Wee Reads: Welcome to the Jungle!

Today Wee Reads took a trip to the jungle as we shared a jungle themed storytime with books and rhymes.


Books shared
We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
Where the Wild Things Are Story and Pictures by Maurice Sendak
The Animal Boogie by Debbie Harter

Rhymes:
Back in the Jungle
Five Little Monkeys (with monkey paw)
Five Cheeky Monkeys (with monkey paw and crocodile puppet)

Activity cube
We have added plastic page protectors to change the activities to fit whatever theme we are

Craft
Hidden jungle animals.

Routine:

Welcome and warm-up.
I always introduce myself and welcome all guests. Housekeeping is done (where the bathrooms are, what to expect from storytime, any upcoming events, etc)


Warm-up:
Everyone is encouraged to participate with the warm up, parents and children alike.


*Reach for the ceiling
Reach for the Ceiling"

Reach for the ceiling,
Touch the floor,
Stand up again,
Let's do some more.

Touch your head,
Touch your knee,
Up to your shoulders,
Like this, you see?

Reach for the ceiling,
Touch the floor,
That's all for now,
There is no more.

We warm up our fingers and learn signs for "The More We Get Together"
Signs learned
more
together
happy
friends

Alternate rhyme
*Touch your Nose
Touch your nose, touch your chin,
That’s the way this game begins.
Touch your eyes, touch your knees,
Now pretend you're going to sneeze (Achoo!)

Touch your hair, touch one hips,
Touch your two little lips (Swak!)
Touch your elbows where they bend,
That’s the way this touch game ends.

First we read We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Listeners helped with reading by tapping their legs and acting out the book.

Example of the rhymes we shared:


 Next we shared a rhyme, Back in the Jungle
(This rhyme was learned during a workshop)
Back in the jungle many years ago
I had a friend and they called him Joe
And he had a lot of pets
There were creepy ones, crawly ones,
big and tall
But my favorite one of all...

At the point we use various stuffed animals that are pulled out of our storytime bag with last one being Cookie Monster who introduced our next book, Where the Wild Things Are.

During this book bells were passed out and listeners had to create a rumpus whenever the word "Wild" was said.

After we finished this book and collected the bells, we shared Five Little Monkeys using a monkey paw and small monkeys. Children were given the option to pull a monkey off the paw as the monkey "fell off of the bed."

We then sang about cheeky monkeys teasing Mr. Crocodile

Our last book was The Animal Boogie. Everyone was encouraged to get up and move! We followed with the activity cube and our goodbye rhyme.

Activity cube 

I've added plastic page protectors to customize the activities to fit whatever theme/actions we are reading.
Today activities included
-Flap like a bird
-Shake like a bear
-Leap like a leopard
-Sway like a parrot
-Slither like a snake
-Stomp like an elephant



We closed with our final rhyme:

Two little hands go clap, clap, clap
Two little arms lie in my lap
Two little feet go bump, bump, bump
Two little legs give one big jump
Two little hands reach oh so high
Two little hands wave bye, bye, bye

Craft: Peek-a-boo jungle

The craft is optional; children can complete at the library or take home to extend the storytime experience.
Today's craft was the Peek-a-boo jungle.

r's note: the idea for this craft came from a website that I am unable to find to link to. I do not claim this as my own work and will give credit as soon as I find the site.
Supplies:
construction paper in green and brown
Animal template from First-palette
crayons
glue
scissors

Print animals for children to color and cut out.
Cut the green paper into strips, leaving an inch at the bottom of the page
Glue the green paper over the brown
Add the animals.

Join us Thursdays for Wee  Reads, beginning at 10:30 AM.