Toddler Storytime: Favorite Friends: Pete the Cat, Maisy the Mouse, IYGAMAC Mouse

This is really a 'no theme' theme, but it still works very well with toddlers!  We have a celebration coming up at our library featuring these characters, so I picked several books that are A) lots of fun and B) would help promote our celebration by including these beloved 'Favorite friends.' You can alter this to include any of your favorite picture book friends. First I got out our parachute. This activity is always a winner! We lifted it up, down, walked in a circle, bounced balls on it, let kids run underneath... one mom said it was a "cathartic experience." That's a promising way to start the morning.

After we did our Hello song and Open Shut Them, we started off with a great book: 

The Best Mouse Cookie by Laura Numeroff

This installment of the  If you give a Mouse a Cookie series is perfect for toddlers. It's short, sweet, silly, and ends on a sweet but sincere note: "but the best cookie is the one you share with a friend." I have found some of the other IYGAMAC books are a little long for toddler-sized attention spans.

Last week I was shocked to witness how popular Jim Gill's Jumping and Counting is with kids, so of course we did that again... and again by request after storytime ended!

Then we did our action rhyme This is the Beehive together. Buzzzzzz!

Our next friend to celebrate was Pete the Cat! We read I Love My White Shoes, which you can watch being performed by the creators below. This story is a great opportunity to sing together, learn rhythm and colors, and celebrate resilience!

Kids love to yell "Goodness, NO!"  Then we had to move a little more- this time we shook our sillies out with Raffi.

Our last friend story of the day was Maisy Goes to the Library by Lucy Cousins.  My kids grew slightly antsy during this book, even though they enjoyed it, so you might want to shorten it up a little. (We often paperclip a few pages together to abridge the story.)

Finally we sang Icky Sticky Bubble Gum and it was already time to go home.  (JJ does an adorable rendition here!)

For fun takeaways, all of these characters have printables made available by their authors and publishers. (I find that these officially sanctioned printables are often of better quality and formatting than the average internet printable.)

• If you give a mouse a cookie coloring pages
• Maisy coloring pages
• Pete the Cat coloring pages

These are pages for a few other friends we wanted to include today:

• Seuss coloring pages 
• Clifford coloring pages

Fingerplays on Youtube!

One of the most useful tools in storytime planning is Youtube- and I want to contribute! Perhaps you can use one of these in your own storytime.

Toddler Storytime: Prize-winning books

This theme is a little unusual, but I argue that it provides two valuable things in lieu of a cohesive theme:
-the opportunity to talk about selection tools for parents early in a child's development
-a means to present a smattering of picture books that go above and beyond.

I picked up 100 Best books for Children by Anita Silvey and decided to start my planning with her suggestions, as she is such a respected figure in Children's literature (see her awesome blog here: http://childrensbookalmanac.com/) 

Opening song: Silly dance contest by Jim Gill

Everyone finds their seats, and then we do Open, Shut them:
Open, shut them.    
Give a little clap. 
Open, shut them  
Put them in your lap.  

Books one, two, three, four: (chosen according to the energy level of the room)

• Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus
• Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
• Tuesday by David Weisner  

Rhythm song:

Tap your sticks by Hap Palmer
Pass out drumsticks. If you run through each tapping motion first and the toddlers will be able to follow along.

Action rhymes one, two and three: (also chosen according the energy level of the room)

Here is the Beehive Here is the beehive... but where are all the bees? 
(hold up fist) Hidden inside where nobody sees. (move other hand around fist) Here they come buzzing out of the hive One, two, three, four, five.(hold fingers up one at a time) Bzzzzzzzz… all fly away!(wave fingers)

The Grand Old Duke of York
(Everyone begins marching.)
The grand old Duke of York
He had ten thousand men
He marched them up to the top of the hill (march up on your tippy toes, or standing tall)
and he marched them down again. (march crouched down low)
When they were up, they were up (march up high again)
and when they were down they were down (march low)
and when they were only halfway up (march mid-height)
They were neither up (march up) nor down (march down)

Where is thumbkin? (and pinkie, and family)

 (Start with hands behind back)

Where is thumbkin?
Where is thumbkin?
Here I am (Bring right hand to front, with thumb up) 
Here I am. (Bring left hand to front,with thumb up)
How are you this morning?
Very well, I thank you. (Wiggle thumbs as if they're 'talking' to each other)
Run away (Hide right hand behind back)

Run away.(Hide left hand behind back)
Sung to the tune of Frere Jacques and repeated with pinkie and family (all the fingers.)
 

Closing song: Icky Sticky Bubble Gum  
Icky, sticky, icky, sticky bubble gum bubble gum, bubble gum. 
Icky, sticky, icky, sticky bubble gum stuck to my *head.  
And I pull, and I pull, and they’re off!  
(Repeat with different parts of the body) *toes; *knees;*ears; *nose *eyebrows
(We usually close with 'stuck to my friend!' where you go around playfully tagging the kids.)