesson in perception and spatial awareness! As I read the story, I showed the kids two large paper snowflakes, like the snow flakes falling in the story (thank you to our intern Lauren for making these because I still cannot make paper snowflakes after all these years!). We talked about their differences and how they may look similar if smaller and with many other snowflakes collecting on the ground and tree branches. I also brought in two different leaves, as seen dangling on the branches in the story. Both of the leaves were brown. We looked at each one, holding and touching the leaves. We all agreed one had a softer, smooth texture than the other. I also showed the kids two of our cardinal puppets, like the red birds in the story, but different sizes.

6. Sensory song: "Snowball Song"

We used these neat fabric snowballs to roll,"crunch," and toss as we sang.

tune: "Frère Jacques"

(holding fabric snowball)

Make a snowball, make a snowball

Feel it crunch, feel it crunch

Cold and round and crunchy...

Crunchy, crunchy, crunchy

Toss it up.

Toss it up.

7. Story with sensory experiences: Winter is Here by Kevin Henkes

We listened and discovered how quiet snow is while falling and settling on things like trees, houses... or our hands! I pre-made up a batch of my favorite Insta-Snow and dropped a few "snowflakes" into everyone's hands. I also brought in a bowl of melting ice and used a dropper to "drip" cool water in each child's hands so they could feel the ice dripping "from the roofs." 

I found some leaves on the ground outside and froze them in a bowl full of water the day before so we could see and feel the ice-covered "pond" found by the dog in the story.

8. Parachute activity: "Winter Song"

(Raise, shake, and lower parachute "tree." You can also add cotton ball "snowflakes" to the parachute to fall out of the tree)

Way up high in the snowy tree,

lots of little snowflakes smiled at me.

I shook that tree as hard as I could,

and down came the snowflakes...

were they cold! Brrrrr!

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 and activity:

We played with "snow" at the table and made snowflakes on the light panels with Magna-Tiles.

SENSEational Story Time: "Up, Down & All Around"

 


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"

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.