The Artist Librarian Storytime: Moon Theme

Space Exploration Day or Moon Day is celebrated on July 20th in honor of the first moon landing of Apollo 11 in 1969.  Read on for fun storytime ideas with an easy craft, books suggestions, and cute felt board!


Theme: Moon (Space Exploration Day / Moon Day)
Date: July 20, 2016
Attendance: (Not recorded in notes)

PLAN:

1. Opening Song (it was probably a variation of "Hands Go Up")
 
2. Book: Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me - Eric Carle (1986)

3. Book: Bringing Down the Moon - Jonathan Emmitt (2001)

4. Book: The Moon Might Be Milk - Lisa Shulman (2007)

5. Felt Board: Hey Diddle Diddle
--I actually made this felt board for a cow themed storytime when I did a short term children's librarian project as an LIS student in fall 2015. I had came across an adorable design for this felt board from momanddotsfeltshop on Etsy and drew out my own version based on the photos.  I photocopied the original pencil drawings below for a pattern to use on the felt.  It was really fun to make but I felt like it was a lot of work for a very short nursery rhyme.  Fortunately, I've been able to reuse the pieces (e.g. the cow, cat, dog, etc.) for other songs, stories, and rhymes since.
Felties in progress with sketches

6. Book: I Took the Moon for a Walk - Carolyn Curtis (2004)

7. Closing Song 

8. Craft: Aluminum Foil Moon -- I got this idea from Mommy's Bundle blog where it's called a "sensory craft" due to having the children explore textures by crushing and smoothing out the aluminum foil.  I pretty much used the instructions as described.
Pro Tip: I used a small dessert plate or lid to trace a circle onto the foil with a pencil or something to just indent the foil and cut alone that line (no pen marks)!
We used glue sticks and since we had some leftover self-adhesive glow in the dark stars from a past Summer Reading Program prize, I left the kids use a few on their paper like stickers.  I also had crayons out for them to draw an outer space scene around their moon.  Overall a very easy and fun craft that allowed for creativity and minimal prep work for staff!


How It Went:
--I couldn't find any notes for this storytime, but I did find a list of other "moon" books I looked at:
  • Imani’s Moon – JaNay Brown-Wood, 2014
  • How to Bicycle to the Moon to Plant Sunflowers – Mordicai Gerstein, 2013
  • Cindy Moo – Lori Mortensen, 2012
  • Willoughby & the Moon – Greg Foley, 2010
  • Thanking the Moon – Grace Lin, 2010
  • Moon Dreams [Where on Earth is the Moon?] – Ruth Martin, 2010
  • Catching the Moon – Myla Goldberg, 2007
  • Moon Plane – Peter McCarty, 2006
  • Kitten’s First Full Moon – Kevin Henkes, 2004
  • I Took the Moon for a Walk – Carolyn Curtis, 2004. 
  • The Moon Came Down on Milk Street – Jean Gralley, 2004
  • Hello, Harvest Moon – Ralph Fletcher, 2003
  • Man on the Moon: A Day in the Life of Bob – Simon Bartram, 2002
  • When Moon Fell Down – Linda Smith, 2001
  • What is the Full Moon Full Of? – Shulamith Levey Oppenheim, 1997
  • The Princess and the Moon – Daisaku Ikeda, 1992. Random House 
  • Moongame – Frank Asch, 1984
  • Mooncake – Frank Asch, 1983
What are some of your favorite books, songs, or activities for a moon themed storytime?

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