Specs
Age group: toddlers (24 - 36 months)
Group Size: about 8 kids and one parent/caregiver per toddler
Time: 10:30am to 11:15am
Parent/Caregiver Handouts
One of my colleagues told me that one of the ways we can encourage
parents to participate is to give them printouts of the songs and rhymes
we use. This way, they can participate with the child beside them, or
on their lap, and the handout close by. Here are the ones we used for
this storytime:
The Plan
Up Down Turn Around*
Hands Are Clapping*
Book: If The Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most
Song: Big Dino Little Dino
Action Rhyme with Stick Puppets: Five Dinosaurs
Activity: Dinosaur Treasure Hunt with Song (Dinosaur Feet)
Song: Little Jingle Mouse
Craft: Dinosaur Egg
Parachute
Bubbles and Colouring Sheet
Dinosaur Stickers
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Welcome Song
(sing to tune of “London Bridge is Falling Down”)
Hi hello and how are you
How are you? How are you?
Hi hello and how are you?
How are you today?
It’s a bright and sunny day
Sunny day, sunny day
It’s a bright and sunny day
For storytime and play!
Stretching Rhyme: Up Down Turn Around
Up, down
Turn around
Touch the sky
Touch the ground
Wiggle fingers
Wiggle toes
Wiggle shoulders
Say hello!
Song: Hands Are Clapping
(sing to tune of “Skip To My Lou”)
Hands are clapping
Clap clap clap
Hands are clapping
Clap clap clap
Hands are clapping
Clap clap clap
Clap your hands my darling!
Continue with …
-feet are stomping
-arms are flapping
End with …
Now let’s sit on the floor
Now let’s sit on the floor
Now let’s sit on the floor
Sit on the floor my darling!
Or continue more actions …
Toast in the toaster
Getting very hot
Tick tock tick tock
Up you pop!Book: If The Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most
I was surprised by how enthusiastic the toddlers were for this book! Both the girls and the boys were coming up to touch the different coloured dinosaurs on the pages. Despite the book's length, the simple pictures and colour scheme really worked to keep the toddlers' attention.
Song: Big Dino Little Dino
(Tune: Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around)
BIG Dino, LITTLE Dino, turn around
BIG Dino, LITTLE Dino, touch the ground
BIG Dino, LITTLE Dino, reach up high
BIG Dino, LITTLE Dino, wink one eye
BIG Dino, LITTLE Dino, touch your nose
BIG Dino, LITTLE Dino, touch your toes
BIG Dino, LITTLE Dino, slap your knees
BIG Dino, LITTLE Dino, sit down please
Action Rhyme with Stick Puppets: Five Dinosaurs
Five huge dinosaurs
Sleeping on the cave floor
Wake up and started to roar
"There's no room, no more, no more,
No more room on this floor!"
They tossed and turned and pushed galore,
Till one poor dinosaur was shoved out the door.
Four huge dinosaurs... three... two...
One huge dinosaur
Sleeping all alone, on a cave floor,
Wake up and started to roar,
"I'm lonely, come back, it was better before,
It's more fun, crowded together on the floor."
The template for these stick puppets can be found here.
Activity: Dinosaur Treasure Hunt with "Dinosaur Feet" Song
I taped dinosaur feet around the room, and then hid a basket full of "dinosaur eggs" at the end of the path. We went around each of the coloured dinosaur feet, singing the song. I asked the toddlers to follow me and our trusty magnifying glass around the room to hunt for dinosaur eggs.
(Tune: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
Dinosaur feet, dinosaur feet
Dance to the rhythm of the dinosaur beat
Shake to the left, shake to the right
Look! What's this? Oh what a sight!
Dinosaur feet, dinosaur feet
Dance to the rhythm of the dinosaur beat
Shake to the left, shake to the right
Wow! A pink footprint in our sight!
(Tune: I'm A Little Teapot)
I heard a little jingle
Right inside my house.
It sounded like the jingle
Of a little jingle mouse.
He jingled to the ceiling
he jingled to the floor
He jingled till he fell asleep
And he began to snore...
(snooore, snooore, snooore)
Then I head a great big
jingleRight inside my house.
It sounded like the jingle
Of a little jingle mouse.
He jingled to the ceiling
he jingled to the floor
He jingled till he fell asleep
And he began to snore...
(snooore, snooore, snooore)
Right outside my door
It sounded like the jingle
Of a jingle dinosaur.
He jingled to the ceiling
He jingled to the floor
He jingled till he fell asleep
And he began to snore...
(snooore, snooore, snooore)
We used the "dinosaur" egg shakers we found during our dinosaur egg hunt, and did actions for the song (raised the shakers up high, or down low...we also snored!).
Craft: Dinosaur Egg
You can find instructions and templates for this craft here. I didn't have paper fasteners so I modified and used string instead.
Materials:
-yellow cardstock
-scrap foam stickers/shape stickers
-googly eyes
-string
-green dinosaur
Parachute, Bubbles and Handouts, Stickers
We had time for the parachute today! Yahoo! They really love this part of the storytime. I then handed out a dinosaur themed colouring sheet and stickers, and blew bubbles for the kids.
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Credits: I
took the songs and rhymes from a variety of sources, some from work,
and others from different parts of the internet. I will try to give
credit where it is due, so if something is yours and I haven't credited
you, please let me know and I will link back to you. Thank you!
