Virtual Program: Rawr! Dinosaurs! Storytime

For my next virtual program it was a dinosaur storytime that was a lot of fun to do and with tons of books to choose from that were silly and a dino-delight!

The first book I read was That's What Dinosaurs Do by Jory John. I love his books because they have that perfect element of silly and fun. The repetitiveness of this one is what makes it fun to read.

Once I was done reading Jory John's book, I brought the flannelboard out and we did some dinosaur counting. 

The next book read was Dino by Diego Vaisberg about having a dinosaur as a pet. This book really brings out the imagination.

Our last book was We Love Dinosaurs by Lucy Volpin because we really do LOVE dinosaurs! I wanted to include this book and it was short enough to add it to the storytime. 

For the sample craft to try at home, I found an adorable dinosaur craft using a paper plate, a paper towel/toilet paper roll, and some markers. I'm really trying to keep these crafts simple and with basic supplies so no parent has to make a special trip to get anything during the pandemic. This also shows how crafts and activities can really be done with anything around the house so long as you use your imagination. 

Family Storytime: New Picture Books

For this final week's storytime before winter break, we decided to use this as an opportunity to use some of the library's newer picture books. I took some time to look through our new picture book display and chose a few that I thought would be entertaining enough for storytime. I settled on a Pete the Cat book, a dinosaur story, and a cat story.

We got some wiggles out by following along to the bean bag song and then we read our first book, Pete the Kitty and the Groovy Playdate by Kimberly and James Dean. Pete the Cat is always a hit with the storytime crowd and this book was exciting for them because it was one that they haven't read yet.

Since we read a story about a cat, I pulled out our colored cats flannel and we went over colors and how many were on the board.

Our next book really captivated the group and it's no surprise because of the author. That's What Dinosaurs Do by Jory John was a silly story about a dinosaur who was told not to roar.

Since it was time for another flannel board story and the holidays are right around the corner, I thought it was perfect for us to decorate our own storytime holiday tree. I put up a bare flannel tree on the board and everyone had a couple chances to put their ornaments on the tree. We talked about colors and how many were on the tree and even did some adding since I had a few older kids.

Our final book was a rhyming book about cats and hats…no, not that Dr. Seuss book. This story was Hats are Not for Cats by Jacqueline K. Rayner. This was another book that the group thought was so funny.

I could really tell these books were a hit because all these books were equally well-received with probably Jory John's book being the favorite.

For our craft, we made our own bookmarks using die-cuts and Popsicle sticks.

Family Storytime: Dinosaurs

This was our last storytime for the winter session and we decided to go with a dinosaur theme. This is always a theme that the kids love and is easy to find fun books on. 

Lately, the bean bag song has not made the kids as enthusiastic as before and they are more excited about the books. This is an excellent thing, but I know the song needs to stay. It is great to see them get excited about the books and helps reassure me that I'm picking out the right ones for our group.

Our first story was The Three Triceratops Tuff  by Stephen Shaskan. This is a tongue-twister take on The Three Billy Goats Gruff classic, but with dinosaurs. I always enjoy re-introducing a classic in such a fun way. 

I shared a story called, Who Will Play with Little Dinosaur? with the group using the flannel board. It's a story about a dinosaur who can't seem to find anyone to play with him. He asks his mom, a fish, a bird, and a fern to play but they all have reasons of why they can't. Mom is busy gathering food, fish can't be on land, bird has wings and belongs in the sky, and a fern can't reply back. Little Dinosaur ends up sitting on a rock...a rock that turns out to be a dinosaur egg. Out hatches Little Little Dinosaur and he now has another dino friend. 

The group liked this story, but they really miss being able to put up a piece onto the flannel board. 

Next, was a reading of Rex Wrecks It! by Ben Clanton. Rex has some friends, but seems to wreck everything they create. Wrecking things becomes a lot more fun when they can wreck havoc together. 

I wanted to get one more activity in, so we counted Five Little Dinosaurs using the flannel board and went over their different colors. 

Stegosaurus: The Friendliest Dinosaur by Anna Obiols was our next book. I would say this was the least favorite. It tells about all the things a boy does with imagination and his toy dino. It wasn't a favorite of mine either, but somehow ended up as one of my choices. 

I tried to squeeze a fourth story in, and barely made it to the end before the kids were getting antsy. If I Had a Raptor by George O'Connor had a somewhat similar storyline to the last book, but I felt the kids liked this one better despite it going on a tad too long for them. I had one child who commented on the illustrations saying they liked the way the dinosaur looked and how "she is so cute."

It was craft time! We made dinosaur mouths out of paper plates and green construction paper. This was more of an effort to get the group to practice their cutting skills than anything. I tried to encourage parents to let their children cut for themselves and they did a good job of balancing helping their child vs. just making the craft for them.