Happy Halloween!  It was such a delight to see what the toddlers dressed-up as for today:

       


Books We Shared

 
Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin written by Mary Serfozo, illustrated by Valeria Petrone
Peter the tiger is searching for the perfect pumpkin.  But why?  This book with it’s bright illustrations and fun words and rhythm is a great choice for toddlers.


Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas (read in 11am only)

Duck just wants to carve a pumpkin to show Mouse and Pig.  But when he falls in, Mouse and Pig thinks it’s a pumpkin monster!


American Sign Language: HALLOWEEN

We learned the ASL sign for Halloween!  See how to do the sign at Handspeak.


Flannel Board Letter

H is for Halloween

Halloween starts with the letter H! We identified the letter, drew it in the air, made the sound that H makes, and talked about some other things that start with H: hand, horse, hen, heart and Happy Halloween! (But not pumpkin.)


Flannel Board Counting

9 Pumpkins

We counted nine pumpkins during our counting flannelboard!


Flannel Board Stories

Mouse’s Halloween House 

(Pattern & story from Mother Goose’s Playhouse by Judy Sierra)

One day in the fall, a little gray mouse found a big orange house.
She nibbled a hole in the middle to make the door.
She nibbled 2 holes near the top to make windows.
She nibbled a wide hole near the bottom so her children could run in and out.
Then she put a candle inside so the house was never dark.

The mouse’s little house
was a sight to be seen.
It was a jack-o’-lantern —
Happy Halloween!

5 Little Pumpkins (10am storytime only)

Felt Pieces from ArtFelt

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, “Oh, my, it’s getting late!” (Hands beside face in surprised look)
The second one said, “There are witches in the air!” (hand flies overhead)
The third one said, “Well, I don’t care!” (shake pointer finger)
The fourth one said, “Let’s run, and run, and run!” (run with feet)
The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun!” (point to self)
Then WHOOOOOOSH went the wind (make sound and whoosh hands back and forth.)
and OUT (clap) went the lights.
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.  (Roll hand over hand.)


Video We Watched

“Bat” from Good Night Maisy.

Maisy is getting into bed with Panda when she hears a strange sound.  What could it be?  Leaving Panda looking out the window, she brings her flashlight outside to discover — a bat!  What fun!


Rhymes & Bounces & Songs We Shared without Music

We sing a lot of songs during storytime!  You’ll find lyrics to those songs without music here.

Welcome Song
(to the tune of: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”)
Welcome, welcome everyone
Now we’re here let’s have some fun.
First we clap our hands just so
Then we bend and touch our toes
Welcome, welcome everyone
Now we’re here let’s have some fun.

Open Shut Them
Open, shut them. (Spread fingers wide, then close into fists)
Open, shut them. (Spread fingers wide, then close into fists)
Give a little clap, clap, clap. (Clap hands on “clap”)
Open, shut them. (Spread fingers wide, then close into fists)
Open, shut them. (Spread fingers wide, then close into fists)
Place them in your lap, lap, lap (Pat lap with hands on “lap”)
Creep them, crawl them (creep fingers up stomach to chin)
Creep them, crawl them (creep fingers up stomach to chin)
Right up to your chin, chin, chin (tap chin with hands on “chin”)
Open up your little mouth (open mouth wide and pretend to put fingers in)
But do not let them in! (Hide hands behind your back quickly)

For a video of me (Jennifer) doing this rhyme, watch the video below:

The Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider (L shape with both hands.  Place thumb of one hand on forefinger of the other)
went up the water spout.   (“walk” your fingers up thumb to forefinger, alternating.)
Down came the rain and (wiggle fingers and bring then downward)
Washed the spider out. (make baseball “safe” motion)
Out came the sun and (hands above head in a circle)
and dried up all the rain. (hands out at side of body)
And the itsy bitsy spider (L shape with both hands.  Place thumb of one hand on forefinger of the other)
went up the spout again. (“walk” your fingers up thumb to forefinger, alternating.)

Storytime’s Over
Hands up high! (Put your hands in air)
Now give a big sigh (sigh and bring hands down)
Our storytime’s over
So wave bye-bye (wave)


Music from CDs We Shared

Sometimes it’s fun to sing along with music.  Here are some of the songs and cds used in today’s storytime.


“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman

Clap everybody and say hello.
Clap everybody and say hello.
Clap everybody and say hello,
No matter what the weather.

Other Verses:
Jump everybody and say hello…
Wiggle everybody and say hello…
Sing everybody and say hello…


“Roll Your Hands” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

Roll, roll, roll your hands
as fast as fast  can be
do it now, let me see
do it now with me

Other verses:
Tap tap tap your feet…
Shake, shake, shake your feet…
Roll, roll, roll your hands …


“Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

Row, row, row your boat
gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
life is but a dream.

Other verses:
Twist, twist, twist your boat…
Bounce, bounce, bounce your boat…
Sway, sway, sway your boat…
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle your boat…
Tickle, tickle, tickle your boat…


“Two Little Blackbirds” from Fingerplays and Footplays for Fun and Learning by Rosemary Hallum and Henry “Buzz” Glass.

Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill
One named Jack and the other named Jill
Fly away Jack
Fly away Jill
Come back Jack
Come back Jill
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill
One named Jack and the other named Jill


Continue the Fun

Want to share more books about Halloween?  Check out some of these books at your Pasadena Public Library branch: