Early Literacy Tip: When you read books like Go Away, Big Green Monster! which feature a repeated word or phrase, make it a paired reading experience, by having your child say the repeated part (Go Away!). Point to the word on the page to help build their print awareness.
Many of the neighborhoods in our community take Halloween decorating VERY seriously, which is fun, but possibly frightening for younger kids. So, this week I thought I would present stories about monsters, as a way of giving the kids a chance to think and talk about them in a safe, fun environment.
I started my storytime by asking who was ready for Halloween, and what their costumes were (Elsa is evidently very popular this year!). We also talked a little about trick-or-treating, and practiced saying, “Trick or Treat!” together. Finally, I asked if anyone had been seeing scary monster decorations around town (they all had!), and said we were going to read books about monsters today.
Here’s the whole outline that I used for Family Storytime, plus a parachute song that I used for Outdoor Musical Storytime.
Links go to Worldcat.org, which lists Goodreads reviews and links to libraries who own the title. I wasn’t able to find a good link for the print English version of Go Away, Big Green Monster for some reason.
Opening Song: Wheels on the Bus
As usual, I put out a variety of animal puppets, and the kids took turns suggesting which animals to put on the bus.
[C] The wheels on the bus go round and round,
[G7] Round and round,
[C] Round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
[G7] All through the [C] town.
The cat on the bus goes, “Meow! Meow! Meow!… etc.
The shark on the bus goes, “Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!…etc.
I always end by repeating the first verse, but we sing and make our “wheels” go really fast!
Book: Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems
One of my all-time favorite read-alouds. Leonardo is a terrible monster, who can’t scare anyone! Until one day, he finds the most scaredy-cat kid in the entire world and scares the tuna salad out of him. But when he finds out the real reason the little boy is crying, he decides to give up being a terrible monster and become a wonderful friend instead. I love trying to read the page with the boy’s long list of problems in one breath. The large format and simple text make it perfect for almost any age group, and the kids always laugh at the friendly chase scene on the last page.
Song: We Are Scary Monsters
I usually sing this one with the play scarves, and have the kids pretend to be ghosts. But this time, we pretended to be monsters instead. We sang it through twice, and then I asked the kids what else they would like to be. They suggested “creepy ghosts” and “giant waves splashing down the street.”
We are scary monsters
Stomping down the street,
Stomping down the street,
Stomping down the street.
We are scary monsters
Stomping down the street.
We’ll scare you!
BOO!
Book: Max the Brave
Very cute story about a brave black cat who is determined to catch a mouse. The problem is that he doesn’t know what a mouse looks like. He asks a rabbit, birds, an elephant, and other animals if they are a mouse, and they all say no. When he finally asks Mouse, he says he is a monster, but that he saw Mouse sleeping. He finally finds what he thinks is Mouse, but gets eaten (and sneezed out!) by Monster.
Song: Hickory Dickory Dock
I sang this to follow Max, the Brave, using a mouse puppet to run up and down the kids’ arms, which they thought was hilarious!
[C] Hickory [G7] Dickory [C] Dock! (clap hands in rhythm)
The mouse [G7] ran up the [C] clock. (run fingers up arm)
The clock struck one: BONG!
The [F] mouse ran down. (run fingers down arm)
[C] Hickory [G7] Dickory [C] Dock! (clap hands in rhythm)
Hickory Dickory Dock! (clap hands in rhythm)
The mouse ran up the clock. (run fingers up arm)
The clock struck two: BONG! BONG!
The mouse went, “BOO!” (cover your face and then uncover it when you yell, “BOO!”)
Hickory Dickory Dock! (clap hands)
Hickory Dickory Dock! (clap hands in rhythm)
The mouse ran up the clock. (run fingers up arm)
The clock struck three: BONG! BONG! BONG!
The mouse went “Whee!” (run fingers down body quickly)
Hickory Dickory Dock! (clap hands)
Hickory Dickory Dock! (clap hands in rhythm)
The mouse ran up the clock. (run fingers up arm)
The clock struck four: BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG!
The mouse said, “No more!” (hold hands out palms up and shrug shoulders)
Hickory Dickory Dock! (clap hands)
Book: Go Away, Big Green Monster
Before I read this, I gave each child a play scarf, and told them that every time we said, “Go Away!” to part of the monster, we would wave the scarf and make a “whsh!” sound. The kids loved it so much that they begged me to read it a second time. I don’t usually do that, but since it was short, I read it again.
Scarf Song: Popcorn Kernels
We sing this scarf song every week, usually after singing a song tied to the theme. But since we read Go Away, Big Green Monster twice with the scarves, I decided to just do this one.
Popcorn kernels, Popcorn kernels, (Wave scarves)
In the pot, In the pot. (bundle the scarf into your hand)
Shake ’em, shake ’em, shake ’em. (shake your hands)
Shake ’em, shake ’em, shake ’em.
‘Till they pop! ‘Till they pop! (throw the scarf in the air)
Parachute Song: Trick or Treating
For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I came up with a really simple song about trick-or-treating to sing with the parachute. I threw a handful of pompoms on the chute each time we sang it and pretended they were pieces of candy. The kids loved watching them bounce up and down as we shook the chute in time to the song.
To the tune of Are You Sleeping?
Trick-or-treating,
Trick-or-treating,
On our street,
On our street.
Please, give me some candy!
Please, give me some candy!
Nice and sweet,
Nice and sweet.
Book: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
It’s always fun to throw in an absolute classic picture book every now and then, and hear the caregivers say, “Oh!” in happy recognition. A lot of the kids recognized it too. The story of a mischievous boy named Max, who sails away to where the Wild Things are and becomes king of all Wild Things, before sailing back home to where someone loves him best of all. The kids enjoyed pretending to be Wild Things, and joining in on the terrible roars. I also throw in a funny chant during the Wild Rumpus pages that goes something like, “Dong-a-da-ding-a-duh, Dong-a-da-ding-a-duh, Dong-a-da-ding-a-duh, Dong Dong Dong.” My favorite piece of trivia about this book is that Sendak had to fight his editor over the last line (about Max’s dinner): And it was still hot. The editor thought it sounded too dangerous, and wanted to change it to “warm” instead, but Sendak refused.
Instrument Play-Along: My Imaginary Friend
I actually wrote a song about Where the Wild Things Are many years ago, but I thought this song (which was originally inspired by the book The Adventures of Beekle: the Unimaginary Friend) was a better fit for the monster theme:
[C] I have a little monster
No [F] larger than a [C] tear.
He climbs up on my shoulder
And [G7] whispers in my [C] ear.
CHORUS
He’s my [C] friend, my friend,
My [F] imaginary [C] friend.
Nobody else can see him.
They [G7] say he’s just pre-[C]tend.
Chorus
My monster’s always hungry.
He likes to eat my peas.
He brings me little treasures,
Like shiny coins and keys.
Chorus
My monster sleeps beside me
In a matchbox filled with hay.
He tells me funny stories,
And scares bad dreams away.
Chorus
If you find a monster,
I hope you’ll let him stay,
To chase away your nightmares
And play throughout the day.
He’ll be your friend, your friend,
Your imaginary friend.
And though no one else can see him,
He’ll be with you till the end.
Closing Song: The More We Get Together
As always, we ended the reading portion of storytime by singing The More We Get Together, with ASL signs, as in the video below.
The more we get together,
Together, together.
The more we get together,
The happier we’ll be.
Stay & Play: Dot Monsters or Foam Shape Monsters
For Family Storytime, I actually had the kids make monsters out of different shapes cut out of adhesive foam sheets, and decorated with markers and googly eyes. But unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any pictures of their creations.
For Outdoor Musical Storytime, we made “dot monsters” with dot markers and googly eyes on white paper. The kids especially love the sparkly dot markers.
Happy Halloween!
