Books
*Astro Bunnies by Christine Loomis
*I want to be an Astronaut by Byron Barton
~Zoo Zoom! by Candace Ryan
~Earth Space Moon Base by Ben Joel Price
Zoom, Rocket, Zoom! by Margaret Mayo
~Chicken in Space by Adam Lehrhaupt
Books marked with ~ are ones I used for my toddler stoytime and books marked with * are ones I used for the all ages storytime. The toddler group was very small and not very active last week, so we read a lot more books than normal. Zoo Zoom! was fun because it had lots of animals, some unfamiliar, and animals are always great, but the kids were a little confused about what was happening at some points since the limited amount of text doesn't really explain what is going on. I had to do a lot of explaining for Earth Space Moon Base too. In general space related books have a lot of new vocabulary so be prepared to do a lot of explanation about what new words mean! Chicken in Space is not actually about space, but it does have some good space terms and I couldn't resist that cute cover. I really only read this one for the storytime because the kids were so calm and requested a longer book to finish out the day. I want to be an Astronaut was definitely the hit for the all ages storytime. One of the boys couldn't stop talking about it!For songs and rhymes click read more.
Songs and Rhymes
*Action Song: “Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We’re Going to the Moon”
Zoom, zoom, zoom
We're going to the moon.
Zoom, zoom, zoom
We're going to the moon.
If you want to take a trip
climb aboard my rocket ship.
Zoom, zoom, zoom
We're going to the moon.
In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Blast off!
Verses: Far, far, far, we're going to the stars; Fun, fun, fun we're going to the sun
Source: Jbrary
Action Song: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Source: Childhood
I learned many of the signs for the individual words for this song in ASL. Though I cannot sign the song in a grammatically correct way, adding actual sign language vocabulary to songs is a great tool for early literacy if you can work it into your storytimes. I've found handspeak.com an invaluable tool in learning different signs. Be aware that the website doesn't seem to display properly in the chrome browser, though it is still functional. It works fine in Firefox though.
Source: Childhood
I learned many of the signs for the individual words for this song in ASL. Though I cannot sign the song in a grammatically correct way, adding actual sign language vocabulary to songs is a great tool for early literacy if you can work it into your storytimes. I've found handspeak.com an invaluable tool in learning different signs. Be aware that the website doesn't seem to display properly in the chrome browser, though it is still functional. It works fine in Firefox though.
*Action Song: “If You’re Going to the Moon”
(Tune: If You’re happy and You Know It)
If you're going to the moon, wear your boots,
(stomp, stomp)
If you're going to the moon, wear your boots,
(stomp, stomp)
If you're going to the moon, this is what you have to do,
If you're going to the moon, wear your boots,
(stomp, stomp)
Verses: wear your gloves (clap, clap), wear your helmet (pat, pat)
If you're going to the moon, wear your boots,
(stomp, stomp)
If you're going to the moon, this is what you have to do,
If you're going to the moon, wear your boots,
(stomp, stomp)
Verses: wear your gloves (clap, clap), wear your helmet (pat, pat)
Source: King County Library System
Song: “The Solar System in Motion”
(Tune: Farmer in the Dell)
The Earth turns around, the Earth turns around,
Once a day, every day, the Earth turns around.
The moon goes round the Earth, The moon goes round the Earth,
Once a month, every month,The moon goes round the Earth.
The Earth goes round the Sun, the Earth goes round the Sun,
Once a year, every year, The Earth goes round the Sun.
The stars are all around, The stars are all around,
Here to there, and everywhere, The stars are all around.
The moon goes round the Earth, The moon goes round the Earth,
Once a month, every month,The moon goes round the Earth.
The Earth goes round the Sun, the Earth goes round the Sun,
Once a year, every year, The Earth goes round the Sun.
The stars are all around, The stars are all around,
Here to there, and everywhere, The stars are all around.
Source: Johnson County Library
*Transition Stretch: “Reach for the Stars”
Bend and stretch, reach for the stars
There goes Jupiter, here comes Mars
Bend and stretch, reach for the sky
Stand on tippytoe, oh so high!
There goes Jupiter, here comes Mars
Bend and stretch, reach for the sky
Stand on tippytoe, oh so high!
Bend and stretch, ever so high,
Mercury, Venus and Saturn go by,
Planets, stars, comets, the moon,
See them twinkle and shimmer and zoom.
Planets, stars, comets, the moon,
See them twinkle and shimmer and zoom.
Source: Singing Games for Children
Flannelboards and Fingerplays
*Flannelboard: “Where is the Spaceship?”
Spaceship, spaceship, we’ll find you soon!
Are you behind the (color) moon?
Source: I made this one up myself! Mouse in the House variations are always fun.
Source: I made this one up myself! Mouse in the House variations are always fun.
Flannelboard: “Five Astronauts”
One astronaut went out to race,
Around the moon in outer space.
He had such enormous fun
That he called for another astronaut to come!
Verses: Count up to five
Five astronauts went out to race,
Around the moon in outer space.
They had such enormous fun
That they called for everyone to come!
(End the rhyme by saying goodbye to each astronaut by color.)Craft
Black paper and star stickers space scenes. I pulled out some sparkly star stickers and circular stickers that could be planets and just let the kids have fun decorating black paper with stickers and crayons. Really easy craft!
As I mentioned before, the toddler storytime was small and low energy, completely the opposite of the all ages storytime! For that storytime the kids were full of energy. A few of them just couldn't sit down. After we sang "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We're Going to the Moon" and had crouched down and blasted off together a few times, I had them blast off frequently throughout the storytime to help work off some of that energy. It worked pretty well! Most of them were really into the theme. Space is always a winner! And, of course, with the flannelboard being a "Mouse in the House" variation, it was a hit too. A few of them had lots of fun taking the rocket off the board and making it fly around after they found it. I think I'll definitely be revisiting a space theme in the future!
How it Went
As I mentioned before, the toddler storytime was small and low energy, completely the opposite of the all ages storytime! For that storytime the kids were full of energy. A few of them just couldn't sit down. After we sang "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We're Going to the Moon" and had crouched down and blasted off together a few times, I had them blast off frequently throughout the storytime to help work off some of that energy. It worked pretty well! Most of them were really into the theme. Space is always a winner! And, of course, with the flannelboard being a "Mouse in the House" variation, it was a hit too. A few of them had lots of fun taking the rocket off the board and making it fly around after they found it. I think I'll definitely be revisiting a space theme in the future!
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