Letter F Storytime!

Good morning! Welcome to another Storytime Wednesday. This week we danced, sang, and read all about things that begin with the letter F. The books I chose for today were The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor, and Farm Flu by Teresa Bateman. This took some creative thinking in deciding what to pull out of the Magic Hat. I don't want to just pick out a plain stuffed animal every time and I had no idea how to pull Fancy out of a hat so I made up some more creative ways to do so. Instead of a stuffed or toy fist, I pulled a fish shaped cookie cutter and play-doh out of the hat. I act puzzled when something weird comes out of the hat, so today the hat whispered to me to use the play-doh with the cookie cutter. The kids were so rapt with attention that they ALL crowded around to see what would happen. They were delighted to see a fish take shape when the play-doh was cleared away. To pull out fancy, I went to my stash of glittery, fun shaped sunglasses (or FUNglasses as one mom pointed out). And pulled a pair of those out of the hat. For farm flu, I had to resort to a teaching trick I used in 2012. I pulled a spray bottle out from underneath the easel/magnet board. In Farm Flu, all the animals "get sick" and all sneeze with a Ka-Choo! When they sneeze, I give a spray from the bottle into the air. This really gets the kids giggling and smiling. It always makes me so happy. They aren't sure what to do with themselves at first, but they quickly realize that something fun is going on and really enjoy it!

I always start our story times with the ABC action Dance from Heidisongs. I've been teaching and entertaining with Hedisongs for so long now, it just feels natural to fire up the DVD and groove to the alphabet. I love connecting music and movement to learning. All the little ones connect their bodies and brains so perfectly! Afterwards, I greet all the kids with a quick song on my Ukulele.
We're all here! (Skip to my Lou)
Here, Here, We're all here!
Here, Here, We're all here!
Here, Here, We're all here!
We're here at story time!
Hello _________. How are you?
Hello _________. How are you?
Hello _________. How are you?
I'm glad your here today!

(insert child's name in the blank. Repeat for all children.)

The Magic Hat gave us both letter F magnets and we went over the sound letter F makes and the Zoophonics motion for Francy Fish! I made the play-doh fish as I stated above and we read through The Rainbow Fish. I chose this one first because it's a little bit longer and more involved than some stories I usually do at story time. The kids all listened with complete attention and seemed absorbed by the story. It was quite a good read and I will absolutely use it again.

Afterwards, we needed a brain break, and what better way than to Learn the letter F song and dance from Heidisongs. It goes to the "Dinah won't you blow your horn part of I've been working on the railroad.





One line going down (trace line in the air)
Two across next (Put both arms out to one side)
That is how you make big F-F-F
One line going down (trace line in the air)
Two across next (Put both arms out to one side)
That is how you make big F.
Candy cane across for small f. (trace lines in the air)
Candy cane across I know-oh-oh-oh. (Circle arms up and around)
Candy cane across for small f. (trace lines in the air)
Strummin on my old banjo. (play air guitar)
And it goes Fee-Fi-Fiddly-I-oh
Fee-Fi Fiddly-I-oh-oh-oh-oh (circle arms up and around)
Fee-Fi-Fiddly-I-oh!
Strummin on my old banjo!

 Our Next items were the Fancy FUNglasses I mentioned above. And I read Fancy Nancy. Honestly, I don't think I would pass out the fancy sunglasses to all the kids again. We had a few tears when some didn't get the pair they wanted, and they were more interested in playing with the sunglasses than they were in listening to the story. Perhaps next time, if I do pass the FUNglasses again, We'll do something active first like a fashion walk or something to reduce the novelty before trying a story. Either way, I love Fancy Nancy and the message that there is no better way or fancier way to say I love you.

 Our final story was Farm Flu and as usual, it was a ton of fun. It's really everything I want in a preschool story. It's silly as all get out, the twist at the end makes all the moms laugh, and it's rhythmic and rhyming! Farm Flu is always a win-win. And when you add the sensory component of spritzing the air, and drizzling the kids with water, they get even more involved and start laughing. Before you know it, you really have a hit on your hands.

 Before long, it was time to say goodbye, and we always say goodbye the same way.
We wave goodbye like this! (The Farmer in the Dell)
We wave goodbye like this!
We wave goodbye like this!
We clap our hands for all our friends!
We wave goodbye like this!
(I always repeat this three times with fun, silly waves)

Craft!
Our craft today was take from pinterest and it was pretty involved. I'd find a way to simplify the number of items necessary for this before using it again. The kids all seemed very pleased with their creations, but they couldn't have done it without lots of help from moms (and a dad today!)
Materials:
Construction paper for letter F and for background
Yarn
Green Bingo Dot Stickers
Black paint
Glue sticks
Eye stickers or googly eyes.

The kids glue the letter F to the background. Then they place their dot stickers and their eyes. They then glue the yarn to the F to act as a tongue. Finally, they make a fingerprint painting on the background and stick the other end of the tongue in the paint. When the paint dries, the yarn will stick! How fun!
The best part about these frogs is that EVERYONE'S WAS DIFFERENT! That warms my heart and makes my day. Preschool art should be unique, special, and different from everyone else's! Even with mom and dad's help, they still manage a way to put their own unique flair on the project. That makes me happier than any uniform project ever could!

Thanks for checking out the blog! See you next week for Letter G!

Pixelbeard (Mr. Mike)