Patty LeCake

Sometimes (frequently) I get tired of using traditional rhymes, so I remix them a bit.

Patti LeCake is a cupcake with a New Attitude. She is trying to teach introductory phonics from Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) research, all On Her Own. I'm like her Michael McDonald.

Planting a Rainbow

I've consistently used Lois Ehlert's "Planting a Rainbow" for garden and color themed programs since I started doing storytimes.

This absolutely justifies the inordinate amount of time spent making these felt flowers...

Song Cube/D6 of Singing

Fly like a d6!

A couple months ago there was a  Storytime Underground post about making a song cube. I finally decided to create my own felt one. I got an  8x8 Styrofoam cube from the craft store and wrapped it in felt. Then I velcroed felt icons representing songs on each side . (Velcro will allow the songs to be eventually switched out)  At storytime, I will throw it up in the air and we will sing the song on whichever side faces the audience. I’m totally stoked about this…

Addendum: The kids loved it! I enjoy how the element of randomness helps keep my storytime feelin’ fresh. If I made another one, which I most likely will, I would use soft poly-foam instead of Styrofoam.

Totoro in the Garden

I’m a big Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli fan. Luckily my daughter loved My Neighbor Totoro when she was young, so I watched it over and over. That movie never gets old. Totoro works well with my “Garden” themed storytime.

This is a variation of the find the hidden object game:

Totoro is looking in the garden for an acorn to plant.

This Little Piggy

This is a vegetarian remix of the “This Little Piggy” rhyme.  As a child, I always thought it was a little gross to think about pigs eating cow flesh.  I was happy to find this alternate version. Hopefully, the piggy who went to market was going on a shopping trip and not to her doom. The felt pigs are based on the San-X character, Piggy Girl.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear

This traditional rhyme has been modernized to make it a bit more inclusive. 

Also, I added the "Read a Book" line because...library.