Shapes All Around Us

While I try to incorporate shape recognition into storytime when I can (as well as colors, numbers, letters, and other concepts), I had not yet done a whole "Shape"-themed storytime yet this year, so I decided it was time for one. [Since shape recognition is often lagging behind other concepts, and some 3-year olds I see really don't know any shapes, I do like to do a whole storytime on shapes each year since they are not incorporated into books, songs, and rhymes nearly as often as counting and colors.]

We started with our welcome song, followed by our story song. For our first book I chose a little gem that I snapped up from a cart of books the children's department was discarding from their office storytime collection (I'm in outreach), Make A Change: Shapes by Margot Thompson and Geff Newland. This is such a fun book for talking about shapes, with wheels to turn, tabs to pull, flaps to fold, and pop-ups! 

Watch as a snake slithers out of the page to coil into a circle, an chick hatches out of an oval, a rainbow arc appears, a triangle roof tops a fairy cottage, and discover a pyramid (square base and triangular sides) complete with a mummy in his rectangular sarcophagus, followed by sea stars and the Man-In-The-Moon! Even the endpapers have something to offer; the front has several shapes that can be magically turned into a different shape by folding in the flaps, and the back offers a turning wheel that reveals different shapes to identify. (Unfortunately, there were very few copies of this book sold in the states, and it is now out of print).

We continued the fun with a song that is also a shape guessing game:

"Do You Know What Shape This Is?"

(to the tune of "Do You Know The Muffin Man?")

Do you know what shape this is,

What shape this is, what shape this is?

Do you know what shape this is,

I'm holding in my hand?

At the end of each verse I would hold up a different shape (cut out of craft foam). I had a circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval, heart, star, and diamond (I'd like to add pentagon, hexagon, and octagon). I pointed out the similarities and differences between the circle and oval, square and rectangle, and that a triangle had 3 sides. We talked about how the heart was a special shape because it meant love (to tie in with Valentine's Day, which was earlier this week, and our stickers). I ended with the star and diamond, and told them I bet they knew a song that had those shapes in it. Some of them said "no", but a few quickly put it together, and then we sang it:

"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"

Twinkle, twinkle, little star;

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star;

How I wonder what you are.

Since our songs did not have a lot of movement in them, I had everyone stand up, give a good stretch and shake their wiggles out, before quieting our bodies and sitting back down for the next story.

Our second (and final) book was a really fun, silly one that I just happened to come across straightening up the stacks a couple of weeks ago, Circle, Square, Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul Zelinski. This book starts out to be a simple, straightforward shape book, illustrating various shapes with everyday objects, until Moose decides to insert himself into the story, painting out some words and adding "Moose" in their places and running amuck. 

He eats the sandwich that was supposed to show a square, brings along a cat, gets everyone tangled in the ribbons that were supposed to show curves, and ruins the story. Even Zebra can't get him under control, and sadly laments that the story was ruined and has no ending. But, Moose manages to partially redeem himself by coming up with a rhyme for the last shape to end the book.

Then we sang our closing song and passed out stickers, which were special "I Love My Library" stickers in honor of "Love Our Libraries" month. I pointed out to them how each sticker had three shapes: the square backing, the round sticker, and the heart in the center.

How It Went

We had a very fun, slightly boisterous, storytime today! Who knew shapes could be so exciting? This group always loves calling things out, and I have noticed every time I've done the "Do You Know What Shape This Is?" song with this class (even with different kids each year), they tend to get louder and louder with each successive shape. I shut the door as a precaution, and tried to rein them in, but they just couldn't contain themselves. But, I'd rather have the problem of too much enthusiasm over a group of kids who just stare at you with blank faces while you can hear crickets chirping any day!

They really liked the first book, and I remembered just as I was about the bring the snake out that their teacher really hates snakes and won't even look at them. This is well-known among the kids and they LOVE to indulge in a little good-natured torture by making sure to show her EVERY picture of a snake they see, so they all laughed when they realized what it was. But then some of the kids decided they didn't like the snake that much, either, and thought I should unwind it back inside the page before moving on. They were amazed by everything that appeared, especially the mummy. It is such a shame this book is almost impossible to find now, even used. I'm glad I was able to get my hands on a copy.

They absolutely loved Circle, Square, Moose and really got into it; I had a lot of fun doing it as well. This is probably one that most people would need to practice a little first to really make the most of it, and would be great to do with a partner voicing the moose (especially if they were wearing antlers!). They kids laughed and giggled so much, and got a kick of being able to tell Moose to get out of our book, and I was glad to see they recognized how wrong is was to write (or paint) in a book. I only read two books this time since this one is a little on the longer side, and even though the first one is short, it always inspires a lot of discussion.

As I was leaving, one little boy ran after me, saying "Wait, you gotta give me my hug!" Have I said how much I love preschoolers? I do like to do programs for other ages as well, but it's hard to beat the innocence, enthusiasm, and adoration of preschoolers!

Shapes - The New Class

This was the week the kids moved up to the next class at the daycare, so I had several new faces.  Since we are starting over with a new group and younger kids, I'm dropping down to 2 books and a 20-minute storytime for a while, and as they settle in and learn the routine I will increase to 3 books and 30 minutes. 

I decided to go ahead and use the shapes theme that we did on the storytime bus a couple of weeks ago, though I did select some different books.  I thought it would be good to focus on a basic concept at the beginning of the year.  Also 3 books about shapes is a little monotonous, so it would be good to use it when I would be planning a shorter storytime. 

We started with the usual welcome song and introductions, except that we sang the song twice since it was new for most of them.  Then we did the "story song" and reviewed proper storytime behavior. 

For our first book, I chose Shape By Shape by Suse MacDonald because (1) It is short and simple, just right for young 3 year-olds, (2) It's cute and interactive, and (3) The kids on the Storytime Bus really enjoyed it, with some classes even asking to read it again.  The one criticism I have of this book, is that Brachiosaurus was an herbivore and did not have sharp, pointy teeth.  Being a science major, these kinds of inaccuracies really bug me.

After our story, I used the "Do You Know What Shape This Is?" song (to the tune of "Do You Know The Muffin Man?):

          Do you know what shape this is?  What shape this is, what shape this is?

          Do you know what shape this is, I'm holding in my hand?

Then I would hold up a shape (I had circle, square, triangle, rectangle, diamond, star, heart, & oval) and see if they could name it, count the sides, and name the color.  We also discussed how to distinguish a square and rectangle, circle and oval.

After that, I read Shapes That Roll  by Karen Nagel.  I chose this book because it had a nice rhyme and rhythm, and bright, shiny illustrations and cute shape characters.  I also liked that it had a mix of geometric and irregular shapes, as well as introduced 3D shapes and distinguished between circles and spheres, squares and cubes.  It can be interactive as well, by having kids name the shapes and discuss what shapes will roll and what will stack.  After we read the book we discussed how you can see shapes all around us everyday, and pointed out different shapes in the classroom.

Then we ended with our closing song and smiley-face (circle) hand stamps. 

How It Went
I had a larger group than usual, with 13 kids at the beginning and 2 more joining us about mid-way through.  I've typically only had 8-10 the last few months;  I think everyone's eager to get up and get going at the beginning of the school year, then seem to start coming in later and later once cold weather hits.  The group had about 6 kids that had been in the class all year, and the rest were the ones who had just moved up, so were probably all just barely 3.  As expected, with all the newcomers and the overall age of the class being younger, they were full of energy and very excitable and talkative.  The veterans of the class were excited to see me and introduce their new classmates to me.  So now I have a lot of new names to learn, which the teacher was kind enough to help me with by giving them nametags.

I told the senior class members they were going to have to be sure and help teach the new kids our songs and routine, and they did their best, singing the regular songs nice and loudly.  As I expected, they really liked Shape By Shape a lot.  They were very cute, showing their wide, crescent smiles, and fierce expressions.  I wish I could find another book like that, that sequentially builds something one shape at a time with the kids guessing what it will be each step.  I've seen some somewhat similar, but none nearly as good.  They seemed to really enjoy the "Do You Know What Shape This Is?" song, but kept getting louder and louder with each one!  I had to stop halfway thru and remind them not to shout so loudly and disturb the other classes.  They do not know their shapes really well as a group, but there was always at least one kid who knew each shape.  Shapes That Roll was just a bit too long; they liked it, but their attention did wane in and out.  If it had been later in the year I think they would have been fine with it, though.

At the end I told them to listen up because I had some homework for them.  You should have seen their faces ;)  "Homework??" they said, incredulously.  I told them for the rest of the day I wanted them to pay attention and notice all the shapes they could see around them, and gave examples of some in the classroom:  the circular clock, rectangular windows, the heart on one person's shirt, and the star on another.  Then I gave them hand stamps and got lots of hugs. 

I have to say, they really lifted my spirits today.  I was not feeling well at all and was really dragging this morning, but I completely forgot about feeling crappy while I was there and felt energized when I left.  I love going to see this group! 

A World of Shapes - Outreach Preschool Storytime

This week on the bus we did shapes.  Maybe not the most exciting theme, but an important concept for kids to learn.  As it turns out, there are some pretty cute shape books out there, and most of them are bright and colorful and can do double-duty reinforcing colors as well.  They also encourage imagination and creativity by showing how to combine shapes to make pictures.  We used the following books this week, choosing 2 or 3 for each class for a 20-minute storytime:

Shape by Shape by Suse Macdonald is short, but fun, good for younger ones.  Everyone seemed to like this one.  After all, what kid doesn't love dinosaurs?  Most classes figured it out by the end, if not before, but one class was sure it was a snake.

Shape Capers by Cathryn Falwell is a little longer than the others, but has a nice rhythm and cadence and encourages creative shape play.

Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh has the mice trying to hide from the cat as usual, this time in a collection of shapes.  Sometimes this works ok, sometimes it just doesn't seem to hold the kids' attention as well as shorter or rhyming books.

Go, Shapes, Go! by Denise Fleming shows how the same assortment of shapes can be arranged to form two different animals, with a funny consequence.  Also introduces arcs in addition to basic shapes.  This one is simple enough to work for younger kids, but engaging enough for older kids as well.

Lots of Dots by Craig Frazier only covers one shape, but is a fun read and very cheerful with all the bright colored dots.  It is on the longish side, but still works with most kids, unless you're pressed for time.

Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert has different zoo animals made up of different shapes.  Some people love using this book for younger kids as it has very little text and bright colors (and the similar Color Farm by the same author), but I find that several of the animals are very difficult for the kids to recognize and I don't particular care for it. 

In addition to the books, we also used two action songs, one to the tune of "The Muffin Man":                                 "Do You Know What Shape This Is?"

               Do you know what shape this is, what shape this is, what shape this is?
               Do you know what shape this is, that I'm holding in my hand?

Then we would hold up a large foam shape and the kids would guess the shape, then we'd ask how many sides, and what color. 

The other was a "Shape Shake" version of the "Hokey Pokey", where we gave each child a shape for each hand, and then we would sing:

               Put your square (rectangle, circle, triangle) in, put your square out.
               Put your square in and shake it all about.
               Do the shape shake and turn yourself around.
               That's what it's all about.

I have also started introducing an abbreviated version of my "story song" in the beginning.  From what I have observed, there hasn't been any consistent use of a welcome or an ending song/rhyme, which I would like to change.  I feel these repeated routines make the transitions much smoother for the kids and adults alike, and the "story song" helps get them settled.  Repeated elements also get the kids more involved because they already know them, and expect them.  I know with only 20 minutes it is tempting to want to just jump in to the stories, but I really feel it is well worth it to carve out a few minutes for a beginning and ending routine. 

Out of all the various books that were used, my personal favorites were Lots of Dots and Shape by Shape; they seemed the most fun and easy to read, with good flow and opportunities for the kids to interact by naming shapes, colors, objects, and acting out movements like pretending to lift a heavy weight or pop bubbles.  Although I did have a couple of dinosaur experts who (correctly) pointed out that Brachiosaurus was a plant-eater and therefore did not have sharp, triangular teeth.  I have to confess, that inaccuracy bothers me as well.  The kids also seemed to do well with Go, Shapes, Go!  For the songs, I thought the "Do You Know" seemed to work best.  Surprisingly, some groups did not get into the "Shape Shake".

All 10 groups we had seemed to know their shapes (and colors) pretty well.  We almost tripped them up on the oval a couple of times, but they would always realize their mistake and correct it, usually without prompting.  I was surprised that at least a couple of kids actually knew "rhombus" for the diamond shape (another correctly named an octagon in Color Zoo).  Behavior wise, we had quite a range, which is to be expected considering we had 10 different groups at 4 different locations, and varied ages.  Some were very good, well-mannered, and engaged; while others were much more fidgety, interrupting, not sitting, messing with the decorations, etc.  Nothing unexpected or terribly age-inappropriate.  I hope instilling some consistency in the programming with help curtail some of it.