What You Need:
- Book that the child can read
- Paper
- Crayons or markers
- Chair
- Props such as glasses, hats or scarves
- Stuffed animals or dolls (optional)
- Video camera (optional)
What You Do:
- Tell your child that she's going to pretend to be a librarian and host a storytime for her friends. If it's inconvenient to invite people over, you can “invite” her stuffed animals and dolls to the storytime.
- Have your child pick out a book or two that she wants to read for storytime. Tell her that she also gets to sing any songs and ask the audience questions about the book.
- Sit with her while she practices reading the book in preparation for storytime. Brainstorm with her about questions to ask and any songs she could sing. Talk about the characters in the book and ask your child if she plans on creating different voices to differentiate the characters.
- Tell that she might want to make a flyer advertising her storytime. On the paper, have her write the name of the book she'll be reading, as wells as the time, date and place of the storytime. Have her draw a picture on the flyer that represents the book so that everyone will know what the book is about.
- Talk with your child about what happens in the story and have her draw a coloring sheet to pass out at storytime. If possible, make copies of the coloring sheet for all of her guests.
- Pass out the flyers to invite any friends or family members to the storytime.
- On the day of the storytime, show her the dress-up props and help her dress up like a librarian for storytime. Glasses and scarves are always fun!
- Have your child decide where she wants to hold storytime and set up a comfortable chair for her at the front of the room.
- When the guests arrive, have her greet them and show them where to go.
- Have your child welcome everyone to storytime. Help your child as needed, but encourage her to run the show by herself.
- Encourage the “librarian” to ask questions and interact with you and the other “children” during the storytime. If you did not invite friends to the story, you can be a "child” at the story time. You could also supply voices for the dolls or stuffed animals in the audience.
- After she's read the book and sung any songs, have her pass out the coloring sheet and crayons to the guests. You can also pass out blank paper for guests to color.
- When storytime is over, have your child thank everyone for coming.
- After the storytime, praise your child for a job well done and talk with her about what parts she enjoyed the most.
If your child loved her storytime experience, you can make it an ongoing event, or even invite her friends to join in a storytime group and all participate in reading to each other!
