What time is it Mr. Crocodile

Title: What time is Mr. Crocodile
Author: Judy Sierra
Illustrator: Doug Cushman
Ages: 2-3

Summary: Mr. Crocodile plans out his day, he will brush his teeth, visit the library, catch some pesky monkeys, cook some pesky monkeys and eat those pesky monkeys! Luckily for the monkeys, things don't go quite as planned.

How it went:
I did this with my two-s and they were enthralled. All three groups loved it. In two of the groups the majority of the kids stretched out on their tummies to watch the pictures.

The repetition of "What time is Mr. Crocodile" got their attention every time, and the rhyming made them smile.

I preceded this book with the fingerplay "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed," which made them giggle at the end when the monkeys bugging Mr. Crocodile were jumping on his bed.

*This might be a good book to learn how to tell time, as Mr. Crocodile plans his day pretty precisely, and the passage of time is evident throughout the story.

Shoo Fly

This is not a book, but a song/dance that I've been doing with my Twos for the last week in honour of Valentine's day. We all stand in a circle -me, the twos and moms/grandmas/dad. Then moving in one direction we walk while singing

"Shoo fly, don't bother me.
Shoo fly, don't bother me.
Shoo fly, don't bother me,
'Cause I belong to somebody."

Then comes the really fun part. Still all holding hands we walk to the centre of the circle till we're comfortably close and squished. While we walk into the circle and then out again, we sing..

"I feel, I feel, I feel like a morning star.
I feel, I feel, I fell like a morning star."

We do this about 3 times. I'm often nervous about doing action things too long, because it seems like after the 3rd time somebody always trips or gets bonked and then there's crying. That said, if I do three times I'll warn everyone that this will be the last one, and then we do one more.

I've been loving this one because it gets the kids moving, it gets them smiling and interacting not only with me but with eachother (even the shy ones), and it gives me a chance to connect with them more. I get to hold a little one's hand, and when we're in the centre singing about being morning stars I can make eye contact with a few kids at once -and we all share a few nice moments together.

I didn't think of this on my own. I went to a class led by Jane Cobb, a Vancouver Librarian, who introduced me to a lot of wonderful songs and rhymes. It gave me some great ideas, and I think my programs have been a lot more fun since I attended. One of the best things I came away with was that, it's okay if I repeat songs and rhymes with a group throughout a storytime session of six weeks because the kids will feel proud and more comfortable if they recognize some of the songs. This is great for me too since I already have trouble remembering words to songs! I do try to vary it though, by adding shaker eggs or silk scarves -Which they LOVE.

Jane Cobb has two books out that I use as resources quite frequently. They are:

I'm a Little Teapot!: Presenting Preschool Storytime
and
What'll I do with the Baby-O? Nursery Rhymes, songs, and stories for babies