Be Creative @ Your Library

Dancing Sheep--fingerplay

 

Version 1:

 

  (say quietly)

Shhh!  It’s time to go to sleep

  (put finger to mouth, pretend to sleep)

But into my bedroom one sheep creeps.

  (creep fingers)

 

“Don’t go to bed,” the one sheep said.

“I would rather dance instead!”

 

Soon he was…  (draw these words out)

Dancing on the ceiling!

  (move hands above head in “dancing” motion)

He was dancing on the floor!

  (move hands on floor as mentioned above)

He was dancing on the window!

  (move hands to one side)

He was dancing on the door!

  (move hands to other side)

 

 

 

 

He kept on…

 

Dancing on the ceiling!

  (sing faster)

He was dancing on the floor!

He was dancing on the window!

He was dancing on the door!

(repeat several times getting faster each time through)

 

“Stop that dancing, silly sheep.

It is time to go to sleep!”

 

Soon the sheep lay on the floor.

Soon the sheep began to snore.

 

So I started …  (draw these words out)  

Dancing on the ceiling!

I was dancing on the floor!

I was dancing on the window!

I was dancing on the door!
I made up a simple tune to go with the "dancing" part, but you can just speak the lines.--or make up your own tune.  I've also done this fingerplay by giving each child a sheep.  Click here to see Version 2.

 

 

I Am Creative--song

  (sung to "Wheels on the Bus")

 

 

I am creative.  I write stories.

I write stories.  I write stories.

I am creative.  I write stories.

All the time.

 

I am creative so I dance…

 

I am creative.  I play drums…

 

I am creative.  I paint pictures…

 

  

 

 

 

 

I’d Like to Be an Artist--song
  (sung to “Pop Goes the Weasel”) 

I’d like to be an artist.

I’d like to have art stuff.

I’d like to have some crayons.

Is that enough?

No (spoken)

 

Crayons and some paper

Are a good start

But I’d like some more stuff

To make art.

 

I’d like to be an artist.

I’d like to have more stuff.

I’d like to have a paintbrush.

Is that enough?

No (spoken) 

 

 

 

A paintbrush and some paints

A pair of scissors, too

Put them in your art box

Will that do?

No (spoken)

 

I’d like to be an artist.

I’d like to have more stuff.

I’d like to have craft sticks.

Is that enough?

No (spoken)

 

Craft sticks and glue

Feathers and clay

Add imagination

It’s an art day!
I'm going to gather the various art supplies mentioned in the song to use as props.

 

 

 

 

 

Miss McDonald Has Art Class--song

  (sung to “Old McDonald”)

 

Miss McDonald has art class.

E-I-E-I-O

And in this class, they paint with paint

E-I-E-I-O

 

With a  brush, brush here

And a bush, bush there

Here a brush, there a brush

Everywhere a brush, brush

 

Miss McDonald has art class.

E-I-E-I-O

And in this class, they shape with clay

E-I-E-I-O

 

With a  roll, roll here

And a pat, pat there

Here a roll, there a pat

Everywhere a roll, rat.

 

Feel free to change the words above to make the song "work" for you.  You can also make up more verses, e.g. cut with scissors, stick with glue, make collage, etc. You might want to ask the kids to help you create the additional verses.  

 

 

Paint Splotch Hunt--activity 

  1. Make a palette for each of the children out of tagboard or poster board.  You can copy the pattern provided or make your own.  You might want to cut out the thumb hole.  
  2. You’ll also need to make a set of paint splotches for each child.  I used red, yellow, blue, orange, green, purple, black and pink.  Patterns for the splotches are provided; however, I used a die-cut to create the pieces quickly.  For example, one of the pieces was a discarded portion from a treble cleft. 
  3. Put Velcro®  on the palette and on the paint splotches.  If you have an Artwaxer® or Procote Waxer, you could use it instead of Velcro®.  I usually laminate the pieces if I use the Artwaxer®.
  4. Hide the splotches in the library.  Because my group of kids is fairly young, I put the pieces in obvious places. 
  5. Give each child an empty palette.   Then have them find one splotch of each color and put it in the matching outline.
Although it takes some time to create enough props for each child, my Storytime kids love going on hunts.

 

Pictures--name tag activity
  (sung to “One Elephant Went out to Play”)

One pretty picture on the wall

Hung carefully so it won’t fall.

But the wall seems rather bare

So please put your picture right up there.

 
To create these name tags, I cut frames from construction paper.   (I used a die-cut machine.)  For the "pictures," I searched the clip art database that's part of Microsoft Office Online using "abstract" and "picture" as search terms.  You could also draw your own pictures or have the kids draw their own picture the first week of the session.  I wrote the  kids' names on the frame.  

Sometimes the kids all bring their name tags up at the same time, in which case we'd only sing the song once.  If only a few kids bring their pictures up, we'll count how many pictures are on the wall and then sing that number in the first line.  Sometimes I will ask just the girls (or boys) to bring their pictures up if I want to make sure we sing the song more than once.  

 

* These participation activities can be used freely in programs, but may not be re-posted, reproduced, or sold without prior permission.

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