• Activities

    Story Time Theme: Rain

    It worked out perfectly!  Without changing my plans, my “rain-themed” story time actually occurred on a rainy day!  Normally, it’s a sunny 80 degree day when I try and do a rain theme in the spring.  The kids really liked this theme with the stories that had all different activities…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme: Chicks

    My story time kids seem to have a little spring fever recently so getting them to sit quietly (just to read the stories) has been difficult.  But they have absolutely loved singing and dancing and can’t get enough of the 5 Little Monkeys!  I think next week we’ll add some…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme: Bunny Rabbits

    Rather than creating a strictly “Easter” story time, I went with a much broader spring theme for this week with books all about bunny rabbits.  Little White Rabbit and Rhyming Dust Bunnies were both really big hits in each of the classes.  I chose Rhyming Dust Bunnies for my older…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme: Pennsylvania One Book, Every Young Child

    Pennsylvania is trying to encourage early literacy by providing copies of the same book to libraries, child care centers, and families across the state every April with a program called Pennsylvania One Book, Every Young Child.  This year’s book was Stripes of All Types by Susan Stockdale.  At our library,…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme: Socks

    Our next story time session has begun and with it, a new schedule which  means I’m doing back-to-back toddler story times on Tuesday morning.  Because it’s the first day of the month I also had to run statistics reports this morning, so needless to say, I’ve been very busy!  The…

  • Activities

    Yoga Story Time Programming Ideas

    I began yoga story time about two years ago and it’s been one of the most rewarding story time experiences I’ve ever had.  The kids respond really well to the movements and love copying the poses as I do them.  This also allows children time to be active in between…

  • 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: Mo Willems

    This week was probably one of my favorites – Mo Willems Week for story time!  Willems is an amazing author/illustrator in the children’s literature world and his books are geared perfectly to my crowd of 2 – 3.5 year olds.  We shared Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus with…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme – Amy Krouse Rosenthal

    This week’s story time author/illustrator was Amy Krouse Rosenthal – another favorite author of mine whose books are funny, poignant, and can help children learn valuable life lessons.  Again, I think these books may have faired better with a little older audience (I’m thinking preschool age), but they are still…

  • Activities

    Story Time Theme – Paul Schmid

    This week our story time author/illustrator was Paul Schmid.  He writes and illustrates absolutely beautiful and adorable stories for little ones.  Unfortunately, these stories were a little too long for my crowd, but would most likely work for an older audience in preschool.  I did blowup balloons for the kids…