Sensory-Friendly Story Time Theme: Snakes

I love having the opportunity to outreach to the Early Intervention classrooms in our community.  I got the chance to visit four classrooms yesterday – reaching out to 50 children and 31 adults.  The classroom children have a range of disabilities from visual impairments, to developmental disabilities, to the autism spectrum, to language development, to a classroom devoted to children with multiple disabilities. 

We focused on a very loose theme around snakes, but the storytime is more focused on engaging the children in some aspect of the storytime, whether it’s in the stories, the music, playing with the app on the iPad, or visiting with the puppet, the children get the chance to participate in whatever format they are comfortable in and that’s what makes it so amazing. 

The app I used was one I found from another librarian’s suggestion and the kids absolutely loved making the bugs, seeing them hatch, feeding and washing them, and then taking their picture.  It’s a great app for toddlers and preschoolers alike! 

This is just like any other storytime I do, but I definitely have a passion for reaching out to these children with disabilities and it makes for a great day.

Lesson Plan

Opening: Open, Shut Them

Puppet: Meet Tortuga (turtle puppet)

Book 1: Stripes of All Types by Susan Stockdale

Transition (Gross Motor/Dance): “Animal Crackers” by Wee Hairy Beasties (found on Animal Playground CD)

Transition App (Bug Builder): Build a bug together and help to hatch it!

Book 2: Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

Transition (Song & Fine Motor): “No More Monkeys” by Asheba (found on Animal Playground CD)

Book 3: Splendid Spotted Snake by Betty Ann Schwartz

Closing: “We Wave Goodbye Like This” (Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”)
We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends. (stretch up high, we pat our knees, we stomp our feet)
We wave goodbye like this.