Storytime Crafts, Printables and Take-Home Materials
Take-Home Sheets Online Resources Die Cut Items
A storytime take-home sheet generally includes:
 | the topic/theme of the storytime |
| a list of books used (plus a few additional suggestions from your collection) |
| rhymes, songs or fingerplays used (at least one) |
| follow-up activities or craft suggestions |
| tips for parents or caregivers (see below)
This link will open a Word document. You can copy and paste one of these tips onto a take-home sheet along with a nursery rhyme that you featured in your program and, perhaps, a craft or follow-up activity. This link will open a Word document. You can print this page to give to daycare providers and other caregivers who might do their own storytimes. If you have storytime kits that you lend to care providers, you might include the flyer with those. |
Kiz club Learning Resources -- some great printable props for storytimes, etc.
Paper Bag Puppets -- http://abcteach.com/directory/fun_activities/crafts/paper_bag_puppets/ -- SWILSA has die cut pieces for making a sheep, a lion and a bunny. If you are looking for other animals, this is a good place to find them!
Storytime Source Page -- a blog with storytime ideas, rhymes, etc.
Crafts and book suggestions for fun ways to learn the alphabet -- http://www.thebestkidsbooksite.com/storydetails.cfm?TopicID=1.
Cute clipart for creating flannelboards, etc. -- http://www.pppst.com/clipart.html. Includes a cute alphabet chart.
Very Hungry Caterpillar:
Flannel Board Patterns and Story Sequencing Cards --
http://www.dltk-teach.com/books/hungrycaterpillar/index.htm.
[You might want to print a few of these for use in the library or for activity
boxes. Provide the URL for parents who want to print their own at home.]
Countdown to Kindergarten: Monthly activities for 4 and 5-year-olds. [Print these for parents and caregivers to pick up.]
Wheels On the Bus: print out the lyrics for parents to take home.
All sorts of coloring pages -- http://www.coloring.ws/coloring.html -- look under "Simple Characters and Shapes" for some good, basic outlines.
Every Child Ready to Read -- ALSC (a division of ALA) offers these printable brochures for parents.
A Rhyme A Week: Nursery Rhymes for Early Literacy -- Traditional rhymes with downloadable graphics -- http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/wil/rimes_and_rhymes.htm
Printable bookmarks for parents and caregivers -- on the Early Childhood Literacy website at http://www.ilsa.lib.ia.us/ECL/awareness.htm.
Reading Tip Sheets from ˇColorín Colorado! -- http://www.colorincolorado.org/guides/readingtips -- note that the sheets are available in Spanish and several other languages.
Scholastic's "Books & Reading" -- including video clips for parents. Recommend this site to parents: include it on a flyer or put a link on your library web page.
Looking for materials in other languages? Washington Learning Systems at http://www.walearning.com/ has free printable materials in Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Somali, Russian and Mandarin. Especially check out their "On the Go" activities for parents at http://www.walearning.com/Otg.html.
Starfall.com -- website to recommend to parents of beginning readers.
International Children's Digital Library -- nearly 4000 short books online in English, Spanish, Finnish, Mongolian, German, Arabic, Swahili, Portuguese, Farsi and more.
Articles to print out for parents/caregivers -- from Reading Rockets. Many of these fit right in with the 6 Early Literacy Skills!
Crinkleroot's Outdoor Pages (Jim Arnosky) -- Good for nature themes (Earth Day, etc.)
Ducks Don't Wear Socks -- patterns for flannelboard or coloring.
Education.com has coloring pages and activity sheets for lots of themes. Good for take-home or story hour use.
Free Activity Pages from Mother Goose -- http://www.mothergooseprograms.org/osc/index.php?cPath=1.
The Bookworm -- a free printable parent newsletter from the Idaho Commission for Libraries -- http://libraries.idaho.gov/page/bookworm.
Zero
to Three -- look for the "Download of the Week"
Many of our die cut shapes are obvious choices for crafts -- hearts for making Valentines, doorhangers and visors to decorate, and so on. Many of the shapes make perfect nametags which are good for showing small children the connection between print and real things and are good take-home items. Teddy bears, dinosaurs, puppies, apples, and crayons are a few of the most popular nametags.
Laminated Die Cut Sets for Flannelboards:
| Rhyming Words: cat/bat, car/star, dog/frog, mittens/kittens, sow/cow, fish/dish -- Click HERE for the rhyme that goes along with these! |
| More Rhyming Words: bone/phone, caboose/goose, cat/hat, moon/spoon, white/kite |
| Shapes: triangle, circle, square, rectangle, oval |
| Colors (crayon shapes): red, green, blue, orange, yellow, white, black, pink, brown |
| Pairs: dog/bone, tree/leaf, locomotive/caboose, hand/mitten |
| Teddy Bear Matching: 4 pairs of bears |
| Mitten Matching (colors): 2 each of red, blue, green, yellow, pink, orange |
| Farm Shapes: barn, horse, cow, pig, goose, tree, hen, duck, sheep |
| Purple Cows: cow shape in purple, orange, red, yellow, green and blue (Use with the rhyme "I never say a purple cow / I never hope to see one / But I can tell you, anyhow / I'd rather see than be one!") |
Southwest libraries may order these sets from SWILSA. Cost is 13˘ for each laminated piece -- total depends on the number of pieces in the set. Just add a piece of velcro or felt to the back for flannelboard use.