• Activities

    Storytime Theme: Shapes

    Identifying shapes is so important to a child’s development, it’s the beginning of understanding letters and words and an important early literacy skill.  My first storytime of the session focused on shapes, but in a much more abstract way than identifying squares, circles, triangles, and more.  The kids did a…

  • Lifestyle

    My Musings on Story Time

    I’ve been a storyteller (I use this term lightly, because I’m more of a story time leader, than actual storyteller) for over five years now and I LOVE it!  I love interacting with the kids, trying new things, and just having fun with books – it’s what I went to school…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme: Library Love

    In retrospect, this would have made a great story time at the very beginning of the story time session, with a book on library manners and all the fun things to do at the library!  But the kids still had a lot of fun with the theme (and hopefully they…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme: Stars

    STORY TIME – Stars ASL Sign: Stars (using “g” fingers point to the sky and shift hands back and forth) Opening Traditional: Put Your Hands Up In the Air & Open Shut Them Parachute: Parachute Bop (Shakin’ the Chute) Book 1: Stars by, Mary Lyn Ray *** I loved this story! …

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme: Seahorses

    I wanted to do a beach/ocean theme for summer, but I’ve done something similar each summer for the past couple of years, so I thought I’d mix it up a little.  My traditional story time on Monday was pretty wild (I have a number of children who have trouble sitting…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme: Camping

    This week I focused on camping and hiking, hoping to encourage parents to enjoy the great outdoors with their children.  Many of the children had never been camping or hiking before but we also talked about fishing (which many children were familiar with).  I also mentioned that the walk down…

  • Activities

    Storytime Theme: Sunflowers

    sunflowers

    This was our first week back to storytime after a relatively long break and it was so busy! Summer is always really interesting because so many people take a vacation, a lot of families are around that I don’t see very often during the school year and I seem to…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme: Clap, Tap, & Drum

    This was a new theme for me… Clap, Tap, and Drum and I was hesitant when I began planning this because I tried some new books and I wasn’t quite sure how they’d turn out.  I had a little trouble with my younger kids and the first book.  They did…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme – Sniffles & Sneezes

    It’s that time of year when no matter how much orange juice I drink, if I take my vitamins religiously every day, and wash my hands constantly – I still get a cold.  I’ve had a sore throat (turned into a sinus infection) for a few weeks now and it…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme – Penguins Everywhere!

    I absolutely adore penguins – they’re cute, fun to watch and make a great story time theme!  I chose to use penguins and focus on letter knowledge, after my first story time this week, I realized my error.  The letter “p” can look similar to “b”, “d”, and “q”.  I…