Storytime Theme: Purple

This was the first storytime of the fall session and I had far, far too much planned.  Because it was the first one, I had to explain a lot of who I was, how storytime works, and our storytime rules.  This took up so much time that we didn’t even get to our first book for at least 10 minutes with the explanations and our opening song, fingerplay, and puppet.  The opening of storytime is the same way its been done for years and I think it might be time to change it around a little.  That way, I’d have more time to interact with the kids and the stories.  I didn’t even have time to do the nursery rhyme cube and read the third book – Harold and the Purple Crayon, I did have a few minutes to give the kids time to draw with a purple crayon, we just didn’t get to the story.  I’m also currently taking an online course by Saroj Ghoting, an early literacy expert, and I wanted to use what she taught in  class, but I didn’t even have time to address the parents.  I was able to create a handout for parents/caregivers, so hopefully they picked one up with the early literacy information on it!  Next week I’m doing the color blue as the theme, so I need to figure out how to condense some things in order to allow us to do other things.
Opening Stretches
Opening Song: Put Your Hands Up In the Air
Opening Fingerplay: Open Shut Them
Puppet: Meet Willy (monkey) and give high fives!
Explain Aside:  Purple is a beautiful color, but there are so many other words to describe the color purple.  Learning these synonyms help young children gain vocabulary which is understanding the meaning of words.  Research shows that children who have a higher vocabulary find it easier to learn to read.
ASL Sign: Purple (Letter “p” shake at shoulder height)
Book One: Purple: Seeing Purple All Around Us by Sarah L. Schuette
Music Transition (fine motor skills, counting to 5, jumping): 5 Little Skunks Jumping on the Bed
Nursery Rhyme Cube: (small tissue box converted into a die with a nursery rhyme on each side) Roll cube and repeat nursery rhyme 3x with families.
Example Aside: This book talks about a little girl’s feelings.  Using words for feelings not only develops a child’s vocabulary, but is also the first step in helping children identify and manage their feelings.  Let’s see how Petunia feels in this story. [after story talk about different words to describe feelings]
Book Two: A Pet for Petunia by Paul Schmid (with skunk puppet)
Music Transition (gross motor skills, dancing with Beanie Babies): “Beanie Bag Dance” (Kids in Action – Greg & Steve )
Flannel Board: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson  (flannel board)
Closing: “Shake Your Sillies Out” Puppet Show
Empower Aside: Have a “purple” day!  Wear something purple, eat something purple, read a “purple” story and point out all the purple things you see during the day!  Don’t forget to use other words to describe the color “purple”!