Nutmeg's Debut!

This Preschool Storytime was presented at Bellevue Public Library on September 11 & 12, 2014. 

This storytime was my very first as Assistant Children's Librarian to the fabulous, Mrs. B!  My rat puppet, Nutmeg, also made her debut and everyone adored her! Here she is with her friend, Babushka Bee.  We couldn't decide what her name should be so the kids all gave suggestions.  "Nutmeg" fits her fantastic personality!

We started storytime by waking Nutmeg from her slumber with a fun and friendly, "Good morning, Nutmeg!"  Then we sang our Good Morning song to the tune of Happy Birthday.  It goes like this:
 
Good morning to you!
Good morning to you!
Good morning my friends!
Good morning to you!

Next, we got the wiggles out with a couple rounds of Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.  Each time we went just a little bit faster than the last.

Our first book was called, Wake Up, Rupert! by Mike Twohy.

The kids had fun trying to guess what was going to happen next.

Next, we read, How to Lose a Lemur by Frann Preston-Gannon.

This book was a huge hit!  The kids thought it was hilarious that the lemur wouldn't stop following the boy.  I'll definitely bring this book back for another storytime.

Last, we read Bumpety Bump by Pat Hutchins.

They kids loved saying bumpety, bumpety, bumpety while they bounced on their bottoms on their carpet square.

We brought our first storytime to a close with back-to-back games of Little Mouse.  I learned this game during my practicum with Dee Huff at Baright Public Library in Ralston.  To play Little Mouse, you will need:

• Several houses, each a different color
• A mouse who fits behind a house

I printed the houses and mouse on cardstock and laminated them.  Then place the houses on a wall (I use Sticky Tack) or flannel board, and hide the mouse behind one.   The kids take turns calling out colors.  For each color called, we slap our knees to the beat of this song:

We repeated this until Little Mouse's hiding spot was discovered!  The kids liked when I pulled a house from the wall and acted totally surprised that she wasn't there.  After we found her, the kids all turned around and faced the opposite wall so I could hide her again.  Peekers were told they would lose their chance to choose a color :)  That was all it took to keep those little faces looking the other way.

Saying Goodbye:
When storytime came to an end, the kids lined up and fed Nutmeg imaginary food they had in their pockets, gave her high-fives, or just pet her head. Today, she ate a few lollipops, oodles of corn, two slices of pizza, a head of lettuce, and a banana.  Needless to say she was pretty useless for the rest of the day.