To kick off the holiday season, I thought we’d do a storytime about cookies, which was a lot of fun.

I started by asking the kids what their favorite kinds of cookies were. They mentioned chocolate, peanut butter, and chocolate chip.

I also taught the kids the ASL sign for Cookie, so that they could do it along with me throughout the storytime:

Here are the books and songs that we did:

Books:

The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson; illustrated by Marcellus Hall

I had never done this book before, but it was absolutely perfect. The farmer brings each animal their favorite food: the horse gets hay, the chickens feed, the geese corn, etc. But the cow loves cookies! Why? Because every day she gives the farmer milk and they enjoy a nice treat together. The kids loved naming the animals, making the sound for each, and chiming in on the repeated line, “The cow loves cookies!” The rhyming text is charming, and the illustrations are large and colorful.

The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems

Several of the kids had read this one already, and were very excited to see it again. Claire read the part of the Duckling, and I read the Pigeon. When the Duckling asks for and is quickly given a cookie (with nuts!), the Pigeon is outraged. No one ever gives him anything he asks for. But then the Duckling gives the cookie to him. Featuring lots of callbacks to the other Pigeon books, and a funny twist at the end.

Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? by Karen Beaumont and Eugene Yelchin

A twist on the classic “Who Took the Cookie?” rhyme, this book features a mother Kangaroo asking all of the other animals who ate all of the cookie dough. The answer is hiding in her pouch! Claire read the part of the mother Kangaroo, and I read all of the other animals.

Songs:

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

We sang this to go along with The Cow Loves Cookies. Claire held up different animal puppets for each verse: a chicken, a dog, a horse, and a cow. Always a hit:

C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,

E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!

And on that farm he [F] had a [C] pig,

E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!

With an oink-oink here, and an oink-oink there,

Here an oink, there an oink,

Everywhere an oink-oink.

[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,

E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!

Six Little Ducks

We sang this as a follow-up to The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?

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

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

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

Chorus

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

Chorus

If All the Raindrops

I love to throw this song in whenever we read a book about food. For the second and third times we sang it, I asked the kids to suggest food they would like to fall from the sky. The mentioned chocolate and cookies, and blueberries and cake.

[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 blueberries and cake, etc…

C Is For Cookie by Joe Raposo

We had to do this tribute to my favorite Sesame Street monster as our instrument play-along. I just sang the chorus through four times. On the last time, I had the kids sing it in their best Cookie Monster voice. I also help up a paper with the word “Cookie” written in large letters as a visual.

[C] C is for Cookie, that’s good enough for me.

[F] C is for Cookie, that’s good enough for me.

[G] C is for Cookie, that’s [F] good enough for me,

[G] Oh, Cookie, Cookie, Cookie, starts with [C] C.

Stay & Play: Paper Gingerbread People

The kids always love decorating pictures with googly eyes, and other items, and this easy craft was no exception. I printed out this template from 4freeprintable.com and gave the kids markers, glue sticks, googly eyes, buttons, and pom-poms. All of their creations were unique and colorful!

What are your favorite books or songs about cookies? Or your favorite cookie recipes? Please share them in the comments below.