Wednesday, June 17, 2015

I Went Walking (a Sue Williams Skit)





Sue Williams' classic book, I Went Walking is easily adapted using puppets.
I had grownups pat out a steady rhythm and children up and walking with me.

I'd say, "I went walking . . ."
And grownups would respond, "What did you see?"
"I saw a _____ following me."

Pulling a puppet from my bag,
we'd make the sound of the animal together.
On a long table, I would set out the puppets in a line.

And ended with:  "I saw a line of animals following me!


















Easy. Easy.

Happy summer!

Ms. Lisa



Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Three Green and Speckled Frogs for Toddlers (OK, two frogs and a toad!)

Today I'm sharing a *very* simple way to present the classic "Three Green and Speckled Frogs" song to a toddler story time group. I can't believe I hadn't thought of this before!

Puppets:
3 frogs (I had to use a toad)

Prop:
Remove labels and one bottom from two large oatmeal containers. Tape them together to make a hollow log. You'll put your arm through this while you're singing.

A piece of blue fabric or paper as a pretend pool.


I've started sitting on a banquet table to present my puppet skits, puppet songs, and flannel boards. I'm high enough so that my large group can see, and just out of reach of my toddlers.  :)

With the "log" on one arm, count the frogs and perch them on top of the log. As you sing the song, have a frog jump off and drop it into the pool.
EASY!

Lyrics to the song and the tune can be found online.





Happy day,
Miss Lisa

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

In a Dark Dark Wood

I told the classic make-you-jump story "In a Dark Dark Wood" in story time this morning using a Folkmanis puppet set I haven't used in years. In case you have one of these, or something similar, this is a good use for it--not nearly as scary as yelling "Boo!" to a group of preschoolers.




Puppet:
Three Little Pigs finger puppet set from Folkmanis.

The Story:
I add a lot of movement when I tell this one.

Once there was a dark dark wood (pretend to be trees)
And in that dark dark wood there was a dark dark path (let's walk together)
Down that dark dark path there was a dark dark house (fingertips together, make a roof for a house)
And on that dark dark house there was a dark dark door (let's open it . . . SQUEEEAK . . .)
And behind that dark dark door there was a dark dark room (squint, hand above your eyes)
And in that dark dark room there was a dark dark closet (open another squeaky door)
And in that dark dark closet there was a dark dark shelf (arms folded in front of you)
(I have the Folkmanis box hidden and bring it out.)




And on that dark dark shelf there was a dark dark box
And  in  that  dark  dark  dark box  there  were . . . .

THREE LITTLE PIGS!


The children (and grown-ups) really got a laugh. We told the story of The Three Little Pigs
after this on the flannel board.

Super simple.


Happy Day,
Miss Lisa

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

"I'm Not Scared!" Revisiting Jonathan Allen

Back in 2012, I told Jonathan Allen's I'm not Cute! and now in 2014, celebrating the spookiest month of the year, I decided to tell the companion, I'm not Scared! I like to add books about feeling scared or anxious into my October story time themes because Halloween can be a scary time for small children.


Puppets:
Three owl puppets.
I was able to use different sizes: a finger puppet for Owly,
a Folkmanis snowy owl for Baby Owl, and a large owl for Papa Owl.

We don't have a badger puppet on hand, so I used a rat instead.
Bear
Bat

Props:
A bed for Papa Owl to tuck Baby Owl into.


 
 
 
 
 
I followed the book pretty closely, the biggest change being changing the badger to a rat. I had the children help me with the "but I'm not scared!" response of Baby Owl as the animals he encounters on his walk assume he's scared.
 
 
An easy puppet adaptation.
 
 
Happy day,
Miss Lisa
 

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Dinosaur Needs His Binkit! (A Sandra Boynton Knock-Off)

This is a super-simple puppet skit that I used with my toddler story time group. It would also work well for a quick skit for a preschool group as well.
It's based on Sandra Boynton's adorable book, Dinosaur's Binkit.

Puppet:
Dinosaur. (I used our not-so-scary one.)

Props:
paper napkin
placemat
scarf
small quilt


I pulled dinosaur from my bag and told him it was time for bed. He cried,"I need my binkit!"
So I had the children help me find his binkit by pulling each item from my bag until we found the quilt. After each item, dinosaur shook his head that no it was not his binkit and cried "I need my binkit!"

Once we got to the quilt, I wrapped him in it and asked if he was ready for bed and he cried, "I need a song!" and we sang him  "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."





Easy peasy.


Happy day,
Miss Lisa


Wednesday, May 7, 2014

POUCH! David Ezra Stein

I wanted to do a Mother's Day story time theme this week in preschool story time, but not an in-your-face Mother's Day theme. Pouch! is one of my favorite stories to tell with our Folkmanis kangaroo puppet and her joey, so I thought it may be fun to change it up a bit and add a felt element to my storytelling.

The Set-Up:

 
Puppets: 
In addition to the felt kangaroos and joeys, I used my small puppets to help tell the story. For this story: a cardinal finger puppet, a baby rabbit finger puppet, and a bumblebee glove puppet.  
 
 
I hand sewed a little contrasting fabric pouch on each kangaroo mommy with just enough room to fit the joeys.
 
 
 
 
 
Throughout the story, Joey yells "Pouch!" and jumps back into his pouch each time he's frightened. I needed the ability to quickly pull Joey out and then put him back into his pouch, so I decided to attach each joey to a craft stick. This made the joeys sturdy enough to push and pull and gave me a handle to make Joey jump.
 
 
All in all, a simple and effective way to re-tell a beloved story.

This week's Flannel Friday round-up is hosted by Kathryn over at Fun With Friends at Storytime.  For more information about Flannel Friday, check out the official blog
 
 
 
Happy day,
Miss Lisa
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Move Over, Rover!


Move Over, Rover! by Karen Beaumont is one of my favorite rainy day stories to share with preschoolers and is easily adapted into a short puppet skit. My library branch doesn't own all of the animals in Beaumont's book, so I use what we have on hand and try to include varying sizes of puppets.
Then, I just stack the puppets one on the other inside Rover's dog house, having the children repeat the refrain "Move Over, Rover!" with me. I've tweaked the ending of the version I tell, since we don't own a skunk, and instead have a dinosaur join the mix, scaring the tuna salad out of every animal involved.






Props:
I used my favorite building prop, a tri-fold presentation board, to construct a simple house facade. Cardboard rectangles secured with brass fasteners made the roof, and I cut out a large hole in front.

Puppets:
Dog

You can use what you have on hand and adapt. Here's what I used today:
Cat
Mouse
Bunny
Opossum
Dinosaur

I mostly follow the format of this cumulative story, keeping it simple by saying  "Rover's in the dog house, sleeping through the storm . . . (the animal) is looking all around to find a place that's warm . . .  MOVE OVER, ROVER!"



And I end it with the dinosaur puppet, saying "Crowded in the dog house, snoring all around. What's that sound? ROAR! A dinosaur!" And everyone skit skats out of Rover's dog house.

I hope you enjoy this one.



Happy day,
Miss Lisa