Humpty Dumpty

I'm so glad that there are actually several books out there about Humpty Dumpty. I knew I wanted to have a Humpty Dumpty storytime with an egg drop, but until I started looking, I really wasn't sure what was available since Humpty Dumpty is technically a nursery rhyme rather than a fairy tale. 

Outline:

Opening Song: Put Your Hands up High

Opening Rhyme: Hands go up

Rhyme: Classic Humpty Dumpty

Story: Ode to Humpty Dumpty by Harriet Ziefert

Song: Fairy Tale Song
Tune: Jingle Bells

Once upon a time
In a land so far away
A princess kissed a frog,
Well that just made his day

Far across the town
Red Riding Hood took fright
She found a wolf in Granny's bed
When she told her good night!

Oh!
Fairy Tales! Fairy tales!
Read them every day!
Oh what fun it is to hear
How Goldilocks got away!

Fairy Tales! Fairy Tales!
Full of joy and laughter
Do you know how this one ends?
Why it's happily ever after!

Source: First Grade W.O.W.

Song: Humpty Dumpty Fell Down
Tune: Frere Jacques

Humpty Dumpty, Humpty Dumpty
Fell far down, on the ground
Call the king's horses, call the king's men
What a mess! What a mess!

Source: Me

Story: Humpty Dumpty by Daniel Kirk

Craft/Activity: Egg Drop

Final Story: Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again by Dave Horowitz

Goodbye Song

How it actually went: 

I opened up storytime with a short discussion about the rhyme itself. I had intended to read some other versions of the rhyme, but since I'm prone to forgetfulness, I forgot to print and bring the earlier versions to storytime with me. We did, however, talk a little bit about the idea that "Humpty Dumpty" was once a riddle which is why he is often depicted as an egg, even though the rhyme never states that he is. I did not discuss some of the other, more violent theories with them. 

The books all went over pretty well. The children weren't familiar with any of these stories ahead of time. I think Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again was the definite favorite, particularly with its depiction of Humpty climbing in his underwear. 

The highlight of the night was the egg drop. I gave each child an egg in a sandwich baggie, and I told them they could use as much tape and paper as they felt they needed to protect their egg from a fall off the back staircase. I gave them computer paper, and old copies of our library newsletter (newspaper like consistency). Since I hadn't tried an experiment like this in many years, I joined them in the challenge. 

Once everyone was ready, I put them in order youngest to oldest, and we dropped our little Humpty Dumptys over the wall. Of the six eggs dropped (five children, plus myself), only two survived the fall (and no, mine was not one of them). 

We went back into the storytime room to talk a little bit about what worked and what didn't. Unfortunately there was not enough time to try a second drop, otherwise, I would have liked to see them take their projects to the next level. 

I had so much fun with this one. A co-worker and I tried to do a stand-alone egg drop program a few months ago, and sadly no one showed up. I am so glad that I was able to incorporate it into storytime. 

What are your thoughts? Have you done an egg drop at your library? Tell me about it in the comments. 

*Disclaimer* This post contains links to Amazon, but I am not an affiliate and receive no compensation from any sales which may result. 

The Gigantic Turnip

The Gigantic Turnip is one of those fun stories that I wasn't sure if the children would be familiar with, so I was excited to look at different versions of it with them. I was especially excited that it would give me an excuse to do some vegetable painting, something I've been wanting to try for a while now. 

Outline: 

Opening song: Put your hands up high 

Opening rhyme: Hands go up 

Story: The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy & Niamh Sharkey 

Song: Fairy Tale Song 
Tune: Jingle Bells 

Once upon a time 
In a land so far away 
A princess kissed a frog, 
Well that just made his day 

Far across the town 
Red Riding Hood took fright 
She found a wolf in Granny's bed 
When she told her good night! 

Oh! 
Fairy Tales! Fairy tales! 
Read them every day! 
Oh what fun it is to hear 
How Goldilocks got away! 

Fairy Tales! Fairy Tales! 
Full of joy and laughter 
Do you know how this one ends? 
Why it's happily ever after! 

Source: First Grade W.O.W. 

Song: Pull the Turnip 
Tune: London's Burning 

Pull the turnip, pull the turnip 
Get more people, get more people 
Pull, pull! Pull, pull! 
It's enormous, it's enormous 

Source: Twinkl 

Story: Grandma Lena's Big Ol' Turnip by Denia Lewis Hester

  
Coding Word: TURNIP 

TURNIP in ASCII Binary Alphabet. Purple=1 and White=0 And yes, technically these are chili peppers, not turnips, but it was the closest I had. 

Activities: STEM Force and Motion Activity Set from Learning Resources 

Craft: Vegetable painting 

Final Story: The Turnip by Jan Brett 

Goodbye song 

How it actually went: 

A couple of the kids had some familiarity with this story, but otherwise it was a new one for the group. As usual, I started with a fairly traditional version. This edition was one I first read in grad school when I was working on a Storytelling Bibliography for the Center for Children's Books. Lucky for me, it wasn't hard to find plenty of other versions of this tale. 

The kids really enjoyed Grandma Lena's Big Ol' Turnip. For some reason the phrase "big ol' turnip" was hilarious to them, and they laughed every time I said it. 

We sang "Pull the Turnip" a few times through. When I started planning this storytime, I decided to sew a giant turnip to use as a prop. I had no idea exactly what I was going to use it for, but I knew I wanted it. When I found this song, I decided it worked perfectly with my prop turnip, and the children took turns pulling the turnip while we sang. 

I could probably do a whole post in and of itself about the process of sewing the turnip. Like most of my sewing projects, I went online for some ideas and then I winged it. I included a velcro opening so that I could add weight to try to make it heavy. I wound up putting 4 pounds of poly beads in it, and it still wasn't as heavy as I wanted, but it worked as a prop anyway. 

We practiced our coding again by spelling TURNIP in binary. Things started getting a little chaotic though, so after this week, I gave the coding a bit of a rest. 

Next I gave a brief demo with my Forces and Motion set to show the children the force required to pull a heavy object. It was a little difficult, because of course, everyone wanted to play, and we didn't really have time for that. I gave them the option of experimenting with the play set after they finished with their paintings. 

Now for the fun part. I had the tables set up with the paints and the vegetables already, and I had covered everything with table cloths so the kids couldn't see what we were doing until I was ready. I gave them potatoes, zucchini, celery, bell peppers, and of course a turnip, to paint with. 

The kids had a blast! I am so glad that I brought old t-shirts and put down lots of table cloths, because this was a messy one. The children were pretty well covered in paint, but they came up with some cool creations, which are now on display in the children's department. 

If you have any thoughts or questions please feel free to leave me a comment below? If you've tried something similar at your library, please, let me know how it went. 

*Disclaimer* I include links to Amazon and other sellers, but I am not an affiliate so I do not receive any compensation for any sales which may result. I am, however, an independent consultant with Usborne Books & More, so I do receive a commission from any sales placed on my Usborne website. 

Peter and the Wolf

This week I decided to expand my concept of art beyond the visual arts, so we talked a little bit about the symphony with Peter and the Wolf. As is my custom, I did not go into great detail, but instead introduced the idea and gave the children room to explore. 

Outline: 

Opening song: Put your hands up high 

Opening rhyme: Hands go up 

Movie: "Peter and the Wolf" in Make Mine Music 

Song: Fairy Tale Song   
Tune: Jingle Bells   

Once upon a time   
In a land so far away   
A princess kissed a frog,   
Well that just made his day  

Far across the town   
Red Riding Hood took fright   
She found a wolf in Granny's bed   
When she told her good night!   

Oh!   
Fairy Tales! Fairy tales!   
Read them every day!   
Oh what fun it is to hear   
How Goldilocks got away!  

Fairy Tales! Fairy Tales!   
Full of joy and laughter   
Do you know how this one ends?   
Why it's happily ever after!   

Source: First Grade W.O.W.   

Story: Peter and the Wolf by Chris Raschka 

Coding Word: MUSIC

MUSIC in ASCII Binary using light green music notes to represent 1 and dark green music notes to represent 0.

Game: Peter and the Wolf memory matching game
  
Craft time: Make your own musical instruments 


Goodbye Song 

How it actually went: 

This children were amazed and excited to walk in and see the tv cart in the room (Remember those? How fun it was to see it in your classroom? Yeah, we still have one). I explained that since we were studying music this week I wanted them to be able to see and hear how each character was represented by the various instruments. Since my library owns Make Mine Music, it was pretty convenient to show a clip from the disc. If you don't own it, there are several Peter and the Wolf clips online.

We've been singing the "Fairy Tale Song" for a few weeks now, so the kids are getting the hang of it, and are no longer slipping into "Jingle Bells" by mistake.

Next I read Chris Raschka's Peter and the Wolf. This one had some mixed reviews online, but I gave it a shot because I wanted something that was a little different. This is a good one to read after showing or reading the kids the fuller, traditional version. It might not make sense to them otherwise. It's also one that you'll want to make sure you practice a bit before reading to a group because the speech patterns can be a bit difficult. At least the kids got a kick out of it, they were chuckling a bit, as I read the lines from the bird and the duck. 

After writing MUSIC in binary on the board, we played a memory match game. I've done these with the kids before, but it's been awhile. When I make these I just find a bunch of pictures related to whatever theme we're doing and glue them to card stock. This time, instead of having the kids match two identical pictures, they had to match the character with the instrument. So for example, if the first card they turned over was a picture of Peter, then the match they were looking for was the violin. I kept an answer sheet handy, just in case I forgot who went with what instrument. 

For craft time, the kids made musical instruments. Specifically, they made guitars with tissue boxes, rubber bands, and duct tape. My original intention was to give them a few instruments to choose from (there are so many awesome options online), but well, I know my kids. I know that if I told them to pick just one, they wouldn't do it. Nope. They would insist on making one of each, and unfortunately storytime is not long enough for that. 

The start of one child's guitar. They opted to tape the rubber bands side to side instead of long ways down the center. 

The guitars turned out good. I was a little worried for the potential for snapping rubber bands. Personally, I had some issues with that myself when I made my sample. Thankfully, this did not seem to be a problem, at least not while they were with me. 

This is the completed and fully decorated version of the same guitar above.

Normally I would end things with a final story before singing goodbye, but because of the movie showing, and the time the children took with their guitars, there really wasn't any time for another story. We sang goodbye together, and the kids walked out playing their new guitars. 

This child opted to wrap the rubber bands rather than cut and tape them. This turned out to be a lesson in what happens when thin cardboard is put under pressure from multiple rubber bands. Nevertheless, they were happy with it. 

Please feel free to share your thoughts, questions, or concerns in the comments below. I love to hear from others about what worked for them and what didn't, as well as any ideas for future storytimes. 

*Disclaimer* This post contains links to Amazon, but I am not an Amazon affiliate, and I do not receive any compensation for any sales which may result. 

Three Billy Goats Gruff

When I first planned my Three Billy Goats Gruff storytime, I was going to make the challenge a bridge building one. That makes sense, bridges are central to the story. Somewhere in the middle of planning, I switched things up and decided to make this a sink or float challenge. The children were asked to build boats for the goats so that they could avoid the troll's bridge altogether. 

Outline: 

Hello Song: Put Your Hands Up High 

Opening Rhyme: Hands Go Up 

Story: The Three Billy Goats Gruff adapted by Tom Roberts 

Song: Fairy Tale Song  
Tune: Jingle Bells 

Once upon a time  
In a land so far away  
A princess kissed a frog,  
Well that just made his day  

Far across the town  
Red Riding Hood took fright  
She found a wolf in Granny's bed  
When she told her good night!  

Oh!  
Fairy Tales! Fairy tales!  
Read them every day!  
Oh what fun it is to hear  
How Goldilocks got away!  

Fairy Tales! Fairy Tales!  
Full of joy and laughter  
Do you know how this one ends?  
Why it's happily ever after!  

Source: First Grade W.O.W.  

Coding Word: GOATS 

GOATS in the ASCII Binary Alphabet. I do not have a goat-shaped die cut, so I used actual 1s and 0s this week.

Story: The Three Billy Goats Fluff by Rachael Mortimer 

Song: The Goats on the Bridge
Tune: The Wheels on the Bus

The little goat on the bridge goes
Clippity clop, clippity clop, clippity clop
The little goat on the bridge goes
Clippity clop
Right above the troll

The middle goat ...trip, trap, trop
The big goat...stomp, stomp, stomp

Source: I came up with this one just before storytime. Feel free to use it. 

Craft/Activity: Sink or float boat to cross the river 

Final Story: The Three Cabritos by Eric A. Kimmel 

Goodbye Song 

How it actually went: 

This was a story that the children were already pretty familiar with, so they were very enthusiastic about telling me, and even acting out what was going to happen. The Tom Roberts adaptation is straightforward and nicely illustrated. Rachael Mortimer's Three Billy Goats Fluff is absolutely adorable! The children did something with that one that they've not done before. They started picking out which goat they felt represented them. It was a lot of fun, and totally reminded me of something I would have done as a child. 

Teeny, tiny goats (paper clip for scale). Let that be a lesson to all to double check dimensions when ordering online. 

I originally had a different song in mind for after the second story, but decided that I didn't feel like using it. Instead, I came up with my own as I was setting up the storytime room. The kids loved patting their knees, clapping, and stomping along with the song. 

Before building our boats, I did a quick sink or float exercise with the kids. I had the bowl of water in front of me and an assortment of items: feather, marble, plastic pirate coin, seashell, pompom, rubber ducky, etc. I held up each item and asked the kids to guess whether it would sink or float, and then set each item in either the "float" box or the "sink" box. After we made our predictions, we tested each item. For the most part, the kids were right on. There were just a couple of items that did not act as predicted. For example, the pom pom was predicted to float, but once in the water it soaked through and sank to the bottom. 

A pair of sisters work on wooden rafts based on my design. They added elements like foam for further stability.

Next we built boats. Once again, I provided some example ideas, but made sure the children knew that my samples had not been tested, so I did not know if they would float or hold any goats. 

For the sake of time, many of the children used tape to hold their boats together. Then they quickly learned that tape doesn't hold up very well when it's wet. So some of the children built new boats that they opted to just take home and not put in the water. A lot of the kids learned from the way their first boat performed, and chose to make another boat, to see if it would do better. It was great to see them apply what they learned. Everyone was able to build at least one boat that not only floated, but held all 25 goats. 

This wooden raft includes aluminum foil, foam, and a mast.

This wooden raft took a simpler approach.

This raft was aluminum foil wrapped over wooden craft sticks. Moments after this picture was taken, the girl who built it sunk it to the bottom. She was more interested in playing with the water, than floating goats. :)

I tried something new this week. I brought in some of my STEAM toys for the kids to play with if they had time between finishing their boat and the reading of our final story. Some of the kids were excited to try them, others preferred to keep building.

While one table was set up with boat building supplies, this one had STEAM toys, more versions of Three Billy Goats Gruff, and books on Sink or Float.

The kids were having so much fun playing with the water that I did have to take the bowl away and hide it in the storage closet, so that I could close out storytime with our final story and our goodbye song. The Three Cabritos was a hoot. I love the idea of the goats going up against the "goat sucker" himself, the Chupacabra. 

As always if you have any thoughts, questions, or concerns, leave me a note in the comments. I would love to hear from you!

*Disclaimer* While this post does contain links to Amazon.com, I am not an affiliate and receive no compensation for any sales which may result.