Preschool Storytime January 28, 2021: Letter 'D'

Singing the Alphabet

Today we sang the alphabet forwards and backwards to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".

We like to practice our letters in all different ways! Kids tend to learn the alphabet by rote…they memorize it quickly. Switching up the tune or singing the alphabet backwards really challenges them to connect each letter's shape with it’s name and/or sound. We also slow down (especially spots like LMNOP which to many young learners sounds like it’s meant to be a single name or sound).

Dance Like Snowflakes

Tune: Frere Jacques

Dance like snowflakes, dance like snowflakes! In the air, in the air. Whirling, twirling snowflakes, whirling twirling snowflakes. Everywhere! Everywhere!

Calming Moment

Our emotions can be SO big and overwhelming when we're little. We love to share tools for calming and self-regulation with kids and caregivers. One of our favorites is the Daniel Tiger hug where we cross our midline by giving ourselves a hug and take a deep, calming breath. The words to the song are:

Give a squeeze, nice and slow. Take a deep breath...then let it go.

Dancing Sheep

Adapted from Susan M. Dailey's fingerplay and song

Shhh! It’s time to go to sleep. But into my bedroom one sheep creeps.

“Don’t wanna go to bed,” the one sheep said. “I would rather dance instead!”

Chorus:

Soon he was… (draw these words out) Dancing on the ceiling! He was dancing on the floor! He was dancing by the window! He was dancing by the door!

“Stop that dancing, silly sheep. It is time to go to sleep!” But into my bedroom a second sheep creeps “Don’t wanna go to bed,” the two sheep said. “We would rather dance instead!”

Chorus (faster)

“Stop that dancing, silly sheep. It is time to go to sleep!” But into my bedroom a third sheep creeps “Don’t wanna go to bed,” the three sheep said. “We would rather dance instead!”

Chorus (faster)

Stop that dancing, silly sheep! It REALLY is time to go to sleep!

Finally the sheep lay on the floor. Finally the sheep began to snore.

Well, all that dancing tired THEM out…but now I was wide awake, so I started to shout: “don’t wanna go to bed”, is what I said! “I would rather dance instead!”

Chorus (super fast)

The “What Is It?” Game

The "What Is It?" Song:

What is it? What is it? What is it, do you know?

What is it? What is it? Can you tell me so?

I told everyone that I had something in my "What Is It?" bag that started with our letter of the day (letter D). The hints I gave were that: I had a puppet of a pretend animal that shows up in a lot of stories, that they're usually pretty big, and they usually have wings.

It was our dragon puppet! We knew that they have wings and fly and that they often breathe fire, and sometimes even breathe ice! We talked about the fact that dragons look little bit like some real animals too. Like dinosaurs and some kinds of lizards!

This game can so easily be played anywhere! Kids LOVE to talk about all of the things they know! You don't even need a bag...you can just have something in mind, and give them a few clues and see if they can figure out what the object is. Once they guess, let them tell you all the things they know about it, and give them a little more information to help expand their knowledge.

Wave High, Wave Low

Wave high, wave low. I think it's time, we've got to go!

Wave your elbows, wave your toes, wave your tongue, and wave your nose!

Wave your knees, wave your lips, blow a kiss with fingertips!

Wave your ears, wave your hair, wave your belly, and your derriere!

Wave your chin, and wave your eyes, wave your hand, and say "goodbye"!