Storytime: Lost & Found

Discussion Questions:

Today we are talking about lost things.  Has anyone ever lost anything before?  How did you feel about losing it?

Story: Lost and Found What's that Sound? by Johnathan Ying, illustrations by Victoria Ying*

This was a great story for our mix of ages (2-5).  Each animal has lost an instrument and so makes the instrument's sound in describing it.  Not only did kids get to guess what the instrument was, but they had clues about what was going to happen at the end (spoiler: the animals are in a band!).

Shaker Song: If you're Happy and You Know It

If you're happy and you know it, give a shake
If you're happy and you know it, give a shake
If you're happy and you know it and you really want to show it
If you're happy and you know it, give a shake

Variation: Give a Tap (This is great as it gives kids another chance at the repetition of the song AND it helps them experience different sounds with the same instrument).

Shaker Song: BINGO 

I use a flannel board with large letters for BINGO and big shaker shapes that cover up each letter as we progress through the song. For this story time I opened with, "Oh no! We're losing the letters to BINGO!  Can we still sing the song?"

There was a farmer who had a dog
And Bingo was his name-o.
B - I - N - G - O!
B - I - N - G - O!
B - I - N - G - O!
And Bingo was his name-o! 

Continue singing each verse with one less letter showing on the board. Some kids will do the traditional version and drop the letter from the song as they sing but others will still want to sing it. Either way works fine as it's still great for memory!

Shaker Song: Shaker's Sleeping (adapted from klmpeace)

Shaker’s sleeping don’t wake it up 
Shaker’s sleeping don’t wake it up 
Shaker’s sleeping don’t wake it up 
Now we’re very quite. Shhh… 

Wake up shaker, it’s time to play! 
Wake up shaker, it’s time to play! 
Wake up shaker, it’s time to play! 
Now we’re very loud!

Repeat "Shaker's sleeping" verse and then put the shakers away together.

Story: n/a

Our group had so much fun with the shakers that we did a few extra songs and skipped our second story. Below is what we would have read: Where Are My Books? by Debbie Ridpath Ohi.*

Craft: Lost Socks

• Pre-cut felt socks (various colors)
• Foam shapes
• Markers (optional)
• Glue

Our teens pre-cut some felt socks for us and kids got to decorate with markers and foam pieces for a great sensory-based craft. This also let the kids practice squeezing the glue bottle and lining up their selected shapes with their glue dot (or glue puddle, depending on how new they are to gluing items!).

*Links for books are to Goodreads; I am not affiliated with the company.