Storytime: X-Rays

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, X is for x-rays! (I thought about doing xylophone, but I know I'll be doing a music-themed storytime during summer reading)


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.

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 put a little print-out of a chest x-ray in the box. The kids were mostly stumped when I asked them what it was. A few did say "bones" or "skeleton". I explained how we have hard bones inside our bodies, but we can't see them because our skin is in the way. I had them hold up their arm and feel their forearm, then their wrist and hand, and notice the hard bones inside. When doctors need to look at our bones, they use a special machine to take special pictures called x-rays.


3) Jessica's X-Ray - Pat Zonta

I read the first page, then stopped and asked if any of the kids had ever broken a bone (none of them had). Then I asked the grown-ups if they had ever broken a bone, and got a few nods. I did paperclip quite a bit of pages together, since I was going to show them pictures of x-rays later. I also emphasized how breaking a bone does hurt, but the x-ray does not. It's just taking a picture. At the end of the book I told how eventually they'd go back to the doctor and get the cast off, and Jessica's arm would be all better.


4) Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes


5) Pictures of x-rays
I used Google images to find pictures of various x-rays -- a hand, foot, chest, knee, and head -- and printed them one to a page. I showed the kids the image and asked which body part they thought it was. They thought it was pretty cool to see pictures of something underneath your skin.


6) Move Them Bones - Sticky Kids
I first read about this song from Mollie. After following the link to Sticky Kids, and searching YouTube for it without success, I found the mp3 on Amazon and spent the 99 cents to get it. I'm going to be starting a Music & Movement storytime program in a month, and thought this song would fit great. It was really easy for the kids to follow the instructions.


7) Here Are My Hands - Bill Martin Jr.

A simple rhyming book, I asked the kids to show me each body part as we read about it. The last page talks about our skin, so I was able to tie it back to our theme -- "and our skin is what hides our bones!"


8) Song & Rhyme Cube
We rolled Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Five Little Monkeys.


9) X is for X-Ray coloring page (18-36 months) or X is for X-Ray craft
My x-ray craft is a combination of Susan's and Allison's. I traced the X onto black paper with a white crayon and let the kids practice cutting first. Then they used glue to draw an X on top of their black X, then laid q-tips in the glue to look like bones.

Other x-ray ideas:
You Can't See Your Bones With Binoculars - Harriet Ziefert
My Mom Has X-Ray Vision - Angela McAllister