Silly Santa Stories

Based on the last two post I have been feeling rather silly lately.  We decided to offer a Holiday story time this year and I went with a Silly Santa theme.  Santa tends to be fairly safe in this area as a theme, he seems to be everywhere this time of year for breakfasts and photo ops.  he was even at our library last week for pictures during a holiday open house.  However, I did advertise that the theme was Silly Santa Stories so that people would know what they were in for.  I did the same theme at the local head start when I visited earlier this week and I asked before going to make sure that the theme would be ok.

I started with the story Santa's new suit by Laura Rader.  In this story Santa discovers that all of his red suits are dirty, torn, or too small, so he goes shopping for a new suit.  But, while he is out he decides that he will go in a different direction and picks a suit that is not red.  This does not go over well as the elves and reindeer hate the new outfit and the kids don't recognize him.  What will Santa do?  This is cute as a book, but I have also seen it as a flannel board.  You can find one version here with the storytimelady.

We also read the story Santa Duck by David Milgrim.  When Duck finds a package with a red Santa coat and hat he is thrilled.  He sets off to find Santa to give his wish list, but along the way is repeatedly stopped by the other animals who give their own lists to duck.  This is a cute book and the kids really liked the quacking holiday song that duck sings a few times.

The next book didn't quite make it in time for my preschool visit, but I was happy it arrived for the in-house story times as it is a fun book.  Have you been naughty or nice by Ethan Long is about duck, who is fairly sure that he is on the nice list this year.  That is until he eats all of the cookies that were intended for Santa.  Then he is certain that he will be on the naughty list.  Does duck have time to get back on the nice list?  This fun story is great for very dramatic reading.

I decided to use the flannel story that I came up with last year.  Since I moved to a new library no one here has heard it :).  The story is called Away flew Santa's hat and the idea is that on a windy Christmas Eve Santa's hat keeps flying away.  Each time a hat goes someone lends him a new hat, although at one point he is in a bind and has to use underpants.  You can read the full story here.

I managed to find some songs that weren't too Christmas-y.  We danced along to Carole Peterson's Freeze.  The music is the song Let It Snow, but they do not sing the words.  The kids dance to the music and occasionally it will stop and they have to freeze.  Some kids like this as they get to dance however they want (they are very enthusiastic) others just sit there and stare at you.

Carole Peterson has another song Jingle bells and stop.  Similar to the freeze only with bells.  This song has the kids jingle their bells and stop periodically.  In this one the stopping is more predictable as there are words and you stop at the end of each verse.  During the song you jingle bells high, low, fast, and slow.

We also used Laurie Berkner's version of Jingle bells.  She adds a little extra verse of her own at the beginning, so we just jingled through it.  Then the kids got to sing along to the traditional verse which they all loved.

As an extra activity, we did Santa exercises.  We sang 'ho, ho, ho' to the tune of Jingle bells and stretched up, down, out, and in.  We started with our hands out in front like we had a really big belly.  This was a good movement activity to help get the wiggles out.

Flannel Friday: Halloween with Pete the Cat

So, if you have read this blog in the past you may know that I have a little bit of an obsession with Pete the Cat.  I have made both a Christmas and Valentines version of Pete the Cat stories.  Now, I have a Halloween version.  This story is much like the original Pete the Cat: I love my white shoes by Eric Litwin.  In this story, Pete is off for a night of trick-or-treat fun.

Trick-or-treat featuring Pete!

It was Halloween night so Pete the cat put on his grooviest costume and headed out for trick-or-treat.  As he walked he sang to himself:

‘Trick-or-treat, trick-or-treat.  Can I have something yummy to eat? …Please?’

When all of a sudden,from out from the shadows jumped a scary witch!

Was Pete scared?  Goodness no!  That witch is just a cat you know.  So Pete kept walking.

‘Trick-or-treat, trick-or-treat.  Can I have something yummy to eat? …Please?’

All of a sudden, from out from the shadows jumped a frightening monster!

Was Pete scared?  Goodness no!  That monster is just a cat you know.  So Pete kept walking.

‘Trick-or-treat, trick-or-treat.  Can I have something yummy to eat? …Please?’

All of a sudden, from out from the shadows jumped a creepy mummy!

Was Pete scared?  Goodness no!  That mummy is just a cat you know.  So Pete kept walking.

‘Trick-or-treat, trick-or-treat.  Can I have something yummy to eat? …Please?’

All of a sudden, from out of the shadows jumped a chilling ghost!

Was Pete scared?  Goodness no!  That ghost is just a cat you know.  So Pete kept walking.

‘Trick-or-treat, trick-or-treat.  Can I have something yummy to eat? …Please?’

All of a sudden, from out of the shadows jumped a pumpkin dog!

Was Pete scared?  Well… maybe a little.  But, Pete, he knew just what to do.  He looked at that dog and he said:  BOOOOOO  and Happy Halloween!

You can find the rest of this week's round-up with Katie at storytime katie.  Check out the blog for all things Flannel Friday or stop by the Pinterest boards for all Flannel Friday submissions.  

Dewey the Library Elf

Things slow down a bit at our library in December.  We still get lots of people in the doors, but regular storytimes take a break for several weeks (we do have one week of holiday storytimes).  So, this time of the year we are on the lookout for 'passive programs.'  That is, a program where we get it set up and then patrons come in and do the program with little assistance from us.  Often times we will have a craft where we put the supplies and a print out of instructions on some tables. 

One of our most popular 'passive programs' have been scavenger hunts.  Typically we have a sing at the desk that acts as a starting point and it directs the kids around the library from there.  Sometimes they get a word at each stop that forms a sentence and if they tell it to us they win a prize.  I have done them less structured and just put things out for the kids to find.  For one popular hunt over the summer I printed of pictures of the Stay Puff Marshmallow man (we were having a Super Hero week and he made for a silly villain).  Each Stay Puff man had a picture of a fiction book and the kids had to write the title.  The goal was to find 8 Stay Puff men, but when the kids discovered that I had hidden 16 of them they went back to find them all.

So, on that note, we welcomed an 'Elf on the Shelf' to the library this December.  Each day we hide him somewhere new and the patrons go and find him.  They come tell us where he is and are rewarded with a small candy cane, temporary tattoo, Dum Dum sucker, a few stickers, or a glow necklace that we have left over from Summer Reading.   He has been a big hit.

 

I named our Elf Dewey (for obvious reasons) but now kind of wish I had named him Dobby.  Kreacher would be fun too, but our elf is a little too happy looking to be a Kreacher.  (My elf at home is named Figwit - bonus points if you know where I got that name!)

 

I did not buy one of the elf on the shelf dolls that are super popular right now.  I did not want a spy elf, he is just for fun.  My co-worker found him at a local craft store for under $10.  I wrote a story about him explaining how Dewey gets time off in December to travel and so he finds somewhere to spread Holiday Cheer.  I tell the kids he is nocturnal and is a very deep sleeper (even if he looks like he is awake).  I also tell them that he grew up with other elves and does not understand that some of his pranks can be naughty.  They are supposed to correct him if they see him being naughty.

Really simple program that I am hoping has people making an extra stop or two to find the elf.  Passive programs are great for that.  They are also nice when you do not have a lot of staff to spare for a program but want to have something during school breaks.

We are hoping Dewey will become a tradition here.  Something fun to do even if there are no storytimes.

Pete the Cat Christmas Extravaganza

I am super excited to present to you my Pete the Cat Christmas Extravaganza!  Initially I wanted to do my holiday storytime using the new Pete the Cat saves Christmas book.  Then, after making a suggestion that someone make a Gingerbread Pete the Cat I decided to do that as well.  Since I usually do three stories at my storytimes I needed one more Pete the Cat story.  So, I made up my own story inspired from Pete the Cat: I love my white shoes with a guest appearance by Pete!

First I give you Ginger Pete!  Ginger Pete was made by combining Pete's head and a gingerbread man's body.  He has peppermint stick whiskers and some very tasty looking gumdrop buttons.  (The gumdrops were made by painting glitter glue onto the craft foam.)  My plan is that the story will go like this:

I was making some gingerbread men the other day and decided that I needed to make one of my favorite book characters: Pete the Cat!  So, I rolled out the gingerbread, cut the shape, and added some peppermint sticks for the whiskers.  But, he needed a little something else, so, I gave him some gumdrop buttons.  (I will have the kids count them as we put them on Pete.)

Ginger Pete loved the gumdrop buttons so much that he started singing:
My buttons, my buttons,
I love my gumdrop buttons!

But, those buttons looked so tasty.  And, I really love gumdrops...so...I ate one!  (It is very possible that I will say 'not the gumdrop buttons!' here, though most kids probably will not get the Shrek reference.)

Did Ginger Pete cry?  Goodness no!  Gumdrop buttons come  and gumdrop buttons go (or get eaten).  So, now Ginger Pete has three gumdrop buttons.  But, I'm still kind of hungry and those buttons look SOOOO tasty, I'll just eat one more.

And so the story will go.  When there is one gumdrop button I will tell them, 'he looks silly with just one button, might as well eat that one too!'  And Ginger Pete cried:

My buttons, my buttons,
You ate ALL my gumdrop buttons!

Poor Ginger Pete seemed really sad.  I felt a little bad about eating all of his yummy buttons, so I went and found some new buttons for Ginger Pete.  That made him so happy he sang a new song:

My buttons, my buttons,
You can't eat my plastic buttons!
My buttons, my buttons,
You can't eat my plastic buttons!

The second story I came up with is called Away flew Santa's hat.  I wanted to do something similar to Pete the Cat: I love my white shoes only with Santa hats.  But, to dye his hat colors would involve lots of Santa landing on his head.  I couldn't do that to old St. Nick, so instead the wind will blow his hats away.  Obviously you could do the story with a child instead of Pete if you are not doing a Pete the Cat Christmas Extravaganza.
Here is the story I came up with.  The songs are sung to the tune of Jingle Bells:

Away flew Santa’s Hat
  

It was Christmas Eve and Santa was all set to hop in his sleigh and deliver gifts to children around the world.  To make sure he stayed warm during the windy ride he put on his boots, his furry red coat, and his white gloves. 

‘All set,’ said Santa.  But just asked he was about to walk out the door Mrs. Claus stopped him.

‘Aren’t you forgetting something, Santa?’ she asked holding out his warm Santa hat.

‘Oh dear!’ exclaimed Santa. ‘I wouldn’t want to forget my favorite hat.’  And then, because he loved his hat so much he began to sing:

Santa hat,

Santa hat,

Sitting on my head.

I hope all the children are

Fast asleep in bed!

He gave Mrs. Claus a quick kiss of thanks and headed out the door.  But, just as he got to the barn a strong wind blew and away Santa’s hat flew!

‘Oh dear!’ exclaimed Santa.  ‘What will I do?’

A jolly elf was standing nearby and saw what happened.  ‘Here Santa,’ he said.  ‘You can use my hat.’

‘Why thank you,’ said Santa and as he put it on his head he sang:

Green elf hat,

Green elf hat,

Sitting on my head.

I hope all the children are

Fast asleep in bed.

Santa waved goodbye to the elf and hopped into the sleigh.  It was a windy ride, blowing the sleigh back and forth and up and down.  Just as Santa was landing on the first house a strong wind blew and away Santa’s hat flew!

‘Oh dear,’ exclaimed Santa.  ‘What will I do?’

Rudolph was standing nearby and didn’t want Santa to be without a hat.  “Here Santa,’ he said.  ‘You can use my hat.’

‘Why thank you,’ said Santa and as he put in on his head he sang:

Reindeer hat,

Reindeer hat,

Sitting on my head.

I hope all the children are

Fast asleep in bed.

Santa hopped into the chimney and quickly delivered all of the presents before heading to the next house.  On he went, through the windy night delivering presents as fast as he could.  But, just as he was climbing into a chimney in New Zealand as strong wind blew and away Santa’s hat flew!

‘Oh dear!’ exclaimed Santa. ‘What will I do?’

Since no one was nearby to offer a new hat, Santa quickly grabbed the first thing that he saw as he left the gifts under the tree.  He plopped it on his head and sang:

Underpants,

Underpants,

Sitting on my head.

I hope all the children are

Fast asleep in bed.

The reindeer all giggled when they saw Santa’s new hat, but as there was no time to find anything better they let Santa climb into the sleigh and flew off into the windy night.  On they went, from house to house delivering gifts so fast no one knew Santa was there.  Until, they reached a house in Florida and Santa slid down the chimney to find someone waiting.  He was a small blue cat, all ready for bed wearing his best Christmas pjs, complete with a furry red hat.

Just realized that at this point of the story Santa will still have underpants on his head :)  

‘Santa,’ asked the cat ‘what is that on your head?’

‘Underpants,’ he replied, feeling quite silly.  ‘My hat blew away and they were all I could quickly find to keep my head warm.’

The cat pulled the hat from atop his own head.  ‘Here Santa, take mine.  It is my gift to you.’

‘Thank you Pete!’ Santa cried.  ‘You have true Holiday spirit.’  He handed Pete a wrapped box and headed back up the chimney singing:

Santa hat,

Santa hat,

Sitting on my head.

I hope all the children are

Fast asleep in bed.

Santa managed to keep the hat on his head the rest of the night.  A few days after Christmas, Pete found a package wrapped on his front door.  He opened it up to find a brand new hat along with a note that said:

To thank you for your kindness, Mrs. Claus made this hat just for you.  Happy Holidays!  Love, Santa.

The new hat was a perfect match for Pete’s favorite pair of pajamas.  So, he plopped it on his head as he sang:

Groovy hat,

Groovy hat,

Sitting on my head.

I will wear my groovy hat

Every night to bed!

If you choose not to use Pete at the end you can change the song to match.  For example you could have a little girl who gets a princess hat or a little boy who gets a cowboy hat.  

So, with those two stories and reading Pete the Cat saves Christmas by Eric Liwtin and James Dean I will have a full storytime.  We will do some songs between the stories, probably some Jingle Bells (I am thinking of giving them bells to ring during the song in Pete the Cat saves Christmas, so maybe after that book.)  Sing-a-longs have gone over well in the past.  A few of those, the Reindeer Pokey and some crafts at the end and we're all set!

I also plan to give all of the kids a little bag of gumdrops.  I figure after talking about eating them it only seems fair.

You can find this week's special Holiday Round Up with Linda at Notes from the Story Room.  All things Flannel Friday can be found on the Flannel Friday blog, and all Flannel Friday posts are pinned to the Pinterest Boards.

Happy Flanneling!

Holiday Family Story Time

I have to say that the Holiday story time is the one that I dread most each year.  Mostly because I worry SO much about offending someone.  Also because we get such a wide range of kids and I never know how many to plan for.  Plus, it is on a Tuesday night near the holidays and there can be so many other things going on.  So, this year I went with what seemed fun, and I think it worked out well.

We had about 75 people attend this year's holiday time.  The only other time we had more was when the Grinch made an appearance.  It was crazy, but it seemed that most people had a good time.

I started with the song 'If it's Christmas and you know it.'  We sang:
If it's Christmas and you know it clap your hands,
If it's Christmas and you know it clap your hands,
If it's Christmas and you know it then you really want to show it,
If it's Christmas and you know it clap your hands.
We repeated with:
Shouting Hooray
Jumping up and down

After the fact I think that we needed to do another song.  Lots of people came in late and it really seemed to disrupt our first book which was If you take a mouse to the movies by Laura Numeroff.  These books are generally crowd pleasers, but with people coming in late and taking off coats many kids were distracted.  There were also quite a few who said they had this book at home.  I tried to get them to read along with me, but instead they observed the late comers.

The second story went over much better.  I did my Crazy, confused Christmas that I wrote for last weeks Flannel Friday.  You can read the story here.  They really liked this one.  I kept turning the tree wrong as they yelled how to put it.  I drug that out for awhile, but they were happily trying to correct me.  They also really liked the crazy trees and seemed to enjoy yelling that the tree was wrong.

The last book I read was David Shannon's It's Christmas, David!  They LOVED this book.  I think both the parents and kids could relate to this one.  I was a little worried about the page where he pees his name in the snow, but I could hear parents laughing and telling their kids what David had done.

Christmas songs with action were very hard to find.  I think that I may need to go write some.  I found enough for my program, but none were super exciting.  And the best action songs were not from cds so we had no background music.  I found a version of We wish you a Merry Christmas from PreschoolEducation.com here that goes:

We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year.

Repeat with:
Now let's all do a little clapping…

Now let's all do a little jumping …

Now let's all do a little waving…

From a great Flannel Friday blog I got a song called Santa had a Christmas Tree.  You can find the original post at Abby the Librarian.  I was really excited because the flannels for this song fit great with the tree I had already made for the Crazy, confused Christmas story.  The tree already had the star and lights, so I added a bell, presents, and cookies.  The song goes to the tune of Old MacDonald:

Santa had a Christmas tree
Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho
And on that tree he had a star
Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho
With a twinkle, twinkle here
And a twinkle, twinkle there
Here a twinkle, there a twinkle
Everywhere a twinkle, twinkle
Santa had a Christmas tree
Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!

Repeat with:
On that tree he had a light... with a sparkle, sparkle here

On that tree he had a bell... with a jingle, jingle here

Under his tree he had a gift... with a rattle, rattle here
Next to his tree he had some cookies…with a crunch

crunch, here

We did break out the bells to sing Jingle Bell Rock.  I used the Sugar Beats version on the Sugar Beats Christmas album.  That seemed to go well.  I told them to shake their bells up, down, around, whatever as we danced to the song.
We ended with the Reindeer Pokey that I also found at PreschoolEducation.com.  (It is on the same page as the link above for the We wish you a Merry Christmas song.)  To do the 'Reindeer Pokey' we made antlers on our head as we spun around.

Since this was a more special program I ended with a viewing of Super Why's T'was the Night Before Christmas.  This show is great for pre-reading skills so I figured that it fit well with story time.  I set up three crafts in a different area of the library so people had the choice of staying for the movie or just doing the crafts.  Not many stayed for the movie which was disappointing.  Last year I showed the Charlie Brown Christmas and only a few watched that, so I thought I would go less traditional this year.  It worked at Halloween with Word World, oh well.

I had three crafts I put out.  The first two I found pictures of by googling images of Christmas crafts.  The third is a version of something we did in the past.