One of my favorite annual storytime events. I love to get the kids excited about starting their school careers. School is such a big part of a child’s life for such a long time and kindergarten is the start of it all!
To start, we talked about our kindergarten storytime rules:
- Sit criss-cross applesauce
- Keep our hands to ourselves
- Raise your hand to talk
Book: The Pigeon HAS to Go to School by Mo Willems
This was a huge hit. Lots of giggles and smiles from all. I’m hoping Willems follows up with a school story featuring all of the birds in the back! One eagle-eyed child caught a glimpse of the Duckling from The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? fame.
Then we discussed how everyone will get to school. We talked about which mode had the most kids (bus) and which had the least (car). Then we made a bar chart based on their responses.
Book: The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes and Vanessa Brantley-Newton
A little boy has a great first day ruling his kindergarten kingdom.
Then, much like the kids in the book, we had circle time:
Song: Days of the Week (to the tune of The Addams Family)
Days of the week, (clap, clap)
Days of the week, (clap, clap)
Days of the week, days of the week, days of the week. (clap, clap)
There’s Sunday and there’s Monday,
There’s Tuesday and there’s Wednesday,
There’s Thursday and there’s Friday,
And then there’s Saturday.
Days of the week, (clap, clap)
Days of the week, (clap, clap)
Days of the week, days of the week, days of the week. (clap, clap)
Source: Ms. Brown’s Classroom
We looked at our calendar and discussed what day of the week it was, what month we were in, and what day of the month it was. Then we moved on to the weather:
Song: What’s the Weather? (to the tune of Oh My Darling Clementine)
What’s the weather? What’s the weather?
What’s the weather like today?
Is it sunny? Is it windy?
Is it rainy? Is it cold?
What’s the weather? What’s the weather?
What’s the weather like today?
Is it snowy? Is it cloudy?
Is it stormy? Is it hot?
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/460563499387764713/
Book: If I Built a School by Chris Van Dusen
A little boy tells a teacher his plans for his (elaborate) school. I told the parents a great at-home activity for their kids was imagining what would make up their perfect school.
Next up was a memory game using a backpack and lunch box. I told the kids “We’re going to kindergarten and I’m packing a backpack. I’m packing …”
I kept adding items but before adding a new one, we repeated what we’d already added. I only did five items for each. It was the perfect amount. I got this idea from my mother who taught kindergarten/preschool for 20+ years! She’s an expert!
Backpack items: Pencils, crayons, scissors, makers, glue stick
Lunch bag items: Sandwich, juice box, crackers, raisins, fruit snacks
Then I handed out instruments and we had a little dance break.
Song: Freeze Dance — Kids Dance Party
And finally our last book:
Book: We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
Penelope the T-Rex is nervous about school. Especially when she finds out all of her classmates are children. Children are delicious! One of the little girls in attendance was named Penelope so there were extra giggles. 🙂
And that was it for our kindergarten story time! Next year I think I’ll add a craft. With no goodbye song or anything, it was abrupt to end with a book. But I think the kids enjoyed themselves and I hope they’ll come back and tell me how their first day was!
The Short Stack Librarian 