Books
“Moongame” by Franck Asch
“How to Catch a Star” by Oliver Jeffers
“Kitten’s First Full Moon” by Kevin Henkes
Craft
I usually end storytime with a craft but today we did it first since we wanted our moons to dry. We painted with moon paint (mixed flour and white paint to make a chunky textured mixture). First I drew a circle with a white colored pencil on black card stock. I passed out different colored star stickers and had the children put the stars all around the circle. Once they were finished I scooped out some moon paint into the middle of the circle and using a paint brush the children spread it around. I didn’t just want to give the children free reign of the paint because I was just imagining a ton of paint all over the pictures and it never drying. Once their circles were painted they took water bottles and different sized bottle caps and pushed them into their moon to make craters. I was nervous that this would be a chaotic mess but again I was wrong to worry! When the paint dries it has a really cool texture.
Moon Guessing Game
Since I knew the children wouldn’t all finish at the same time I had a game ready for those that were done and washed up to play. I had 5 numbered clouds and hide a moon behind one, the children then guessed what number the moon was behind. Our flannel board is on wheels so I wheeled it around to hide the moon. The kids yelled out numbers and really enjoyed it but by the end I had a few kids trying to come around to see what I was doing, luckily by this time everyone was done with the craft and we could start reading.
Bend and Stretch
Bend and stretch, reach for the stars
(put arms in the air and bend side to side)
There goes Jupiter, here comes Mars
(point in the air)
Bend and stretch, reach for the sky
Stand on tip-e-toe, oh so high!
(stand on tiptoes and reach up)
Four Little Stars
Four little stars winking at me (wink or at least try)
One shot off and then there were three (zoom hand out to side)
Three little stars with nothing to do (shrug)
One shot off and then there were two
Two little stars afraid of the sun (circle arms overhead)
One shot off and then there was one
One little star alone is no fun (shake finger)
It shot off and then there were none!
Source: Preschool Education
Zoom Zoom Zoom
Zoom, zoom, zoom (rub hands together in the air)
We’re going to the moon.
Zoom, zoom, zoom
We’re going to the moon.
If you want to take a trip (pretend to climb imaginary ladder up arm)
climb aboard my rocket ship.
Zoom, zoom, zoom
We’re going to the moon.
In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (count down on fingers)
Blast off! (raise hands)
Source: Jbrary
How it Went: This was an amazing storytime! We have a large copy of Moongame by Frank Asch, I have never used it before and was a little apprehensive because it is a little lengthy. I decided to give it a shot and would shorten it if need be. I shouldn’t have had any fears because the children were entranced by this book, I’m not sure if it was the words, the pictures or just the rarity of a large oversized book, but either way it worked perfectly and it went really well with our guessing game! I’m also really happy with how the moon paint came out, the kids enjoyed making it and were so excited to feel the texture after it dried.