Story Time Theme – Penguins Everywhere!

I absolutely adore penguins – they’re cute, fun to watch and make a great story time theme!  I chose to use penguins and focus on letter knowledge, after my first story time this week, I realized my error.  The letter “p” can look similar to “b”, “d”, and “q”.  I think the next time I focus on one letter I’ll make a better choice of a more unique looking letter.  But I was already in the midst of story time and couldn’t turn back, rather I just made an extra note to tell the parents about my plunder.

Opening

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

Early Literacy Aside (to adults): Today we’re going to talk about penguins; penguin begins with the letter “P.”  Both the capital letter and the lowercase letter look similar (show Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman)

Book 1: Penguins by Liz Pichon  / Playful Little Penguins by Tony Mitton

Transition

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

Book 2: Flip and Flop by Dawn Apperley  / Penguins by Liz Pichon

Transition (changes weekly)

• Traditional: Your Personal Penguin (Blue Moo: Sandra Boynton)
• Parachute: Row, Row, Row Your Boat (fast and slow with kids on each side of the parachute “rowing” back and forth)
• Yoga: Poses(Mountain, Downward Facing Dog, Move feet, Shake your tail, Shake head yes/no, Three legged dog pose (both sides), Rag Doll Pose, Shake head yes/no, Rock side to side, Roll up to standing pose, Chair pose)

Book 3: Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon

Closing

• Traditional: Shake Your Sillies Out Puppet Show
• Parachute: Rocketship Run (run underneath) – Laurie Berkner Band (Rocketship Run J CD0417)
• Yoga: Cool-down (Bridge, Happy Baby Pose, Star Pose/Deep Breaths)  Naima – Putumayo Presents Dreamland

Early Literacy Extras:

• Songs automatically break down words into smaller sounds, singing with your child is one of the best ways develop early literacy skills. Songs and rhymes will also help your child to identify patterns, like rhyming words, which will help them learn to read. Try practicing story time songs at home!
•  Pretend that you and your child are penguins, practice waddling and jumping like penguins do!  If there’s snow, doing this outside is even more fun!
•  Looking for more information about penguins?  Check out the informational text (non-fiction) section for facts about penguins or check out the picture book section for more great stories!