Storytime: M is for Moon and N is for Night

Age: 18-36 months (coloring page instead of craft), 3-5 years (with craft)
Time: 30 minutes

This school year in storytime I decided to use the alphabet to give me inspiration for themes. I'm needing to double up a few weeks so that we finish when we're supposed to... This week, M is for Moon and N is for Night!


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
This week I printed a picture of the moon that I put in the box.

3) Kitten's First Full Moon - Kevin Henkes

You can't really go wrong with a Caldecott winner like this one. I think it went over the heads of the younger kids, but at least they stayed focused on it since it was our first book.

4) Song - Moon Moon Moon - Laurie Berkner

This one is on Laurie's Victor Vito CD. I started with the motions from Sunflower Storytime, and then changed a few...

Moon, moon, moon (form arms in circle over head) 
Shining bright (wiggle fingers like they are sparkling) 
Moon, moon, moon (form arms in circle over head) 
My night light (act like turning off a light) 
Moon, moon, moon (arms in circle over head) 
I can see (point to eyes)
Moon, moon, moon (form arms in circle over head)
You’re taking care of me (hands over heart) 

Look up, it’s the moon (point up with right hand and look up) 
Look up, it’s the moon (point up with left hand and look up) 
Look up, it’s the moon (point up with both hands)
Up in the sky (wave arms back and forth over head)
It’s big and round (make circle with arms over head) 
And I have found (thumbs to chest)
That it looks just like a pizza [lemon] pie! (make circle with hands in front of you, then take a bite)

5) When You Look Up at the Moon - Allan Fowler

I wish this book was a little bigger in size, but it has great photos of the moon, astronauts, and earth, with easy-to-understand text.

6) Hey Diddle Diddle

I have this classic rhyme as a flannelboard, so I handed out the pieces to the kids and had them come up when we said their part. Then we said it a second time while I pointed at the pictures. When we said the line "the cow jumped over the moon", I stopped and asked them, "can a cow really jump over the moon?!" and they all said no. So I said "haha that's just silly! and look, the little dog laughed..."

7) Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

"What else do you see up in the sky at night along with the moon? Stars!"

8) Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I'm Off to the Moon! - Dan Yaccarino

This was probably my favorite book of the day. Only a sentence or two on a page, simple rhymes, and somewhat-real pictures (a lunar rover, the capsule's splashdown, etc. all in cartoon form). We had some older kids with us because it was a snow day for the schools, so I even had 3rd grade boys laughing at things (mostly the pictures of the kid's spacesuit...).

9) Song - Wimoweh (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) - Laurie Berkner

From her Whaddya Think of That CD. I asked the kids what they usually did when it was dark/night time. Sleep of course! So we found comfy spots on the floor to sleep during the slow verses, and then jumped up and danced with egg shakers during "wimoweh".

10) Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown

Ahh, every parent's favorite bedtime book. (well, it actually took this parent awhile to warm up to it [I preferred her Big Red Barn for the longest time with my first child]). No storytime about both the moon and night would be complete without this one.

11) M/N is for Moon/Night coloring page (18-36 mo.) or M/N is for Moon/Night craft (3-5 yrs)
I found a Goodnight Moon coloring page for the younger kids. For the older ones we just stuck with gluing for their craft. A black piece of paper, white M and N, wax paper moon (which looked really cool if it got a little crinkly during gluing!), and little stars from a previous craft.

Other moon/night ideas:
Papa Please Get the Moon for Me - Eric Carle
And If the Moon Could Talk - Kate Banks
I Took the Moon for a Walk - Carolyn Curtis
Moongame, Moondance, etc. - Frank Asch
Good Night Gorilla - Peggy Rathman
The Moon Might Be Milk - Lisa Shulman
The Moon - Seymour Simon
The Very Lonely Firefly - Eric Carle


**Side note about this storytime -- my husband and I are big astronomy buffs, so this has been my favorite storytime yet this year! Unfortunately it was also my smallest attendance (yucky weather, snow day at the schools), so I was really bummed I didn't get to share it with more kids. :(  BUT I'm excited for our science-themed summer reading program coming up, I am definitely going to do an astronomy storytime one of those weeks!