Robot Preschool Storytime

My manager had shown me a really cute robot book by David Carter a couple of months ago that I have been waiting for the right time to use, and since I already had robots on my mind because of the DoodleBot program I would be doing with a group of school-aged kids the same day, I decided I might as well do a Robot storytime as well.

We started with our welcome song, then I introduced the topic and the kids seemed really excited about it. We then sang our story song and started on our first book, Boy + Bot by Amy Dyckman and Dan Yaccarino. This is a really cute story about a boy and a robot who meet by chance and start playing together. 

But the robot's power switch accidentally gets turned off, and the boy thinks he is sick and takes him home and tries to take care of him. Later, the robot's switch gets turned back on, and when he sees the sleeping boy he thinks there is something wrong with him! The illustrations have a nostalgic 50's sci-fi feel as well.

After that we did a rhyme about "Five Little Robots" with a magnet board and five robots cut from craft foam using an Ellison die cutter:

Five little robots in the toy shop.

Small and shiny with antennae on top.

Along came a boy (girl) with a dollar one day,

And bought a  (color)  robot and took it away!

Four little robots........ (repeat, counting down to none)

They really enjoyed this and asked to do it again.

Then it was time for the new book, David Carter's If You're A Robot And You Know It, which is obviously based on the traditional children's song, "If You're Happy and You Know It". 

This book has really fun pull-tabs that make the robots act out the various actions, including traditional ones such as clapping hands or stomping feet, as well as robot actions like "shoot laser beams out of your eyes". This book is very cute and a lot of fun, and the kids insisted on doing it twice as well.

(I've also used his If You're Happy And You Know It with animal characters, which the kids also loved.)

Then to finish off with our last story, Beep! Beep! Go To Sleep! by Todd Tarpley and John Rocco. This is a super cute and funny story that parents can definitely relate to! A boy is trying to put his three little robots to bed for the night, and just when you think they're asleep (and the rhyming text leads the kids to say "asleep"), you turn the page to hear "Beep! Beep!" and discover they are NOT asleep.

Instead they have all kinds of excuses like "my sensors ache", "my fan belt's loose", "I need more oil"... This happens over and over, with the boy becoming increasingly frustrated with them. Finally he agrees to a bedtime story, and in the end it is the boy that is asleep. Because, after all, robots are machines; they don't need sleep!

We ended with our story song, and passed out stickers.

How It Went
The kids were excited about the topic when I told them, and really seemed to have a lot of fun with it. They liked both stories, and really loved getting to pretend to be robots with If You're A Robot And You Know It. Several of them denied ever making excuses to get out of bed like the robots in Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep!, but a few did admit to asking for water or a night light. This was an outreach storytime, so no parents, but I think this book would really be great for a family storytime. I think all of us parents can relate to the many excuses to put off bedtime!

Robots, Androids, and Cyborgs, Oh My!

I'm doing a simple robotics program for school-aged children next week, and while looking for a suitable book to read to them, I came across several cute, but too-young-for-them, robot stories and decided to use them for my regular storytime today.

We started with our welcome song, then I explained we were going to do something a little different today. Today, we were going to be robots. And instead of passing out stickers at the end, I was giving them round stickers at the beginning that were going to be their power buttons (I wish I could say I came up with this idea, but I got it from Anne at Anne's Library Life, along with the songs and rhyme I used). I told them to push their buttons and to set them to storytime mode, then we sang our story song with a few robot verses added: "If you're a robot and you know it clank your coils, clunk your gears, and say 'beep-beep.'"

For our first story I read Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman and Dan Yaccarino. This is a sweet story about a friendship that develops between a boy and a robot who meet by chance. When the robot accidentally gets turned off, the boy worries that he is sick. When the robot is turned back on and finds the boy sleeping, he is afraid the boy has a serious malfunction and tries to repair him.

The illustrations are colorful and nostalgic, with a 50's sci-fi feel, and while the story isn't interactive, it is still very engaging and charming.

After that we did a "Five Noisy Robots" rhyme, with a magnetic board and robots cut from craft foam using an Ellison die cutter:

Five Noisy Robots

Five noisy robots in the toy shop,

Shiny and tall with antennae on top.

Along came a girl (boy) with a dollar one day,

And bought a noisy robot and took it away.

Four noisy robots in the toy shop...

[continue down to 0]

I introduced the second book, Beep! Beep! Go To Sleep! by Todd Tarpley and John Rocco, by asking them if they ever had a hard time settling down for bed and made lots of excuses, like "I'm thirsty" or "My tummy hurts", and most admitted they did.

In this story, three little robots have trouble settling down, with excuses like "I want more oil" and "My bolt's too tight". Every time you think they are finally asleep, "Beep! Beep!" and more excuses!  Cute illustrations, and kids (and parents!) will find this story very relateable.

Then we sang "I'm A Little Robot":

I'm a little robot, short and strong.

Here are my buttons, just turn me on.

When I get all warmed up, watch me go.

Sometimes fast, and sometimes slow.

Our last story was Doug Unplugged by Dan Yaccarino, about a little robot whose parents want him to be the smartest little robot around, so everyday they have him plug in to download facts and information. One day he is intrigued by a pigeon on the windowsill, and discovers it coos, something he hadn't learned from his downloads. He decides to unplug and go out in the city to see what else he can learn by exploring.

Again, nostalgic illustrations in a mid-century modern sci-fi style, plus a good lesson about getting outside and learning by doing and exploring, rather than being "plugged-in" to electronics all the time.

We then ended with our closing song.

How It Went 

The kids were excited about pretending to be robots, and the teacher said if the "buttons" really worked I could make a fortune! They really liked the first two stories, and though they like Doug Unplugged as well, the lesson of the story went right over their heads. They thought it was a power cord, versus a USB for downloading. But I think it's a good thing that they haven't yet been so immersed in technology that they knew the difference. [I personally think technology is way overused with children, and have personally seen the deterioration of the quality of our educational system with my own children because of the overuse and and abuse of technology. Technology is a great tool sometimes, but is no substitute for teaching, or experiencing.]

Even though we do quite a few "Five Little..." and "Ten Little...." something rhymes, they really liked this one and asked to do it again (which we did) and again (I said we really needed to move on to our next story). They also asked to do the "I'm A Little Robot" song over and over. I usually do things twice anyway, but they don't always ask me to. We did do that one three times since it is so short.

They all did a pretty good job listening today. Of course it's almost the beginning of the next school year, so now that I've got them into good storytime habits, they'll be moving up and I'll have to start all over with a new crop of young 3 year-olds!