For our seventh Toddler Storytime of the spring session, we read books about cats. Miss AnnMarie was not feeling today so I, Miss Jennifer, got to share stories with our group today!
Books We Shared
Our first story, Kitty’s Cuddles by Jane Cabrera, follows kitty around as she gets hugs and cuddles from all her animal friends. But what type of cuddle is her favorite? The answer will make you go, “awww…”
In our second book, What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas, Fat Cat enters and needs somewhere to sit. Should Fat Cat sit on the Cow? On the Pig? Maybe Mouse has a good suggestion… This is a fun, silly read aloud.
Flannel Board
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
(based on the book Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, story by Eric Litwin, art by James Dean)
Pete the Cat starts the day in his favorite shirt with four groovy buttons. But as he goes about his day, the buttons keep popping off! Does Pete cry? Goodness, no! Buttons come and buttons go. This is a fun story, with a song to sing along with.
Letter of the Day
Following Miss AnnMarie’s pattern of sharing a letter of the day to emphasize writing skills, our letter of the day was “C.” We talked about things that start with C, like cows, chickens, clouds, and of course, cats!
Video We Shared
We watched “Meow”, a Maisy video on the DVD Good Night Maisy. Maisy finds a ginger cat one night and the cat surprises Maisy in the morning with an adorable surprise!
Rhymes & Fingerplays & Songs We Shared without Music
We sing a lot of songs during storytime! You’ll find lyrics to those songs without music here.
Open Shut Them
Open, shut them (open and close fingers)
Open, shut them
Give a little clap, clap, clap (clap hands)
Open, shut them (open and close fingers)
Open, shut them
Place them on your lap, lap, lap (pat knees)
Creep them, crawl them, creep them, crawl them (“crawl” your fingers very slowly from your knees up to your face)
Right up to your chin, chin, chin (touch chin)
Open up your little mouth BUT…(open wide!)
Do not let them in! (quickly and abruptly move hands behind your back and smack lips shut)
Shake My Shaker Today
(move shaker egg or jingle bells to the directions in the lyrics)
I shake my shaker today,
I shake my shaker today,
I shake my shaker all around,
I shake my shaker today.
I tap it on my toe,
I tap it on my toe,
I shake my shaker all around,
I tap it on my toe.
Other verses:
I tap it on my…
…tummy
…nose
…shoulder
…head
…elbow
Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider
climbed up the water spout. (with pinky against opposite hand’s thumb move “spider” up)
Down came the rain (wiggle fingers down)
and washed the spider out. (make a motion like baseball SAFE)
Up came the sun (make a larger circle with arms, fingertips meeting, above head)
and dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider (with pinky against opposite hand’s thumb move “spider” up)
Went up the spout again.
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
It’s fun to sing and dance to music. Here are some of the songs and cds used in storytime.
“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman
Clap everybody and say hello, (clap hands)
Clap everybody and say hello,
Clap everybody and say hello,
No matter what the weather.
Stamp everybody and say hello, (stomp feet)
Stamp everybody and say hello,
Stamp everybody and say hello,
No matter what the weather.
Wiggle everybody and say hello, (wiggle baby)
Wiggle everybody and say hello,
Wiggle everybody and say hello,
No matter what the weather.
Jump everybody and say hello, (lift baby up high)
Jump everybody and say hello,
Jump everybody and say hello,
No matter what the weather.
Sing everybody and say hello, (wave hi)
Sing everybody and say hello,
Sing everybody and say hello,
No matter what the weather.
“Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs for Wiggleworms by 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…
“Roll Your Hands” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett & Elaine Bueffel
Roll, roll, roll your hands
As fast as fast can be
Do it now, let me see
Do it now with me
Clap, clap, clap your hands
As loud as loud can be
Do it now, let me see
Do it now with me
Tap, tap, tap your feet
As soft as soft can be
Do it now, let me see
Do it now with me
Shake, shake, shake your feet
As quickly as can be
Do it now, let me see
Do it now with me
Continue the Fun
Want more stories about cats? Check these out at your Pasadena Public Library branch: