Cowboys

This is what I did for my preschool storytime on Cowboys.

OPENING SONG: Clap Your Hands from the Miss Anna's Music Class Volume II CD by Anna Stange

I asked the kids what does a cowboy wear and what does a cowboy do?

BOOK: What I did on My Summer Vacation by Mark Teague
(This book was way too long.  I had some new kids that weren't used to sitting still and it didn't hold their interest.  Worked last time but not this time.)

FINGERPLAY: I'm A Little Cowboy
(I didn't sing this to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot".  I just repeated it like a rhyme and had the kids follow the actions.  They seemed to like this one.)

I’m a little cowboy.
Here is my hat
(point to self, then to hat)
Here are my spurs
(point to your heels)
And here are my chaps
(pat legs)
As soon as I get up,
(stretch, pretend to wake up)
I work all day
(pretend to lasso a cow)
I get on my horse
(pretend to get on a horse)
And ride away.
(run in place and pretend to hold reins)

BOOK: Clip, Clop by Nicola Smee
(Cute book.  Simple and straightforward. The kids enjoyed the pictures and humor.  I emphasized the "clip clopping" sound of the horses hooves.)

SONG: Ladies Ride from the Wiggleworms Love You CD by the Old Town School of Folk Music (DRUMS)
(I talked to the kids about making the sound of horses hooves on the drums.  Then the different riders (i.e. ladies, gentlemen, farmer, cowboy). We practiced going faster and faster patting their hands on their legs.  Then I handed out the drums and turned on the music.  Most of the kids seemed to enjoy this but a few gave me their drums before the song ended.  Next time I think I will only play it halfway through and not have them do the activity twice.)

BOOK: Giddy up, Cowgirl! by Jarret Krosoczka
(This book worked pretty well, overall.  Some of the kids paid attention but I had a much bigger group than usual and half of them weren't listening very well.)

MATCHING ACTIVITY: Boots
(My coworker made a matching activity with colorful cowboy boot sets.  I tried to do this but it didn't work out very well.  I usually struggle with matching games during storytime.  The kids get out of control, they crowd the board, and they want to be the one to take off the matches.  Someone always gets mad and cries because they missed out.  In the end it was a trainwreck!  I think I will avoid matching in the future.)

ACTION SONG: BOOTS from the Victor Vito CD by Laurie Berkner
(Fun song.  I had the kids pretend to put on boots and then they stomped, jumped and splashed along with the song as they wore different kinds of boots. They had alot of fun with this and got the wiggles out and helped us to recover from the matching activity.)

BOOK: Are You a Horse by Andy Rash
(Great book!!  Very funny.  The kids listened attentively.  I probably should have read this earlier in the storytime.  Great pictures, funny storyline and hilarious surprise ending.)

ACTIVITY: Rounding up the Cattle
(I explained how cowboys used to rustle up the cattle and put them in the corral.  Then I threw cotton balls everywhere and played music while the kids ran around gathering up the cows and putting them in the corral (a chair).  It was fun but it got a little crazy because I kept throwing cotton balls out and saying that cows were escaping from the corral.  Pretty soon they were throwing cotton balls everywhere instead of gathering them up.  Need to re-think the approach.  They did have fun it just got a little crazy towards the end.

TAKE HOME: A Cowboy hat
(out of construction paper)

MUSIC CDs:
Miss Anna's Music Class Volume II CD by Anna Stange (Clap Your Hands)
Wiggleworms Love You CD by The Old Town School of Folk Music (Ladies Ride)
Victor Vito CD by Laurie Berkner (BOOTS)