Storytime: K is for Kangaroo

Age: 18-36 months (coloring page instead of craft), 3-5 years (with craft)

This school year in storytime I decided to use the alphabet to give me inspiration for themes. So this week, K is for Kangaroos!


1) These Are My Glasses - Laurie Berkner
My current opening song that we sing acappella every week. I start by asking them to show me their glasses and their book so that they remember the signs. We sing it through twice, then I'll ask them to quietly put their "books" in their lap.

These are my glasses (make the letter o with each hand)
And this is my book (hands together)
I put on my glasses (put "glasses" over eyes)
And open up the book (open book hands)
Now I read read read (hold book up in front of face like reading)
And I look look look (put glasses over eyes and look around room)
I put down my glasses and… (lower glasses)
WHOOP! Close up the book. (clap as if closing a book quickly)


2) Mystery Box
I have a big stuffed kangaroo puppet (complete with a pouch and joey), but of course it was too big to fit in my little mystery box. So I put a note inside instead: "I'm too big to fit in this box, but I hope you'll think I'm cute. You'll find me with my baby underneath the parachute!" The parachute was on the counter, covering a box of stuffed animals that I used later.

3) I Love It When You Smile - Sam McBratney

A cute book about a grumpy baby kangaroo. The kids were all giggling at the silly antics of the mother kangaroo.


4) Song – Shake Your Sillies Out - the Wiggles
Jump like a kangaroo! :)


5) Kangaroo Magic for Kids - Judith Logan Lehne & Life Cycle of a Kangaroo - Angela Royston (non-fiction books)

I wanted to show the kids some photos of real kangaroos. I ended up choosing only 3-5 pages from each of these books (didn't get into the entire life cycle...) and narrated them myself.


6) iPad videos - Kangaroos Hop, Blue Mountains National Park & Baby Kangaroos Thinking Outside the Pouch
Since there's nothing like seeing a kangaroo really hopping, I brought down our library's iPad and chose a couple of short videos from Youtube. The kids were fascinated! I'll have to find more uses for our iPad in storytime...


7) Pouch! - David Ezra Stein

I first discovered this book when I received it for my own kids as part of the Imagination Library. It was probably my favorite one of the entire storytime. I elaborated a few words here and there, especially for the younger group, to help them understand what was going on in the pictures.


8) Hop, Hop, Hop Kangaroo
Found here, to the tune of Skip to My Lou.  We hopped/skipped around the room of course. :)

Hop, hop, hop, kangaroo 
Hop, hop, hop, kangaroo 
Hop, hop, hop, kangaroo 
Hopping around Australia. 

Baby in a pocket safe and snug 
Baby in a pocket safe and snug 
Baby in a pocket safe and snug 
Hopping with her mama.

(repeat first verse)


9) Boing - Nick Bruel (3-5 yr only) 

I discovered I had every animal from this book in puppet form! I took the kangaroo puppet in the picture above and pre-filled her pocket with small stuff like crayons, yarn, paper clips, batteries... basically anything I could find around my desk that fit! I had all of the animals in a big box and pulled them out as I read the book.


10) Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? - Karen Beaumont

I think I've mentioned before how I'm a sucker for good rhyming books, and I love a lot of Karen Beaumont's. All the kids in both age groups got a kick out of this one -- they were so into it, and everyone thought the monkey really had eaten all the cookie dough! (one kid burst out "he's lying!!" when the monkey denied it :)


11) K is for Kangaroo coloring page (18-36 mo.) or K is for Kangaroo craft (3-5 yrs)

Hurray for Pinterest! I found the exact idea I was looking for here, and generally did the same thing. I pre-cut all the pieces and just had the kids glue it together, then decorate with crayons.

My 3.5-year-old's version

Other kangaroo ideas:
Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too? - Eric Carle
Little New Kangaroo - Bernard Wiseman
Who Are You, Baby Kangaroo? - Stella Blackstone
Joey - Jack Kent