Sensory Story Time – Greetings

So I’m starting sensory story time back up in the time of the pandemic. We are doing it through Facebook meeting rooms from our private sensory story time group page. I’ve heard too many horror stories about zoom and this way only people we invite right before we start can join.

I’ll be doing the usual stories. Making sure the games and activities are things they can do in in their own environment and demoing a simple sensory activity at the end of story time (I’ll make sure participants have a list of the ingredients well in advance of story time in case they want to follow along).

I’m eliminating Tiny Tim from the opening songs and activities since that’s when I use the bubbles to greet the kiddos and I won’t be able to do that in the pandemic environment.

Opening Songs and Activities
Dance Freeze
If You Want to Hear a Story

Additional activities in the pandemic world:

Greeting Song:

(I do this first before Dance Freeze)

Hello everybody, and how are you?
How are you? How are you?
Hello everybody and how are you?
How are you today?

C’mon everybody, can you clap your hands?
Clap your hands?  Clap your hands?
C’mon everybody, can you clap your hands?
Clap your hands today!

C’mon everybody, can you stamp your feet?
Stamp your feet?  Stamp your feet?
C’mon everybody, can you stamp your feet?
Stamp your feet today!

Simon Says:

I use my wire-haired terrier puppet named Simon to play this familiar game. I do this before “If you want to hear a story.”

Book:

Flannel Story:

Ice Cream Rhyme

First we need a cone,
Nice and crunchy.

Then we need some ice cream,
Sweet and yummy.
Scoop ’em on,
Stack ’em on,
Up to the sky.
We love ice cream, my oh my!

First comes orange sherbert,
Cold and sweet.

Then comes lemon,
A delicious treat.

Here comes blue cotton candy,

Raspberry too.

A super-duper ice cream cone
Just for you!

One scoop, two scoops,
three scoops, four.
We love ice cream,
Who wants more?

Okay here’s some blackberry!

Adapted from Library Village.

Book:

Interactive Song:

(Tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

Blue, blue, I see blue look around and see.

Blue, blue I see blue look and see with me.

(I show them something blue that I have brought to story time and ask them to look around the room they are viewing from for something blue they can show me)

I repeat this with several colors.

Sensory Activity:

Easy Three Ingredient Salt Dough