This was my first fully fledged outreach storytime!
I took this storytime to almost 40 rooms/daycares/centers/ministries in September and October. Generally, the kids loved it. Cats are fairly popular, and they loved the books. The variations on the songs were hard to teach in the time provided, so sometimes I would have them sing a random song of their choice (and occasionally they would sing one I didn’t know).
It’s hard reporting on something I’ve done even a few months ago because I do so many storytimes a week, but I will do my best!
We leave a handout for the parents each storytime. I create mine using Canva. Each handout should include a general overview of some things that might have happened in the storytime. It should also include a parent tip. I sometimes use the handout if I have a blank in the middle of a storytime (doing it 40+ times can be tiring), but I typically don’t reference it during the storytime. I also don’t do everything that’s on there (that would take waaaay too long).
Books Brought Along:
Cat Nap by Toni Yuly
Cat’s Colors by Jane Cabrera
Come Along, Kitten by Joanne Ryder
Kitten for a Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Kitty’s Cuddles by Jane Cabrera
Never Say Boo to a Goose by Jakki Wood
Pop-up Peekaboo! Meow! by Dawn Sirett, Susan Calver
Pumpkin Cat by Anne Mortimer
Ten Red Apples: A Bartholomew Bear Counting Book by Virginia Miller
Songs/Activities Planned:
stand-up-cat-craft-instructions
The way our program works, we bring a craft to leave at the daycare for them to do later. This month, I brought a Stand Up Cat. Mine has to be propped up by this point (it’s December), but it was totally cute.
How it Typically Went:
Typically, I would start off by introducing myself, saying where I was from and talking about what you can find at libraries.
Then, I would put on a headband that had cat ears attached to it and say, “Can anybody guess what we’re going to read about today?” Ideally, they would say “Cats!”
Then, I would typically start off by reading Pumpkin Cat. I would gauge the energy level of the kids and decide what to do next. We sometimes would sing a song, or, if they were pretty chill, we would read another book (and sometimes two more books if we didn’t sing).
After reading another book, we would do The Cat Stretch and/or sing a song.
Finally, I would likely read a third book (typically Ten Red Apples).
We would end by standing up and reaching to the sky, reaching down low to touch our toes, reaching up high again, turn around to the right, turn around to the left, reaching up high one more time before waving goodbye because it was the end of storytime.
Final Thoughts:
I loved reading about cats, and of course, I always came across better cats books afterwards. I would definitely repeat it again, though now, I would include a cutout activity towards the end.
The Alien Librarian 