A is for AWESOME, Letter A Toddler Story Time!

HOORAY NEW TODDLER TIME SEASON! This year I am attempting something new (to me)- letters of the alphabet story time themes! For planning, I made a handy workbook with all of the Toddler Time weeks and all of the letters of the alphabet, and have just been adding theme ideas, rhymes, books, and activities in as I discover or randomly remember them. Perfect system for this scatterbrained fairy. As a result, I already know basically what I am doing next week, or 7 weeks from now, even 5 MONTHS from now, which is craaaaazy. Also, it gives me wiggle room to fit just about any idea I find and fall in love with into a future story time plan, because letters can tie anything together!

 To start. The letter A, for awesome.

Opening Medley: Bread and Butter, Open & Shut Them, ABC song

Bread and Butter
(from jbrary, this is a forever hit)

Open & Shut Them
I can't remember where I actually got the lyrics to the version I use today, it is a combination of many. This will very likely always be a mainstay in my story time routine.

Open them, shut them
Open them, shut them
Give a little clap clap clap!
Open them, shut them
Open them, shut them
Put them in your lap lap lap!
Creep them, creep them, slowly creep them
Way down to your toes toes toes!
Creep them, creep them, slowly creep them
Way up to your nose nose nose!
Open them, shut them
Open them, shut them
Give a great big CLAP CLAP CLAP!
Open them, shut them
Open them, shut them
Put them in your lap lap lap!

Magic Box ARMS: Arms Up High!
Oh, did I forget to mention the fact that WE POSSESS A MAGICAL BOX?? Yeah, it is pretty rad. It holds pictures of things that start with the letter of the week and I use it to introduce new concepts, rhymes, and stories. Every time we look in the Magic Box, I knock on it and use a rhyme I learned from jbrary: Here is the box, and here is the lid, I wonder whatever inside is hid!

Then as a group, we identify the picture, say what letter (and sound) it starts with, and say the word together. Then we do the rhyme/activity/story thing. So for a picture of ARMS, we did a variation on this fun rhyme I learned from the KCLS tell me a story wiki:

Arms Up High
Arms up high above your head
Arms down low below you
Arms up high above your head
.... smile and wave your hands!

Repeat, ending with:
....Smile and touch your nose!
....Smile and wiggle your toes!
....Smile and tickle the sky!
....Smile and clap your hands!

Book #1: Apple, by Nikki Mcclure (local author/artist love!)

Stretching: Stretch to the windows, stretch to the door, stretch to the ceiling and stretch to the door!

Magic Box APPLES: Way up High in the Apple Tree
Way up high in the apple tree, two little apples were looking at me.
So I shook that tree just as hard as I could, down came the apples and mmmm, they were GOOD!

Magic Box AIRPLANES: I'm an Airplane 
Call and response, from jbrary
I'm an airplane (repeat)
Flying high (repeat)
I can tilt this way (repeat)
In the sky (repeat)

I'm an airplane (repeat)
Flying high (repeat)
I can tilt that way (repeat)
In the sky (repeat)

I'm an airplane (repeat)
Flying high (repeat)
I can make a landing (repeat)
From the sky (repeat)

Book #2: I Went Walking, by Sue Williams (big book edition, I instructed the audience to join in with the line "What did you see?" every time I said "I went walking")

Dance party: I Can't Wait to Celebrate (Jim Gill)

Magic Box ASTRONAUT: Zoom Zoom Zoom (I'm going to the moon)

With extra verses from, you guessed it, JBRARY! 

Zoom, zoom, zoom, we're going to the moon.

Zoom, zoom, zoom, we're going to the moon.

If you want to take a trip, climb aboard my rocket ship.

Zoom, zoom, zoom, we're going to the moon in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..... BLAST OFF!

Far, far, far, we're going to the stars...

Fun, fun, fun, we're going to the sun....

Book #3: Ants Went Marching, illustrated by Dan Crisp

Closing: Bread & Butter, Letter A stamp!Happy storytiming, friends!