We read about mice and rats and all things nice (and not so nice). There was a mouse who was lost in the woods and kept running into some scary animals, a mouse who was frightened when he lost his ball in a scary doghouse, and some mice who were running from a cat and hid behind some shapes. Then there were the rats in our video – they all lived in the basement of a little, old lady’s house and she was not happy about it! Below are the stories, songs, rhymes, flannel stories and video we shared about our theme.
Books We Shared
In Run Home, Little Mouse by Britta Teckentrup, Little Mouse is lost in the woods and cannot remember his way back home! It’s dark and scary and with each turn of the page there are eyes staring back. First he runs into a fox, then a weasel, then an owl, a crow, a cat….finally Little Mouse sees lots of little eyes staring at him. Does he finally make it home to his family? Yes he does! An engaging story that kept all of the children guessing throughout.
Mouse, Pig, Cow and Duck play ball and lose their ball in the doghouse! Mouse acts as the ring leader and encourages his friends to go in there to retrieve the ball. As each friend goes in…(first cow, than pig, than duck) but THEY DON’T COME OUT! What happened to them? Mouse gets a BIG SCARE when dog pokes his head out and shouts: “I’m having Duck for dinner!” A hilarious story by Jan Thomas that ends with Mouse joining everyone in the doghouse for dessert. Not to worry – Dog made dinner for everyone (including Duck)!!
FLANNEL STORY WE SHARED
Instead of reading Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh out loud, we had some fun with a flannelboard version of the story! In the story we find three mice who are running away from a cat. Eventually they hide behind a weird wall created out of different shapes. Once the coast is clear, the mice venture out and discover there are triangles, squares, circles and rectangle shapes all around them. What do they do? Well they build things out of these shapes – they create a house fit for a mouse out of a square and a triangle, a tree out of a rectangle and a triangle, a book out of two diamonds, a fish out of an oval, two circles and eight triangles, and a wagon out of a rectangle and two circles! While they’re having fun the cat pounces again and the mice run away leaving a trail of shapes behind them. Luckily they escape but this time they get smart and come up with a plan to permanently scare the cat away. They decide to create enormous mice with the shapes they found. Take a peek at the pictures below to see what they came up with. By the way, it worked! A great story to teach children about shapes and problem solving.
Mouse Shapes
Flannelboard Game We Shared
Little Mouse, Little Mouse
We had to guess which house Little Mouse was hiding in…but we discovered some other creatures hiding too!
Little Mouse, little mouse are you in the
red house? No! But we found a ladybug.
blue house? No! But we found a blue bird.
orange house? No! But we found an orange tabby cat.
green house? No! But we found a green frog.
purple house? Yes! We found him hiding in the purple house!
Rhymes, Songs & Fingerplays We Shared
We share a lot of songs & rhymes during storytime! You’ll find lyrics/words to those songs & rhymes here.
Welcome Song (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 (fingerplay)
Click her for video: Open Shut Them
Open shut them, open shut them (open hands wide, close them tight)
Give a little clap, clap, clap (clap 3x)
Open shut them, open shut them (open hands wide, close them tight)
Place them on your lap, lap, lap (bounce hands on lap)
Creep them, crawl them, creep them, crawl them (crawl fingers up to chin)
Right up to your chinny, chin chin (tap chin with fingers)
Open up your little mouth BUT (open mouth)
Do not let them in! (quickly place hands behind your back)
“We’re Going to the Market” from I Love to Hear the Sounds by Kathy Reid-Naiman
(Using egg shakers)
We’re going to the market, we’re going to the fair,
To see a senorita with flowers in her hair.
So shake it baby shake it!
Shake it if you can,
Shake it like a milkshake and drink it from a can!
Shake it to the bottom, shake it to the top,
And turn around and turn around until we holler STOP! (Repeat 1x)
“Goodbye Friends” (in sign)
Click here for video: Goodbye Friends
Goodbye friends, goodbye friends
Goodbye friends, it’s time to say goodbye.
Now it’s Time to Say Goodbye (tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb)
Now it’s time to say goodbye, say goodbye, say goodbye,
Not it’s time to say goodbye, we’ll see you all next week!
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
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 body)
Wiggle everybody and say hello,
Wiggle everybody and say hello,
No matter what the weather.
Jump everybody and say hello, (jump up and down)
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.
“Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammet & Elaine Bueffel
Click here for video: Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider
Climbed up the water spout.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain,
So the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.
“I’m a Little Teapot”
Click here for video: I’m a Little Teapot
I’m a little teapot, short and stout.
Here is my handle, here is my spout.
When I get all steamed up, here me shout,
Just tip me over and pour me out,
Tip me over and pour me out!
“Two Little Blackbirds”
Click her for video: Two Little Blackbirds
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!
“Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”
Click here for video: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
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…
Video We Shared
Extend the Fun at Home
