Going On Safari - Elementary Program and Preschool Storytime

This is a program I did back in the summer; I originally planned it for the elementary aged program, then adapted it for the preschool storytime (see below) the next day. We had an animal show booked that week with animals from around the world, so I wanted to do something with a safari theme. Not knowing if I was going to have any help over the summer or not, I also wanted to keep it fairly simple, without a lot of advanced prep, set-up, or clean-up, so decided on a simple binocular craft and safari activity using inflatable animals (cheaper and take less storage space than plush animals).

This was one of my "splurge" programs for the summer, as purchasing all the inflatable animals was a bit pricey, but they can (and will) all be used again in the future. If you already own larger plush or inflatable animals you can use, it would be significantly less costly to do.

Program: Going On Safari

Ages: 5-10, then adapted for ages 3-5 (see below)

# of Participants: Planned for up to 30, actually had 14 kids, then 8 for storytime

Budget: $165, but bulk of cost was reusable inflatable animals, consumable items cost less than $1/participant

Materials:

• cardboard craft tubes (such as from toilet paper, but I opted to purchase for hygienic reasons), 2 per participant, $0.33 each, 60 for $20
• colored masking tape, $7 for 8 rolls
• washi tape (already had), optional
• yarn or heavy string (already had)
• markers
• crayons
• construction paper cut into pieces sized to fit around tubes
• glue sticks
• tape
• scissors
• hole-punch
• assorted inflatable animals - $138 (The ones by JET were good quality, though scale is inconsistent since they are all about the size of a medium-large dog, so we just said some of them were babies.)
• elephant, $18
• rhino, $18
• zebra, giraffe, & tiger, $40
• alligator, kangaroo & kiwi bird, $38
• monkeys, $14 (poor quality, leak, but will last barely long enough for program)
• snake, $10 (this one was plush)

Activities:

Binocular Craft 

1. Participants could decorate two cardboard tubes however they liked using crayons, markers, colored paper, colored masking tape, and/or washi tape.
2. The tubes were then glued together, as well as taped together by wrapping tape around the middle. [Realized too late that it would have been nice to have something to act as a spacer in the middle to have at a more appropriate width.]
3. Holes were then punched on the outer side of each tube at one end, and string or yarn tied to them so they could hang around the kids' necks.

 

Safari 

1. Prior to the program, my co-worker had made a "fact sheet" for each animal with one or two interesting facts, along with a photo of a real animal, and a checklist of animals to find with a question about each animal that had to be answered.
2. The animals were hidden all around the library, and the appropriate fact sheet was posted next to them.
3. The kids took their binoculars and checklists and searched the library until they found all of the animals and answered the questions, requiring them to have actually found the animal and read the fact sheet. They were reminded that it was NOT a race, it didn't matter how fast they found them, or who found them all first, and there was no running or yelling. I also encouraged them to take photos with the animals.
4. Once they had found all the animals, they returned to the program room and showed one of us their checklist. If they had all the questions answered correctly, they got to pick a small prize (I gave them a small selection to choose from: small plastic animals, slap bracelets, or pop-it bracelets).
5. If they had missed a question or had the answer wrong, I sent them back to find the animal again and get the correct answer (most were because they didn't read the question carefully, a couple accidentally skipped a question), then they got to pick their prize.

How It Went:

I was a little worried some of the older kids would think the binocular craft was too babyish, but they seemed to enjoy being creative decorating them, and most did use their pretend binoculars on the safari. They really enjoyed the safari, and I got a lot of positive feedback from caregivers, too. More animals would make it even more fun! Of course you can use whatever animals you want, and either inflatable or plush. I chose inflatable because I could get larger animals for less cost than plush, and they could be deflated and thus take less storage space. I will definitely do this program again in the future!

Preschool Storytime Version:

Since we had so many cardboard tubes leftover, and had so much fun with the safari, I decided to just adapt both activities to use after the safari-themed preschool storytime the following day. I followed my usual storytime plan, reading Sitting in My Box by Dee Lillegard & Jon Agee and Starry Safari by Linda Ashman & Jeff Mack and singing songs featuring exotic animals ("The Animals in the Jungle Go...", or "If You're a Lion and You Know It"), then did modified versions of the binocular craft and safari afterward, simplifying both in order to be more developmentally appropriate and take less time.

For the binocular craft, we provided fewer options for decorating, skipping the colored paper and washi tape, and just having them color directly on the white tubes with crayons or markers, and using the colored masking tape to attach them together. For the animal safari, instead of sending them out to search for them, I led them around as a group to find the animals together, and read the facts to them, skipping the checklist with questions and prizes. Then they were free to go back for photo ops with the animals.

How It Went: This streamlined version worked perfectly for the preschoolers, and they loved it! One caregiver left me a note over the weekend telling me her child had not stopped looking at the world through her binoculars, and when I saw them again a couple of weeks (or more?) later at the library, the child still had her binoculars, except that the caregiver said they were a different pair, and that she had been obsessed with making them at home since the program. So definitely a hit! 

 

In The Jungle

We concluded our 2-week rotation of "Jungle"-themed storytimes with the Storytime-To-Go program this week. Like most animal themes, this one was well-received and had some great books and fun activities. I saw an average of 4-5 groups each day for a 20-30 minute storytime per group. Each storytime started with an introduction, the letter-of-the-day (Jj), and our "story song", followed by 2-3 book and 1-3 activities.

The Books 

(Click on picture for full-size image)

Tall by Jez Alborough, very little text, shows how "small" and "tall" are relative terms
Hide And Seek in the Jungle by Sean Callery, lift-a-flap with clues, mothers & babies
Tiny Little Fly by Michael Rosen & Kevin Waldrow, interactive, repetition
Do Crocs Kiss? by Salina Yoon, lift-a-flap, animal sounds, rhyming text
Count The Monkeys by Mac Barnett & Kevin Cornell, highly interactive, silly, very fun!
Splash! by Flora McDonnell, very short and simple, good for the younger kids
Five Little Monkey Reading In Bed by Eileen Christelow, little longer, but fun
Wild Child by Steven Salerno, adults will appreciate most, lots of sounds & actions
Just The Thing by Damian Harvey & Lynne Chapman, cute and funny, little long
What To Do If an Elephant Stands On Your Foot by Michelle Robinson & Peter Reynolds
Giant Pop-Out Safari! by Chronicle Books, short & simple, good for younger kids
If You're Happy And You Know It - Jungle Edition by James Warhola, to be sung

And I completely forgot to include my favorite book in the photo above because it wasn't with the others, It's A Tiger! by David LaRochelle & Jeremy Tankard. This is a great storytime book because it can be very interactive and include lots of movement in acting out the story: running, stooping down, climbing, swinging, jumping, and swimming.

I always tell the kids, "You know how when we have stories I ask you to sit criss-cross applesauce and put your hands in your lap? Well, guess what! Our next story is NOT a sit-down-and-be-still story, it's a stand-up-and-move story!"

The Activities

There were a couple of other songs and rhymes I tried, but didn't really seem to go over that well, so I'm just going to include the ones the kids really liked and I used repeatedly, which were the two different "Five Little Monkeys" rhymes, and a song that allowed them to make animal sounds.

Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed

Five little monkeys, jumping on the bed.

(hold up 5 fingers, move hand up & down)

One fell off and bumped his head.

(Put hand to head)

Mama called the doctor, and the doctor said,

(hold hand to mouth & ear like phone)

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

(point and wag finger at audience)

Four little monkeys....[continue down to zero]

________________________

Five Little Monkeys Swinging In A Tree

Five little monkeys, swinging in a tree;

(Hold up 5 fingers, swing hand from side to side)

Teasing Mr. Crocodile, "Can't catch me!"

(Waggle hands, use sing-song voice)

Along came Mr. Crocodile, as quiet as can be,

(move hands together slowly)

And SNAPPED! that monkey right out of the tree!

(clap hand loudly)

Four little monkeys....[continue down to zero]

No little monkeys sitting in the tree,

(shake head, make zero with hand)

Just Mr. Crocodile, as happy as can be!

(big smile, rub belly)

I had a storytelling glove and velcro monkeys and crocodile I used sometimes, but sometimes I just did the hand motions so I could do the big clap at the end.

__________________________

I Went To The Jungle One Day

I went to the jungle one day, 

Jungle one day, jungle one day.

Saw a  lion  on the way, 

And this is what he said: "Roar, Roar!"

Fill in the blanks with appropriate animals and sounds (or say "did" instead of "said" to incorporate actions). Suggestions are: monkey - "Ooo, ooo; eee eee", elephant - trumpet, crocodile - snap, snap, gorilla - beat chest, tiger - "Growl, growl", etc. I used the photos above to hold up so they would know what animal to say for each verse.

How It Went

The kids really enjoyed this theme. The books *I* enjoyed doing the most were Count The Monkeys and It's A Tiger!. They seemed to work well with all ages, and we all had a lot of fun with them. When I was giving my spiel about It's A Tiger! being a stand-up-and-move-around kind of a book, not a sit-criss-cross-applesauce-and-be-still kind of a book, this one boy started smiling. I asked him if that sounded good to him, and he smiled even bigger and nodded enthusiastically. This is a must-have book for any storytime collection, in my opinion.

What To Do If An Elephant Stands On Your Foot worked well with the groups that were a little older or more sophisticated who could follow the humor. The other kids still seemed to like it, but they didn't really get it or fully appreciate it. I further demonstrated the relativity of small and tall after reading Tall by first having two kids stand, and asking the group if the taller child was tall or small. Of course they all said "tall". Then I stood up and asked, "What about now?" and they all giggled. Wild Child is probably most appreciated by adults, or older kids with a colicky younger sibling at home.

They all loved doing both "Five Little Monkey" rhymes and already knew them, so I had great participation, and of course they never get tired of making animal sounds, especially roaring! I have learned to leave the roaring to the kids; after multiple storytimes roaring will destroy your voice! Same for the hard clapping, after a while, it starts to hurt.

Monkey Business!

I've been doing a "Jungle" theme on the Storytime Bus this week, and one of the books I've really enjoyed using is Mac Barnett's Count The Monkeys, so I decided to build my regular Friday storytime around it, with a "Monkey" theme, especially since most of the kids seem to know and really enjoy doing the "Five Little Monkeys" rhymes.

I started with our welcome song, then introduced myself since this was only the first or second time most of the class has had me for storytime. Then to introduce the topic we did the "Five Little Monkeys Jumping In Bed":

Five little monkeys, jumping in bed.

One fell off and bumped his (her) head.

Mama called the doctor, and the doctor said,

"No more monkeys jumping in bed!"

[Repeat, counting down to zero. Hold up fingers for the number of monkeys, put hand to head for the bump, and use hand to imitate talking on the phone, wag finger when the doctor says no more jumping on the bed]

We talked a bit about why you shouldn't jump on the bed, and then sang our story song to help us get settled for our first book.

Kiki's Blankie by Janie Bynum is a cute story about a little monkey who is very attached to her blankie, which most kids can relate to because they remember having a blankie or stuffed animal they were attached to (or still are). Kiki takes her blankie everywhere, and uses it as a napkin, a bandana, a superhero cape, and more. But then one day the wind blows it away, and she must rescue it from a scary crocodile! Will she ever get it back?

Since Kiki had to climb the coconut tree to rescue her blankie, I decided to transition into singing a song about a monkey climbing a coconut tree.

Itsy Bitsy Monkey

(to the tune of "Itsy Bitsy Spider")

Itsy, bitsy monkey climbed up the coconut tree.

(pretend to climb)

Down came a coconut and bopped her on the knee.

(hold fist up, then bring down & hit knee)

Out came her mommy and kissed away the pain,

(hug self, bend down and make kiss sound)

And the itsy, bitsy monkey climbed up the tree again!

(pretend to climb)

*Source: Library Village

Next we read the book that was the inspiration for today's theme, Count The Monkeys by Mac Barnett and Kevin Cornell. This book is so much fun to do in storytime! It has everything: animals, counting, unexpected twists, silliness, and a surprise ending. 

We start out to count the monkeys, only to find a king cobra has chased them all away. Luckily, two mongooses (or is it mongeese??) chase him off. But then three crocodiles show up! It's one thing after another, and we fear we are never going to see those monkeys! The story prompts a lot of interaction with the audience; it reminds me a lot of Tap The Magic Tree, only sillier and with counting!

Since we had crocodiles in both of our stories, it only made sense to do a rhyme with monkeys and a crocodile (this one is more often said as an alligator, but I use either alligator or crocodile, depending on what goes best with our stories).

Five Little Monkeys Swinging In A Tree

Five little monkeys swinging in a tree,

(hold up 5 fingers, swing hand back and forth)

Teasing Mr. Crocodile, "Can't catch me!"

(move hands & head in teasing gestures, use sing-song voice)

Along comes Mr. Crocodile, as quiet as can be,

(move hands together)

And SNAPS! that monkey right out of that tree!

(Clap hand together loudly like jaws snapping)

[Continue counting down to zero monkeys]

No little monkeys swinging in a tree,

(shake head sadly)

Just Mr. Crocodile as happy as can be!

(Grin and rub belly)

For our last story I read one I've used before in a "Shark Week" storytime, The Monkey Goes Bananas by C. P. Bloom and Peter Raymundo. This book tells the story of a monkey stuck on one island, who spies a banana tree on another island. Sadly, the waters in between are patrolled by a fierce shark. Will he ever get the delicious bunch of bananas?

This story is simply told with only one or two words on each spread, relying on the narrator's expression and the illustrations to tell the tale of the best laid plans going awry, and narrow escapes. In the end, the audience will be surprised by who ends up with the banana.

I had thought about doing the "Go Bananas" chant before we closed, but the group was already getting a bit wound up, so I decided against it, and just went ahead and concluded with our closing song and stickers. This week I had extra special scratch-'n-sniff stickers! And no, they did not smell like monkeys, but like bananas, and the kids were very amazed.

How It Went 

While they were not the perfect little angels that they were last time (which I expected), they were still pretty good, especially considering most of them have only just turned 3, only their second storytime with me, and it was a larger group today (16 compared to 12 last time). There was some wiggling, talking, and getting up, but overall I still think they were very engaged most of the time. 

They seemed to like all of the books and songs/rhymes we did, and since most (if not all) knew both "Five Little Monkeys" rhymes, I had excellent participation, both with saying the words and doing the motions. They laughed at Kiki's falling asleep on top of the washer and dryer while waiting for her blankie to get dry, loved the silliness and the inter-activeness of Count The Monkeys, and the drama of The Monkey Goes Bananas. They LOVED telling me they saw the monkeys in the end-papers of Count The Monkeys, after we had given up on ever seeing them.

I got quite a few hugs at the end, and one boy in particular said he had to give me a BIG hug. This is my third school year coming to this classroom (where I got my start doing storytime), and they always remind me of how much I love my job!

And, of course I can't talk about monkeys and not include this video:

Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My! - Preschool Storytime

  

I wish I could say I thought of this theme on my own, but when someone else mentioned using it on Storytime Underground I knew right away it was one I could have a lot of fun with and would be perfect for my group that it often very wiggly and talkative.  This is not a quiet storytime; rather than fighting the kids' natural inclination to move around and be loud, it embraces it!

As always, we started with our welcome song, and I introduced the topic, talking about what sounds lions, tigers, and bears make.  For the purposes of our storytime today, we agreed that lions would roar, tigers would growl, and bears would snore.  After the introduction, we sang our story song and started with our first book, Roar! - A Noisy Counting Book by Pamela Duncan Edwards, illustrated by Henry Cole. 

 In this story, a bored lion cub is looking for someone to play with, and can't understand why everyone runs away when he roars an invitation.  This story emphasizes the word "roar" throughout, and kids love roaring, so I made a little "Roar!" sign to hold up each time so the kids would know when to roar.  I also like that the story also gives the opportunity to work on counting, number recognition, and colors, besides being a lot of fun.  Eventually, the lion cub does find appropriate playmates.

Next, we sang a simple song incorporating the sounds of the three animals we were talking about today, but of course you could add as many verses and as many animals as you'd like.  I had some "animal-on-a-stick" props to hold up to show which animal we were doing each time.

"You Can Hear Lions Roaring"

(to the tune of "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain")

You can hear the lions roaring in the jungle, "Roar, Roar"

You can hear the lions roaring in the jungle, "Roar, Roar"

You can hear the lions roaring, you can hear the lions roaring,

You can hear the lions roaring in the jungle, "Roar, Roar"

You can hear the tigers growling in the jungle, "Growl, Growl"....

You can hear the bears snoring in the jungle, "Snore, Snore"....

After that, we had an even more fun story, It's A Tiger! by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Jeremy Tankard.  This book requires a departure from the usual "criss-cross applesauce, hands in your lap" and instead should have the audience standing up so they can act out parts of the story.  In the story we are walking through the jungle, and repeatedly stumble across a hidden tiger and must run, climb, and swim to escape him.  The kids will catch on quickly and look for the clue to the hidden tiger, and love yelling out, "It's a tiger!" when the page is turned.  There is also a funny twist at the end.  I LOVE this book!

We were ready to rest after all the activity with It's A Tiger!, so I had them sit back down, criss-cross, to do the call-and-response chant, "Going On A Bear Hunt".  First I showed them how to clap in rhythm, and explained they were to repeat everything I said.

"Going On A Bear Hunt"

Chorus:

Going on a bear hunt.

Gonna catch a BIG one!

With round fuzzy ears,

And a little fuzzy tail.

(Repeat after each verse)

Look, there's a meadow,

Full of very tall grass.

Can't go over it,

Can't go under it.

We'll have to go through it.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH

Look, a huge muddy field,

Full of wet, sticky mud.

Can't go over it,

Can't go under it.

We'll have to go through it.

SQUISH, SQUISH, SQUISH, SQUISH

Look, it a river,

deep and wide.

Can't go over it,

Can't go around it.

We'll have to swim through it.

SWIM, SWIM, SWIM, SWIM

Look, there's a mountain;

A big, tall mountain.

Can't go through it,

Can't go around it.

We'll have to climb over it.

CLIMB, CLIMB, CLIMB, CLIMB

Look, there's a cave,

A deep, dark cave.

Can't go over it,

Can't go under it,

We'll have to go inside it.

TIP-TOE, TIP-TOE, TIP-TOE, TIP-TOE

I feel something, it's big and furry.

With two round ears, and a little fuzzy tail!

With a cold, wet nose, and big, sharp teeth!

It's a bear!  RUN!

Run out of the cave,

Climb up the mountain,

Climb down the moutain.

Swim across the river,

Walk through the mud.

Go through the tall grass,

Back in the house,

And shut the door!

Whew!  We made it!

They had done such a good job participating, I decided to go ahead and do the third book, Bear and Duck by Katy Hudson.  I also felt like I owed it to the teachers to end with a quieter book to calm the kids back down before I left.  In this story, Bear decides he is tired of being a bear (having to sleep all winter, having hot fur, and getting stung by bees) and wants to try being a duck, which doesn't quite work out as he'd hoped.  But in the end, he learns to accept and appreciate being a bear, and makes a new friend.

After that, we sang our closing song, and passed out paw print stickers, which I told them could be lion or tiger paw prints, and one kid piped up with, "Or 'Paw Patrol'!"  Whatever makes you happy ;)

How It Went

I have to say, this was one of the most fun storytimes I've had in a while.  Lots of participation and movement, so works great with those kids that are hard to keep engaged.  They really liked all the books, but they LOVED It's A Tiger!, and so did I.  If you have not ever done this book in storytime, you should!  I was a little surprised that their little eagle eyes started picking out the tiger's tail right away, and even at the end a couple of them saw the crocodile tail and knew what it was.  I was also pleasantly surprised at how many of them recognized the printed numbers in Roar!, and of course they loved roaring.

They didn't seem to have much interest in the first song, other than making the sounds, but they really got into "Going On A Bear Hunt".  It helped that one of the kids had the book at home and knew how it went, so he took charge and led the kids in repeating each line after me.  I think I did one verse too many for this age, as I noticed I was losing participation towards the end, but I got them all back when we ran into the bear and had to race back through all the obstacles to get back home safe and sound!

So, to sum it up, 16 kids and I had a lot of fun this morning!  Oh, and as a bonus, watch this video of a real life bonded lion, tiger, and bear trio that were rescued as cubs.  Of course their names are Leo, Shere Khan, and Baloo.

*Sadly, Leo the lion died just 4 months after I originally posted this due to liver cancer, after spending 16 years with his brothers.