Long ago I used to run a story hour for as many as 30 four-years olds. We used pictures book from the public library, did finger-plays and some simple dances, such as "Here we go Looby-loo" and "Farmer in the Dell.

We "did" the picture books by sitting on a low chair while the children sat on the floor. We held the book so the children could see the pictures, read the text and talked about what was in the pictures.

for example, point to a train and say What's this?   point to a sad face and ask the children how the face looks.

The little games using hands and rhymes, such as "Here is the church and here is the steeple," are called finger plays. Google "Finger plays" and you will find lots of them.

I bet one book and some finger plays would cover 20 minutes. By book, I mean a quality book with artistic pictures, not some cheap thing from the supermarket. Go to your public library, and you'll see the difference.

Order of events:

Get hostess or parents to make name tags & apply to children.

Get children to sit on the floor in front of you. It will be best if their parents do this for you. They are used (I hope) to obeying their parents.

Sit on the low chair. Tell the children your name and what we are going to do. Read a book, (use lots of expression!) play finger plays.

When the twenty minutes are up, say "That's all, boys and girls. Now it's time to ..."

As you do this, look at the kids, and if it's appropriate, call them by their names.

I have always found that young children are thrilled that an adult is stopping work to pay personal attention to them. I saw an article in the paper recently where a child psychologist said that "To a child, love is spelled T-I-M-E."

If possible, borrow a few kids from friends and practice first.

Finally - twenty minutes doesn't sound like much time. Why twenty minutes? It can take almost that long to get all the kids in one place.