Friday, April 26, 2013

Treetop friends

A few months ago, I found a dog toy that was a plush tree stump with a chipmunk, a mouse & a hedgehog inside.  I knew I wanted to use it as a storytime prop but wasn't sure how until we were planning an Earth Day/Arbor Day storytime. 
 
 
We added some beanie babies we already had at the library & tucked all the creatures into the tree.


 
 
Another storyteller & I discussed our ideas and this was the finished project:
 
 
WHO IS HIDING IN THE TREE?
(tune: Frere Jacques)
 
 
Who is hiding
 
Who is hiding

In the tree
 
In the tree
 
I spy a hedgehog
 
I spy a hedgehog
 
Yes, indeed.
 
Yes, indeed.
 
 
Our other entries were mouse, chipmunk, ladybug, snake, frog, butterfly, lizard--basically anything you might find in a tree & have handy.
 
Our kids love "finding" hidden things during storytimes and this was a really big hit.  Another popular activity was "Five Bottles of Juice" that I found on What Happens in Storytime... and adapted a little bit.  We had five empty plastic bottles & a blue recycle tub that we used while we sang:

Five bottles of juice that we drank,
Five bottles of juice.
Put one in the recycle bin.
Four bottles of juice that we drank.
 
We continued until all the bottles were recycled.  Then you could end with:
 
 
No bottles of juice that we drank,
No bottles of juice.
They all are in the recycle bin,
All those bottles of juice that we drank.
 
Happy storytelling and for more ideas visit Andrea who is hosting Flannel Friday for April 26 on her blog, RovingFiddlehead KidLit  Check it out.  I always find something interesting when I do.  For more on Flannel Friday visit its homepage.

3 comments:

Storytime Fun said...

So cute! You just never know where inspiration will strike, do you? Love that it started out as a dog toy. Lol

Thanks for sharing two fun ideas this week. My storytime friends always love games, too. :o)

Have a wonderful Saturday!
~ K ~

belovedmamm said...

I have one of those and I used it with the book The Tree Stump by Chris Forbes. The kids loved it.

Sandy said...

I also suggest using the books by Tracy Nelson Maurer, WHAT'S IN--A TREE? & WHAT'S IN--A LOG? The kids love looking at the photos and identifying the animals.