Tales for 2s and 3s - Monster Halloween Storytime & Craft!

My first storytime for the 2 and 3 year olds was October 27th so I did a fun monster/Halloween themed storytime! :) 

Here is my storytime & craft outline!

1)   Introduction – This is the Way Our Hands Say Hello (to tune of the Mulberry Bush)

This is the way our hands say hello,
With a clap, clap-clap, Clap, clap-clap
This the way our hands say hello,
With a clap, clap-clap, clap-clap

This is the way our knees say hello,
With a tap tap-tap,
Tap tap-tap
This is the way our knees say hello,
With a tap tap-tap, tap-tap

This is the way we wave hello,
Wave hello, wave hello
This is the way we wave hello,
So early in the morning

2)   Book #1 – Go Away Big Green Monster

This is such a classic book and perfect for this age range. The book is great because the children can participate and tell each part of the monster to "GO AWAY!" It's also great because it identifies colors, which children should be pretty familiar with at this age. 

3)   Song: Spooky Loo on the CD, Wee Sing for Halloween

Here we go Spook-y Loo, Here we go Spook-y Light,

Here we go Spook-y Loo, All on a Hal-low-een night.

You put your right hand in, You put your right hand out, You give you right hand a shake, shake, shake, And you turn your-self a-bout. Oh,

(Chorus after each verse)

2. ...left hand...

3. ...right hand...

4. ...left foot...

5. ...head...

6. ...whole self...

4)   Book 2: Little Monsters

This is an old pop up book from 1986. It might be hard to find in your library but I had to add it here. It is SUCH a cool book. The pop ups are spectacular and at the end, it asks the reader to count how many monsters were in the book. So I asked the children to help me count all the monsters in the book (there were five). Love it! 

5)   Flannel Board Story: Chocolate Chip Ghost

Chocolate Chip Ghost is a sweet little flannel board story that has been told in storytimes for years. It might not fit the monster theme but it's perfect for Halloween time! In this story, the five ghosts have to eat all white foods so they can stay white but the mom runs out of food. The mom goes to the grocery store and before she leaves, she tells the ghosts to not eat anything until she gets back with dinner! Of course, the naughty ghosties are hungry and begin eating different things in their fridge. One ghost eats a strawberry and turns red! I have the children try to guess the color the ghost will turn based on the food they eat. I also have them join in with me and say "Oh no!!" once I flip the ghost over to reveal their color.   Another ghost eats a lemon meringue pie and turns yellow! Oh no!! Finally, the last little ghost looks and looks but doesn't find anything in the cabinets, until he sees a cookie jar on the tallest shelf in the corner. He eats the cookie in a snap and turns chocolate chip colored! Oh no!! Of course the mom then comes home and gives each ghost a glass of milk where they all turn back to white again.  

Here are the words to the story:

Once there was a Mama Ghost and five little ghosts who lived in a spooky old house. They were all a sparkling dazzling white. Mama ghost made sure they stayed so white by letting them eat only white milk.

Once day, just before suppertime, when Mama Ghost looked into the refrigerator, there was no milk for their supper! She quickly got ready to go to the grocery store. Just before she left she told her five little ghosts to be sure not to eat anything, since she would be back with their suppers very soon. With that, she gave them all a kiss and went off to the grocery store.

All went well for a time, but soon the first little ghost said “I’m hungry. I really want something to eat.” And with that, he opened the refrigerator door and found a red ripe strawberry and ate it all up. And he turned bright red. "Oh no!!!"

The second little ghost said “No fair! I’m hungry too.” And opened the refrigerator and found a lemon meringue pie and ate it all up. She turned a bright yellow. "Oh no!!!" 

The third little ghost started crying that he was hungry too and ran to the refrigerator and drank a glass of grape juice and turned purple. What do you think he said? (ask kids to join in) "Oh no!!!"

The fourth little ghost was mad because she was hungry and the only thing left in the refrigerator was a piece of lettuce which she ate, and it turned her green! Oh no!!!

The last little ghost was hungry, hungry, hungry. But when he looked in the refrigerator there was nothing to eat! But he was hungry, hungry, hungry! So he looked in all the drawers, and in all the cabinets, and finally on the very top shelf of a cupboard, there was a cookie jar. And in that cookie jar was one chocolate chip cookie. The little ghost was so hungry that he ate in all up in one snap! And He turned chocolate chip colored! and what did he say? Oh no!!!

Just then Mama Ghost returned from the grocery store with milk for the little ghost’s suppers. My, oh, my! Was she surprised to see all her little ghosties all the colors of the rainbow!

You naughty little ghosties! Come and get your supper right now! So she gave each of them a glass of white milk and each little ghost turned sparkling white again.

6)   Book #2 – Tickle Monster by Edouard Manceau

This is such an awesome book and pairs so well with Go Away Big Green Monster! It is PERFECT for this age range. The book begins with, "Hey Tickle Monster! You don't scare me! If I tickle your horns... you can't poke me!" In this story, the reader is prompted to tickle various parts of a monster and he is deconstructed with each part that is tickled, repurposing the monster parts into a far less threatening scene (feet turn upside down and become trees in a scene, for example). You can prompt children to pretend they are a monster and have parents tickle the various parts on their child as the monster in the story slowly goes away. Parts that are tickled: horns, arms, feet, teeth, tummy, ears, nose, eyes, and finally, head (the last part to go). I love the last few pages of this book too. "And now, if I tickle your head... you're gone! Good-bye Tickle Monster!" -- "Phew! I can finally go to sleep" -- "But if you ever come knocking on my door, Tickle Monster, beware: I will tickle you again!"

It's been a while since I've seen a book that is almost as amazing as Go Away Big Green Monster! This book was a big hit with the kids. 

7)   Halloween Dance on the CD, Golden Records Spooky Halloween Hits. This is the classic 60's song that prompts children to march like a monster, shake their hands like a skeleton, put their arms up like a goblin, and dance like a fairy! It's a really great song to get kids moving. I will note though that some of the sound effects (particularly the monster roaring sounds) may be a little spooky for young children. However, I haven't had any complaints yet and I've played this song at 4 different Halloween storytimes over the years :) Listen to it below:

8)   Quote from Mr. Rogers: Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood. (perfect quote to lead into the playtime!)

9)   Craft & Playtime. The craft for this week was a monster visor. It is made mostly from ellison shapes with the addition of multicolored sticker dots and googly eyes. The beauty of this craft is that not all of them will look alike! I love crafts that don't end up looking all the same. I wish I had a picture of some of the children's visors but I forgot to bring a camera into the program. 

Happy Halloween everyone!