This story time is such a rollercoaster for me, but today was far and away my best performance. Attendance was low, and not every child there was the right age, but I was just so on, and so prepared, and it was a great feeling. Here is my set list: Opening Song: I decided to replace my usual second introductory song, If You'd Like to Read a Book, with two action rhymes instead. It wound up being a wise decision. Rhyme: This is a rhyme I wrote this morning when I realized that I needed just one more filler item and couldn't find one that felt right to me. It's based on the format of Blue is the Lake, but I don't think it paints a picture in quite the same way. Here are the words and actions.

Here is a giant who is tall, tall, tall. And here is an elf who is small, small small. The elf who is small will try, try, try To reach the giant who is high, high, high This was definitely the weakest link in the chain today, but the kids still really liked trying to stretch as high as a giant. Song: Another unexpected hit! We did it twice, because the kids really got into it. I downloaded the free MP3 from and played it on my laptop.

(Careful when you click the link; it starts playing right away!). Bow like a prince just like so.

Juggle like a jester just like so. Fly like a fairy just like so. Roar like a dragon, just like so.

Flannel Board Song: Royal Crowns I owe a lot to my Twitter colleagues on this one! Melissa from Mel's Desk suggested singing 'The princess wore her blue crown.' I instantly loved the idea, because I have already used that song a handful of times (Daddy's Ties, Grandpa's Ties, Grandma's Scarves) and knew my group would be familiar with it. Initially, I planned to have the princess wear five different-colored crowns, but then I decided to get a little more creative, and I gave each of four members of the royal family his/her own crown to wear. The wore red, the purple, theblue, and the yellow. I sang about each crown as I put it on the character's head, then we sang about each one once more. If I did this again, I'd like to print four more identical crowns with a crazy pattern and sing about the family wearing its fancy crowns!

Book: by Nick Sharatt (2008) This author is some kind of story time genius. This book is fantastic, and gorgeous to look at, and the kids and parents all loved it. Flannel Board Song: This leftover from my Irish story time last week was actually the inspiration for this entire story time. I saved it for last because the final fairy says goodbye because it's time to go home. The perfect ending to what I would call an almost-perfect story time. Goodbye Song: I really think the reason this story time was so much more successful than others had to do with luck as much as skill. I was definitely better-prepared than usual, even though my rhymes and songs weren't fully memorized, and I chose a theme that was a bit of a challenge so I really had to engage with it to make it work.

But it was also a really slow afternoon here today, and I had very few kids, and no babies. With a different set of kids, things could have gone a lot worse.

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But I enjoyed this so much, I can't wait until I have the chance to repeat it! Also, for the record, my goal was to fill 30 minutes, and this session lasted about 28.

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Other books I considered reading for this story time include:. by Audrey and Don Wood. by Florence Parry Heide, illustrated by Lane Smith. by Esme Raji Codell, illustrated by Elisa Chavarri. by Maurice Sendak. by Betsy and Giulio Maestro I couldn't find any other Fantasy story times.

If you have done one, or know someone who has, and there's a post about it, let me know, and I'll link it! Anonymous Thank you!

You just gave me two new 'templates' for storytime activities, which I will use the heck out of: 'Blue is the Lake' = themed 'setting' rhyme and 'Skip to My Lou' = themed action song (a great alternative to 'If You're Happy and You Know It'). Plus I love the way you decided to do the crowns, with one for everybody. Definitely do the crazy crowns next time, they will be a big hit! Thanks so much! ALSO plus I'm going to give these titles to my colleague who is working on our Royalty storytime resource pack. This totally turned out perfect.

I had the same revelation about Blue is the Lake as a setting rhyme! It just hit me all of a sudden, and I realized it is so adaptable, if you have some time and a rhyming dictionary.;-) I originally started using Skip To My Lou as my hello song, and I do various actions with that, but it has spiraled from there. There are only so many ways to adapt If You're Happy, so I'm really glad to have an alternative. And thank YOU for sharing all of your wonderful ideas. Your 'This is Big Big Big' rhyme is the hit of all my baby story times, and I'm always excited to see your posts. I'm glad you found this story time useful - I think it's the best one I've done, so it means a lot to know someone else thinks it's valuable!