Stories & Stations: Bugs
Bugs is such a fun theme – there are so many kinds of bugs and so many ways to think about presenting a program on them! Even though “bugs” is not a scientific category, I like using it as it can include all kinds of creepy-crawlies including insects, arachnids, worms, snails, and even terrestrial crustaceans…
Stories & Stations: Five Senses
I’ve never done a five senses storytime before, but doing it as a storytime with stations* was a perfect way to explore this concept! I had a lot of fun creating each of the stations, and they seemed to go over well. *We are doing a new format for our storytimes in a transition period…
Stories & Stations: Earth Day
April 22 is Earth Day! Here is our Stories & Stations* storytime, planned by my wonderful colleague (we alternate planning weeks.) There were a few activities that were planned but for time reasons weren’t ready, so we made adaptations. It was a good reminder that our families like the experience of storytime, and they roll…
Stories & Stations: Garden
This week we celebrated spring with a gardening theme! We are doing a new format for our storytimes in a transition period of personnel change and calling it Stories & Stations (you can read the whole saga of the whys and hows at my last post.) I had worked with a community member earlier in…
Stories & Stations: Baby Animals
My library is in a transition time. Our longtime and beloved preschool programmer just retired after more than 40 years! We won’t be hiring her replacement for several months, so we are doing some creative programming solutions. Rather than splitting age groups for Itty Bitty (0-3.5) and Preschool (3.5-6) ages as we have up until…
Storytime: Helping Hands
So remember back in January when I was trying to figure out how to do a “Community” storytime that was not about community helpers? So this week we actually DID the community helpers theme! See, there’s a method to my madness. This was a really great storytime – the activities flowed into each other very…
Storytime: Rainbows
Who doesn’t love rainbows? They’re so magical, and yet they are a great way to talk about science! For our storytimes the week of St. Patrick’s Day, we chose to do a rainbow theme. It’s related (find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow!) but only tangentially, so it incudes everyone whether…
“Unearth a Story” Ideas!
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with some storytime inspiration? I have! I was struck by the Storytime Muse with ideas for my summer programs, which will again be outdoors. During the short storytime portion, we get out our parachute and do some fun songs with it – always the…
Storytime: Gulp! (Animals Eating Animals)
Okay, so yes, a storytime about animals getting eaten and swallowed up by other animals may seem a little morbid or inappropriate for babies and toddlers. But there are SO MANY books, rhymes, and songs that fit this theme! Little ones delight in sharks, snakes, crocodiles, lions, and bears being fearsome and sometimes eating other…
Storytime: Hugs
Hugs is a great generic theme to use the week of Valentine’s Day without explicitly dealing with the holiday. Most toddlers are very hug-positive, though it’s also a great opportunity to introduce the idea of consent and that perhaps not everyone likes hugs, or there may be times they prefer not to hug. I also…
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Storytime with Ms. Emily Library 