Duck Story Time featuring a Rabbit

Of course, following April Showers has to be ducklings to swim in those puddles. (I'm obviously really working hard thinking of Story Time themes...) I really wanted to try the Duck Rabbit Craft that's all the rage right now. Pair that with multiple staff out due to sickness or vacation and crazy double shifts on every desk and that's how this year's Duck Story Time theme was born.

The Books:

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld

Duckie's Ducklings by Frances Barry

The Duckling gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems

Chicken, Chicken, Duck! by Nadia Krilanovich

The Favorite: It was a tie between Duck! Rabbit! and The Duckling gets a Cookie!? I really liked Duckie's Ducklings because it was just a cute counting book that was easy with the toddlers. Sometimes the Pigeon's rants go over 2 year old heads.  They really like counting ducks though.

Flannelboard: I'm doing really well with having an extra activity ready every week for story time and that's all thanks to this blog, which was the whole point. Since Story Time at my library was just books & a craft with the occasional flannelboard before I took over, I had spent a lot of time making flannelboards since we don't really have a collection of them.  I look forward to the day that I already have something made and don't have to make one quickly 15 minutes before Story Time!

I just went with the traditional Five Little Ducks Went Out to Play from childhood this time. You know the rhyme!

Five little ducks went out to play
Over the hill and far away.
The Mama Duck said,
Quack, quack, quack, quack!
But only four little ducks came back.

Repeat with 4, 3, 2...

One little duck went out to play
Over the hill and far away.
The Mama Duck said,
Quack, quack, quack, quack!
And no little ducks came back!
So the Mama Duck said,
QUACK, QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!!
And five little ducks came back!

While looking for cute clip art of ducks, I came across this adorable printable from Picklebums blog and knew I couldn't do anything as cute in such a large, easy capacity as I wanted! They are the cutest ducks I have ever seen! And since it was an easy printable, I printed enough for 20 ducklings. This worked out great since I could give every child a duck to take from the flannelboard. I only had to sing about 18 ducks that "went out to play." It worked really well for a big group and it was a blessing to be able to print them out. I love printables!! 

What's in the Memory Box?
A felt bunny! Of course, everyone had to "pet" the bunny which I wasn't expecting and now I invite the kids up to "pet" everything I hid in the box if it is an animal or bug.
 

The Craft:
We made the Duck/Rabbit Craft to go with the book Duck! Rabbit! which was really fun. I just used the template that I found on Pinterest, added a popsicle stick and Bam! Duck! Rabbit! Craft.

Bunnies Story Time

This week's theme was bunnies so I could get away with doing an "Easter" story time without actually doing it. This way, if the parents want to incorporate the "Easter Bunny" while they do the craft, that's up to them. However, I'm playing it safe by just calling them bunnies!

The Books:

You're Finally Here! by Mélanie Watt

Little Bunny Foo Foo by Cori Doerrfeld

Squish Rabbit by Katherine Battersby

The Favorite: Little Bunny Foo Foo was the favorite, which I was surprised since they are all equally my favorite bunny stories! I wasn't sure how the parents/kids would react to Little Bunny Foo Foo eating the Good Fairy at the end of the book, but it went over okay as far as I could tell. I had the kids do the finger play motions as I read the book.


Flannelboard: 5 Little Bunnies Rhyme found on storytimekatie.com

Hippety hop and hippety hay,
Five little bunnies went out to play.
Hippety hop and hippety hay,
One little bunny hopped away.
(Repeat until there are no bunnies left)
No more bunnies are playing today,
I hope they come back another day.


The best part about this rhyme is having the kids repeat "Hippety hop and hippety hay" over and over before I started the rhyme to "make sure they could say it" and they were really excited to say it with me and kept them from grabbing the bunnies down from the flannelboard.


What's in the Memory Box? 
I put a tiny felt mouse in the box this time for the field mice that Little Bunny Foo Foo was bopping on the head. I wish I had put one of my felt cupcakes in there instead since that's what the mice stole from Foo Foo to make her chase them. I'll have to remember for next time.

The Craft: Bunny Finger Puppet
This craft was so simple! I remembered seeing a finger puppet paper dog on Pinterest some time ago and thought I could use that idea and make it into a bunny. Some of the kids didn't want holes and just covered them up with another white bunny head.

This is my first pattern-turned-PDF to share!