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.

Outreach: "Animals in the Winter"

Ed and I visited one of our outreach favorites last week! We love bringing our multi-sensory story time programs to the students at the Wing Lake Developmental Center, a year-round school that serves students, ages 3 - 26 years, in Oakland County with severe cognitive impairments (SCI) and severe multiple impairments (SXI). We try to provide as many sensory experiences as we can, so students with visual disabilities, motor difficulties, and other developmental disabilities can truly engage with the story time.

This visit focused on what animals do in the winter time. We chose to read Kate Messner's Over and Under the Snow, a picture book with so many wonderful sensory opportunities!

Here's our plan:

1. Hello (Talk about our picture schedule)

2. Talk about our theme: Animals in the Winter

"Today we are learning about what animals do in the winter time. What do you do in the winter? Do you like the cold? Snow? What do you like to eat when it is cold outside? Do you feel more sleepy, like some animals do?

3. Mindfulness exercise: "(Hibernating) Bear Breath"

Close your eyes and imagine you are a bear going inside your cave to get ready to sleep all winter.

Take a nice, deep breath in for 5 seconds (1,2,3,4,5) and then hold for 3 seconds (1,2,3).

Now breathe out for a count of five seconds (1,2,3,4,5) and then hold for 3 seconds (1,2,3).

Let's repeat.

Now open your eyes and notice how relaxed you feel, like that sleepy bear.

(source: Yoga Pretzels)

4. "(Where is) Sleepy Bear?"

Use two hands or two fingers and sing to tune of "Where is Thumbkin?"

Where is bear? Where is bear?

Here I am. Here I am.

How are you this winter?

Very tired, thank you.

Go to sleep. Go to sleep.

Say "Wake up bear!" and repeat

(source: Preschool Education)

5. Story with sensory experiences: Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner

Projecting this story on the big screen, which is available in eBook format on OverDrive, helps our large groups to see the story better. We can also be hands-free to read and describe the illustrations while bringing all of our sensory experiences around to each student, with the help of teachers and aides in the room:

Page spread with owl and shrew

Rattling leftover leaves (rustling leaves in bags for each student to hear)

Sound of great horned owl (make owl sounds with students)

Tiny shrew following tunnel along the moss... (lift-the-flap touch/feel box covered in white flannel with moss and shrew/mole puppet inside for each student to see, touch, feel)

Page with deer mice under the snow

Mice cuddling up against the cold in a nest of feathers and fur (small baskets lined with "furry fabric" and feathers, with small mouse finger puppet to touch/feel)

Page with snowshoe hare under tree

Snowshoe hare smoothing her fur (pieces of white artificial "fur" to touch/feel)

Page with two beavers under the snow

Beavers gnawing on aspen bark (pieces of tree bark to touch/feel and smell)

Page spread with fox leaping over the snow

He heard a scritch-scritch-scratching along underneath (rustling cups of pea gravel around the students so they can hear the little mouse under the snow)

Page spread with full moon

A full moon lights my path to supper... (dimming the lights and shining bright daylight lamp to shine the "moonlight" for everyone to experience)

Page spread with bear under the snow and cross country skiing parent and child coming upon a bonfire over the snow with hot cocoa

(cups of hot cocoa brought near each student to smell the delicious aroma)

Page spread with feathery-soft snow flakes falling

(bowls of artificial snow brought to each student to touch/feel)

6. Song: "Sprinkle, Sprinkle, Little Snow" with ASL sign for snow

tune: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Sprinkle, sprinkle, little snow

falling down on us below.

Small and white and powdery,

such a joy for all to see.

Sprinkle, sprinkle, little snow

falling down on us below.

(source: Preschool Education)

7. Sensory activity: "Animals in winter" sensory bags 

We had some of our volunteers pre-draw the outline of a tree and the ground level on gallon-size ziplock bags and use our di-cut machine to cut out owl, squirrel, and mouse shapes from foam. We gave each student one of these bags along with 3 scoops of our artificial snow, and then we added the animal shapes. Teachers and aides helped us to close up the bags so students could "smoooosh" the snow inside and move the animals around over and under the snow. We talked about which animals from the story (mice, squirrel) go over and under the snow and which animals stay above the snow (owl).