Our summer session of Toddler Storytime is underway.  Each week you’ll find a blog post that covers the books, rhymes, songs, flannel stories, fingerplays, puppets and video we shared.  There will also be some information about the benefits of reading, singing and talking to your toddler.

For our third storytime of the session we enjoyed reading and singing about Cats!  Below you’ll find a record of everything we shared!  We started by noting that the word CAT begins with the letter C.  Than we made the hard C sound together!

FUN FACT:  Reading and talking are two of the early literacy practices you can do to help your baby learn.  Click here for more information:  Birth to Five

Books We Shared

 

I Love Cats by Barney Saltzberg is about all of the different cats out there to love!  There are “stripey cats, spotted cats, cats that count drips; climbing cats, scaredy cats, cats that do flips . . .”   All kinds of wonderful cats appear on every page of this great read-aloud.  The illustrations are perfect for toddlers and the text is simple, yet varied.

Mama Cat Has Three Kittens by Denise Fleming is all about a Mama cat and her three kittens – Fluffy, Skinny, and Boris.  Fluffy and Skinny tend to listen and follow their Mama but Boris always naps!  Well…he naps UNTIL his siblings and his Mama are ready to nap; once they’re asleep he wakes up and POUNCES!  This is a classic story about one little kitten who purrs to the beat of his own drum.


Flannel Board We Shared

Five Little Kittens

Five little kittens standing in a row

They nod their heads to the children so

They run to the left, they run to the right

They stand up and stretch in the bright sunlight

Along comes a dog, who is in for some fun

MEEOOOOWWWW, SEE THOSE KITTENS RUN!

REPEAT & count down…

Four

Three

Two

One

None

Credit: Los Angeles Public Library


Where is Tippy Toes? Hide & Seek Game

 

The children had to help me look for my kitty cat, Tippy Toes!

I placed six different colored blankets and hid a black and white kitty named Tippy Toes beneath one of them. I also hid a bird, a dog, a rabbit and a frog beneath four of the other blankets. Each round, I had one child pick a color blanket to look beneath and we’d ask, as a group:

“Where is Tippy Toes? I bet [child’s name] knows!”  The children had fun uncovering Tippy Toes and ALL of the other animals!


Little Kittens

Five little kittens (hand in fist OR place flannel kittens on board one by one)

All black and white

Sleeping soundly

All through the night

Meow meow meow meow meow (raise each finger individually OR remove each flannel kitten individually)

It’s time to get up now.

Credit: Pierce County Library


Action Songs & Fingerplays 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 Everyone (to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle)

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!

Clap Everybody and Say Hello! (see “CDs section” below to find this song in our CD collection)

Clap everybody and say hello, clap everybody and say hello, clap everybody and say hello, no matter what the weather

Stamp everybody… (stamp feet)

Wiggle everybody… (wiggle your body)

Jump everybody… (jump up and down)

Sing everybody… (open arms wide)

Roll Your Hands (see “CDs section” below to find this song in our CD collection)

Roll, roll, roll your hands as fast as fast can be! (roll hands)

Do it now, let me see, do it now with me.

Clap, clap, clap your hands as loud as loud can be!  (clap hands)

Do it now, let me see, do it now with me.

Tap, tap, tap your feet as softly as can be! (quietly tap feet)

Do it now, let me see, do it now with me.

Shake, shake, shake your feet as quickly as can be!  (quickly shake feet onto the ground)

Do it now, let me see, do it now with me.

Roll, roll, roll your hands as fast as fast can be! (roll hands)

Do it now, let me see, do it now with me. (keep rolling until the end of the song)

NEW Rhyme: 
You can make a fist and pretend that it is kitty’s head, than pet kitty as you say:
Soft Kitty
Soft kitty, warm kitty
Little ball of fur.
Happy kitty, sleepy kitty
Purr, purr, purr!

Open Shut Them – Video:  Open Shut Them

Open, shut them, open, shut them, (open and close hands)
Give a little clap, clap, clap.  (clap three times)
Open shut them, open shut them (open and close hands)
Put them in your lap, lap, lap. (place hands in lap and bounce them 3X)

Creep them, crawl them, creep them crawl them, (crawl fingers up arms)
Right up to your chinny  chin chin. (place fingers on chin)
Open up your little mouth (open mouth and say ahhhhhh)
But do not put them in!! (put hands behind your back)

This is Big

This is big, big, big (stretch hands far to sides)
This is small, small, small (cup hands together)
This is short, short, short (hold palms close vertically)
This is tall, tall, tall (hold palms far apart vertically)
This is fast, fast, fast (roll hands quickly)
This is slow, slow, slow (roll hands slowly)
This is yes, yes, yes (nod head)
This is no, no, no (shake head)
Credit: Mel’s Desk

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star – Video:  Twinkle Twinkle

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle Twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are.

Itsy Bitsy Spider (see Video)


You are My Sunshine (short version)

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray.

You’ll never know dear, how much I love you
And I love you more every day.

Goodbye Friends (in sign) – Video:  Goodbye Friends

Goodbye friends, goodbye friends,
Goodbye friends, it’s time to say goodbye.

Music from CDs We Shared

Children love to sing and dance to music.  Here are some of the action songs & rhymes on CD that we used in storytime.  Click onto the CD titles to find these items in our library catalog.

“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

“Roll Your Hands” from Toddlers on Parade by Kathy Reid-Naiman

“I’m a Little Teapot” from Toddler Favorites by Music for Little People

“Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Its Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

“ABC”  from Go Baby Go! Baby Loves Jazz by Baby Loves Jazz Band

Two Little Blackbirds” from  Circle Time: songs and rhymes for the very young by Lisa Monet

“We’re Going to the Market” from I Love to Hear the Sounds by Kathy Reid-Naiman

“Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes” from Its Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel


Video We Shared

Hello Cat from the So Smart series of DVDs


Continue the Fun

If you want to read more books about Cats make sure to check these out from your local Pasadena Public Library!