Tortoise and the Hare

I remembered making inclined plane wheelers when I was a kid. We used old records and a pencil with some rubber bands or clay to hold them in place. They were a lot of fun, so this week I decided on that for the activity, and planned a Tortoise and the Hare storytime around it. 

Outline: 

Opening Song: Put Your Hands Up High

Opening Rhyme: Hands Go Up

Story: The Great Race by Kevin O'Malley

Movement activity: Move like a tortoise, move like a hare

Story: The Tortoise or the Hare by Toni Morrison & Slade Morrison

Activity: Memory Match Game

Final Story: Hare and Tortoise by Alison Murray

Craft: Inclined Plane Wheeler races

Goodbye song

How it actually went: 

I wound up going home sick the day of this storytime, so one of my fellow librarians ran it for me. So, unfortunately, I don't have the level of detail for you that I would normally have. 

Only one of my regulars came this week (it was Spring Break week). When it came time to race it was librarian vs. child. She used the inclined plane wheeler that I had made up as a sample, and the child made his own. It turns out that he's better at it than I am. He repeatedly won the races, and made a sign for her that he expected her to wear saying, "I was beaten by A___ 300 times!" I couldn't stop laughing when I saw that the next day. 

Have you tried using Tortoise and the Hare with your kids? How about different racing techniques? Share your experiences in the comments.