Oh. My. Goodness.
All respect to preschool teachers – you guys are unsung heroes in our communities!
A local preschool group came to visit today, and this is pretty much how I felt afterwards:
![By Umberto Salvagnin (originally posted to Flickr as Sleeping) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://raincitylibrarian.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/600px-sleeping_cat_on_her_back.jpg "By Umberto Salvagnin (originally posted to Flickr as Sleeping) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
I love preschoolers – they are so enthusiastic and curious and energetic, and they can handle more complex stories and activities than my usual demographic of toddlers and babies. Preschoolers will ask questions, and let you know clearly and often volubly if they approve or disapprove of your story time selections.
But the very attributes that make preschoolers so much fun to work with can also make them a bit of a handful, especially in large numbers! Preschool or daycare visits can also be markedly different from in-house story times because of the change in child:adult ratio. In my regular story times, the attendance ratio is typically one child for every adult, while a group visit can have around 7 children for every adult. This can sometimes make wrangling the group feel a bit like herding cats. Adorable, talkative cats who give you big hugs at the end of the program, but still, cats.
Here’s what we ended up doing – it’s not really what I’d planned, but it’s what ended up working for this frisky group.
Book 1: Bark, George! / Jules Feiffer
Songs:
- I wake up my hands
- The itsy bitsy spider
Book 2: Pete the Cat I Love my White Shoes / Eric Litwin
Action Songs:
- Head and Shoulders
- Tick tock tick tock
- The elevator song
Book 3: The Wheels on the Bus / Jane Cabrera
Action Songs:
- Zoom zoom
- If you’re happy and you know it
If You’re Happy and You Know It is a great transition/instruction song. I used the tune to sing “If you’re happy and you know it wave goodbye”, “If you’re happy and you know it find your partner” and “If you’re happy and you know it line up now” – it was a perfect transition into the next portion of their visit, which was a book exchange.
Preschoolers really aren’t my typically demographic, but they’re a lot of fun! If anyone has any suggestions for great books or song to use with preschoolers, please please share!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have a bit of a lie down after all that cat wrangling…. 🙂
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