The Youth Services team at ImagineIF Libraries plans and implements early literacy programs for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers in Kalispell, Bigfork, and Columbia Falls. Our goal in every Storytime is to connect with young children and their caregivers through books, songs, and interactive activities that foster early literacy and social emotional skills.

Explore the Storytime Schedule

Numbers here, numbers there, we can count everywhere! This week’s storytime focused on the numbers 1-10, and we practiced counting EVERYTHING together! We encouraged caregivers to keep the fun going at home by incorporating counting into their everyday activities, like counting pieces of fruit at the grocery store or counting toys while putting them away!

Books Read:

One Shoe,Two Shoes

by Caryl Hart
ISBN: 9781547600946

10 Cats

by Emily Gravett
ISBN: 9781914912580

Hen in the Bed

by Katrina Charman
ISBN: 9798887770451

Songs & Interactives:

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed Flannel Board

Five little monkeys, jumping on the bed
One fell off, and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor, and the doctor said,
No more monkeys jumping on the bed
(repeat)

Here is the Beehive Fingerplay

Here is the beehive (hold up fist)
But where are all the bees?
Hiding away, where nobody sees!
Watch them as they come out of the hive
1,2,3,4,5!
Buzzz!!!

Five Little Ducks Song

Five little ducks, went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mama duck said “quack, quack, quack, quack”
But only 4 little ducks came back
(repeat until you reach 1 and then all the ducks come back when mama calls)

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Activities:

Sensory tub with colored rice and hot glue numbers

This week we filled our sensory tub with multicolored rice and hid hot glue numbers! Our youngest attendees enjoyed the sensation of running their hands through the rice, while our older attendees took on the challenge of finding all of the numbers 1-10.

Cat painting with numbered stamps

For art this day we got out paint, just like the kittens in our story 10 Cats! There were paintbrushes and numbered stamps (1-10) that kids could use to decorate their page and practice their fine motor skills.

Ice cream counting sheet with dot markers

This worksheet encourages our preschoolers to use dot markers in order to add the correct number of ice cream scoops to each cone.

Building with Blocks and Mini Figures

Our new set of magnetic blocks for the light table was a huge hit! We paired it with mini figures (cat, ice cream cone, octopus, etc.) and let the kid’s imaginations go wild! It is always a joy to see the worlds and stories that they create