Hello friends! Welcome to Storytime with The Met! My name is Hannah and I am so
excited to see you today. You can join us for Storytime every Thursday at noon.
Now grab a cozy spot and let's get started. We're gonna start with our
Storytime Welcome Song, just like we do at the Museum. It goes to the tune of
"This Old Man." Ready? On the count of three:
One, two, three!
Welcome friends! Get ready, get set,
for Storytime at The Met. Where we love to read, and sing, and look,
at works of art and picture books. We'll use our eyes, to look and see,
We'll use our ears, to hear stories. Now we'll take a seat and give a "shhhh"
Let's begin with our first book.
Good job! Did you sing along with me? I hope you did. Alright, I'm gonna need
your help looking at the pictures on this one. It's a silly one called,
"Good Thing You're Not an Octopus" by Julie Markes and pictures by Maggie Smith.
Julie Markes can be called the author because she wrote all the words we're
about to read in the story and Maggie Smith can be called the illustrator
since she drew and colored in all the beautiful pictures we're about to look at.
Now let's get started with our book this week, it's a "Good Thing You're Not an Octopus."
You don't like to get dressed in the morning? Well, it's a good thing you're not an octopus.
Do you ever feel like our friend over here? You ever lay in bed and hide under the blankets
cause maybe you're a little tired? I know I do.
Well, if you were an octopus, you would have eight legs to put in your pants!
Can you imagine? We're lucky we only have two, huh.
Have you ever seen a pair of pants like that octopus is wearing?
[sound of page turning]
You don't like to put on your shoes? Well it's a good thing you're not a caterpillar.
Look at this beautiful green page over here. That caterpillar almost blends in, doesn't he?
If you were a caterpillar, you would have sixteen feet to put shoes on!
I'm wondering, can you raise your hand if you know how to tie your shoes?
Oooh, maybe you're still learning, maybe you have it down pat.
Can you imagine tying 16 shoes before leaving the house? That would take a long time.
You don't like to ride in your car seat? Well it's a good thing you're not a kangaroo.
If you were a baby kangaroo, you'd have to ride in your mother's pouch!
Look at him. The baby kangaroo doesn't look too upset though, does he?
He's kind of cozy in there.
[sound of page turning]
You don't like to eat your lunch? Well it's a good thing you're not a bird.
If you were a bird, you would have to eat worms for lunch!
Ewww, look at them!
Can you see what our friend is eating? Not worms - spaghetti! Mmm.
You don't like to take a nap? Well it's a good thing you're not a bear.
If you were a bear, you would have to nap all winter long!
That's a whole season! It's called hibernation, actually. Have you ever seen
a bear sleeping in your closet like our friends here? No - that's silly!
You don't like to take a bath? Well it's a good thing you're not a tiger.
If you were a baby tiger, your mother would have to lick you clean!
Can you find any fun bath toys in this picture? Maybe you have a favorite bath toy
that floats or squeaks that you love to play with?
[sound of page turning]
You don't like to brush your teeth? Well it's a good thing you're not a shark.
If you were a shark, you would have two hundred teeth to brush!
Look how shiny and pointy they are. There are so many of them too!
Can I see your big shark smiles? Do we have any missing teeth out there?
Maybe any loose teeth? That's exciting. Make sure you brush them like our friend, the shark here.
So the next time you need to get dressed, go for a ride, eat your lunch,
take a nap, take a bath, or brush your teeth, remember: It's a good thing you're you!
Phew!
Look how happy he is now!
Judging from the moon, his pajamas, and fuzzy slippers,
I'm gonna say it's time for bed for our friend. Hmm? So let's say goodnight and the end!
[clapping]
Great job! I hope you really enjoyed that book and those beautiful pictures.
Thanks for looking along.
Now after that book, I think we should
close our eyes and think of something we like to do. How about that?
Can you do it with me? Let's close our eyes and picture yourself in your happiest place,
where you're having the most fun. Okay. Now open them.
I was on a long walk outside on a beautiful day. Where were you? I'm sure it is really fun.
Now, let's look at a piece from The Met's collection for some inspiration.
Here's a "Terracotta stirrup jar" from our Greek and Roman Art collection.
Featuring no other, but an octopus on the front and the back of the jar.
Do you notice anything about the shapes or lines that the artist drew on this jar?
Maybe they're a little swirly or squiggly? Almost as if the octopus is floating in the water, isn't it?
Does anything else about this jar make you think about the water? Look closely.
Right, maybe those fish on either side of the octopus
that are swimming alongside at the bottom half of the jar.
Now, let's move on to our activity using that jar as inspiration.
Let's make our own octopus. Here's one I made.
For this activity, you're going to need a toilet paper roll or paper towel roll
and a pair of scissors. You can decorate your octopus with any sort
of drawing or painting material you have in your house.
Now, I'll show you how to make one.
Take your toilet paper roll or if you're using a paper towel roll, you can cut it in half
or you can have extra-long octopus tentacles which is kind of cool.
You are going to then, cut halfway up your paper towel roll
and that will give you - your octopus tentacles.
When you press flat, the tentacles will spread out and your octopus
is ready to be decorated. From there, he can swim and crawl around on the ocean floor.
Especially if you give him these tentacle suction cups, like I did.
Can you tell that I took inspiration from the terracotta jar we looked at earlier?
The lines and swirls all came from the octopus we looked at. If you want more inspiration,
you can check out all the objects that are from The Met's collection online.
There's a lot to get inspiration from.
Thank you so much for joining me this week for Storytime
and I hope you had as much fun as I did.
Have a great day and hope to see you next week. Bye-bye!