Program: Family Storytime

Alas, this will be my last storytime post, at least for some time. As of October 1st, my position as Empress of Tween was officially made full-time, leading me to resign from my second part-time position. This means I will no longer be leading storytimes, though that may change in the future. So, here was my last family storytime.

Welcome, introductions and reminders

Opening rhyme: "My Hands" - I still really like this rhyme. I think I would have kept it for a while and I'll use it again if I start doing storytimes again in the future.

Book: Castles, Caves, and Honeycombs by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Lauren Stringer - our theme this week was houses and homes, so I thought it'd be nice to start with a story that includes many different kinds of homes. I really liked this simple rhyming text that introduces readers to a wide variety of animal homes. The pictures are lovely as well. I had the kids name the different kinds of animals on each page.

Song: "The Tempo Marches On" by Jim Gill - here's the deal, I didn't like any of our flannel options and I couldn't find a relevant song for the theme, so I just decided we'd do two different activity songs. I should probably use more music in my storytimes anyway. The kids really liked this one and I am sorely out of shape as I was winded afterwards.

Book: Where To, Little Wombat? by Charles Fuge - I liked this one because it featured animals and their homes that children might be less familiar with and I always like showing them something new. Little Wombat decides he is bored with his home so he visits his friends and tries living with them. Needless to say, it doesn't go according to plan. The book is silly but has a suitably sweet ending and the pictures of wombats, koalas, and emus are adorable.

Big Book: The Napping House by Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood - I absolutely adore this book. And I think the illustrations translate especially well to the big book format. The mostly blue color palette is soothing and dreamy, perfect for the cumulative story of the house where everyone is sleeping. However, I don't think I paced it properly and I think, because of that, the kids didn't enjoy it as much as they might have.

Song: "Silly Dance Contest" by Jim Gill - the Hap Palmer CD was still MIA, so I once again stuck with old favorite. The kids were especially good about making silly faces this time around.

Book: Goldilocks and the Three Martians by Stu Smith, illustrated by Michael Garland - I chose this book because the other preschool and family storytimes during the week had performed the Goldilocks puppet show and I wanted to carry that theme over to our Saturday morning storytime. I chose this version over the more traditional because I tend to prefer silly over straightforward. And, this one had a lovely ending, perfect for wrapping up our whole storytime.

Closing: "Wave Goodbye" by Rob Reid - alas, I lapsed and forgot one of my body parts to wave during my final recitation of our closing. No one ever minds, but I wish I just had it memorized already. We said goodbye and were on our way.

And that was my houses and homes family storytime! What would you do?