Exploration Stations

My library decided to try doing Sunday programs again and I ran our first one. We called it Exploration Stations.

Station 1. Library Corner: I placed some of our new books and books on dinosaurs, transportation, and magnetism in a corner with mats for the children to sit on.

Station 2.  Music table and puzzles: I place a few wooden puzzles on the floor right next to our music table. This was a huge hit. The children didn’t stop playing with it for the entire hour.

 

Station 3.  Dinosaurs: I had a small box of toy dinosaurs for the children to play with

Station 4.  Kitchen: We have three little kitchens and a small shopping cart with utensils and other gadgets.

Station 5. Blocks: I filled a corner with blocks and this is what the children created:

 

Station 6. Lacing: We had blocks to lace with and pieces for the children to lace through.

 

Station 7. Magnets: We own magnetic wands. I placed various objects on the table and the children tested to see if they were magnetic or not.

 

Station 8. Magnifying glasses: We have these great big magnifying glasses. Children were able to look at various objects through them.

 

 

 

Station 9.  Magnetic gears: we have a flannel board that has a blackboard on the other side. We bought these gears through Lakeshore Learning. The kids loved them.

 

Station 10. Light table: We used the light table for the first time at this program. I put it on a table, so it wasn’t as popular as I hoped, but I was too nervous to place it on the floor. (I have a picture of a design made, which I will add later).

 

Station 11. Car mat. We have this great car mat and some big cars. One little boy spent the entire hour there.

 

We had 35 people attend this program and they all seemed to love it!

Pirates

I planned this program without even realizing Sept. 19 is talk Like a Pirate Day.

As the kids entered, I played the Pirates of the Caribbean ride theme song “Yo Ho, A Pirate’s life for Me” and wore a pirate hat from our prop closet on my head. I taught the children some basic pirate words before reading the first book.

I used a flannel called So Many Pirates. You make (or print) pirate ships of different colors and we counted using this rhyme:

There are so many pirate ships in the sea
What color pirate ship do you see?
Red, red, this one’s red.

(Repeat, adding more different colored ships, until you reach five)

There are so many pirate ships in the sea
Can you count the ships with me? 1-2-3-4-5

Then, it was time to do an action rhyme:

I’m a fierce pirate

(brandish sword or dagger)

Captain of my ship

(Stand at attention)

I stride the deck

(walk in place)

With hand on hip.

(Put hands on hips)

Our big black flag shows a skull and cross bones.

(Hands over eyes, or look through telescope)

Everybody moans.

(throw up hands and moan)

Out of the hold dark and dank,

((climb ladder with hands)

We bring the captive

(hands together behind back)

Who walks the plank.

(walk fingers of one hand off index finger of the other hand)

Without our gold and silver,

Away we go with many a SHOUT

(cup hands around mouth)

And a YO-HO-HO!

(Say loudly)

Our next book was:

We did one last action rhyme before our movie:

If you’re a pirate and you know it, swab the deck

(swish, swish)

If you’re a pirate and you know it, swab the deck

(swish, swish)

If you’re a pirate and you know it,

Then you’ll hear the sea winds blowin’

If you’re a pirate and you know it, swab the deck

(swish, swish)

If you’re a pirate and you know it, walk the plank…

If you’re a pirate and you know it, say AHOY…

If you’re a pirate and you know it, do all three…

The movie I wanted to show wasn’t working, so I showed the very short “We Arr Pirates” song from the Backyardigans DVD

The craft was from OTC:

I put out self stick gems and beads for the kids to decorate their frames with.

Cowboy Storytime

I put out a cow and horse stuffed animal on our display table.

We started off with our regular Hello song.

Next up was this very funny book:

We then sang this great song:

I’m a little cowboy.

Here is my hat

(point to self, then to hat)

Here are my spurs

(point to your heels)

And here are my chaps

(pat legs)

As soon as I get up,

(stretch, pretend to wake up)

I work all day

(pretend to lasso a cow)

I get on my horse

(pretend to get on a horse)

And ride away.

(Pretend to gallop on a horse)

I’m a fan of funny books, so the next one wasn’t any different:

After that, we did the Cowboy Pokey

You put your right boot in, you put your right boot out

You put your right boot in and you shake it all about

You do the cowboy pokey and you mosey all around

That’s what it’s all about

You put your left boot in, you put your left boot out

You put your left boot in and you shake it all about

You do the cowboy pokey and you mosey all around

That’s what it’s all about

You throw your lasso in, your throw your lasso out

You throw your lasso in and you twirl it all about

You do the cowboy pokey and you mosey all around

That’s what it’s all about

You ride your horse in, you ride your horse out

You ride your horse in and you buck it all about

You do the cowboy pokey and you mosey all around

That’s what it’s all about.

Our movie was “Ride ‘Em Cowboy” from “Franny’s Feet.”

Our craft was a cowboy keychain kit from OTC.

Animal Storytime

I recently began a 8 week storytime called Super Stories/Cool Crafts for ages 3-5.

I picked the themes according to the crafts we had downstairs. My first week, the theme was animals.

I started the program by using a song I learned during Guerilla Storytime at ALA14. It goes like this:

Hello friends

Hello friends

It’s time to say hello

This was done in song and American Sign Language and it will be our opening song each week.

After the song, we went right into another one:

Clap clap clap your hands.

Clap your hands with me.

Clap them fast. Clap them slow.

Clap your hands with me.

Wag your tail like a dog.

Wag wag wag your tail.

Wag your tail with me.

Wag it fast. Wag it slow.

Wag your tail with me.

Thump your chest like a gorilla.

Thump thump thump your chest.

Thump your chest with me.

Thump it fast. Thump it slow.

Thump your chest with me.

Bend your knees like a camel.

Bend bend bend your knees.

Bend your knees with me.

Bend them fast. Bend them slow.

Bend your knees with me.

Wiggle your ears like a hippopotamus.

Wiggle wiggle wiggle your ears.

Wiggle your ears with me.

Wiggle them fast. Wiggle them slow.

Wiggle your ears with me

The kids had a lot of fun doing this. My first book:

We had the Big Book version of this, which I love using.

We have a flannel of pictures of various animals. Without showing them the pictures, i would describe the animal and see if the kids figured out what animal it was.

On to more songs. after Shaking Our Sillies, we sang this:

Do you have a pet?

Yes, I have a dog.

I have a pet.

He is a dog.

And he says, “Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof. Woof woof.”

I have a pet.

She is a cat.

And she says, “Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow. Meow meow.”

I have a pet.

He is a mouse.

And he says, “Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak. Squeak squeak.”

Woof woof.

Meow meow.

Squeak squeak.

I have a pet.

He is a bird.

And he says, “Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet. Tweet tweet.”

I have a pet.

She is a fish.

And she says, “Glub, glub, glub, glub, glub. Glub glub.”

I have a pet.

He is a lion.

And he says, “Roar, roar, roar, roar, roar. Roar roar.”

Tweet tweet.

Glub glub.

ROAR!

We then read one of my favorite books:

We then watched “Is Your Mama a Lllama?”

After the movie, we sat down for our craft. I had dot marker sheets of whales and octupi and the kids love dot markers.