Story Time Review

We started our new session of Story time this week. Our theme for the entire session is farms and farm animals. I introduced the topic with the books: Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown, April Foolishness by Teresa Bateman, Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Farm by Joy Cowley, My Farm Friends by Wendall Minor, Senses on the Farm by Shelly Rotner and Snappy Little Farmyard  Pop-Up Fun by Silver Dolphin Books.

We sang to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus" a song about the animals in the barn. It went something like:
"The cows in the barn go Moo, moo, moo.
 Moo, moo, moo. Moo, moo, moo.
The cows in the barn go moo, moo, moo.
All around the farm!"

We also did this song with pigs, roosters, cats and goats. I pulled some farm animal puppets out and we sang a few rounds of the traditional song Old Macdonald. Just to be silly I added in a few improbable animals like a monkey and a dinosaur. The kids thought that was fun. One child even said, "A dinosaur wouldn't even fit in the barn!" Of course, we had to play the classic game Farmer in the Dell.

We did a guessing activity where I described something that you would find on a farm and they tried to guess what it was. To add a visual element to this activity I purchased a cheap farm set at Walmart and hid the different animals etc. in a paper sack. When they guessed correctly I pulled the item out and set it up in our own little farm scene.

We made some paper plate chickens for our craft. The children were mostly unfamiliar with a cockscomb and waddle so I used the illustration of the chickens in the book My Farm Friends to point out these features.

Next Week: Chickens and Eggs, this will tie in nicely with an Easter Egg craft that I have planned.
Michele Schumann
Children's Librarian