Barnyard Animals storytime

Another fun Preschool Storytime wrapped up... Nothing beats this age range for enthusiasm - they act like you just threw the best party ever no matter what you do!

Our theme was Barnyard Animals. I'm not actually wild about using themes, and this was a good example of why not. I was trying so hard to fit the theme that I ended up with some books that I wouldn't normally have used. It's not always easy to find five or six books on a topic in our small collection, so I went with a couple I wasn't so sure about because I couldn't come up with anything else that fit the theme - and they definitely weren't the biggest hits. I should've gone with my gut!

So, anyway, here's the "setlist", and commentary on what worked and what didn't...

Is There Room in the Feather Bed?. Libba Moore Gray, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott.
Great illustrations; repetition and participation so the kids can guess what happens next (and yell out 'knock knock knock!' every time there's a knock on the door). I do kind of wonder about the repeated refrain about the "wee fat man and the wee fat woman" - it seemed uncomfortable calling people fat over and over! Any thoughts on that, anyone? Am I just being too uptight, or might that trouble some parents that are teaching their kids not to call people fat?

Fingerplay: Five Little Ducks

Who Hops?. Katie Davis.
The kids just love the silly sense of humor in this one. (See, I got smarter here--it's not really barnyard-related except one mention of a cow, but I knew it would work, and that was the important thing!)
At the end, instead of a stretch, I just had the kids try all the different actions from the book. Fun! (except someone fell down! No tears, thank Dog...)

Millie Waits for the Mail. Alexander Steffensmeier. 
Such a cute story! It went a bit over their heads, though. They didn't seem to particularly get the ending, and they seemed just plain puzzled by a cow chasing a mailman :)  The pictures are wonderful and *I* think it's hilarious, but it may be better for older kids or for one-on-one sharing.


Song: "Old MacDonald" (of course!) 

This Little Chick. John Lawrence.
Cute, but again, the kids seemed just a touch puzzled. Could have been the way I presented it... Still, there were animal noises to make; can't go too wrong with that.


Stretch: "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" -- the chant that goes, "Head and shoulders knees and toes, head and shoulders knees and toes, clap your hands and around we go!' (repeat three times, faster each time). Fun and dizzy-making!

One Little Lamb. Elaine Greenstein.
Short and sweet, but not super enthralling. I did want to throw in one realistic book about farms, though.

Stretch: Jack-in-the-Box


Now, the most important part every week....THE CRAFT!!!

Peek-A-Boo Barns:
I used this idea from allkidsnetwork.com as a jumping off point, but I simplified it a bit and drew my own little farmyard for the kids to color.

This was a big hit & very simple! Here's the template; click to view larger and print.

The next part is the farmyard scene to color and glue the barn to. I'll post that just as soon as I can find my copy of it -- it disappeared into the black hole of my desk...