Story Time Theme – Eric Carle Celebration

This has been such a great story time theme – Eric Carle is probably one of my favorite children’s author/illustrators of all time and until I can get to The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Massachusetts, this is as close as I can get.  I tried to choose some of Carle’s books that kids would be a little more unfamiliar with rather than the standing favorites like The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?  We had a great time talking about the different animals in each of the stories and many repeated themselves throughout the stories making a very cohesive story time.

The kids enjoyed this story time a lot because it was so interactive and I was able to find short books that were exciting to read out loud.  I was able to teach the kids how to say duck in sign language which added to the story time as well.  The kids especially loved 10 Little Rubber Ducks with the surprise squeak at the end!

Opening

• Traditional: Put Your Hands Up In the Air & Open Shut Them
• Parachute: 1,2,3 Good Morning
• Yoga: Warm-up (Poses: Rock n Roll, Zip up Spine, Deep Breaths, Cat/Cow, Dog)

Book 1: Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr.

Transition

• Traditional: 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
• Parachute: The Parachute Rap (Shakin’ the Chute – J CD 0502)
• Yoga: Sun Salutations (Poses: Mountain, Reach Up, Touch the Ground, Hands at Knees (flat back), Plank Pose, Downward Facing Dog, Walk Toward Hands, Repeat)

Book 2: 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle

Transition (changes weekly)

• Traditional: Itsy Bitsy Spider (flannel board)
• Parachute: Fast and Slow Laurie Berkner Band (Rocketship Run J CD0417)
• Yoga: Shapes (Poses: Star , Triangle Pose (both sides), Crescent Moon Pose (both sides), Table,  Ball)

Book 3: From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

Closing

• Traditional: Shake Your Sillies Out Puppet Show
• Parachute: Rocketship Run (run underneath) – Laurie Berkner Band (Rocketship Run J CD0417)
• Yoga: Cool-down (Poses: Bridge, Happy Baby Pose, Star Pose/Deep Breaths)  Winter Lullaby – Laurie Berkner Band (Rocketship Run J CD 0417)

Early Literacy Extras:

• Learning to tell one letter from another involves being able to see the differences in letter shapes.  Helping young children learn about different shapes and to understand how things are alike and different will help prepare them to learn the alphabet.
• Play with magnetic letter on the refrigerator.
• Read the color names on a box of crayons. These creative and unusual names are also a great vocabulary booster.
• If your child is interested in a specific topic, don’t be afraid to check for books in the non-fiction section of the children’s department – we have books for all ages!

Fingerplay for Home:

Roll Over
There were 10 in the bed (hold up 10 fingers)
And the little one said (wiggle pinky)
Roll over! Roll over! (roll hands)
So they all rolled over and one fell out (drop hand to floor)
There were 9 in the bed… (repeat above from 9 down to 1)
And the little one said…
Alone at last! (stretch arms out wide)