Family Storytime: 24 Creative Programs for All Ages

This is a terrific little book!It gives a program outline for each of the themes along with suggestions for setting the mood with music and/or costume, alternate books to use (important when your library has limited resources), fingerplays, songs, poems, and activities to use with the program.What I like best about this book is that at least one fingerplay and poem is included right with the program outline so that you don't have to look them up--a great time saver.I found myself laughing out loud at several of the suggested poems and activities. They sound like lots of fun and I can't wait to share them with my storytime groups.

A delightful collection of winning ideas to use for programs with children! This book is written by a children's librarian and the primary audience is fellow "children's story hour" leaders. But the ideas are applicable to anyone dealing with children -- whether planning a theme party for your own children, conducting homeschooling, teaching in a public school classroom, working with day-care or after-school kids' programs, adding variety to a church/synagogue children's class, or adding a fresh approach to grandparenting time. This is a resource book, not a novel. Skim it through for general concepts and you will want it on your reference shelf as a source of hundreds of future ideas. One great aspect is the integration of art, music, puppetry, movement, poems, crafts, and videos along with traditional children's storytelling. The wide range of children's books listed, often with a short summary, will be appreciated by those who haven't been keeping up with the latest in children's literature.