Story Time Theme: Yellow

We are continuing our color-themed story times this week with the color yellow!  With only eight kids in attendance, I thought we’d be able to whiz through a lot of things, but the kids were very squirmy!  Even so, I was able finally to use the nursery rhyme cube, but all the kids wanted to play with it, so sadly, it got put away quickly.  I’m going to try again tomorrow and see if we can use it.  With our “yellow” theme, I used Greg & Steve’s version of Yellow Submarine which was really exciting to the parents.  It was a great time to point out that kids can listen to all types of music, not only “kid” music.  We used our rhythm sticks with the song and it was so much fun!  The kids did a great job finding the rhythm.  I also read a poem about a yellow elephant which I thought would work better, but the kids were wandering around the room and the parents weren’t listening very well.  Hopefully, the parents took my handout which explained how poetry can help kids practice early literacy skills.  I chose three rather long books, so the kids were quite antsy by the end, but overall, we had a good time!
Opening

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

Puppet: Meet Willy (monkey) and give high fives!
Early Literacy Tip/Story Stretcher: Nursery Rhymes are short poems… poetry is a great way to introduce vocabulary to young children as well as cadence, rhythm, and sounds and syllables.
ASL Sign: Yellow (Letter “y” shake at shoulder height)
Book One

• Traditional: Yellow: Seeing Yellow All Around Us by Sarah L. Schuette
• Yoga: Yellow: Seeing Yellow All Around Us by Sarah L. Schuette

Music Transition

• Traditional (fine motor skills): “No More Monkeys” (Putumayo Kids Presents: Animal Playground – Asheba)
• Yoga Sun Salutations (Mountain, Reach Up, Touch the Ground, Hands at Knees (flat back), Plank Pose, Downward Facing Dog, Walk Toward Hands, Repeat 3x)

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.
Book Two

• Traditional: The Little School Bus by Carol Roth
• Yoga: In My New Yellow Shirt by Eileen Spinelli

Transition (changes weekly)

• Traditional (gross motor skills): “Yellow Submarine” (Rockin’ Down the Road – Greg & Steve) with rhythm sticks
• Yoga Focus: Calming (Rag Doll, Sandwich, Child’s Pose, Crocodile, Reclining Twist)

Poem: “Yellow Elephant” Yellow Elephant: A Bright Bestiary by Julie Larios
Book Three

• Traditional: The Sun is My Favorite Star by Frank Asch
• Yoga: The Little School Bus by Carol Roth

Closing

• Traditional: Shake Your Sillies Out Puppet Show
• Yoga: Cool-down (Bridge, Happy Baby Pose, Star Pose/Deep Breaths)
  • “Dokokade Yoruga Naita” (Putumayo Kids Presents: Asian Dreamland)
  • Namaste