ABC Storyhour, Friday, September 2 @ 10:30

Play: 
I hung the foam letters of the alphabet on the clothesline. First I took down the T, and brandished it before them. "The most important letter of the alphabet, because that's what my name starts with.  T for Travis.  Then I went around the room and asked each child what their name started with.  Needed quite a bit of help for some, and at first I thought I must be mad beginning a storytime by giving each kids a prop, but they all did quite well with them. The letters were then used for the craft afterward.

Books:

• Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth.  Love this book.  I always have the kids do the Shoo Fly, Shoo Fly, Shoo!
• The Sleepy Little Alphabet by Judy Sierra. Another very funny hit from Judy Sierra. This is the only alphabet book I find to be readable. It doesn't just go A was once an Apple Pie, B blah blah blah.  Instead the naughty lower case letters are each misbehaving at bedtime, and the connection between letter and action isn't labored. A is wide awake, B won't take a bath, etc.  Pix are great too.
• Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham.  Moose is understandably put out because he has to wait and wait and wait until it's his turn to be M is for Moose, and Moose is NOT a good waiter then when they get to M it's for Mouse! His outrage knows no bounds!
• Superhero ABC by Bob McLeod OR Achoo! Bang! Crash! by Ross MacDonald OR ABC Animal Jamboree by Giles Andreae. Skip around in these books and just read the superheroes who start with the individual children's letters (aren't you glad you handed them out!) 

Songs:

ABCs!

Play: 
Before a regular song like Motor Boat, we did a few actions that began with the kids' letters. For examply, Juliet's J was for jiggle, Brianna's was for ballet, Charlie was for cackle.  Might want to make up a list of good action verbs

A 
B is for Balleting
C is for Cackling
D is for Dancing
E 
F is for Flapping
G is for Growling
H is for Howling, Hopping
I
J is for Jiggling, Jumping
K
L is for Laughing
M is for Meowing
Nodding
O 
P is for Pushing and Pulling
Q is for Quacking
R is for Running, Roaring
S is for Staring, Spinning
T 
U 
V
W is for Whispering, Waving
X 
Y is for Yelling, Yapping
Z is for Zapping

Craft: 

We strung foam letter beads from Oriental Trading on pipecleaners. Make a loop at the end for closure:




















Alternately, have the kids make name plaques for themselves. Foam letters and a lot of foam stickers and stars.