Virtual Program: Zoo Animal Storytime

One of my virtual programs for September was a Zoo Animal Storytime. This came together really well, was a whole lot of fun to film, and had a lot of books and ideas to chose from to put together. 

I ended up reading a total of three stories, making this a longer video but I added the two books at the end of the video so that parents could stop the video after the first story and craft demonstration. 

Typically, our videos have been anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes, with 15 minutes being the average. It's tempting to make longer videos but we do have to be conscious of little one's attention spans and screen times. 

I started off storytime by reading Lori Degman's silly book 1 Zany Zoo. It's laugh-at-loud funny and really brings out the zoo theme. Afterwards, I did a rhyming color flannelboard story using elephants and then we jumped into our next book.

Our next book was Warning: Do Not Open This Book! by Adam Lehrhaupt. Another funny one that was a pleasure to read out loud. 

I wanted to add an animal song to this storytime and was able to add animal pictures to the background to help kids follow along with the help of my husband. 

After our song, it was time to show my virtual audience the swinging monkey craft they could try at home using construction paper and a straw. I thought the kids would enjoy playing with their craft and having their monkey swinging from the trees. 

At this point, I ended storytime for those who might not be able to sit still at the computer for another story, but did mention if they could to stay for Jory John's Giraffe Problems. I just couldn't pass up reading this one! It's one of my favorite books to read for a zoo storytime.  If you haven't read it, please do! It will not disappoint. 

Safari Storytime

For my current session of storytimes, I have really been having to pick really short books because of this small group's attention span. I do miss reading longer picture books, but I always try to cater to what's best for each group.

For this June 25th storytime, we had a safari theme. I have a tendency to pull more books and activities than needed, but I was able to get a few books in and some of the fun ideas.

We read Starry Safari by Linda Ashman, We've All Got Belly Buttons by David Martin, and Do Croc's Kiss? by Salina Yoon.

The group was less shy and more lively this time. They really enjoy the flap-up books and had fun and took their time making their lion puppet craft. They liked dancing to the Animal song and were friendly with one another.  

We did the bean bag rock song, went over our colors in our Geri the Giraffe Needs some spots color involvement flannel, and danced along to Move Like an Animal by Bobs & Lolo. 

The craft was a lion puppet using construction paper, paper plates, and Popsicle sticks. We cut out the middle of the paper plate and added yellow and orange construction paper for the mane and then added some construction paper ears so we could pretend to be lions.

Some of the other great books I've found for this theme and were going to use if I had more time were If You're Happy and You Know It Jungle Edition by James Warhola,Tiny Little Fly by Michael Rosen, Splash! by Flora McDonnell, and When Elephant Walks By Keiko Kasza. 

Extra, extra books:
Hiccupotamus by Steven Smallman
Oh, No! by Candace Fleming
Hilda Must Be Dancing by Karma Wilson
Ten Monkey Jamboree by Dianne Ochiltree
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Five Little Monkeys Sitting In a Tree by Eileen Christelow

Extra Craft Idea:
Color the lion and add orange/yellow tissue paper/construction paper for the mane. Use a coloring page.

Other Activities:
Sitting in My Box flannel story
I See an Elephant Color Flannel
Five Little Elephants