Specs
Age group: toddlers (24 - 36 months)
Group Size: about 8-10 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:
Toddler Storytime Songs and Rhymes
Space and Aliens Theme Songs and Rhymes
The Plan
Welcome Song
Up Down Turn Around
Hands Are Clapping
Song: Zoom Zoom Astronaut
Book: Roaring Rockets by Tony Mitton
Rhyme and Puppet Play: 5 Little Aliens
Song: Zoom Zoom Zoom
Book: Hush Little Alien by Daniel Kirk
Song: I'm A Little Rocket
Craft: Alien Space Craft Puppet
Parachute + Colouring Sheet
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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!
Up Down Turn Around
Up, down
Turn around
Touch the sky
Touch the ground
Wiggle fingers
Wiggle toes
Wiggle shoulders
Say hello!
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!
Zoom Zoom Astronaut
Zoom zoom astronaut
Can you say your name or not?
What’s your name? _______
Let’s say it. _________
A nice welcoming rhyme. Check out the youtube video from JBrary to find out how to sing it. Great for learning names and repeating them back.
Book: Roaring Rockets by Tony Mitton
Simple text and illustrations make this a really good book for toddlers.
Rhyme and Puppet Play: 5 Little Aliens
5 little aliens went out to play
Over the moon to the milky way.
Mama alien went hep hep hep
4 little aliens came floating back.
Continue song and count down to last alien. Then...
Mama alien went HEP HEP HEP
And the 5 little aliens came floating back.
As you can see from the picture above, I didn't have time to make my own stick puppets, so I improvised and used dinosaur finger puppets for this rhyme. I think it worked out okay. We did this rhyme twice so that each child could have a turn hiding one of the "aliens" from their mother.
Song: Zoom Zoom Zoom
Far far far
We’re going to the stars
Far far far
We’re going to the stars
If you want to take a trip
Climb aboard my rocket ship
Far far far
We’re going to the stars
In 5,4,3,2,1…blastoff!!!
Other verses:
-Fun fun fun, we’re going to the sun
-Zoom zoom zoom, we’re going to the moon
Babies in space, babies in space, babies in space
Again, from the wonderful gals at Jbrary, check out their video for how to sing the song and perform the actions.
Book: Hush Little Alien by Daniel Kirk
An awesome choice for toddler storytime because it's a book you can sing.
Song: I'm A Little Rocket
I’m a little rocket, tall and thin. [stand with arms stretched overhead]
Here is my nose cone. [fingertips meet overhead to form cone]
Here is my fin. [hold arms from sides pointing down like fins]
When I get all fired up,
Launch begins.
Watch me rise [jump up]
And see me spin! [spin in place]
Craft: Alien Space Craft Puppet
This is the back of the alien spaceship:
Materials:
-popsicle stick
-white card stock paper, cut out into circles
-crayons and markers for decorating
-stickers for decorating
-pompom with one googly eye glue-gunned to it (prep before the storytime)
-glue sticks
This craft was inspired by a Pinterest image from Danielle's Place. Instead of using soft paper plates (we didn't have any), I used white card stock paper cut into circles. A smaller half circle was carved in the big circle and folded in so that the alien could be "inside" the space ship.
Parachute + Spinning Planets Toy Demo + Colouring Sheet
At the end of storytime, we still had time for the parachute (yay!), and a small demo of a spinning planets toy bought from a museum. We also gave the toddlers a space and aliens themed colouring sheet.
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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!
