Monthly Archives: February 2024

W is for Watermelon: A Storytime About the Letter W

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As I’ve been planning my Storytime Journey through the Alphabet, I’ve been getting a little nervous about the last few letters, especially X. But the letter W has been a lot of fun!

As usual, we started by asking the kids to suggest words that start with the letter W. They came up with water, wet, weevil, and wolverine. I also brought out my puppy slide whistle, which is always a hit.

Here are the books, songs, and activities we did (a combination of my Family Storytime last week, and Outdoor Musical Storytime today).

Books:

I Went Walking by Sue WIlliams and Julie Vivas

This is such a charming, simple book in the vein of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? The kids loved joining in on the “What did you see?” line every time I said “I went walking,” and enjoyed trying to guess which animal would appear on the next page.

Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes

This book was a little longer than I ones I usually read, but my Family Storytime (in the evening) has been getting a few early elementary-aged kids, who really enjoyed it. Super sweet story about a mouse named Wemberly who worries about everything, especially starting school, until she meets another worrier. A lot of the story revolves around Wemberly’s stuffed rabbit, so I had the kids each choose one of our storytime puppets to hold as I read the story.

The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli

Very cute story about a crocodile who loves watermelon, but worries that the watermelon seed he swallowed will sprout in his stomach. I had given out play scarves before I read this one, and I had the kids throw them in the air on the page where the crocodile burps out the seed.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

I couldn’t resist reading this classic about Max’s adventures with the Wild Things. The kids LOVED roaring and gnashing their teeth, and the story had them mesmerized.

Songs & Activities

Color Wheel

One of my coworkers recently brought in a large color wheel, so for Family Storytime, I made up a little chart of activities to go with each color: red = clap, orange = stomp, etc. The kids took turns spinning the wheel, and we all did the motions together.

If You’re Happy and You Know It

We did this song as a follow-up to Wenberly Worried. I like to add additional verses about different emotions:

[C] If you’re happy and you know it, clap your [G7] hands! (clap, clap)
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your [C] hands! (clap, clap)
If you’re [F] happy and you know it, and you [C] really want to show it,
If you’re [G7] happy and you know it, clap your [C] hands! (clap, clap)

If you’re sad and you know it, cry, “Boo hoo!”…

If you’re angry and you know it, say, “I’m mad!”… (stomp feet while saying, “I’m mad!”)

If you’re shy and you know it, hide your face… (cover your eyes, and then uncover them and say, “Peek-a-boo!”

If you’re sleepy and you know it, yawn and stretch…

If you’re happy and you know it, shout, “Hooray!”…

Wishy Washy Washer Woman

We sang this with the play scarves. I use the version in this video from Imagine More Story Adventures:

Way down in the valley where nobody goes,
There’s a wishy washy washer woman washing her clothes.
She goes “Oooh! Ahhh! Oooh! Ahhh! Oooh! Ahhh!”
And that’s the way she washes her clothes.

Repeat with drying her clothes (blowing on the scarves), folding her clothes, and wearing her clothes.

Waves on the Ocean

We did this one with the parachute, and put a toy cat on top to go up and down with the waves. It’s to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus:

The waves on the ocean go up and down,
Up and down, Up and down.
The waves on the ocean go up and down,
All day long!

Home Again

This was a song I wrote several years ago about Where the Wild Things Are and several other books by Maurice Sendak, so it seemed like a fun way to follow our reading of Where the Wild Things Are for our instrument play-along at the end.

[F] Darling, when you [C] feel afraid,
For [Bb] you can plainly [F] see,
The world is full of [C] monsters
Who look [Bb] just like you and [F] me.
Just [F] jump aboard your [C] tiny boat
Fol-[Bb]low the falling [F] star.
You’ll sail away through [C] night and day,
To [Bb] where the wild things [F] are.

And you will dance and [C] then
Let the [Bb] wild rumpus be-[F]gin.
But I will love you [C] best of all
When [Bb] you come home [F] again.

And darling, when the goblins come,
And no one seems to care,
Climb out your bedroom window
Into outside over there.
Bring your horn, and play a jig,
And charm them with a song.
They’ll set you free, and you will soon be
Home where you belong.

And you will dance and then,
Let the wild rumpus begin.
But I will love you best of all,
When you come home again.

[C] And if you fall into the [F] Night Kitchen,
[C] Just fly your plane up to the [F] Milky Way.
[C] Our world is full of dark and [F] strange visions,
But I [C] know that you will find a [A] way.

And when the moon is in a fit,
And you are in the dumps,
Lost in the rye with one black eye,
And diamonds are all trumps.
I will come and buy you bread,
One loaf or maybe two.
And I will bring you up
Cause happy endings can come true.

And we will dance and then,
Let the wild rumpus begin.
And I will love you best of all
Until the very end.

Stay & Play: Watercolor Painting

The kids always love painting of any kind, and their caregivers usually talk about how grateful they are to have someone else deal with the set-up and clean-up. The beauty of watercolor is that it is much less messy than most other forms of paint.

For the Stay & Play, I put out white construction paper, small cups of water, paint brushes, and watercolor sets. It was a challenge for some of the younger kids to learn to dip their brush in the water before dipping it in the paint, but they all eventually got the hang of it, and had a wonderful time!

What are your favorite picture books or songs featuring the letter W? Please share them in the comments below.

V is for Van: A Storytime About the Letter V

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Coincidentally, my Letter V storytime happened to fall on Valentine’s Day last week, at least for my Family Storytime. So I mixed in a few Valentine’s Day stories, and made Valentine’s for the Stay & Play activity at the end. Today, we did the letter V again for Outdoor Musical Storytime, but without the Valentine’s elements.

As usual, I started both storytimes by asking the kids to suggest any words they knew that started with the letter V. They came up with vase, vacuum, and Valentine’s. I also brought a violin, and let the kids hold the bow and try to play.

Here’s a combination of the books, songs, and activities we did for both storytimes.

Books:

A Unicorn Named Sparkle and the Perfect Valentine by Amy Young

I had actually done this book for our Letter U storytime for Outdoor Musical Storytime the day before, but it made sense to do it for Letter V as well. It’s a sweet story about Sparkle the Unicorn trying to make a Valentine for his best friend, Lucy, but worrying that it’s not nice enough to give to her. The kids all laughed at the line about Sparkle pooping glitter.

This Old Van by Kim Norman; illustrated by Carolyn Conahan

Cute, counting-themed adaptation of This Old Man. A colorful van passes by different types of vehicles, and waves goodbye to each set: one train, two bulldozers, etc. The kids enjoyed joining in on the “Goodbye’s” on each page.

Don’t Blow Your Top by Ame Dyckman; illustrated by Abhi Alwar

This was my first time using this book for storytime, and I loved it! Two volcanoes are having a happy day in paradise, until a bird accidentally drops a coconut on Little Volcano. Luckily, Big Volcano reminds Little Volcano to breathe, count to 5, and think happy thoughts, and Little Volcano doesn’t blow their top. But then the bird drops two coconuts, and Little Volcano forgets how to stay calm. I had given out play scarves before I read this book, and we all threw them in the air on the page where Little Volcano erupts. The kids laughed out loud each time the bird dropped more coconuts.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

One of my favorite Eric Carle books. This one features a spider who is too busy building a web to spend time with the other animals. The kids enjoyed calling out the names of the animals.

If You’ll Be My Valentine by Cynthia Rylant; illustrated by Fumi Kosaka

I read this sweet, rhyming Valentine’s Day book for Family Storytime. Simple poems explain what a little boy will do for each member of his family if they will agree to be his Valentine.

Songs

This Old Man

I did this one to go along with This Old Van, and the kids loved it so much that I wondered why I haven’t used it more often. Here’s a video of the Wiggles version:

This old man, he played one, (clap in rhythm, then hold up one finger)
He played knick knack on my thumb. (hold up your thumb)
With a knick knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone (clap in rhythm)
This old man came rolling home. (roll your hands)

This old man, he played two,
He played knick knack on my shoe…

This old man, he played three,
He played knick knack on my knee…

Love Somebody

I sang this one at Family Storytime to go along with A Unicorn Named Sparkle and the Perfect Valentine. The version I do is closest to the one in this Magical Musical Kingdom video:

Love somebody, yes I do! (ASL sign for LOVE, ASL sign for YES)
Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody and it’s you, you, you! (point to different people)
You, you, you!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

We sang this with the parachute, lifting it up and down along with the song. I put a spider puppet in the middle of the parachute, and kids thought it was hilarious to see the spider bouncing up and down.

The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain,
And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

The Rattlin’ Bog

I was having trouble finding songs featuring the letter V, but then I remembered this Irish song, which has a repeated line about the valley. The version I did was based on this one by Carlyle Fraser:

[G] O-ro the [C] rattlin’ bog, the [G] bog down in the [D] valley-o.
[G] A rare bog, the [C] rattlin’ bog, the [G] bog down in the [D] valley- [G] o.

[G] And in that bog there was a hole, a rare hole, a [D] rattlin’ hole.
With the [G] hole in the bog,
And the bog down in the [C] valley- [G] o.

Now in that hole there was a tree, a rare tree, a rattlin’ tree.
With the tree in the hole and the hole in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o.

Now on that tree there was a branch, a rare branch, a rattlin’ branch
With the branch on the tree and the tree in the hole,
And the bog down in the valley-o.

(Repeat, adding a line each time)
Now on that branch there was a nest, a rare nest, a rattlin’ nest…..

Now in that nest there was an egg , a rare egg, a rattlin’ egg…..

Now in that egg there was a bird, a rare bird, a rattlin’ bird…..

Stay & Play: Valentine’s and Paper and Popsicle Stick Vans

For Family Storytime, since it fell on Valentine’s Day, I did a very simple Valentine’s craft with colored paper hearts of different colors, glue sticks, white cardstock, and markers. The finished Valentines were adorable.

For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I did a Van craft. Before storytime, I printed out a van picture (see below) on different colors of paper and cut out the windows. For the Stay & Play, I put out the paper vans, popsicle sticks, markers, googly eyes, and tape (for taping the popsicle sticks to the backs of the vans). The kids had a great time decorating their vans and drawing faces on the popsicle sticks.

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

U is for Umbrella: A Storytime About the Letter U

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Last Wednesday night and today we focused on the letter U for storytime. As usual, I started by asking the kids if they knew any words that started with the letter U, which was a challenge (a lot of them suggested “you.”) With a bit of prompting though, I got them to guess umbrella, unicorn, and up, and then we drew the letter U in the air together.

Here’s a combined list of the songs and books we did for both storytimes.

Books:

The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates and Juniper Bates

This is such a sweet, simple book about an umbrella that welcomes everyone, no matter how tall or different they may appear. I used it a while ago for a Welcoming Week storytime, and it worked perfectly for that theme too. The illustrations are funny, surprising, and adorable.

You Don’t Want a Unicorn by Ame Dyckman; illustrated by Liz Climo

This one got lots of laughs at my Family Storytime. When a little boy tosses a coin into a fountain and wishes for a unicorn, the narrator warns him that it’s not a good idea. Unicorns, it turns out, cannot be housebroken (and poop cupcakes), and worse, they love to throw unicorn parties, which get very messy.

A Unicorn Named Sparkle and the Perfect Valentine by Amy Young

Since Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, I used this unicorn book for Outdoor Musical Storytime today (what are the odds of finding a unicorn book about Valentine’s Day?). It’s a super sweet story about Sparkle the unicorn deciding to make a Valentine for his best friend Lucy. Even though he puts a lot of thought into it, he’s embarrassed by the results, and throws it away, but Lucy finds it in the trash, and absolutely loves it.

Those Are Not My Underpants by Melissa Martin; illustrated by Troy Cummings

The word “underpants” always gets a laugh, even more than “underwear” for some reason. In this story, Little Bear finds a pair of underpants hanging on a branch, and tries to find its owner, but all of the other animals explain why it can’t be their underpants. Finally, to his embarrassment, Little Bear discovers that they are his underpants.

Underwear! by Jenn Harney

This book is a fun bit of word play between a baby bear and a grown-up bear at bedtime, using phrases like “under where?” There’s one scene where the baby bear jumps out of the bathtub, surprising the older bear, and all the kids in Family Storytime shrieked with laughter.

Songs:

If All the Raindrops

We sang this one to go along with The Big Umbrella. I asked the kids to suggest foods they would like to fall out of the sky, and we sang it again with “If all the raindrops were hamburgers and ice cream…” and “apples and oranges.” It’s always been one of my favorite storytime songs, because not only does it give the kids a chance to suggest ideas for the verses, but it’s easy to get them to join in on the “Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah” line.

[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!Old MacDonald with Fantasy Animals

Old MacDonald

We sang this to go along with You Don’t Want a Unicorn at Family Storytime, but I asked the kids to suggest magical animals. I thought they would choose things like dragons or even Pokémon, but instead they started making up hilarious animal combinations, like “unicorn-octopus-whale,” which apparently says, “Eeep!” followed by a “unicorn-octopus-whale-crocodile” which says “Skoo!” You really never know what kids are going to come up with:

[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!
And on that farm he [F] had a [C] unicorn-octopus-whale,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!
With an eep-eep here, and an eep-eep there,
Here a eep, there a eep,
Everywhere a eep-eep.
[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!

The Wishy Washy Washer Woman

We did this one at Family Storytime with play scarves, as shown in the video below, to go along with Those Are Not My Underpants.

Way down in the valley where nobody goes,
There’s a wishy washy washer woman washing her clothes.
She goes “Oooh! Ahhh! Oooh! Ahhh! Oooh! Ahhh!”
And that’s the way she washes her clothes.

Repeat with drying her clothes (blowing on the scarves), folding her clothes, and wearing her clothes.

Under the Umbrella

We did this song with the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime, using the tune to Frère Jacques:

Rain is falling, (wave parachute up and down)
Rain is falling,
From the sky,
From the sky,
I’m under the umbrella, (lift the parachute up so the kids can go underneath)
Under the umbrella,
Nice and dry!
Nice and dry!

Under the Boardwalk by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick

We sang this song as our instrument play-along for Outdoor Musical Storytime. It was fun because so many of the parents already knew it.

Oh, when the [C] sun beats down and burns the tar up on the [G] roof.
And your shoes get so hot, you wish your tired feet were fire-[C]proof. [C7]
Under the [F] boardwalk, down by the [C] sea,
On a blanket with my [G] baby, is where I’ll [C] be.

Under the [Am] boardwalk, out of the sun.
Under the [G] boardwalk, we’ll be having some fun.
Under the [Am] boardwalk, people walking above.
Under the [G] boardwalk, we’ll be falling in love under the [Am] boardwalk, boardwalk.

From the [C] park you hear the happy sounds of the carou-[G]sel,
You can almost taste the hot dogs and french fries they [C] sell. [C7]
Under the [F] boardwalk, down by the [C] sea
On a blanket with my [G] baby, is where I’ll [C] be.

Under the [Am] boardwalk, out of the sun.
Under the [G] boardwalk, we’ll be having some fun.
Under the [Am] boardwalk, people walking above.
Under the [G] boardwalk, we’ll be falling in love under the [Am] boardwalk, boardwalk.

Under a Shady Tree by Laurie Berkner

I always end with this song for Outdoor Musical Storytime, and give the kids egg shakers to shake in time to the beat. This week, since it fit with our letter U theme, I also sang it at the end of Family Storytime (I also used it for the letter T the week before.)

[C] Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.

Can you [G7] feel the breeze blow by?
Can you [C] feel it on your face?
This is our [F] special [G7] place.

[C] Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.

Can you [G7] feel the soft cool grass?
Can you [C] feel it with your toes?
We can [F] sit here while it [G7] grows.

[C] Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.

If you want to [G7] close your eyes,
And [C] sleep beneath the tree,
You can [F] rest your head on [G7] me.

[C] Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.

Stay & Play: Coffee Filter Umbrellas

This was a cute and easy craft that I adapted from GluedtoMyCraftsBlog.com. Before storytime, I cut coffee filters in half (I cut little half circles along the flat edge, but it works just fine to just cut them in half). For the Stay & Play, I put out the coffee filter halves, along with dot markers, glue sticks, white cardstock, pipe cleaners, scissors (for trimming the pipe cleaners), and Scotch tape for taping the pipe cleaner handles onto the paper.

The kids had a good time assembling their umbrellas on the cardstock, and decorating them with the dot markers. One little girl hilariously offered hers to her Mom to keep the rain off, and the Mom made a big show of holding it over her head.

Do you have any favorite books or songs featuring the letter U? Please share them in the comments below.

T is for Tree: A Storytime About the Letter T

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We’re getting close to the end of the alphabet, although I’m a little nervous about the letters at the end, especially V, X, Y, and Z. Luckily, today we were on the Letter T, which gave me lots of fun options for stories and songs.

As usual, at both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime, I asked the kids if they knew any words that started with the letter T. They suggested tree, toe, turtle, and tiger. I also showed them a tamborine. Then we drew the letter T (both capital and lower case) in the air together.

Here are the stories, songs, and activities we did:

Books:

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

Fun read-aloud about Mr. Gilly the garbage man, who drives around Trashy Town collecting trash. The kids loved joining in on the repeated line: Dump it in! Smash it down! Drive around the Trashy Town!” and then calling out “NO!” to the question, “Is the trash truck full yet?”

Little Blue Truck by Alice Shertle; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

This book has it all: animal sounds, a friendly blue truck, construction equipment. I read it earlier in the week a special needs preschool, and one of the students absolutely fell in love with it. In this first book in the series, Little Blue Truck tries to help a rude dump truck who gets stuck in the mud. When he gets stuck too, his animal friends rush to the rescue.

Clarabella’s Teeth by An Vrombaut

Adorable, funny, simple story about Clarabella the crocodile, who has so many teeth that by the time she finishes brushing them, her friends are getting ready for bed. Luckily, her friends come up with a gift idea to help her brush much more quickly.

Three Grumpy Trucks by Todd Tarpley; illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees

I love this story about three colorful toy construction vehicles who don’t want to stop playing, and keep asking to stay longer until they finally wear themselves out. The kids really liked all of the truck noises, and the grown-ups got a kick out of the line “I think you need a wiper change.”

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

Beautiful, interactive book that asks the reader to do different things (tap the tree trunk, touch the flower buds, wiggle their fingers, etc.) to help a tree go through the different changes that happen throughout the year. The kids loved joining in on the different actions.

Songs & Rhymes:

Old MacDonald

We sang this as a follow-up to Little Blue Truck. I asked the kids to suggest different animals for each verse:

[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!
And on that farm he [F] had a [C] cow,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!
With an moo-moo here, and an moo-moo there,
Here a moo, there a moo,
Everywhere a moo-moo.
[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!

Construction Song

I sand this as a follow-up to Three Grumpy Trucks. It’s to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell:

The backhoe scoops the dirt,
The backhoe scoops the dirt,
Hey-ho, look at them go!
The backhoe scoops the dirt.

The crane goes up and down…

The cement mixer stirs…

The dump truck bumps away…

Brush Your Teeth

We sang this as a follow-up to Clarabella’s Teeth. It’s always a hit!

When you wake up in the morning,
It’s a quarter to one,
And you want to have a little fun,
You brush your teeth,
Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch!
You brush your teeth,
Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch!

When you wake up in the morning,
It’s a quarter to two,
And you just can’t think of something to do,
You brush your teeth…

When you wake up in the morning,
It’s a quarter to three,
And your mind starts humming,
“Fiddle-dee-dee,”…

When you wake up in the morning,
It’s a quarter to four,
And you think you hear a knock on the door,
You get a little scared,
And then you brush your teeth…

When you wake up in the morning,
It’s a quarter to five,
And you just can’t wait to come alive!…

Way Up High in the Apple Tree

We did this rhyme with the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime. I put two shaker eggs on the parachute, and we pretended they were apples (it would have been even better with the apple-shaker instruments!).

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!

Under a Shady Tree

This is my traditional closing song for Outdoor Musical Storytime, and we always sing it with egg shakers. This week, since it fit with our tree/Letter T song, I also did it at the end of Family Storytime.

[C] Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.

Can you [G7] feel the breeze blow by?
Can you [C] feel it on your face?
This is our [F] special [G7] place.

[C] Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.

Can you [G7] feel the soft cool grass?
Can you [C] feel it with your toes?
We can [F] sit here while it [G7] grows.

[C] Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.

If you want to [G7] close your eyes,
And [C] sleep beneath the tree,
You can [F] rest your head on [G7] me.

[C] Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a [G7] shady tree you and [C] me.

Stay & Play: Mixed Media Trees

This was a really simple craft, but the kids had a good time with it. I printed out tree templates from Crafts on Sea on cardstock. For the Stay & Play, I put out the tree templates, crayons, markers, dot markers, glue sticks and squares of colored tissue paper. Some kids also glued actual leaves onto their trees.

Do you have any favorite books or songs featuring the letter T? Please share them in the comments below.