D-Lightful: A Storytime About the Letter D

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Early Literacy Tip: Take advantage of any opportunities to write your child’s name–on drawings or crafts they make or on nametags (I’ve started providing blank labels for nametags at storytime each week). Say each letter aloud as you write their name, and point out other words you come across together that start with the same letter.

I have been continuing my storytime journey through the alphabet in both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime (Note: This is my second time doing this series of themes. You can find my previous letter-themed storytime posts at the bottom of my Storytime Themes page).

As usual, I started both storytimes by writing a capital and lowercase letter D on my whiteboard and asking the kids what sound the letter makes. Thankfully, D is an easy letter that really only makes one sound. Then I asked the kids if they could think of any words that started with the letter D. They suggested: dog, Dad, and daisy. I also pulled some items out of paper bag: a dinosaur, a rubber duck, and a dime (in my Family Storytime, which has a smaller group, I let the kids take turns pulling the items out of the bag).

Here’s the rest of what we did (this is a combination of the books and songs I used for both Family Storytime and Outdoor Musical Storytime):

Books:

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion; pictures by Margaret Bloy Graham

One of my favorite books from childhood, and clearly a favorite of many of my storytime caregivers. When Harry buries the scrubbing brush for his bath and goes off on a messy adventure, he turns from a white dog with black spots to a black dog with white spots. He looks so different that his family no longer recognizes him, until he begs for them to give him a bath. A slightly longer story than I usually read, but it was perfect for my Family Storytime crowd.

Dozens of Doughnuts by Brianne Farley

I love the illustrations in this book, especially the delicious looking doughnuts on the inside cover. LouAnn the bear is preparing to hibernate by making herself some doughnuts. But her friends keep showing up at the door asking to try some. In the end, there are no doughnuts left for LouAnn, who is extremely hungry and upset, until her friends come back to make more. The kids loved joining in on the repeated “Ding Dong’s” and growling like LouAnn when she loses her temper. This book is reminiscent of The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins (which would also fit the theme), but with doughnuts instead of cookies.

The Digger and the Dark by Joseph Kuefler

A cute story in The Digger series, which features the big trucks settling down to sleep, but being interrupted a group of playful, hungry raccoons. The raccoons keep the trucks awake every night until they finally discover the playground the machines have been building, and decide to play on that instead. The kids laughed every time I read the “Squeak Squeak” line that the raccoons say.

Dinosaur Kisses by David Ezra Stein

This is a delightfully silly, and somewhat violent story that always gets giggles. A baby dinosaur named Dinah hatches out of her egg and sees two small creatures kissing. She decides to try kissing too, but only succeeds in stomping, chomping, whomping, and even eating other creatures. Then she finds another baby dinosaur, and the two have fun stomping, chomping, and whomping with each other. The kids love the different sounds.

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

I read this one for Family Storytime. It’s the classic story of a girl who is frustrated with her art abilities, until her teacher makes her sign a picture of a dot she drew and hangs it in the classroom. This leads her to make lots of different type of dots, which in turn inspires others. A beautiful book for older kids.

Songs:

B-I-N-G-O

I sang this to go along with Harry the Dirty Dog. This is an old standby, but here’s a video from Super Simple Songs, just in case you’re not familiar with it. Traditionally, you leave out a letter each time you sing it, and clap instead. Sometimes I have the kids bark the missing letters instead of clapping.

[C] There was a farmer [F] had a [C] dog,
And Bingo [G] was his [C] name-o.
[C] B-I- [F] N-G-O
[G] B-I- [C] N-G-O
[Am] B-I- [F] N-G-O
And [G] Bingo was his [C] name-o.

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o.
(Clap!)-I-N-G-O!… etc.

We Are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner

We sang this song to go along with Dinosaur Kisses. It’s always a big hit with all ages, and a good movement song to help get the kids refocused.

[Dm] We are the [C] dinosaurs marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs. [A] Whaddaya think of that?
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the [A] dinosaurs. [Dm] We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.
We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.

[F] We stop and eat our [C] food, [F] when we’re in the [C] mood.
[F] Stop and eat our [C] food on the [Dm] ground.
[F] We stop and eat our [C] food, [F] when we’re in the [C] mood.
[F] Stop and eat our [C] food, and [Dm] then we march [A] around.

[Dm] We are the [C] dinosaurs marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs. [A] Whaddaya think of that?
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the [A] dinosaurs. [Dm] We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.
We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.

[F] We stop and take a [C] rest, [F] over in our [C] nest.
[F] Stop and take a [C] rest at the end of the [Dm] day.
[F] We stop and take a [C] rest, [F] over in our [C] nest.
[F] Stop and take a [C] rest, and [Dm] then you’ll hear us [A] say…

[Dm] We are the [C] dinosaurs marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs. [A] Whaddaya think of that?
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the [A] dinosaurs. [Dm] We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.
We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.

[A] And then we RO-AR-OAR!
[A] Because [Dm] we [C] are the [Dm]dino-[D]saurs!

Six Little Ducks

We have two different Monkee Mitt sets for the Five Little Ducks, so for Outdoor Musical Storytime, I put six of the ducks on the parachute and we waved the chute up and down in time to the song.

[C] Six little ducks that I once [G7] knew,
Big ones, little ones, [C] fair ones too.But the one little duck with the [G7] feather on his back.
He led the others with his [C] “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Chorus:
[G7] “Quack! Quack! Quack! [C] Quack! Quack! Quack!”
[G7] He led the others with his [C] “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

[C] Down to the river they would [G7] go,
Wibble-wobble, wibble-wobble, [C] to and fro.
But the one little duck with the [G7] feather on his back.
He led the others with his [C] “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Chorus

[C] Home from the river they would [G7] come,
[C] Wibble-wobble, wibble-wobble, ho hum hum.
But the one little duck with the [G7] feather on his back.
He led the others with his [C] “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Chorus

Do As I’m Doing

I learned this song years ago when I was volunteering to lead music classes at my kids’ school (the school had a curriculum written by an Orff music instructor, who recommended this as an opening song). We did it as an instrument play-along at the end, and I demonstrated different ways to play the egg shakers (tapping them on the ground, waving them back and forth, holding them up high, etc.) each time we sang it. You can also do it with different motions (clapping, jumping, stomping, or even walking, skipping, or galloping in a line through the room).

[C] Do as I’m doing, follow, follow [G7] me.
[C] Do as I’m doing, follow, [G7] follow [C] me.
[C] Follow, [G7] follow, [F] follow [C] me.
[F] Follow, [C] follow, [G7] follow [C] me.
Follow, [G7] follow, [F] follow [C] me,
[F] Follow, [C] follow, [G7] follow [C] me.

Stay & Play: Dot Markers & Snap Dinos

For the Stay & Play, I just put out white paper and dot markers, which the kids always love. They are great because you can draw with them like a big marker or makes wtih dot them (which the kids enjoy doing with great enthusiasm–and noise!).

I also put out our set of Snap Dinos for the kids to play with. These are mix-and-match wooden pieces of different dinosaur parts (heads, bodies, tails, legs, etc.) that can be snapped together to create new and colorful dinosaurs (you can see part of one of the pieces in the photo above).

Do you have any favorite picture books, songs, or activities featuring the letter D? Please share them in the comments below.

Oh, Say Can You C? A Storytime About the Letter C

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Early Literacy Tip: Talk about the different sounds that letters make. Understanding that each letter makes a particular sound (or a few different sounds) is key to building the decoding skills kids will need to learn to read later on.

This week, we continued our storytime journey through the alphabet, this time focusing on the letter C.

I started by writing the letter C on a whiteboard, and then asking the kids to trace a letter C in the air with me. Then I asked them to suggest words starting with the letter C. They came up with: cat, candy, cake, and cookie. I also pulled some items out of a paper bag: a cup, a toy car, and a circle. We talked a little bit about how the first “C” in circle makes an “S” sound, while the second “C” makes the more common “K” sound.

Here’s the rest of what we did (this is a combination of what we did in Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime).

Books:

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff; illustrated by Felicia Bond

I read this for Family Storytime. It’s always fun to read a really popular, classic book from time to time, because the kids are usually excited to see a book they know (and often have at home). This cautionary, circular tale describes the long series of demands that a mouse will have if you give him a cookie.

Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Kevin Cornell

Funny, interactive story that invites the reader to count the monkeys. Only the monkeys keep being scared away by a succession of different animals and people: 1 King Cobra; 2 Mongooses (or Mongeese?); 3 Crocodiles, etc. Each time, the reader is asked to help in a different way: moving their hand in a zig-zag; yelling “Scram!”, etc. The large, colorful illustrations make it perfect for storytime.

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

This book is longer than the books I typically share at Outdoor Musical Storytime (which has a larger, younger crowd than Family Storytime), but it worked well because it’s so interactive. Plus, the few older kids who were there were mostly familiar with the book already, and excited to hear it again. The story is about a peddler whose caps are stolen by bunch of monkeys in a tree. He scolds the monkeys by shaking first one fist and then two, and then stamping his feet. But the monkeys only mimic him and say, “Tsz! Tsz! Tsz!” The kids loved pretending to be the monkeys!

Circle by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Jon Klassen

Part of the Shapes Trilogy, this book features the shapes playing hide-and-seek. When Triangle violates Circle’s rule about not hiding behind the waterfall, Circle goes into the dark cave behind the waterfall to look for her. This book is a little too “spooky” for my Outdoor Musical Storytime crowd, but it was a big hit at Family Storytime.

Catch That Chicken! by Atinuke; illustrated by Angela Brooksbank

I like this book because of its unusual setting (a Nigerian village) and repeated “Catch That Chicken!” line. It also provided a good opportunity to talk about how the letter “C” can make different sounds when combined with other letters, like “Ch.” The story is about a little girl named Lami, who is the best chicken catcher in the village. When she falls and hurts her ankle, she worries she won’t be able to catch chickens anymore, until she realizes there’s an easier way to catch them.

Songs & Rhymes

Can You See the Color Yellow?

We sang this after reading Caps for Sale (which talks about the different colored caps) in Outdoor Musical Storytime. This song always gets the kids excited, as they look around and point to things around them that match each color. It’s to the tune of Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Can you [C] see the color yellow,
The [F] color yellow, the [G7] color yellow?
Can you [C] see the color yellow,
[F] Right here [G7] where you [C] are?

Can you see the color blue… etc.

These Are the Colors Over You

I got this song from La La Librarian (see the video below). Usually at Outdoor Musical Storytime, I try to do a theme-related song with the parachute, and then follow it with Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, where the kids usually run underneath once we raise the parachute in the air. For this week, I started with Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, and had the kids stay under the parachute at the end, so we could wave it over them while we sang this song.

Red and green, and yellow and blue,
These are the colors over you.
Red like an apple, green like a tree,
Yellow like the sun, and blue like the sea.
Red and green, and yellow and blue,
These are the colors over you.

I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock

This is one of favorite songs for baby and toddler storytimes. This week, I decided to try it with play scarves at Family Storytime.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock (rock side to side, or wave scarf back and forth)
I’m a little cuckoo clock
Tick Tock, Tick Tock
Now I’m striking one o’clock…
Cuckoo! (Jump up, or throw scarf in the air in the air)

(Repeat for two and three o’clock)

I’m Gonna Catch You by Laurie Berkner

We did this as our instrument play-along at the end. It’s such a “catchy” song!

[C] I’m gonna [F] catch you
[C] You’d better [F] run
[C] I’m gonna [F] catch you
[C] Here I come!

So I jumped into [F] Mon-[C]day,
And I had an ice cream [F] sun-[C]dae

But then I [B♭] turned around,
And I heard a [G] sound.


It said, I’m gonna catch you
You’d better run
I’m gonna catch you
Here I come!

So I jumped into Tuesday,
Had myself a snooze-day…

But then I turned around, and I
Heard a sound, 
It said,
I’m gonna catch you
You’d better run
I’m gonna catch you

Here I come!

So I jumped into Wednesday,
Had a make-new-friends-day…

But then I turned around, and I
Heard a sound, 
It said,
I’m gonna catch you
You’d better run
I’m gonna catch you
Here I come!

So I jumped into Thursday,
Had myself a nurse-day…

But then I turned around, and I
Heard a sound,

It said, I’m gonna catch you
You’d better run
I’m gonna catch you
Here I come!

So I jumped into Friday,
Had myself a shy-day…

But then I turned around, and I
Heard a sound,
It said, I’m gonna catch you
You’d better run
I’m gonna catch you
Here I come!

So I jumped into Saturday,
Had a baseball-batter-day…

But then I turned around, and I
Heard a sound,
It said, I’m gonna catch you
You’d better run
I’m gonna catch you
Here I come!

So I jumped into Sunday
Had a super-fun-day…

And then I turned around, and I heard a sound, and it said:
I’m gonna catch you, you’d better run
I’m gonna catch you, here I come!

I’m gonna catch you, you’d better run
I’m gonna catch you, here I come!

I’m gonna catch you, you’d better run
I’m gonna catch you, here I come!

I’m gonna catch you, you’d better run
I’m gonna catch you, here I come!

I caught you!

Stay & Play: Crayon Resist Watercolor Painting

This is one of my favorite process art activities, although, like most paint-related projects, it requires a bit of set-up (and clean-up). For the Stay & Play, I put out white cardstock, watercolor paint sets, small cups of water, paint brushes, and a few white crayons. I explained to the families that if they wrote or drew in white crayon on the white paper, it would look invisible until they painted over it with the watercolor paints.

What I love about this project is that often the caregivers write a “secret message” or draw something special (like the child’s handprint traced above), and the children get to reveal what they wrote or drew when they paint over it. In any case, it’s always a big hit.

Do you have any favorite books, songs, or activities featuring the letter “C”? Please share them in the comments below.

The Birds and the B’s: A Storytime About the Letter B

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Early Literacy Tip: Books with repeated phrases that kids can easily remember (like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?) help them associate the printed word with the spoken one, and helps build their basic sight word vocabulary.

This week we continued our journey through the alphabet by focusing on the letter B in both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime.

I’ve been trying to use this alphabet series as a fun way to focus explicitly on letter sounds and early literacy skills. As part of that focus, I’ve also started offering caregivers the opportunity to make a name tag for their child (I use small mailing labels) at the beginning of storytime. I tell them that it’s optional, but that we are trying to promote print awareness, and get their kids used to seeing their names written in print.

I started both of my storytimes by drawing a capital and lowercase letter B on a whiteboard and asking the kids what sound B makes. Then we drew the letter B (capital and lowercase) together in the air (I did silly sound effects while we did it: a descending pitch “woooo!” for the straight line down, and a “whoop!” for each curved line).

After that, I asked the kids if they knew any words that started with B, and wrote them on the whiteboard. They came up with “bird,” “banana” and “bat.” I also pulled some items out of a paper bag: a bag, a ball, a book, and a container of bubbles (I blew some for fun). For my Family Storytime (which is in the evening, and draws a much smaller crowd), I had kids take turns pulling the items out of the bag.

I had such a good time picking books for this storytime, because there are so many classic titles featuring the letter B, and the kids were excited to see some of their favorites.

Books:

I’m Bored by Michael Ian Black; illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

This is one of my favorite books to read aloud: a story about a bored little girl and her conversation with a potato. The girl is shocked to learn that the potato thinks kids are boring, even after she describes all the amazing things that kids can do. The kids loved joining in on the repeated “boring’s.”

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer

Another all-time favorite of mine. I’m always surprised to find families who haven’t read it yet, and delighted to share it with them for the first time. When George’s mother asks him to bark, he meows, quacks, oinks, and moos until she takes him the vet, who discovers a variety of animals inside of George. The surprise ending always gets a laugh.

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin; illustrated by James Dean

This is one of my favorite Pete the Cat books. Pete loves his yellow jacket with its four big colorful groovy buttons. He even has a song about it! But one by one his buttons pop off and roll away until he is left with just his belly button. The kids enjoyed joining in on the “Pop! Oh no!” each time.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle

There’s a reason why this book is a classic, and it made me happy to hear so many kids squeal, “I have that book at home!” when I held it up. It works well for so many reasons: the repeated pattern makes it perfect for beginning readers; the call and response structure makes it perfect for read-alouds. Plus, it teaches color and animal names. My only minor gripe is that I wish the teacher was a bit less frumpy looking, but at least teachers are in good company here, since librarians are usually portrayed the same way. At least she looks friendly!

Songs:

The Sleepy Bunny Song

I don’t know what it is about songs where you start on the ground and then jump up, but the kids always LOVE them! This one is a particular favorite.

See the little bunnies sleeping (crouch or lie down and pretend to sleep)
‘Till it’s nearly noon.
Come, let us wake them with a merry tune?
They’re so still.
Are they ill?
NO! Wake up little bunnies! (jump up)
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop! (hop!)
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop and stop!

We Bounce and We Bounce and We Stop

One of my all-time favorite storytime songs because it’s so versatile and works for almost any age. You can substitute almost any other action for bouncing (clapping, leaning, twirling, running, etc.), slow it down or speed it up, add in extra bounces on the third line, and put in a long pause between the words (we…bounce). For Outdoor Musical Storytime this week, we sang it with the parachute. I put cotton balls on the parachute so the kids could watch them bounce, and added more each time we sang it.

[C] We bounce and we bounce and we stop!
[C] We bounce and we bounce and we stop!
[C] We bounce and we bounce and we bounce and we bounce,
[C] And we bounce and [G7] we bounce and we [C] stop!

I’m Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee

There are a lot of versions of this old camp song, including the disturbing one about killing and squishing the poor baby bumblebee. The version I use is closest to the one in this video by Dr. Jean. I always ask the kids to suggest other animals to bring home, and then we try to come up with a line (usually rhyming) to describe what “my Mommy” does, which is a fun, and sometimes hilarious challenge. This time we had “I’m bringing home a baby bunny…won’t my Mommy think that’s really funny;” “I’m bringing home a baby cat…what will my Mommy think of that.” I got stumped by “I’m bringing home a baby puppy.” All I could think of on the spot was “Won’t my Mommy turn into a guppy,” which got some laughs from parents.

I’m [C] bringing home a [F] baby [C]bumblebee.
[G7] Won’t my mommy be so proud of me?
‘Cause I’m [C] bringing home a [F] baby [C] bumblebee.
[G7 ]Ouch! It stung me!

Bananaphone by Raffi

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. It’s got some unusual chords and lots of lyrics, so I don’t do it often, but it’s always a big hit that gets stuck in my head for days.

[G] Ring ring ring ring [D] ring ring ring
[G] Bananaphone! [D]
[G] Ring ring ring ring [D] ring ring ring
[E7] Bananaphone
[Am] I’ve got this feeling, [G] so ap-[Em]pealing
[A7] For us to get together and [D7] sing, sing!

[G] Ring ring ring ring [D] ring ring ring
[G] Bananaphone! [D]
[G] Ding dong ding dong [D] ding dong ding
[E7] Donanaphone!
[Am] It grows in bunches. [G] I’ve got my [Em] hunches.
[A7] It’s the best! Beats the rest
[D7] Cellular, modular, interactivodular!

[G] Ring ring ring ring [D] ring ring ring
[G] Bananaphone!
[G] Ping pong ping pong [D] ping pong ping
[E7] Pananaphone
[Am] It’s no baloney. [G] It ain’t a [Em] phony,
[A7] My cellular [D7] Bananular [G] phone.

Don’t [F#] need quarters, don’t need dimes,
To [Bm] call a friend of mine!
Don’t [F#] need computer or TV
To [Bm] have a real good time!
I’ll [E7] call for pizza, I’ll call my cat
I’ll [A] call the white house, have a chat!
I’ll [A7] place a call around the world.
[D7] Operator get me Beijing-jing-jing-jing!

[G] Ring ring ring ring [D] ring ring ring
[G] Bananaphone! [D]
[G] Yin yang yin yang [D] yin yang ying
[E7] Yananaphone.
It’s a [C] real live mama and [C#dim7] papa phone,
A [G] brother and sister and a [E7] dog-aphone,
A [A7] grandpa phone and a [D7] grandmaphone too! [E7] Yeah!
My [A7] cellular, [D7] bananular [G] phone!

[G] Bananaphone, ring [D7] ring [G] ring!
[G] Bananaphone, ring [D7] ring [G] ring!

Stay & Play: Beaded Bracelets

This simple Stay & Play is always popular, and the kids get really into it. It’s always great for building their fine motor skills. I just put out bowls of Pony beads and pipe cleaners and let them thread away. The grown-ups usually have to help them connect the ends of the pipe cleaner to make it into a bracelet at the end.

Do you have any favorite books, songs, or activities featuring the Letter B? Or any early literacy tips? Please share them in the comments below.

Say Ahh! A Storytime About the Letter A

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Early Literacy Skill: Point out letters and letter combinations in books and in the world around you, and talk about the sounds they make. This helps promote phonological awareness, an essential skill for learning to read.

A few years ago, I did a series of storytimes based on each letter of the alphabet. It was a lot of fun, both in terms of planning, and because the families enjoyed trying to guess which letter we were focusing on each week.

Lately, I’ve been making more of an explicit effort to promote early literacy skills in my storytimes, and, after reading this Reading Rocket article about phonological awareness as a predictor of reading skills, I decided that revisiting the alphabet would be the perfect way to introduce letter sounds in a fun way.

For both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime, I started out by asking the kids to suggest words they knew that started with the letter A. I wrote these down on a white board. They came up with Apple, Alligator, and Ant. We also added any kids’ names who started with A, like Aaron and Ava.

I also had a paper bag with three objects beginning with the letter A (a toy Albino Alligator, an Apple and an Avocado (actually shakers shaped like an Apple and an Avocado). I pulled these out of the bag one at a time. (For my Family Storytime, which is a much smaller group, I had kids reach in to pull things out of the bag).

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

Axolotl and Axolittle by Jess Hitchman; illustrated Sarah Rebar

The story of Axolotl and Axolittle, two axolotl siblings, is a cute, colorful, tongue-twisting read. When Axolotl starts quacking a lotl, it upsets her little brother, Axolittle, and the two get into an axo-squabble that Dad has to help resolve. I read this book at Family Storytime, and also at several local preschools.

Acorn Was a Little Wild by Jen Arena; illustrated by Jessica Gibson

Cute story about an acorn who loves adventure. Even when a squirrel picks him up and carries him away, he loves the thrill of racing through the trees, and can’t wait for more. But then another squirrel buries him the ground, and he finds himself changing in ways he never expected. This story was perfect for our Outdoor Musical Storytime at the park.

Astro Girl by Ken Wilson-Max

I love this simple, sweet story about a girl who wants to be an astronaut. Her father asks her if she is ready to do all of the things astronauts have to do: eating food from packages, spinning around in space, sleeping alone on the rocket ship. Finally, they go to meet her mother, who is just returning from her own voyage as an astronaut.

All Aboard the Alaska Train by Brooke Hartman; illustrated by John Joseph

I gave out egg shakers before we read this one, since it’s a rhythmic chant describing a trip on a train through Alaska. Each rhyme leads to a different animal: moose, otters, caribou, etc. and ends with the Northern Lights.

Rhymes & Song:

The Alphabet Song

We sang this at the beginning of storytime, to kick off our journey through the alphabet. I usually repeat it two or three times, getting faster and faster.

[C] A – B – C – D – [F] E – F – [C] G
[F] H – I – [C] J – K – [G7] LMNO – [C] P
[C] Q – R –[F] S –[C] T – U –[G7] V
[C] W – [F]X –[C] Y and [G7] Z
[C] Now I know my [F]AB[C]C’s,
[F]Next time [C] won’t you [G7]sing with [C] me.

Way Up High in the Apple Tree

We did this rhyme to go along with Acorn Was a Little Wild. For Family Storytime, I gave each child two play scarves to bundle up in their hands like apples. For both groups, I asked them to suggest other foods they would like to pick from a tree. They suggested pears, bananas and cookies.

Way up high in the apple tree,
Two little apples smiled at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could!
Down came the apples.
Mmmm! They were good!

The Ants Go Marching

We sang this song with the parachute at Outdoor Musical Storytime. I put small pom-poms on the parachute each time we sang it to represent the ants. The kids loved watching them bounce up and down.

[Am] The ants go marching one by one, [C] Hurrah, Hurrah!
The [Am] ants go marching one by one, [C] Hurrah, Hurrah!
The [C] ants go marching [G7] one by one,
The [Am] little one stops to [E7] suck his thumb,
And they [C] all [G7] go marching [Am] down to the ground to get out of the rain,
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching two by two…the little one stops to tie her shoe…

The ants go marching three by three…the little one stops to climb a tree…

Zoom Zoom Zoom

We sang this to go along with Astro Girl, although I do it every week at Outdoor Musical Storytime as my second parachute song. The kids LOVE running underneath the parachute when we lift it up in the air.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,
We’re going to the Moon.
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,
We’re going to the Moon.
If you want to take a trip,
Climb aboard my rocket ship.
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,
We’re going to the Moon.
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Blast-off!

Apples and Bananas

This is such a great song, particularly for helping kids learn the different vowel sounds. It’s also a lot of fun, and works well for almost any age group.

I like to [C] eat, eat eat, apples and ba-[G]nanas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and ba-[C]nanas.
I like to [C] eat, eat eat, apples and ba-[G]nanas.
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and ba-[C]nanas.

I like to eat, eat, eat ayples and baynaynays…

I like to eat, eat, eat eeples and beeneenees…

I like to eat, eat, eat īpples, and bīnīnīs… (the ī symbol is for the long “i” sound, which sounds like “eye”)

I like to eat, eat, eat oh-pples and boh-noh-nohs…

 I like to eat, eat, eat ūpples and būnūnūs… (the ū symbol is for the long “u” sound, which sounds like “ooh)

Letter A

I wrote this song to showcase the different sounds that Letter A makes. The kids enjoyed repeating the “Aaaah! Ahhh! Ayyy!” sounds in the chorus. Feel free to use it if you like. Also, if you are ever having trouble coming up with a song for a particular theme, please send me a message. I really enjoy the challenge of writing new songs.

Letter [D] A,
Letter [A] A,
Has so [D] many sounds to a say,
You say, [D] “Aaaah!”
You say, [A] “Ahhh!”
You say, [D] “Ayyy!”

You’re the [D] apple of my eye.
You’re the [A] airplane in the sky.
Astro-[D]nauts and arrows [A] fly
With letter [D] A.

You say “Aaah” in hat and rat,
And in cat and acrobat.
The whole world would be flat
Without A.

You put the a in cake and bake,
And in acorn and mistake.
When we say those words you make
Our faces smile.

You give water its ahhh,
And you make the sheep say “Baaa!”
There could be no Arkansas
Without A.

Letter A, Letter A,
You make everything okay,
You say, “Aaah!”
You say, ” Ahhh”
You say, “Ayyy”

Stay & Play: ART!

For our Stay & Play, I announced we were going to be exploring one of my favorite Letter A words: ART! I just put out white paper, markers and dot markers, and let the kids go wild.

What are your favorite books or songs about the Letter A? Please share them in the comments below.

Building Up: A Storytime About Construction

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Early Literacy Tip: Books with “sound words” like “Crash” and “Bang” are a fun way to help build phonemic awareness (the knowledge of the sounds that make up words). As an added bonus, these words are often prominently displayed, making them great for helping kids build the connection between the sound of the word and the way it looks on the page.

I love reading books about construction vehicles, because there are a few toddlers who get so excited just seeing pictures of them. So, I thought it would make for a fun theme this week for Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime. Here’s what we did:

Books:

Baby Builders by Elissa Haden Guest; illustrated by Hiroe Nakata

Cute, rhyming picture book describing all the steps a crew of adorable babies go through to build a house together. The kids loved the line about the babies enjoying mint ice cream, and everyone liked the picture of the house at the end, which has a big slide in the middle.

Cats in Construction Hats by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen & Leeza Hernandez

Colorful cats in different colored construction hats work together to build a building, with the help of some rats. This one reminds me a bit of the Busy Town books by Richard Scarry.

Little Excavator by Anna Dewdney

Super cute, rhyming picture book by the creator of the Llama Llama books. In this one, a helpful excavator called Little E tries his best to help the other construction vehicles, but always ends up falling over or getting in the way. In the end, though, there is one task that only he can do. Filled with lots of great sound words that the kids enjoyed repeating.

Smashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

I handed out the egg shakers before we read this one at Outdoor Musical Storytime. By the creators of Trashy Town, this book features Mr. Gilly as the driver of a wrecking ball, hired to knock down an old building so a new one could go up. The kids enjoyed joining in (and shaking their egg shakers) for the repeated “Swing the ball, hit the wall! SMASH, SMASH, SMASH! Swing the ball, hit the wall! CRASH, CRASH, CRASH!

Songs & Rhymes:

The Wheels on the Trucks

We have a set of plastic construction vehicle toys that we put out for Stay & Play sometimes, so for this song, I held up each truck and we sang about it to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus.

The wheels on the trucks go round and round,
Round and round, round and round.
The wheels on the trucks go round and round,
All day long.

The drum on the concrete mixers goes round and round…

The bucket on the excavator goes up and down…

The bed on the dump truck goes up and down…

Bumping Up and Down in an Excavator

We sang this with the parachute at Outdoor Musical Storytime. It’s to the tune of Bumping Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon. I put cotton balls on the parachute, so they would fly up and down while we shook the parachute in time to the song.

Bumping up and down in an excavator,
Bumping up and down in an excavator,
Bumping up and down in an excavator,
Won’t you be my darlin’?

I Have a Cat

We did this rhyme after reading Cats in Construction Hats. I usually have the kids echo each line of this rhyme as I say it. They especially like the part where they get to pretend to catch a rat.

I have a cat (pet imaginary cat).
My cat lies flat (put one hand flat on top of the other).
I have a cat (pet imaginary cat).
She wears a hat (pat the top of your head).
I have a cat (pet imaginary cat).
She caught a rat (grab imaginary rat).
I have a cat (pet imaginary cat).
Purr, Purr, MEOW!

If I Had a Construction Crew

I was having trouble finding songs for this theme, so I wrote this one, which I may expand into a longer song (if you ever need a song for a theme, please let me know. I love a challenge!). Each time we sang it, I asked the kids to suggest things they would like to have in their house. We had “rooms of cows and kittens too,” “bouncy houses and slides too,” and “rooms of cake and cookies too.”

[C] If I had a [E7] construction crew,
I’d [F] build a house for [G7] me and you,
With [C] rooms of toys and [E7] candy too,
Just [F] like a fairy tale [G7] come [C] true.

[F] And we’d ride uni-[G7]corns all [C] day,
And [F] dream of games we’d [G7] like to [C] play.
So [F] many things that we [G7] could [C] do,
If [F] I had a [G7] construction [C] crew.

Repeat, asking the kids to suggest things they would like to see in their dream house for the third line (Example: With rooms of cats and kittens too).

Stay & Play: Painting With Legos

This was so messy, but the kids LOVED it! I just put out Duplo blocks and trays of tempera paint in different colors, and they had a blast stamping the blocks in the paint and then onto the paper.

What are your favorite books or songs about construction vehicles? Please share them in the comments below.

Hold Your Horses: A Storytime for the Year of the Horse

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For the last few weeks, our libraries have been celebrating Lunar New Year, which this year fell on February 17, but is often celebrated through the Lantern Festival on March 3. We’ve been lucky enough to have a Lion Dancers come to both libraries, which has been a blast (the first one was absolutely packed!).

Since this year is the Year of the Horse, I focused my last two storytimes on a combination of horse books and songs, and books about the Lunar New Year. Here’s what we did:

Books:

Tomorrow is New Year’s Day by Aram Kim

Most of the picture books we have about the Lunar New Year are focused on the Chinese traditions surrounding the holiday. I liked that this one centered around the traditions practiced by people from Korea. It’s also relatively short, and works well for storytime. In this story, Mina can’t wait to show off her beautiful hanbok to her class, and share tteokguk, a delicious rice cake soup. But she’s embarrassed when her little brother shows up crying and complaining about his own hanbok being itchy. Luckily, the compliments of her classmates calm him down. Includes a glossary of terms (with pronunciation), and instructions on how to make an origami hanbok.The kids like joining in on the “Waaahh!” when the little brother cries.

Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin

This is one of my favorite Lunar New Year picture books that focuses on Chinese traditions. It describes how one family celebrates the holiday by sweeping out the old year, getting haircuts, eating dumplings, and waking up the dragon. Sometimes I hand out pieces of bubble wrap (the kind that still pops) for the kids to pop when we get to the page with the firecrackers.

Clip-Clop by Nicola Smee

This simple, funny picture book works well for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. All the animals want to go for a ride with Mr. Horse, but when they complain that he’s going too fast, he skids to a stop, and they all fly into a haystack. Mr. Horse is very worried, but then they all beg to do it again. Lots of opportunities for kids to join in on the “Clippedy-Clops” (or stomp their feet), and make different animal sounds.

Horse Meets Dog by Elliott Kalan & Tim Miller

Funny story about an encounter between a horse and a dog, who are both confused about each other’s identity. The horse thinks the dog is a tiny baby horse, and tries to give him a bottle of hay. The dog thinks the horse is a very big dog, and tries to teach him to play fetch with a ball. The kids loved the part at the end, where they argue back and forth: “Tiny baby horse!” “Very big dog!” and the ending, when a bird thinks they are “two weird looking birds.”

If You Want to Ride a Horse by Amy Novesky & Gael Abary

This one is a bit too long for my Outdoor Musical Storytime crowd, but it worked well for the early elementary kids at my evening Family Storytime. It invites the reader to imagine what kind of horse they might like to have, the different ways they could ride it, and the different tools they would need to take care of it. It’s the kind of book I would have loved when I was a horse-obsessed girl.

Songs:

Ribbon Dancing

In honor of Lunar New Year, we handed out ribbon wands, and invited the kids to wave them in time to the song Gongs and Drums to Welcome New Year performed by the Taipei Municipal Chinese Classical Orchestra. This was a big hit!

Giddy-Up!

This is one of my all-time favorite baby/toddler storytime songs. It’s to the tune of the William Tell Overture (Lone Ranger Theme). For Outdoor Musical Storytime, we sang it with the parachute, shaking the chute in time to the song, and getting faster each time.

Giddy-up, Giddy-up, Giddy-UP-UP-UP! (bounce baby or toddler, or have older kids “gallop” in place)
Giddy-up, Giddy-up, Giddy-UP-UP-UP!
Giddy-up, Giddy-up, Giddy-UP-UP-UP!
WHOA, Horsey! (Lean back with baby/toddler, or have older kids stop and put their hands out)

Hop Up, My Ladies

There are lots of recordings of this traditional song, but the one by Dan Zanes is my favorite. It’s such a fun and happy song. We did it as our instrument play-along at the end.

[C] Did you ever go to meetin’, [G] Uncle [C] Joe, Uncle Joe?
Did you ever go to [G] meetin’, Uncle Joe?
Did you [C] ever go to meetin’, Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe?
Don’t [F] mind the weather [G] so the wind don’t blow.

CHORUS:

[C] Hop up, my ladies, three in a row,
Hop up, my [G] ladies, three in a row,
Hop up, my [C] ladies, three in a row,
Don’t [F] mind the weather [G] so the wind don’t blow.

Will your horse carry double, Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe…

CHORUS:

Is your horse a single-footer, Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe…

CHORUS:

Say, don’t you wanna’ gallop, Uncle Joe, Uncle Joe…

Stay & Play: Paper Dragon Puppets

A teacher friend of mine gave me a whole envelope full of wooden chopsticks and New Year envelopes (we put stickers in these, and gave them out at the end of both storytimes).

Before the storytime, I cut out the dragon head and tail from krokotak.com (for some reason, I couldn’t get the template to load when I went back to the site, but here’s a photo of it).

I also cut sheets of red paper in half lengthwise to make the bodies.

For the Stay & Play, I put out the paper templates, markers, chopsticks, the half sheets of red paper, glue sticks, and Scotch tape. I showed the kids how to fold the red paper accordion style (the adults helped the kids with this too). Then they colored their dragons, and glued the head and tail onto either end of the folded paper. We taped a chopstick at the front and the back. The kids had a great time making their dragons dance.

Do you have favorite books, songs, or crafts related to Lunar New Year or horses? Please share them in the comments below.

Whatever Floats Your Boat: A Storytime About Floating and Sinking

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Early Literacy Tip: Find ways to play with rhyming words together by changing the words to favorite songs, or coming up with your own verses. Rhyming and music are both powerful tools for teaching the sounds that make up language, which will make it easier for kids to learn to decode words when they are learning to read later on.

Last week, I did a storytime focused on things that float/things that sink, mostly so we could do a little STEM activity with water play at the end. I started by asking the kids what things they could think of that float. They suggested boats, rubber ducks, and soap. I didn’t get into any of the science behind it, but in retrospect, I wish I had done a little demonstration where we tried seeing if different things floated or sank in a container of water.

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

I Want a Boat by Liz Garton Scanlon; illustrated by Kevan Atteberry

I read this one for Family Storytime. The text is simple (“I have a box. I want a boat. I have a boat. I want a crew, etc.”) but the magic is in the adorable illustrations of a little girl on an imaginary adventure.

Truck Full of Ducks by Ross Burach

This one is always a hit. When the ducks eat the address of the customer who called for a “Truck full of ducks,” the owner drives around town looking for them. He finds surfers who called for an ice cream truck, a construction worker who called for a dump truck, and even someone who called for a duck removal truck. Finally, in the deep dark woods, he finds the fox who called for a truck full of ducks–for his bathtub! The best page is the one showing all of the ducks in a public restroom, with their little feet showing under the doors.

Swim, Swim, Sink by Jenn Harney

Rhyming (sort of) book about a family of three baby ducks. Two of the ducks swim without any problem, but the third one always sinks. He tries everything to cope: SCUBA gear, a jet-ski, water wings, and then finally uses his eggshell as a boat. The kids enjoyed joining in on the “Swim, Swim, Sink!” part.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera

Adorable adaptation of the classic song, with additional verses featuring a wide variety of animals (and animal sounds). We sang it with the egg shakers at the end of both Outdoor Musical and Family Storytime.

Songs:

The Goldfish Song

We sang this after reading Swim, Swim, Sink. I handed out ribbon wands for the kids to wave around during the choruses.

[C] Lots of little fish were sleeping on a rock
In the [G] bottom of the [C] ocean.
They lifted up their heads,
And they shook out their tails,
And they [G] said let’s go [C] swimming.

CHORUS
Let’s go [C] swimming, let’s go swimming,
[G] Yeah, let’s go [C] swimming.
Let’s go [C] swimming, let’s go swimming in the [G] bottom of the [C] ocean.

[C] Then the little fish got so very, very tired
That they [G] swam back to the [C] rock.
And they [C] put down their heads,
And they put down their tails,
And they [G] took a little [C] nap.
And when they woke up, they were a little bit dirty,
So they took a shower.
And they washed their [C] hair,
And they washed their [G] ears,
And they washed their tummies,
And they washed their very long fishy beards.
And they washed their [F] noses,
And they washed their [C] toeses,
And then they [G] said,
“Wait a minute, we’re fish!
We don’t take showers!”

CHORUS:
Let’s go [C] swimming, let’s go swimming,
[G] Yeah, let’s go [C] swimming.
Let’s go [C] swimming, let’s go swimming in the [G] bottom of the [C] ocean.

[C] Then the little fish got so very, very tired
That they [G] swam back to the [C] rock.
And they [C] put down their heads,
And they put down their tails,
And they [G] took a little [C] nap.
And when they woke up,
They decided to brush their teeth.

So they got out their tooth [C] brush
And their [G] toothpaste.
And they squeezed a little on,
They really liked the [C] taste.
Then they put it in their [F] mouth,
They brushed north and [C] south.
Ch-ka-ch! Ch-ka-ch! Ch-ka-ch!
And then [G] they said,
“Wait a minute, we’re fish!
We don’t brush our teeth!

CHORUS

[C] Then the little fish got so very, very tired,
That they [G] came back to the [C] rock.
They [C] put down their heads,
And they put down their tails,
And they [G] took a little [C] nap.
And [C] when they woke up,
They decided to ride their bicycles.

So they rode to the [C] left,
And they rode to the [G] right,
And they rode all day,
And they rode all [C] night-night-night-night-night.
They rode down the [F] hill,
And then faster [C] still,
And then they said,
“Wait a minute, [G] we’re [C] fish!
We don’t ride bicycles!”

CHORUS
Let’s go [C] swimming, let’s go swimming
[G] Yeah, let’s go [C] swimming
Let’s go [C] swimming, let’s go swimming in the [G] bottom of the [C] ocean.
Let’s go [C] swimming, let’s go swimming
[G] Yeah, let’s go [C] swimming
Let’s go [C] swimming, let’s go swimming in the [G] bottom of the [F] o-[C]cean

Six Little Ducks

We sang this with the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime. I threw six small rubber ducks onto the parachute. The kids loved watching them bounce around.

[C] Six little ducks that I once [G7] knew,
Big ones, little ones, [C] fair ones too.But the one little duck with the [G7] feather on his back.
He led the others with his [C] “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Chorus:
[G7] “Quack! Quack! Quack! [C] Quack! Quack! Quack!”
[G7] He led the others with his [C] “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

[C] Down to the river they would [G7] go,
Wibble-wobble, wibble-wobble, [C] to and fro.
But the one little duck with the [G7] feather on his back.
He led the others with his [C] “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Chorus

[C] Home from the river they would [G7] come,
[C] Wibble-wobble, wibble-wobble, ho hum hum.
But the one little duck with the [G7] feather on his back.
He led the others with his [C] “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Chorus

When I Was One

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. I asked the kids for words that rhymed with each number for the additional verses: When I was two, I tied my shoe. When I was three, I saw a bee, etc.

When I was one, I had some fun,
When I travelled out to sea. (move hand in a wavy motion)
I jumped aboard a pirate ship (jump)
And the captain said to me. (salute)

He said, Go this way! (lean right) 
That way! (lean left) 
Forward! (lean forward) 
Backward! (lean backward) 
When you travel out to sea!”

When I was two, I tied my shoe…

Stay & Play: Nature Boats

Before storytime, I collected a bunch of small sticks. I also brought some small pieces of a cauliflower plant from my garden that I hadn’t harvested in time, although flowers would have worked just as well.

For the Stay & Play, I put out the sticks, cauliflower pieces, rubber bands, ribbon, and scissors, along with a large tub of water so the kids could see if their boats would float. The kids had a great time assembling the sticks into bundles fastened with the rubber bands and testing them out in the water (I showed them how they might have to flatten them out into a kind of raft shape to make them float). They then decorated them with the cauliflower pieces and ribbon, along with leaves and other things they found around the picnic area. For Family Storytime, we used pipe cleaners instead of rubber bands.

Do you have any favorite books or songs about sinking and floating? Please share them in the comments below.

Inside Story: A Storytime about Indoor Activities

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Early Literacy Tip: Playing with rhyming words is a great way to help children learn the phonetic sounds that make up words, which will help them learn to read later on. It’s also a lot of fun!

Since it’s Winter, I thought it would be fun to do a storytime about activities families can do indoors when it’s too cold or wet to go outside.

I started by asking the kids what they like to do when it’s raining. They suggested: reading, playing with magnets, building a fort, and playing with siblings.

Here’s the rest of what we did (a mix of both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime):

Books:

Grace and Box by Kim Howard; illustrated by Megan Lötter

Sweet, colorful story about a girl’s adventures with a refrigerator box, which she can turn into a rocket ship, a house, a tent, and lots of other imaginative things.

Llama Llama Mess Mess Mess by Anna Dewdney & Reed Duncan; illustrated by J.T. Morrow

We recently had J.T. Morrow host a Learn to Draw Llama Llama program at our library. He lives here in town, so I was excited to share this book at storytime. Sadly, Anna Dewdney died in 2016, but J.T. explained that some of the books published after her death were based on manuscripts she had started. In this book, Mama Llama asks Llama Llama to help her clean, and asks him to imagine what would happen if she were to throw all the laundry on the floor, wear the blankets on her head, and skate around the house on roller skates. They end up cleaning the house together, and Llama Llama discovers it’s much easier to play with Mama when the floor is clear. For Family Storytime, I did it after our regular scarf songs, and had the kids throw the playscarves around in the part of the book about throwing clothes in the air, etc. This book was also a big hit at my preschool outreach visits this week.

Rainy Day by Patricia Lakin; illustrated by Scott Nash

Four alligators have an adventure on a rainy day when there seems to be nothing to do. Heading out into the fog, they wind up at a mini-golf course, find a very large dog, play baseball, and end up at the library where they each find a book about different parts of the day. Although not all of the activities mentioned were indoors, I still thought this was a fun book that reminds families that the library is a great place to go on a rainy day.

Blake the Snake Bakes a Cake by Amy Young; illustrated by Alison Young

Cute, funny, rhyming story about a snake named Blake who tries to bake a cake. Only something always seems to go wrong: the cake burns, or gets knocked over, or falls in a lake. Finally, he makes it to the birthday party, where the cake is a big success. Before I read the story, I told the families that it would feature lots of rhyming words, and that playing with rhymes would help them become strong readers when they got older.

Songs & Activities:

Freeze Dance: I recently bought some ribbon wands for Outdoor Musical Storytime, and this seemed like a great opportunity to try them out. I told the kids that a fun thing to do when you’re stuck indoors is to do a freeze dance. We handed out the ribbon wands, and I played The Little Bird Dance from Shenanigans on Tidal on my phone through the Bose speaker (it’s basically an instrumental version of The Chicken Dance, but I like how it gets faster and faster). I modelled waving the wands around and dancing, and then paused the song every few seconds. The kids loved it!

Old MacDonald: For Outdoor Musical Storytime, we sang this with the parachute. We all shook the parachute up and down in time to the beat, and each time we sang, I threw a different animal stuffed animal onto the chute: a pig, a dog, and a snake. One little girl immediately tried to “rescue” the pig, which was hilarious!

Rain is Falling Down

We did this one with play scarves, throwing them up in the air and catching them. I use the tune from JBrary in the video below:

Rain is falling down. SPLASH!
Rain is falling down. SPLASH!
Pitter patter, Pitter patter,
Rain is falling down. SPLASH!

Snow is falling down. SHHH!
Snow is falling down. SHHH!
Swirling, twirling, swirling, twirling,
Snow is falling down. SHHH!

A Hunting We Will Go: We sang this to go along with our discussion of rhyming after reading Blake the Snake Bakes a Cake. Each time we sang it, I asked the kids to suggest something different we could catch, and then we’d try to come up with a rhyme to go with it: we’ll catch a bear and put him in underwear; we’ll catch a snake and put him in a lake; and, my favorite, we’ll catch a fireman and then we’ll try again.

Oh, [C] a-hunting we will go!
A-[F]hunting we will go!
We’ll [G7] catch a fox and put it in a box,
And then we’ll let it [C] go!

There’s Nothing to Do

I wrote this song a while ago, and it seemed like a good fit for this theme. I think sometimes I forget that some of my favorite moments with my own kids are when we’re just hanging out in the living room together.

[C] There’s nothing to [G7] do,
There’s [F] nothing to [G7] do.
Can’t [C] swim in the [G7] pool.
Can’t [F] go to the [G7] zoo.
But my [F] favorite [C] thing in the [E7] whole world to [Am] do.
Is [F] just doing [G7] nothing with [C] you.

We could [C] talk for an [G7] hour.
We could [F] talk for a [G7] day.
And I [C] wouldn’t [G7] remember one thing that we’d [G7] say,
But I’d [F] remember I [C] laughed ’til my [E7] stomach was [Am] sore,
And I’d [F] feel more [C] alive than [E7] ever [Am] before,
‘Cause my [F] favorite [C] thing in the [E7] whole world to [Am] do.
Is just doing [G7] nothing with you.

The [G7] years fly so fast,
It’s like [C] no time at all.
And [G7] I have done more than I’ll [G7]ever recall.
But the [F] very best [C] moments that [E7] I ever [Am] knew
Were [F] just doing [G7] nothing with [C] you.

[C] There’s nothing to [G7] do,
There’s [F] nothing to [G7] do.
Can’t [C] swim in the [G7] pool.
Can’t [F] go to the [G7] zoo.
But my [F] favorite [C] thing in the [E7] whole world to [Am] do.
Is [F] just doing [G7] nothing with [C] you.

Stay & Play: Paper Puzzles

The end of Llama Llama Mess Mess Mess features Llama Llama doing a puzzle with his Mama, so I thought this would be a fun and easy Stay & Play for families to do together.

I put out white cardstock, markers, and kids scissors, and told the kids they could write or draw something, and then cut the paper into a few pieces to make a puzzle for a friend or family member to put together. Or they could ask their grownups to make a puzzle for them to solve. Although I didn’t get any pictures of this, my favorite example was a child who drew a unicorn, and their grandmother wrote the word UNICORN above the picture before they cut it into a puzzle. For Family Storytime, I helped some of the smaller kids write their names to cut into a puzzle.

Do you have any favorite picture books about indoor activities? Please share them in the comments below.

A Long Winter’s Nap: A Storytime About Animals in Winter

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Early Literacy Tip: Point out repeated words and phrases in the books you read together, and have your kids say them with you each time you read them. This helps build the connection between written and spoken language, and helps develop their sight vocabulary.

Happy New Year!

For storytime this week, I decided to do a theme about animals in Winter. I talked a little about hibernation, and shared a chart from animalspot.net showing common animals that hibernate.

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

Harold Hates to Hibernate by Vern Kousky

The sequel to Harold Loves His Woolly Hat, this one features Harold trying to avoid hibernating, because he’s afraid his friends the crows will forget about him. With the help of his friends, he tries to stay awake eating a big meal, wearing warm clothes (stolen from a clothesline), and resting his aching paws in something soft. When he is no longer able to stay awake, the crows promise they will remember him until he wakes up. The kids loved joining in on the repeated “CaCaws!”

The Mitten by Jim Aylesworth; illustrated by Barbara McClintock

Although I love the Jan Brett version of The Mitten, I find this adaptation a bit easier to read to younger kids. The story is essentially the same: a young boy’s lost mitten becomes a shelter for a series of animals escaping the cold. The mitten stretches to hold a squirrel, a rabbit, a fox, and then a bear. But when a little mouse tries to crawl in, the mitten bursts into pieces. I like the repeated rhyme each animal says, and it’s fun to do different voices for each animal.

I Don’t Want to Go To Sleep by Dev Petty; illustrated by Mike Boldt

A sequel to I Don’t Want to Be a Frog. In this story, Owl explains to Frog all of the reasons he can’t do the fun things that his other animal friends enjoy in the Winter, and that instead he will have to bury himself in the mud and sleep. Eventually, Frog decides to hibernate, but only if his friends will join him in the mud. I didn’t actually get to read this one at Family Storytime, like I had planned, but I did read it to a transitional Kindergarten class, and two second grade classes. The second graders especially enjoyed the humor.

Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London; illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz

My favorite of the Froggy books, in this story, Froggy decides he doesn’t want to sleep through the Winter, and goes out to play in the snow. But his mother keeps reminding him about the different articles of clothing he forgot to put on: his pants, his shirt, his coat, and finally, his underwear. The kids enjoyed joining in on the “Froggys!” (Before I read it, I talked about how they could keep an eye out for repeated words like that in the books they read with their grown-ups). I read to a couple of special needs preschools once a month, and have found that the kids there often enjoy repeating the different sound effects in this book (zum, zap, zip, znap, etc.). The kids at my storytimes this week did too.

Songs:

Two Little Blackbirds

One of my favorite storytime songs. It words well as either a finger play or a scarf song. You can also adapt it to other types of birds (ducks, geese, crows, etc.).

Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill, (Hold up both thumbs)
One named Jack, and the other named Jill.
Fly away, Jack! (Put one thumb behind your back)
Fly away, Jill! (Put the other thumb behind your back)
Come back, Jack! (Bring the first thumb out in front).
Come back, Jill! (Bring the second thumb out in the front).

Two little blackbirds sitting on a cloud,
One was quiet, and the other was loud (I make my voice as loud and obnoxious as possible each time I sing the word “Loud!”)
Fly away, Quiet!
Fly away, Loud!
Come back, Quiet!
Come back, Loud!

Two little blackbirds sitting in the snow.
One flew fast!
And the other flew slow!…

Two little blackbirds sitting on a gate.
One was early, and the other was…late!…

Mitten Song

Cute, simple song about mittens. I use the tune from this video, but only do the first verse.

Thumb in the thumb’s place, (wiggle your thumb)
Fingers all together, (squeeze your other fingers together)
This is the song we sing in mitten weather.

The Little Bunny Song

For Outdoor Musical Storytime, we did this one with the parachute. We started with the parachute on the ground, and I threw cotton balls in the middle. We sang the beginning of the song, then shook the parachute up and down when the bunnies “woke up.” The kids loved watching the cotton balls fly into the air.

See the little bunnies sleeping
‘Till it’s nearly noon.
Come, let us wake them with a merry tune?
They’re so still.
Are they ill?
NO! Wake up little bunnies!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop and stop!

If All the Raindrops

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, our Winter’s are full of rain rather than snow, so we sang this song as our instrument play-along at the end. I asked the kids to suggest different foods they would like to fall from the sky for each verse.

[C] If all the raindrops were [G7] lemon drops and [C] gum drops,
Oh, what a rain it would [G7] be.
[C] I’d stand out- [G7] side with my [C] mouth open [G7] wide,
[C] “Ah, Ah, Ah, [G7] Ah, Ah, Ah, [C] Ah, Ah, Ah, [G7] Ah!”
[C] If all the raindrops were [G7] lemon drops and [C] gum drops,
Oh, what a [G7] rain it would [C] be.

If all the raindrops were ice cream and carrots… etc.

Stay & Play: Paper Mittens

Before storytime, I printed out blank mitten templates (there are lots of options online, but here’s a free one from MondayMandala.com). For the Stay & Play, I put out the printed templates, kids scissors, markers, dot markers, tape, and yarn. The kids enjoyed coloring their mittens with the markers and dot markers, and the grown-ups helped them cut the mittens out and tape a long piece of yarn on the back of each one to connect them.

Do you have favorite picture books about hibernation and animals in Winter? Any storytime themes you are interested in trying this year? Please share them in the comments below.

By the Book: A Storytime About Interactive Picture Books

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Early Literacy Tip: Engage children in the books you read together by inviting them to mimic sounds and actions from the story, and asking them questions about the pictures and what they think will happen next. Interactive picture books are a fun and easy way to get kids involved in the story.

Interactive picture books (the kind that asks the reader to do different actions) are so much fun to share at storytime. They are also a great way to model the kinds of interactions that caregivers can use to encourage kids to engage with the books they read aloud. For this week’s storytimes, I decided to feature several of these types of books, and briefly explain to caregivers that they provide an easy way to give kids a way to participate in the books they read together, even before they learn how to read for themselves.

Here’s what we did:

Books:

Is Everyone Ready for Fun? by Jan Thomas

Jan Thomas is one of my favorite storytime authors. In this one, a trio of enthusiastic cows announce that it’s time to bounce on Chicken’s sofa. When Chicken tells them there will be no bouncing on his sofa, the cows dance, wiggle, and eventually nap on the sofa instead. The kids enjoyed doing the actions along with the cows. This is a great book for restless toddlers.

Bunny Slopes by Claudia Rueda

One of a series of Bunny Interactive books, this one asks the reader to help Bunny go skiing by shaking the book (or your arms) to make it snow, tilting the book (or your body) to make a ski slope, and more. The kids enjoyed following the bunny’s instructions.

Don’t Wake the Dragon by Bianca Schulze; illustrated by Samara Hardy

This was my first time reading this book, but it worked really well. A naughty dragon is finally asleep, and the narrator asks you to help keep her that way by saying “Shhh!” three times, rocking the book (or your body), and quieting a noisy group of knights by participating in their birthday party celebration until you can finally get their attention. The illustrations are bright and eye-catching, and the kids really seemed to enjoy all of the actions.

Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Kevin Cornell

I read this one for Family Storytime. It’s time to count the monkeys! There’s just one problem: a bunch of other animals (and people) keep showing up and scaring the monkeys away. You can help by giving high fives to the lumberjacks, moving your hand in a Z to confuse the crocodiles, saying thank you to the beekeepers, and more. This book got lots of laughs from both kids and grownups.

I Say Ooh, You Say Aah! by John Kane

I didn’t actually end up reading this at storytime, because it seemed a bit too complicated for the toddlers and preschoolers to follow. But I read it to a group of Kindergartners and T/K (Transitional Kindergartners), and they loved it so much, I ended up reading it twice (they even begged me to read it a third time!). The book asks the reader to follow a series of silly instructions: say “Aah” when the narrator says, “Ooh;” say “Underpants” when you see a picture of an ant; pat your head when you see the color red, etc. It then introduces a donkey named, “Ooh” with an ant on his nose, and things get very silly.

Songs:

We Bounce and We Bounce and We Stop

We sang this to go with the book Is Everyone Ready for Fun? This is one of my all-time favorite storytime songs, because it’s so versatile. It works for almost any age (as a lapsit song for babies, and an action song for toddlers on up). You can add in age-appropriate actions like clapping, jumping, spinning, etc., and ask the kids for suggestions. You can sing it fast or slow, or add in long pauses to make them wait for the action (“We…bounce and we bounce and we stop!”). Or repeat the third line to keep them guessing when the “stop” will come. It’s always a hit!

[C] We bounce and we bounce and we stop!
[C] We bounce and we bounce and we stop!
[C] We bounce and we bounce and we bounce and we bounce,
[C] And we bounce and [G7] we bounce and we [C} stop!

The Sleepy Bunny Song

We sang this after reading Bunny Slopes. This is another long-time favorite, which I learned from a daycare provider. The kids LOVE pretending to sleep on the floor, and then jumping up at the end.

For Outdoor Musical Storytime, we sang it twice, doing the actions with our bodies. Then I brought out the big parachute and put cotton balls on top to look like little bunnies. The kids loved watching them fly in the air.

See the little bunnies sleeping
‘Till it’s nearly noon.
Come, let us wake them with a merry tune?
They’re so still.
Are they ill?
NO! Wake up little bunnies!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Hop little bunnies, hop and stop!

Monkey See and Monkey Do

I wish I could remember who taught me this song, because it’s one I’ve used for my whole career. It’s another really versatile song with a catchy tune, and you can ask the kids to suggest other actions for the monkey to do.

When you clap, clap, clap your hands,
The monkey clap, clap, claps his hands,
Monkey see, and monkey do,
The monkey does the same as you!

Repeat with other motions: when you jump up and down; make a funny face; turn yourself around; and sit back on the ground.

Down By the Bay

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. Each time we sang it through, I asked the kids to suggest different things that the mother might ask. Some kids were familiar with the original song, and suggested, “Did you ever see a llama wearing pajamas?” but another kid suggested, “Did you ever see a whale wearing pajamas?” which everyone thought was really funny.

[C] Down by the bay, where the watermelons [G7] grow,
Back to my home, I dare not [C] go,
For if I [F] do, my mother will [C] say,
“Did you ever see a whale with a polka dot tail
[G7] Down by the [C] bay?”

Stay & Play: Marble Painting

This was really messy, and had nothing to do with the theme, but I had been wanting to try this process art activity ever since one of my coworkers found a big box of marbles in our craft closet. Before storytime, I traced the bottom of a pie tin onto white paper, and cut out a circle for each child.

For the Stay & Play, I gave each child a pie tin with a paper circle inside, and put a few dollops of different colors of tempera paint on the paper. I let them choose a marble (or two or three), and then they tilted the pie tin back and forth to roll the marble through the paint. One little girl discovered that she could make a more understated painting by taking the paint-covered marble from her first attempt, and rolling it across another white paper. You can see both paintings in the photo above.

Do you have any favorite interactive picture books? Please share them in the comments below.