Today we took our Toddler Storytime to the zoo!
Books We Shared
In Still a Gorilla by Kim Norman and Chad Geran, a gorilla named Willy imagines that he could be another kind of animal. If he roars like a lion, will Willy be a lion? Will he? We did lots of animal noises and gestures with this one.
Anita Bijsterbosch’s Everyone Is Yawning also sports adorable flaps to lift, that show animals yawning and show their teeth.
Flannel Boards We Shared
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?
Based on the book by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle.
One Elephant on a Spiderweb
(a translation of “Un elefante,” a Spanish nursery rhyme)
One elephant went out one day
on a spider’s web to play
Oh so big, up so high
He called for another elephant to try
(drumroll on laps) Eeeeelephant! (make elephant trumpeting sound)
Two elephants…
Three elephants…
Four elephants…
Five elephants went out one day
on a spider’s web to play
The web went creak, the web went crack
And down came the elephants…. (drumroll)… smack smack smack!
Puppets
I hid some puppets in a large clean trash bin and brought them out one by one, reciting this rhyme:
I went to the visit the zoo one day
Saw a lion along the way!
And what do you think I heard him say?
[roar]
(Source: http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/2011/03/this-storytimes-zoo.html)
Action Songs & Rhymes We Shared
We share a lot of songs, bounces & rhymes during storytime!
You’ll find lyrics/words to those songs & rhymes we shared without CD accompaniment here.
Welcome Welcome
Welcome, welcome everyone
Now we’re here, let’s have some fun!
First you clap your hands just so,
Then you bend and touch your toe.
Welcome, welcome everyone
Now we’re here, let’s have some fun!
You Can Hear
(to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”)
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo, ROAR! ROAR!
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo, ROAR! ROAR!
You can hear the lions roaring, you can hear the lions roaring
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo! ROAR! ROAR!
(Elephants trumpeting, zebra braying, monkey eeking)
(Source: Perpetual Preschool)
The Elephant Hokey Pokey
You put your elephant ears in.
You put your elephant ears out.
You put your elephant ears in,
And you shake them all about.
You do the elephant pokey,
and you stomp yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!
…elephant trunk…
…elephant foot…
…elephant tail
Source: https://fallingflannelboards.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/storytime-zoo-animals/)
Goodbye Babies (song in sign)
Click here for video: Goodbye Babies (Friends)
Goodbye babies, goodbye babies
Goodbye babies, it’s time to say goodbye.
Open, Shut Them
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a little clap, clap, clap
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Place them on your lap, lap, lap
Creep them, crawl them
Creep them, crawl them
right up to your chin, chin, chin
Open up your little mouth but….
DO NOT LET THEM IN!
Eyes, Nose, Cheeky Cheeky Chin
(Tune: Goodnight Ladies)
Eyes, nose, cheeky cheeky chin
Eyes, nose, cheeky cheeky chin
Eyes, nose, cheeky cheeky chin,
Cheeky, cheeky, cheeky, cheeky chin!
Music from CDs We Shared
Children love to sing and dance to music. Here are some of the songs/bounces on CD that we used in storytime.
“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman
“If I Was a Bird” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music
Video We Shared
Based on the book by Peggy Rathmann.
Continue the Fun
Here are some more books about the zoo to check out at your Pasadena Public Library Branch:
