Toddler Outreach Visit

For the last several months I've been making monthly visits to an area daycare, seeing a toddler class, two 2-year old classes, a 3-year old class, and a 4-year old class. Because I am only allowed an hour and the teachers don't like to combine classes, I have had to rotate which ones I see, which is not ideal for building rapport. Today when I arrived, the daycare informed that that I will just see the toddlers and 2-year olds from now on, as they have arranged a music class for the older classes on that day.

While I would have preferred to keep the older classes as I could do more fun books with them, the silver lining is that there will be more continuity, I will be able to build a stronger relationships since I will see the same kids every time, and planning will be easier as I know who I am going to see each time and won't need to plan for the entire range of ages from 1 through 5.

Today I brought another Jane Cabrera book since her Baa Baa Black Sheep worked so well with the toddlers last time, as well as a couple of books that were a little on the "scary" side since it was just Halloween.

Toddler Class 

I started with the "Hello" song, followed by "Hello, Everybody" to greet everyone and get them warmed up. Normally I do a couple of other songs because they've always responded better to music than books, but today they were clamoring for books so I went right to the first book, Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera. I chose this because they responded so well to another book by Cabrera last week that could be sung, and because it had all the different animals they could identify and make the sounds of (one little boy was particularly excited about the lion).

After I finished that. they kept saying "book, book, book", so even though I hadn't really planned on more than one book for them, I pulled out Jan Thomas' The Doghouse. This book is a good choice for a wide age range, because it is short and simple enough for the younger kids, the illustrations are bold and simple, and they can identify the animals and imitate their sounds. For older kids, I am very dramatic and really build up the suspense, but for the littles I tone it down and keep it lighter.

Then I finished with what is usually their favorite song, "The Wheels On The Bus", but today only a few of them were into it, and the others just kept getting up in my face saying "book, book" and "read, read". But I didn't have anymore books appropriate for them, plus we were out of time, so I with a goodbye song, "Storytime Is Over".

Younger Two-Year Old Class 

For both two-year old classes I started with the "Hello" and "Hello, Everybody" songs as well. I started with Row, Row, Row Your Boat with the younger class, and was impressed that the teacher sang along with me, and the kids said the "row, row, row your boat" part each time and did the rowing motions. The loved identifying the animals and making the sounds. They ask for another book right away, so I went right to The Doghouse, reading it just slightly more dramatically than for the toddlers.

Then, they again begged for another book, so instead of a song or rhyme, I went ahead an pulled out my last book I had intended for the older kids, I Want To Eat Your Books by Karin Lefranc and Tyler Parker about a book-eating zombie. Though I think some of it went over their heads, they seemed to get the basic gist and still enjoyed it. After than I was a little late for the next class, so we did a quick "Goodbye" song to close.

Older Two-Year Old Class 

After the greeting and warm-up songs, I first read The Doghouse, and while I didn't go all out on the drama and suspense, I did step it up a little since these kids were older, and they really loved it!

Then we moved on to I Want To Eat Your Books, which they were able to follow a little bit better than the previous class. This book has a nice rhythm for reading aloud, and is just the right touch of "scary" for this age. I also use this book as a great opportunity to discuss how to treat books and take care of them so everyone can enjoy them.

How It Went 

Today's visit was very surprising, but in a good way...everybody was begging for books! I was absolutely amazed at the 180 the toddlers have done since the first several visits when they only responded to music, and paid no attention to books at all. One little boy was genuinely upset that I couldn't stay and read more books.

Then in the younger two-year old class, it was the same thing. They have done fairly well about being engaged with books, but nothing like today. They just couldn't get enough! One little girl even ran after me saying "Noooooo!" because she didn't want me to leave. Though I hate to see them upset or disappointed, I have to admit at the same time I find it gratifying to know they like me being there to read to them that much.

While I'll miss seeing the older classes, it will be nice to see the same kids every time and not have to plan for such a broad age range.

And just for fun, as I was leaving I noticed they had an adorable display of book character pumpkins that I couldn't resist snapping a couple of photos of:

From top left: Woody, the Grinch, Rainbow Fish, Mouse Paint, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Mike Wazowski, and a cat (?).

Fall - Outreach Visit

🍁🍂🍎🍏🌽

I had pulled several fall-themed books to use for this month's outreach visit, sure that by October 7th we would be having more fall-like weather. So needless to say, I was starting to wonder if I should pull a different selection when we were still having 95-degree weather all last week! But, over the weekend Autumn finally arrived, and I woke up to a cool, rainy, 53-degree day. The books I selected to take, to cover babies through pre-K were:

• Fall Is Not Easy by Marty Kelley
• When The Leaf Blew In by Steve Metzger & Kellie D. Lewis
• Hocus Pocus It's Fall by Anne Sibley O'brien & Susan Gal
• Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
• Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson & Buket Erdogan
• The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri
• Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills
• Baa Baa Black Sheep by Jane Cabrera

Because the daycare decided to just have me visit the toddlers and 2-year olds today, I ended up only using a few of the books I brought.

Toddlers 

I've been visiting this daycare for about 8 months, and have always struggled with knowing what to do for the toddler group, as all my prior experience was with ages 3-5. While they respond very well to familiar songs that have motions to do with them, I had never had any success with books. No matter what books I tried, they would completely lose interest and all start wandering off or getting into my stuff. I really felt like doing storytime with kids this young in a daycare setting was rather pointless and that they were better off with a music program, but I still felt obligated to try at least one book each time.

Well, today was rather monumental in that I was able to get them to engage and pay attention to not just one, but TWO books! I was so thrilled! It may never happen again, but it was still a beautiful thing.

I was greeted with lots of big grins, and started off with my "Hello, My Friends, Hello" song, and followed up with "Hello, Everybody" which involves identifying different body parts doing motions. I didn't get the usual level of participation, so I then moved to one that I know they all know and love, "The Wheels On The Bus", which finally got them going.

While I had their attention, I quickly moved on to the fall book I brought specifically for them, a large board book version of Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills. This is a very short story with very little text, showing the two friends looking in several unlikely places for a pumpkin, before their friend Thistle clues them in to the pumpkin patch. And much to my surprise, most of them stood or sat and looked at the book the whole time! They loved the Duck and Goose, and found the pictures very engaging. I really love the fall color palette of this book myself, with lots of pretty oranges, yellows, and golden tones.

I followed that up with a quick, simple pumpkin song:

Did You Ever See a Pumpkin?

(to the tune of "Did You Ever See a Lassie?")

Did you ever see a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin?

Did you ever see a pumpkin that grows on a vine?

There are short ones and tall ones, and big ones and small ones.

Did you ever see a pumpkin that grows on a vine?

Then I decided to try Baa Baa Black Sheep by Jane Cabrera since they were doing so well. I had been meaning to try one of Cabrera's books that are based on songs and can be sung rather than read since this group responds so much better to music, but had forgotten the last couple of times. I pointed out the sheep and one child named it, then several knew it said "baa". That helped get their attention, and the repetition and singing helped keep it. They swayed along with me to the music, and nodded their heads with me to the "yes, miss; yes, miss, three bags full". 

Then I sang a quick "Goodbye" song, and got lots of grins, waves, and high-fives goodbye. Such a great way to start the morning!

Two-year Olds

I visited two different two-year old classes, one is slightly older than the other. Both times I started with the "Hello" song, then warmed them up with "Hello, Everybody" and led into the story with my "If You're Ready For a Story" song.

I read The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri to the first class. This is a short, simple book that is usually good for younger kids as they can identify each animal the squirrel encounters, make its sound, and identify the foods the squirrel is collecting, though they often need help with the corn and berries. 

We talked about how acorns are probably a squirrel's favorite food, which led to a rhyme about five little acorns and a squirrel:

Five Little Acorns

Five little acorns, laying on the ground.

The first one said, "I'm big and round!"

The second one said, "I think I'm getting fat."

The third one said, "I have a nice hat!"

The fourth one said, "There's a squirrel up there!"

The fifth one said, "But we don't care."

Down climbed the squirrel and took them all away,

Back up to his nest, for a cold winter's day!

Then we read Duck & Goose Find A Pumpkin followed by singing "Did You Ever See a Pumpkin", and our "Goodbye" song.

For the second, slightly older group of 2-year olds, I read Hocus Pocus, It's Fall, having the audience say all the magic words. This book was a little long and the illustrations a bit too abstract for this age, so I started loosing them towards the end. I pointed out again the page with apples and all the different colors of apples, then we sang this apple song:

Did You Ever See an Apple?

(to the tune of "Did You Ever See a Lassie?")

Did you ever see an apple, an apple, an apple?

Did you ever see an apple, that grows on a tree?

There are red ones and yellow ones, and pink ones and green ones.

Did you ever see an apple, that grows on a tree?

Did you ever eat an apple, an apple, an apple?

Did you ever eat an apple that grows on a tree?

There are sweet ones and tart ones, and crunchy ones and juicy ones.

Did you ever eat an apple that grows on a tree?

I could tell they'd had enough by then, so I decided to go ahead and stop there with a "Goodbye" song, even though there were a few minutes left.

How It Went

Overall, it went well. It is rare that all classes on an outreach visit do well, so if I get one really good one and no really bad ones, I count it as a win! I was absolutely thrilled at finally being able to get the toddlers to pay attention to a book! I will probably try another book that can be sung rather than read next time. I just wish I had time to visit each class every month, but I'm only given an hour and there are 5 classes, so I have to rotate. It makes it harder to build rapport and have any continuity, but I do the best I can.

Under The Sea - Outreach Visit

Because I only have an hour in total for my monthly daycare visit, each session is short and sweet, and I don't get to see every class every time because the daycare would rather alternate than combine classes. I generally just have time to do one book and a couple of songs, but every once in a while when they are ready to start when I walk in and in a cooperative mood, I can get a second book in.

I just did Shark Week for my in-library family storytime, and I expanded that theme to include more general ocean-themed books in order to better cover the younger ages. I took the following books, but only ended up using a few:

• That Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
• How To Spy On A Shark by Lori Haskins Houran
• I Spy Under the Sea by Edward Gibbs
• Pop-Up Peekaboo Under the Sea by DK
• The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
• The Little Fish Who Cried Shark by Trish Phillips
• Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood
• Face to Face: Sharks by Scholastic

I had also intended to take Misunderstood Shark by Ame Dyckman because I've been dying to read it, and thought the 4-5 year old class would be old enough for it (it's a little longer and the humor a little more sophisticated) but I went off and left my personal copy at home, and all of our copies were checked out at work. I was so mad at myself, because I really wanted to read that one!

Once again, the 2-year olds were outside the whole time I was there, so I did not see them at all, which has been how it's gone all summer. With each group I started with the "Hello" song, and ended with the "Storytime Is Over" song.

Pre-K Class (4-5 year-olds) 

I started by asking if anyone had gone to the beach this summer, and talking about what kinds of things we see at the beach. I then asked if anyone saw a shark, and if they would want to pet a shark. Some said yes, most said no. I asked them what they thought a shark's skin would feel like. Would it be smooth or rough? Slippery? Slimy? Prickly? Then I brought out my sandpaper shark prop and passed it around so everyone could feel it, and many were surprised. I also showed them pictures of the different types of shark teeth from the Scholastic non-fiction book pictured above, Face-to-Face: Sharks.

Then we started with everyone's favorite earworm, "Baby Shark" by PinkFong (video below). I personally prefer a slower version that I used to use prior to the PinkFong version being released and going viral, but since that's the one the kids all know, I used it.

After that, we were ready to settle down with our story song and read The Little Fish Who Cried Shark by Trish Phillips. Though this was not my original choice to read to this class, I do love the rhythm of the rhyming text and the kids love the pop-ups, especially the big shark at the end! I was going to also read This Is Not My Hat, but we ran out of time.

3-Year Old Class 

I didn't spend quite as much time on the discussion about the beach and sharks for this class, but did pass around the sandpaper shark to let them see what a shark's skin would feel like. 

Then I led into our book, I Spy Under the Sea, with our story song. This is a nice book for younger kids because it is short and simple and the clues, revealed by circular cutouts in the page, are easy. It might be a little too simple for many 3-year olds, but this class seems to be a bit less mature and has a shorter attention span than most of the 3-year old classes I have seen in the past. It was perfect for this group, and they really enjoyed it.

After that, I brought out my flannel board and "Five Little Fishies" felt set for a fun fingerplay inspired by the classic rhyme about five little monkeys teasing Mr. Alligator.

Five Little Fishies

Five little fishies swimming in the sea,

Teasing Mr. Shark, "You can't catch me!"

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

And CHOMPED that fishy right out of the sea!

Four little fishies.....

They loved it so much, and begged to do it again, so we did. [Normally I do repeats songs and rhymes, but I'm forced to keep these outreach visits so short that I don't always have time.]

Toddler Class

The toddlers were playing outside, but I knew how much they loved "Baby Shark" and had promised to do it this month, so I didn't want to skip them. There was a nice shady spot with a mat, so we just had a quick storytime outside!

I started with "Baby Shark" to get their attention, and then sang "Slippery Fish", which they didn't know, but some did imitate the movements. 

Slippery fish, slippery fish; swimming in the water.

Slippery fish, slippery fish; gulp, Gulp, GULP!

"Oh, no! He's been eaten by an octopus!"

Octopus, octopus; swimming in the water.

Octopus, octopus; gulp, Gulp, GULP!

"Oh, no! He's been eaten by a tuna fish!"

Tuna fish, tuna fish; swimming in the water.

Tuna fish, tuna fish; gulp, Gulp, GULP!

"Oh, no! He's been eaten by a great white shark!"

Great white shark, great white shark, swimming in the water.

Great white shark, great white shark; gulp, Gulp, GULP!

"Oh, no! He's been eaten by an orca whale!"

Orca whale, orca whale, swimming in the water.

Orca whale, orca whale; gulp, Gulp, GULP!

"BUURRP! Whoops, excuse me!"

After that I brought out a pop-up, lift-a-flap book from our office collection, Peekaboo Under The Sea. That did not engage them at all, and it didn't help that one of the pop-ups had been completely ripped out of the book (I had broken my own rule and not carefully reviewed the entire book, only the first couple of spreads). I find that this toddler class, without having an adult 1-on-1 to help engage them in the story, does not ever do well with books, but I feel obligated to show at least one. 

I finished with my "Two Little White Sharks" rhyme inspired by "Two Little Blackbirds" (they were very interested in my fingerpuppets), then a last round of "Baby Shark", which they loved!

How It Went

Overall, it went very well. The preschoolers all were very engaged this time and enjoyed the stories and songs/rhymes; I just wish I had more time for them; 15-20 minutes isn't enough on the days they are really engaged. 

I am disappointed that the 2-year old classes haven't participated and the teachers have chosen to skip the storytime. I understand in the summer they need to go outside first thing in the morning, before it gets too hot, but I wish they'd be a little more appreciative of the services we provide as well. 

The toddlers are so cute and adorable, and I enjoy seeing them, but in all honesty I don 't feel storytime for kids this young in a daycare setting is very effective, and the time might be better spent giving the older kids a slightly longer session, so we could get the second book in every time. Without having a parent with them to interact with them 1-on-1 and help model engagement, reading books to them as a group just doesn't work very well. They do love music and songs, especially with hand motions, though, so I am going to have to re-evaluate what I do with them.

Eric Carle Storytime - Outreach Visit

We took a break from regular storytimes at the end of May, and that meant I didn't get to do my usual weekend family storytime. Fortunately, I still had my monthly outreach visit, which just happened to fall on June 3rd, the exact day Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar was released 50 years ago! 

Since I did a caterpillar theme last month, I decided to do an Eric Carle-themed storytime this time. His books cover a nice range as far as length/amount of text, which would work nicely for the broad range of ages I see on my visit (18 months - 5 years). I pulled several different books to take:

(click  to see larger)

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book - the star of the show!
• 1, 2, 3, to the Zoo - Short and simple, good for younger kids, with counting and animal identification as animals ride a train to their new home at the zoo.
• From Head to Toe - Another short and simple one that's great for younger kids, animals & colors, movement (I'd advise skipping the donkey kick page).
• The Very Busy Spider - Slightly longer, but repetitive
• Hugs & Kisses for the Grouchy Ladybug - one of the newer ones, feelings and animals

I ended up using only two of them as I did not see all four classes due to scheduling conflicts and misunderstandings at the preschool. I was able to see the toddler class, and the 3-year old class.

Toddler Class

I started with my "Hello" song, and then we sung "The Wheels On The Bus" which they really got into, and used the same tune to sing a song about different animal sounds/movements with miscellaneous animals (I took inspiration from what was on their shirts).

Then I read From Head To Toe, which proved too long for some of them, but I did have a few who stuck with me until the very end. This is such a challenging age to do, especially in a day care setting! I ended with my "Hands Go Up" closing song, then explained our summer reading program to the teachers and gave them a class reading chart.

As I left several said "bye" and one little boy said "Bye, see you tomorrow". They are so adorable, and really participated well today.

3-year old Class

This class increased by at least 50% last month, and with so many newcomers and such a large class, I had a lot of trouble with them last month and never could get them to settle down and ended up cutting it short. So I was kinda dreading them this time around, but they did much better; still need a little work, but better!

They were overly chatty and not listening at first, but after I did the "if you can hear my voice, clap one time; if you can hear my voice, clap two times; if you can hear my voice, clap three times" thing, getting lower each time, they finally settled down. I explained the summer reading program, then I explained that it was The Very Hungry Caterpillar's 50th birthday, and showed them my pop-up book, which kept their attention. Most of them were familiar with the story, and those that weren't quickly caught on, and they would say the "he was still hungry" part each time, and name the foods. I also explained how it should be a chrysalis instead of a cocoon (moths come from cocoons, not butterflies).

Our time was up, but since I had to cut them short last time and they were being good, I went ahead and read one more, again selecting From Head to Toe to give them a chance to move around. I ended with a closing song, and then got mob hugged in an attempt to keep me from leaving, because they wanted me to stay and read more stories. A much better outcome than last time!

Caterpillars! - Outreach Visit

(I am writing this in June, but back-dating it to May, when I actually presented it but did not have time to write it up.)

We had caterpillars in the library during May to watch grow and transform into butterflies in honor of the 50th anniversary of Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. So I decided to do a caterpillar theme for both my in-house and outreach visits in May to kick it off, followed by an Eric Carle-themed storytime outreach visit (and a butterfly release) on June 3rd, the exact anniversary of TVHC.

I saved The Very Hungry Caterpillar to read in June, and picked my new favorite storytime book and a couple of other caterpillar stories to read in May.

Toddlers 

I started with my "Hello" song, and then sang a few other well-known children's songs before reading Mary Murphy's A Caterpillar's Wish. Mary Murphy's books are great for younger kids because they are short and sweet, with little text and bold, simple illustrations with heavy black outlines. 

In this cute story, the caterpillar feels left behind because she can't fly away with her friends Bee and Ladybug, though they always come back to see her. Then one day she goes to sleep inside a chrysalis, and when she wakes up is overjoyed to discover she has changed into a butterfly, and now the three friends can fly together!
Three Year Olds
When I arrived, I discovered this class had increased by at least 50%, and the teacher was having a great deal of trouble handling the sudden large influx of new kid, many of whom had just started within the last couple of days.

With so many new kids, the class was completely out of their routine, and out of control! I tried, and tried to get them to settle down, and thought I had, but as soon as I started reading the story (Caterpillar's Wish), I completely lost them again. I decided rather than waste time fighting what was clearly going to be a losing battle that day, I would just cut it short and use their time with the 4-year old class, who are always really good listeners, especially since I had a great new book I couldn't wait to try with them.

Four Year Olds 
As I approach the classroom, they were coming down the hall, explaining that they were just going to check on their school caterpillars in the lobby really quick. I said that worked out well, because I had brought caterpillar stories to read, including a brand new one that was really funny!

When we got to the classroom, I first pulled out two non-fiction books I brought to complement their caterpillar project. Since they had Painted Lady caterpillars, I pulled out Butterflies In Room 6 by Caroline Arnold to show them how lots of classes do the same project they were doing, and showed them a photograph of the eggs, since they had only seen the larvae, and the adult butterfly (their caterpillars were currently at the chrysalis stage). 


Then I pulled out Caterpillar to Butterfly by Melissa Stewart to quickly show them the stages of the Monarch butterfly (and this is a great book for that), so they could observe how it's caterpillar and chrysalis look quite different from the Painted Lady. (Personally, I think the Monarch caterpillar with it's black, yellow, and white stripes is MUCH more attractive than the black, bristly Painted Lady caterpillar!).

Then it was time to introduce the book I had been dying to read since I first saw it, The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach. This book is so cute, clever, and hilarious! I have not been this amused or excited by a picture book since Cookiesaurus Rex. If you are also a fan of that book, or of Mo Willem's Pigeon books, you will love this book, too!

Rather than being very hungry, this little caterpillar is very impatient, and also has poor instincts, as he doesn't really quite know what this whole metamorphosis thing is all about or what he's supposed to do. He has a terrible time waiting, but learns the hard way that you can't rush Mother Nature. His internal dialog while in the chrysalis is very entertaining. And in the end, he learns to be patient. Or does he? I really wish I had more chances to read this book, I love it so much! The kids were not the only ones entertained by it, as the teachers found it very funny as well, and a refreshing change of pace after having already read The Very Hungry Caterpillar right before I got there.

After that, I finished up with Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle's Ten Tiny Caterpillars. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time left to read the whole book, but I just flipped to the end so they could see what all the different kinds of butterflies and their caterpillars looked like, which they really enjoyed, and liked saying which ones they had seen before or which ones they liked best.

This class went so well, quite a different story from the previous class, and I was glad I made the call to just cut the previous storytime off so that I was able to give more time to the class who appreciated it most, and benefited the most.

Cute Little Animals - Outreach Storytime

Today was my monthly outreach visit to a nearby daycare, and with it being Spring (finally), I decided to do stories with cute, fluffy animals. I see ages 1 through 4 years old, so I need a range of books, and I start with mostly songs for the youngest, then end with mostly books for the oldest. Since I only have 20 minutes per group, I do an abbreviated storytime and start with a shorter "Hello" song than my usual opening song.

1-Year Olds 
The babies still do best with songs, so after the "Hello" song, we did "Itsy Bitsy Spider" twice, then "The Wheels On The Bus", and "Little Bunny Foo Foo". Then I read Mary Murphy's Say Hello Like This. This book is short and sweet, and features animals and their sounds, which little ones usually like and it's good for phonological awareness. I also like the bold, simple illustrations with heavy outlines for the younger kids, since simple, high contrast images are known to hold their interest. We finished with our "Storytime Is Over" song. Though I love the babies, I couldn't wait to get out of there as they all had nasty, snotty noses!

2-Year Olds 

The 2-year olds really surprised their teachers with how well they did last time, and today they [almost] all sat down and were ready to listen almost right away. After the "Hello" song, we sang the ABC's and "The Wheels On the Bus", then I read Five Little Chicks by Nancy Tafuri, which is a short, simple story that begins with the Mama hen and five eggs, which hatch, producing five little chicks. 

The five little chicks then each start looking for something to eat and investigating different things: worms, beetles, butterflies, fish, and strawberries, then finally their mother shows them how to scratch in the dirt near the corn field to look for corn and other seeds. The kids can identify each potential food, and comment on whether they would like to eat it or not.

After that we stood up for a very fun and interactive book, Ellie Sandall's Everybunny Dance! This is a great movement book, as the kids get to pretend to be bunnies and act out the story, dancing, pretending to play instruments, and singing, until the fox comes out and they run and hide! But, as it turns out, the fox only wants an audience. Sometimes I follow this by doing the "Bunny Hop" conga dance, but I thought these kids were too young to follow the steps.

3- & 4-Year Olds 
Today they were expecting me, fortunately, so I didn't have to wait very long for them to sit in the story area and get settled. I started with the "Hello" song, then my "If You're Ready for a Story" song. I had planned to do Everybunny Dance! with them as well, but the space was just too cramped, so I had to change my plans. Instead, I read Wee Little Bunny by Lauren Thompson and John Butler, which was probably a little on the simple side for this age, but they were okay with it. The story shows a new little bunny as he plays and frolics, meeting a new friend along the way, then goes home at the end of the day and tells his mother all about his busy day.

Then I asked the kids if they knew what today was. They knew it was the first day of April, but didn't know about April Fool's Day. So I explained that it was a day people played silly little tricks on each other, just like we would see in our story, Barnyard Fun by Maureen Wright. I was SO excited when I found this book! It is the only April Fool's Day book I have found that is suitable for storytime. It is April 1st, and Sheep has a bunch of barnyard pranks to pull on his friends. He sets Rooster's alarm an a hour earlier, replaces Dog's can of food with a can of springy "snakes", serves Pig a "cake" that is just box covered in icing, and connects Cow's dots to make smiley faces. Then Horse decides to give Sheep a taste of his own medicine, with hilarious results!

I concluded with showing them my April Fool's joke, a nice pan of "brownies".

How It Went 

This was my third visit to the daycare, and the kids seem to be remember me and are getting used to the routine, so it is going more smoothly each time (not that it's ever gone badly). Today I was greeted by lots of smiles and "Hi!"s, and even a couple of hugs.

Everything worked really well, and I was glad to have the chance to read Barnyard Fun for April Fool's again, and share my little prank. They all laughed and thought it was hilarious when the other animals gave Sheep a taste of his own medicine by shearing him to look like a poodle!

Dr. Seuss On The Loose 2019 - Outreach Storytime

I thought I had done my previous Dr. Seuss-themed storytime last year, but as it turns out it's already been 2 years! I had an outreach visit today, and since it was just two days after Dr. Seuss's birthday, I decided to go ahead with that theme.

I would be seeing ages 1 through 5 on this visit, so I had to plan a wide range to be sure I had stuff that would work for the age of each group. I took several books, but ended up only actually using two, Mr. Brown Can Moo and Because a Little Bug Went Ka-Choo! Both were written by Ted Geisel, but only the first was published under the "Dr. Seuss" name, while the second was a collaboration with another writer friend and published under the name "Rosetta Stone".

I also had two special songs prepared:

Dr. Seuss Is On the Loose

(to the tune of "BINGO")

Dr. Seuss is on the loose,

and this is how we know it.

Cats, hats, eggs, and ham,

Cats, hats, eggs and ham,

Cats, hats, eggs, and ham,

This is how we know it.

Dr. Seuss is on the loose,

and this is how we know it.

Grinch, Sneetches, Turtles, and Wockets,

Grinch, Sneetches, Turtles, and Wockets,

Grinch, Sneetches, Turtles, and Wockets,

This is how we know it.

Dr. Seuss is on the loose,

and this is how we know it.

The Lorax, Things, Fish, and Whos,

The Lorax, Things, Fish, and Whos,

The Lorax, Things, Fish, and Whos,

This is how we know it!

Dr. Seuss is on the loose,

and this is how er know it.

Cats, hats, eggs and ham;

Grinch, Sneetches, Turtles, and Wockets;

The Lorax, Things, Fish, and Whos;

This is how we know it!

And I had these little stick puppets to go with it:

Green Eggs and Ham

(to the tune of" London Bridge")

I don't like green eggs and ham,

eggs and ham, eggs and ham.

I don't like green eggs and ham,

Sam-I-Am.

Would you like them here or there,

here or there, here or there?

Would you like them anywhere? 

Green Eggs and Ham.

I don't like them here or there,

here or there, here or there.

I don't like them anywhere,

Sam-I-Am!

You should try green eggs and ham,

eggs and ham, eggs and ham.

You should try green eggs and ham,

You might like them!

I do! I like green eggs and ham,

Eggs and ham, eggs and ham,

I do! I like eggs and ham,

Sam-I-Am!

These were short 15-20 minute sessions each, due to time constraints, though I prefer to do 30 minutes for preschool and up. I used a very short "Hello" and "Goodbye" song, and only read 1 book and did several songs for each.

1-Year Olds 

For the 1-year olds, I started off with a couple of familiar childhood songs, "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Twinkle Little Star", then did one verse of our story song before reading Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? because it is very short and sweet, and I knew that the kids would like identifying the animals and making their sounds. I followed that with "Dr. Seuss Is On the Loose" and the "ABC song" before closing. 

2-Year Olds

I did the same thing with the 2-year olds, accept I did the "Green Eggs and Ham" song instead of "Twinkle Little Star".

3 & 4-Year Olds

With this group I did the "Hello" song, and "Dr. Seuss Is On The Loose", then the story song. I read the longer Because a Little Bug Went Ka-Choo! to this group, than sang the "Green Eggs and Ham" song, followed by the "Good-bye Song".

How It Went

It went pretty well considering this was only my second visit (and only my second time doing storytime with 1 & 2 year olds), and because of time constraints we had to combine two 2-year old classes (much to the dismay of the teachers) and the 3- and 4-year old classes.

The babies were so cute, except for the 3 that were obviously sick and not feeling well and should have been at home. One little guy looked up when I came in and gave me a huge smile and very enthusiastic "Hi!". He is so friendly and happy and adorable, I just wanted to squeeze him (I didn't). Not all participated, but most still seemed to enjoy it, and I love seeing them.

Despite the teachers' predictions of disaster, the combined 2-year old classes did just fine. While there were a few that wandered around the periphery, most actually sat and participated and listened for most of the time, and had a great time. They'd had enough after 15-20 minutes, but they're TWO! I was perfectly happy with how it went.

I enjoyed getting a chance to read a longer story with the older kids, and they were much more familiar with Dr. Seuss, his books, and his characters than the others, so it was more fun and meaningful for them. One boy didn't appreciate the "Green Eggs and Ham" song and asked if we couldn't just read it instead, LOL! Several of them said they had seen me at the library before. I'm so glad I'm getting to do a little outreach! It just has a different vibe and I've really missed it. I'm just going to have to convince them to let me stretch it out just a few more minutes for the older kids...