It always cracks me up because it slayed my mother... and she's hard to get laughing. :)
This week, we did a Fish storytime. This is a particularly awesome theme for us because we have a large saltwater fish tank that takes up one corner of our storytime room. The tank also looks out onto the circulation area, so kids often visit it as their parents are checking out. We have a Marlin and a Nemo (clownfish) and a Dory (blue tang). We also have baby starfish (like TEENY, TINY babies), snails, and an assortment of other tropical fish.
In a way, every storytime is a fish storytime!
Here's our setlist*:
'Hello Everybody'
Wiggles
I didn't do this book with my 4-K group, but I should have. Both the 2-3 year-olds and the drop-in kids (mostly 2-3 year olds) really liked it. Little Fish introduces us to all kinds of fish on his way to say hello the the one he likes best. I reminded the kids to pay attention to all the beautiful colors and patterns so they could use them as inspiration for their own fish (the craft).
Song: 'I'm a Little Fish'
to the tune of 'I'm a Little Teapot'
I'm a little fish, I like to swim. (Point to self; put hands together and move them side to side)
You can't catch me 'cause I have fins. (Point to others; put hands under ribcage and flap)
When I swim by my friends I hear them say: (Front stroke; hand to ear)
'Stop your swimming and come and play!' (Hold hand out to 'stop'; shake your hips side to side)
NAF*: Mitch the Fish
All props to Katie at Storytiming - this was her FIRST Flannel Friday way back in May! Apparently it is akin to Dr. Jean's Scat the Cat (which Melissa alluded to in her comment on 'Tom Turkey's Colorful Tail Tale - which Dr. Jean had made a file folder story on her blog earlier that week - I swear I didn't know! :D)... color changing animal who decides that being yourself is best.
Kids LOVED this. I want to do LOTS more file folder stories!!
The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Ken Geist
I have so much to learn when it comes to sharing stories. When I saw this, I was sure kids would be like, 'YAWN... know this one - except it's pigs and a wolf... weirdo.' But NO! They LOVED this story... and you know what? Me, too! How can you NOT love a story where the villian's teeth fall out in the end?
Craft: Make a Fish!
We have a fish Ellison die (which I used for Mitch, too), so I had that cut out in a rainbow of colors. Each kid got a fish, a popsicle stick, a googly eye, five "sparklies" (self-adhesive jewels, and access to a bunch of small construction paper shapes.
The craft didn't actually take as long as I thought it would, so rather than sending families home 5 minutes early, I read this story. Norman is a super cute fish and a really good pet - it just takes awhile for his owner to figure that out.
This week was SUCH a lift from last week... the kids loved the stories and so did I. I also removed some distracting objects (stacked chairs) from our room and I think that made a big difference for the drop-in families as well.
Now, I've got less than 24-hours to come up with a holiday flannel to share... so I gotta run! :D
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