Mail Storytime

 While my Story Times usually last about 30 minutes, this one last ONE HOUR & 15 MINUTES!! Total anomaly and I'll tell you all about it after I give you the run-down for this themed Story Time.

After our Good Morning songs, we started off right away with Freddy the Frog and the clues to our theme.
He was first introduced in our Pond Story Time, having been an idea from Wake County Public Library. 

We sang the Hippity Hoppity Dance and after receiving our clues, learned that the theme was mail. 

BOOK: Can I Be Your Dog by Troy Cummings

Immediately, we dived into our first book, "Can I Be Your Dog" by Troy Cummings. 

If you've never read this story before, click here for a Read Aloud - it's too cute!

Next, we danced out to Joanie Leeds, "Jump, Jump" and sang a filler song.

SONG: The Rain Is Falling Down 

This is an original song, sung to the tune "The Farmer in the Dell". Here are the words . . .

The rain is falling down (falling fingers)

The rain is falling down (falling fingers)

But without fail, we'll get our mail (swing arm and raise pointer finger)

The rain is falling down (falling fingers)

Other verses:

The snow is floating down (shiver)

The sleet is sliding down (slide clap)

The hail is beating down (clap)

The storm is raging on (stomp feet, pat legs)

Activity Board: Mail Time!

This idea was inspired by Jen In The Library's Mail and Letters Preschool Storytime. For this activity, I had 4 letters attached to the easel - the 4 letters pictured above.

They are stamped and addressed but are missing one thing. After the kids figured out what it was, (the return address) I told them that we had to open them to find out who they were from. 

We sang a song before opening each one.

SONG: Lovely Letter In the Mail (tune: If You're Happy and You Know It)

Oh, I got a lovely letter in the mail (clap, clap)

Oh, I got a lovely letter in the mail (clap, clap)

Getting mail is so much fun

Let's see who sent this one

Oh, this lovely little letter in the mail (clap, clap)

Because 2 of my 3 attendees were readers, I let them pick an envelope to pull off the board and read. 

One letter was from Arfy, the dog from our story. 

Other letters were from Freddy the Frog, who wanted to do our Hippity Hoppity Dance together again; Flamingo who wanted us to have a shrimp dinner soon; Bear who was looking forward to sleeping  all winter (this one was taken from Jen In the Library's list!).

BOOK: Stanley the Mailman by William Bee

Since my group was older today, this one was not a hit. 

 

 

   And here's how we went from 30 minutes to 1hr 15mins at the end . . . 

This was a small group of only 3 and by the end, they were energetic and wanted to continue playing, singing and reading.

I had set out the red cardboard mailbox from a past program which the kiddos were very interested in. They re-stuffed the envelopes and mailed them off. One girl made up a song that we sang before sending them off.

By the time that was finished that, we were already going over. 

Then, because 2 had came in late and only heard the tail-end of "Can I Be Your Dog?" they wanted to hear another book - a different book (they had previously read the Cummings book). We went to grab another Troy Cummings book about Arfy writing letters off the shelf ("Is This Your Class Pet")  but "I Found A Kitty" was also there. The group saw and wanted both books. 

When we returned to the Storyhour Room, the 2 readers decided that instead of buddy reading one book, they would read both books individually. 

Then they wanted me to play a song for them that I had played previously, "The Sit Down, Stand Up" by Rick Goldin.

Of course, I didn't mind the program going long, especially not for value like letting them read to each other. Even when I'm at my desk working, if a child comes up and either asks me to read to them or asks if they can read to me, I'm not going to say "no".

Another memorable Story Time in the books!

 

2024 UPDATE

For a 2024 mail theme storytime, I made a printable envelope template for kids to practice their envelope writing skills. 

These envelopes were using a full printer page. They are approximately 3.75 x 5.25 inches. We made little letters using scrap cardstock to stick inside. 

Here's the template I made. Fold on the straight grey lines. The dotted lines will be inverted folds so ignore them.

Happy storytelling of your own.