Monthly Archives: August 2024

Making Sense: A Storytime About the Five Senses

Posted in Storytime themes by

This week I decided to do a storytime about the five senses, using a mix of books about all five, as well as a couple of titles featuring specific senses. At the beginning of both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime, I asked the kids to name the five senses. Most of the kids who raised their hands pointed to their eyes, nose, mouth, ears, or hands, so we talked about the sense that was associated with each body part: sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch.

In the future, I think it would be fun to do a series of storytimes focusing on a different sense each week. For now though, here’s what we did:

Books:

Hooray for Hoppy! by Tim Hopgood

Cute story about a rabbit who sets out to discover if Spring has begun, based on his five senses. He hears the birds, smells the blooming flowers, and tastes the newly grown grass. Some of the kids in Outdoor Musical Storytime enjoyed hopping along each time the rabbit hops in the story. In the end, when Hoppy thumps his foot to tell all of the other rabbits that Spring has sprung, I had the kids thump their feet on the ground (I like to tell them about my own pet rabbit, who thumps her foot whenever she’s scared or angry. The thump is incredibly loud!)

Dim Sum Palace by X. Fang

Fun story that’s reminiscent of In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. A little girl is excited to hear that her family will be going to the Dim Sum Palace the next day. That night she dreams that she wanders into an enormous kitchen, falls into a bowl of dumpling mix, and gets put into a dumpling. She is almost eaten by an Empress, but luckily is able to get her attention, and instead gets to enjoy a delicious feast. In the morning, when her family goes to the real Dim Sum Palace, she learns that it isn’t a real palace at all, but she still loves all of the amazing food. Many of the kids were familiar with dim sum, and they were excited to see foods that they had enjoyed.

Mama in the Moon by Doreen Cronin & Brian Cronin

This is such a sweet book, about a baby sloth who falls out of a tree. Frightened and alone, he calls to his mother, who slowly climbs down the tree to find him, while pointing out nearby things that he can sense: the sight of the moon, the smell of the flowers, the wriggling of the worms, the flutter of butterflies. The note at the end of the book says that sloths fall out of trees at least once a week for their entire lives, which the storytime crowd thought was very funny.

It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw

I used a big book version of this book, which worked really well. Each page shows a white shape resembling an animal or an object, with the phrase “It looked like a [rabbit, tree, flower, etc.]. But it wasn’t a [rabbit, tree, flower, etc.]. In the end, the white shape is revealed to be a cloud in the sky. The kids LOVED calling out what they thought the shape was, and they usually got pretty close.

Songs:

The Sleeping Bunnies

I learned this from a preschool teacher years ago, and it’s become one of my go-to songs. It even pulls in some of the elementary school-aged kids who don’t always want to participate in songs and fingerplays. They all love pretending to be asleep and then jumping up and hopping up and down.

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!

Apples and Bananas

Another favorite song of mine, and a great way to emphasize different vowel sounds. The kids always laugh every time I sing a new verse.

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.

Ay lake to ate, ate, ate, ayples and baynaynays…

Ee leek to eat, eat, eat, eeples and beeneenees…

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

Oh, loke to oh-te, oh-te, ohte, oh-pples and boh-noh-nohs…

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

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

We sang this with the play scarves in Family Storytime to go along with Mama in the Moon (I sing it with the parachute every week for Outdoor Musical Storytime). The kids loved throwing the scarves in the air at the end.

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!

If All the Raindrops

We sang this as our instrument play-along for Outdoor Musical Storytime. I asked the kids to suggest different foods they would like to fall from the sky for each verse. We had “If all the raindrops were vegetables and ice cream,” and “If all the raindrops were watermelon and fruit.”

[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

Rainbow ‘Round Me by Ruth Pelham

We sang this as the instrument play-along for Family Storytime. I asked the kids to suggest colorful things they would like to see outside the window for each verse. They suggested a yellow and orange bee, a rainbow ladybug, and a brown bat.

When I [C] look outside my [G7] window,
There’s a world of color I [C] see.
Fiddle-dee-dee, [F] outside my [C] window 
There’s a [G7] world of color I [C] see.

CHORUS:
[F] Rainbow, [C] rainbow, [G7] rainbow ’round [C] me. 
[F] Rainbow, [C] rainbow, [G7] rainbow ’round [C] me. 

And the [C] butterfly outside my [G7] window,
Is as purple as purple can [C] be.
Fiddle-dee-dee, [F] outside my [C] window 
It’s as [G7] purple as purple can [C] be.

CHORUS:
[F] Rainbow, [C] rainbow, [G7] rainbow ’round [C] me. 
[F] Rainbow, [C] rainbow, [G7] rainbow ’round [C] me. 

And the [C] cat outside my [G7] window,
Is as yellow as yellow can [C] be.
Fiddle-dee-dee, [F] outside my [C] window 
It’s as [G7] yellow as yellow can [C] be.
And the butterfly is [G7] purple as purple can [C] be.

Stay & Play: Cotton Ball Vanilla Clouds

This was a really simple activity inspired by It Looked Like Spilt Milk. For the Stay & Play, I put out blue paper, glue sticks, and cotton balls, and showed the kids how they could glue the cotton balls onto the paper as they were, or stretch the cotton, or tear it into smaller pieces. When they were done, I sprayed their cotton ball clouds with a small spray bottle full of diluted vanilla extract to add the element of smell to the tactile experience of the cotton. I also gave out the handout below showing different types of clouds.

cloud-viewerDownload

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

My Summer Adventure: A Storytime About Summer

Posted in Uncategorized by

This year, our library system decided to revamp our annual summer program. For the past several years, we called our program Summer Learning, and gave out reading logs that asked kids to fill in little bubbles each time they read for 20 minutes. This summer, we called our program My Summer Adventure instead. We gave out paper journals with five blank squares for participants to draw or write about different activities they tried over the summer: reading a new book, travelling to a new place, practicing a new skill, attending a library program, etc. The journal entries can be shared with library staff in person, or entered online (the kids get to keep the actual journal as a memento of what they did over the summer). Participants aged 0-18 who share their journal entries can earn up to three raffle tickets for a chance to win a $1,000 college scholarship or a County Parks pass. They can earn an additional raffle ticket by checking something out from the library on their own library card.

So far, the feedback on the new program has been positive, and it’s been nice having kids come in to describe their summer adventures. It has been a bit more challenging to explain the logistics of the program though, so my coworker Claire suggested that we have our storytime families work on their journal entries as one of our Stay & Play activities. So, this week, I decided to a do a storytime about different types of summer adventures, which mostly revolved around traveling. Here’s what we did.

Books:

Bearplane by Deborah Underwood; illustrated by Sam Wedelich

This adorable rhyming book describes a little bear’s flight to a family reunion, covering all of the elements of the trip: packing, going to the airport, waiting in line, going through the metal detector, buying snacks, boarding the plane, sitting for a long time (without kicking the seat in front of you!), etc.

Rattletrap Car by Phyllis Root; illustrated by Jill Barton

This is an older title, but I love it for the humor and all of the wonderful sound effects. On a hot summer day, a family tries to drive to the lake in their rattletrap car, but first they have a flat tire, and then pieces of the car fall off. Luckily, they have a solution for every problem, usually involving chocolate marshmallow fudge delight, which is apparently better than super glue!

Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera

I love this extended version of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, which features lots of different animals and their sound effects. This book works well for a wide range of ages, and the kids love shouted out the names of each animal. We handed out egg shakers before we read it.

Songs:

The Airplane Song by Laurie Berkner

This is a really fun song, where the kids get to pretend to be airplanes flying and landing, with other actions in between. I asked the kids to suggest different places they’d like to go for each verse.

[C] Get in your airplanes, and [F] off we [G] go.
[C] Going to the park is [F] first, you [G] know.
[C] Now slow it [C7] down and [F] land on the [Fm] ground,
And when you [G] get out,
You’re gonna jump all [C] around.

Get back in your airplanes and off we go.
Going to the California is next, you know.
Now slow it down and land on the ground,
And when you get out,
You’re gonna spin all around.

Get back in your airplanes and off we go.
Going to the New York City is next, you know.
Now slow it down and land on the ground,
And when you get out,
You’re gonna gallop all around.

Get back in your airplanes and off we go.
Going to the playground is next, you know.
Now slow it down and land on the ground,
And when you get out,
You’re gonna dance all around.

Get back in your airplanes, it’s time to go home,
Your family and friends are waiting you know.
Now slow it down and land on the ground,
And come sit down in your own hometown.

Bumping Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon

We sang this with the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime, and put some stuffed animals on top, so the kids could make them bounce up and down.

Bumping up and down in my little red wagon.
Bumping up and down in my little red wagon.
Bumping up and down in my little red wagon.
Won’t you be my darling?

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We’re Going to the Moon

We sang this with the play scarves in Family Storytime (I always do it with the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime). The kids loved throwing them 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!

Freight Train

This is one of my all-time favorite songs, and it has an incredible back-story. The original version by Elizabeth Cotten is beautiful, but sad, so I use this kid-friendly version by Elizabeth Mitchell. I ask the kids for different destinations for each verse.

[C] Freight train, Freight train [G7] going so fast.
[G7] Freight train, Freight train, [C] going so fast.
[E7] Please don’t tell what [F] plane I’m on,
So they [C] won’t know [G7] where I’ve [C] gone.

Going to Hawaii, going so fast!
Going to Hawaii, going so fast!
Please don’t tell what train I’m on,
So they won’t know where I’ve gone.

Stay & Play: My Summer Adventure Journals

For our Stay & Play activity, we handed out My Summer Adventure journals to each family, along with crayons and markers. We explained that they could draw or write about things they had done over the summer, including coming to storytime! Since the kids were mostly toddlers and preschoolers, the caregivers usually wrote descriptions and the kids drew or just colored in the box. I gave each family who completed a journal entry a raffle ticket to be entered into our end-of-summer raffle for a $1,000 college scholarship or a County park pass.

Happy end of summer! Does your library offer a summer program? Please tell me about it in the comments below.

Keeping Fit: A Storytime About Exercise

Posted in Storytime themes by

Last week was National Exercise with Your Child Week, so I thought it would be fun to do a storytime about different types of exercise families could do together (yoga, dancing, playing catch, etc.). Here is what we did.

Books:

You Are a Lion: And Other Fun Yoga Poses by Taeeun Yoo

There are a number of Yoga-themed picture books, but this one is my favorite. It asks the kids to try different poses, and then tells them which animal the pose is based on: lion, butterfly, dog, cat, etc. It’s a little tricky to demonstrate the pose while holding the book, but the kids loved calling out their guesses about the name of the pose.

Watch Me Throw the Ball by Mo Willems

Funny Elephant and Piggie story where Piggie tries to throw a ball. When it lands behind her, she thinks that she has thrown it all the way around the world, until Gerald tells her what really happened. My coworker Claire read the part of Piggie, and I read the part of Gerald.

Dancing Feet by Lindsey Craig; illustrated by Marc Brown

Simple rhyming book that asks kids to guess what kind of animal has a particular kind of foot. My Family Storytime group was WILD because for many of them it was the evening after their first day of school, but this one caught their interest and helped them refocus.

The Nuts: Sing and Dance in Your Polka Dot Pants by Eric Litwin; illustrated by Scott Magoon

Catchy musical story about Hazel Nut, whose family members are too busy to dance to her new song. Luckily, Grandma shows up to save the day. I gave out egg shakers before I read it, and the kids played along.

Songs:

Shoo, Fly!

We sang this one after reading You Are a Lion, and I had the kids suggest different animals they would like to be. For Family Storytime, I handed out the play scarves before we sang it, and we waved them in the air for the “Shoo Fly” parts. There are lots of different versions of this song, but the one I use is closest to the one in this video by Greg and Steve.

CHORUS:

Shoo, Fly, don’t bother me! (Wave hands or scarf as if shooing a fly)
Shoo, Fly, don’t bother me!
Shoo, Fly, don’t bother me,
I’ll tell you what I want to be.

I hop, I hop,
I hop like a kangaroo.
I hop, I hop,
I hop like a kangaroo.

CHORUS

I roar, I roar, I roar like a lion…

Elephants Have Wrinkles

We sang this after reading Dancing Feet. I asked the kids to suggest different body parts where elephants have wrinkles (on their foreheads, on their bottoms, etc.), and we added a new one each time.

Elephants have (pat legs on each syllable)
Wrinkles, Wrinkles, Wrinkles (clap hands on each syllable)
Elephants have (pat legs on each syllable)
Wrinkles (clap hands on each syllable)
Everywhere! (stomp feet on each syllable)
On their nose! Oh-oh! (touch your nose, and mime a trunk)

Repeat

Elephants have wrinkles…

On their legs! On their nose! Oh-oh!

Throw the Bean Bag and Catch!

For Family Storytime, I handed out bean bags before we sang this song. The kids had fun tossing and catching them, and then trying to balance them on their heads.

Chorus:
Throw the bean bag and catch
Turn around, turn around, stamp, stamp, stamp
Throw the bean bag and catch
Turn around, turn around, stamp, stamp, stamp

Put it on your head and walk around the room
Put it on your head and walk around the room

Chorus:
Throw the bean bag and catch
Turn around, turn around, stamp, stamp, stamp
Throw the bean bag and catch
Turn around, turn around, stamp, stamp, stamp

When the Dogs Come Bouncing In

Fun variation of When The Saints Go Marching In. We sang it with the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime, and I put three small dog stuffed animals on the parachute. The kids loved watching the dogs bounce up and down.

Oh, when the dogs go bouncing in,
Oh, when the dog go bouncing in,
Oh, how I want to be in that number,
When the dogs go bouncing in!

The Hokey Pokey

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end.

[C] You put your right hand in,
You put your right hand out.
You put your right hand in,
[G] And you shake it all about!
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That’s what it’s all [C] about!

You put your left hand in…

Stay & Play: DIY Sock Bean Bags

There are lots of ways to make no-sew bean bags, both out of socks and even balloons. For our Stay & Play, I put out a variety of mini crew socks, along with a bowl of black beans, a paper cup for scooping, rubber bands for closing the socks, and washable markers for decorating.

The kids loved filling the toes of the socks with the beans! They needed a little help wrapping the rubber band around the sock when they were done, and then folding the top of the sock down over the filled part (you can also just tie the top of the sock closed). Then they decorated their socks with the markers. They all seemed really happy to have their own bean bags.

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

Life Lessons: A Back to School Storytime

Posted in Storytime themes by

Our local high schools started back this week, and the elementary and middle schools start next Wednesday, so I decided to do a school-theme for both Outdoor Musical and Family Storytime.

Here is what we did:

Books:

Lena’s Shoes Are Nervous by Keith Calabrese and Juana Medina

This was a favorite book of my coworker, Angela, who just retired, and it was a big hit with my storytime families too. Lena is excited to start Kindergarten, but her favorite pair of shoes is too nervous to go! After talking to her father about the best way to convince her shoes to go to school, she finally warns them that she’s going to have to wear her slippers instead, and they decide to be brave after all.

It’s Your First Day of School, Busy Bus! by Jody Jensen Shaffer; illustrated Claire Messer

Our local school district can’t afford school buses, but the kids here are fascinated by them anyway (perhaps even more than in other places!). This is a cute story about Busy Bus getting ready for the first day of school, and worrying that the children won’t like him. There are lots of opportunities for kids to make sound effects as Ben the driver checks the different parts of the bus.

Hurry Kate, Or You’ll Be Late! by Janice N. Harrington; illustrated by Tiffany Rose

This is such a beautiful, sweet story about a little girl named Kate who is late for preschool. The book describes every step of Kate’s morning routine, from drinking a glass of chocolate milk, to having her Daddy brush her hair into big puffs, to going to the bus stop, riding the bus, and waiting at the crosswalk. Along the way she is excited to see emergency vehicles and construction equipment and point them out to her Daddy, but none of things made her late. She is late because her Daddy gives her a big, long hug at the doorway into preschool (I had to take a deep breath before reading the last page, so I wouldn’t get choked up!).

We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

I read this one for Family Storytime, which tends to have slightly older kids. It’s one of my very favorites to read to elementary school classes: a hilarious story about a dinosaur named Penelope who can’t stop herself from eating the children in her class, even though her teacher always makes her spit them out again. But when the class goldfish, Walter, bites her finger, she realizes that it’s no fun to be eaten, and finally learns to make friends with her classmates instead.

Songs:

If You’re Happy and You Know It

We sang this to go along with Lena’s Shoes Are Nervous.

[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!”

The Wheels on the Bus

We sang this to go along with It’s Your First Day of School, Busy Bus. We did all of the usual verses (wipers, driver, horn, door, babies, etc.). I also included a dinosaur on the bus “Roar, Roar, Roar!” and ended by singing the first verse again, making our wheels (and the song) go as fast as we could. At Outdoor Musical Storytime, we followed it up by singing the “people on the bus go bumpity bump” with the parachute. It’s really easy to play on ukulele with the chords below:

[C] The wheels on the bus go round and round.
[G7] Round and round, [C] Round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
[G7] All over [C] town.

This is the Way We Go to School

I adapted this from the Kiboomers version in the video below. We sang with play scarves in Family Storytime, using the scarves to mime the actions. It’s to the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.

This is the way we wash our face,
Wash our face, wash our face.
This is the way we wash our face,
Early in the morning.

This is the way we wash our hair…

This the way we wear our clothes…

This is the way we wave goodbye…

We Are Gonna Be Friends

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end.

[C] Fall is here, hear the yell,
[C] Back to school, ring the bell.
[F] Brand new shoes, walking blues,
[C] Climb the fence, books and pens.

[G7] I can tell that [F] we are gonna be [C]friends.
[G7] I can tell that [F] we are gonna be [C]friends.

[C] Walk with me, Suzy Lee,
[C] Through the park and by the tree.
[F] We will rest upon the ground,
[C] And look at all the bugs we found.
[G7] Safely walk to school [F] without a [C] sound.
[G7] Safely walk to school [F] without a [C] sound.

[C] Here we are, there’s no one else.
[C] We walk to school all by ourselves.
[F] There’s dirt on our uniforms,
[C] From chasing all the ants and worms.
[G7] We clean up and [F] now it’s time to  [C] learn.
[G7] We clean up and [F] now it’s time to [C] learn.

[C] Numbers, letters, learn to spell,
[C] Nouns and books, and show and tell.
[F] At playtime, we will throw the ball.
[C] Back to class, through the hall.
[G7] Teacher marks our [F] height against the [C] wall.
[G7] Teacher marks our [F] height against the [C] wall.

[F] And we don’t notice any [C] time pass
[F] We don’t notice any [C] thing
[D] We sit side by side in every class.
[F] Teacher thinks that I sound funny,
[G7] But she likes the way you sing.

[C] Tonight I’ll dream while I’m in bed,
[C] When silly thoughts go through my head.
[F] About the bugs and alphabet,
[C] And when I wake tomorrow I’ll bet
That [G7] you and I will [F] walk together a-[C] gain.
Cause [G7] I can tell that [F] we are gonna be [C]friends.
[G7] I can tell that [F] we are gonna be [C]friends.
 

Stay & Play: Decorated Paper Lunch Bags

The kids had a great time with this simple activity, which you can really do with any kinds of decorating materials (markers, stickers, stamps, etc.) and paper lunch bags. I happened across a set of Ooly Double-Sided Stampable Markers recently, so for the Stay & Play, I put those out, along with some regular markers, animal stamps, ink pads, and gem stickers.

Do you have any favorite Back to School picture books or songs? Please share them in the comments below.

Rainbows and Unicorns: A Storytime About Unicorns

Posted in Storytime themes by

Several years ago, I remember a little girl asking me if we had any picture books about unicorns. At the time, we had barely any on our shelves or even in the catalog. Thankfully, now we have dozens of fun books about unicorns, and since kids frequently talk about unicorns during my preschool visits and storytimes, I thought I’d dedicate a storytime to them.

Here’s what we did:

Books:

A Unicorn Named Sparkle by Amy Young

Funny, cute story about a little girl who asks for a unicorn for her birthday. She has a very specific idea of what her unicorn will look like, but the one she gets is nothing like she imagined. He eats her clothes and even eats the underpants hanging on the clothes line, he smells funny, and he has fleas. Disappointed, she asks the unicorn man to take him back, but when he gets loaded on the truck, she realizes that she loves him after all.

First Day of Unicorn School by Jess Hernandez; illustrated by Mariano Epelbaum

I stumbled across this book right before Family Storytime, and fell in love with it on the spot. Milly is so excited to get accepted to Unicorn School. There’s only one problem: she isn’t a unicorn, but a donkey in a party hat. When she arrives at unicorn school, she is worried that the other unicorns will discover her secret, but soon finds that they are also all other types of animals in disguise. The kids enjoyed guessing what all of the different animals were and what their “unicorn horns” were made of (toilet plungers, traffic cones, etc.).

Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima

The kids really seemed to enjoy this adorable book about a unicorn who is raised by a pod of narwhals. He always assumes that he is a narwhal too, until he sees a unicorn on a hillside, and discovers his true identity. He is torn between his new unicorn friends and his narwhal ones, but is thrilled to find a way to bring them all together.

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

When a little boy visits a wishing well and wishes for a unicorn, the narrator tries to warn him that unicorns poke holes in the ceiling, poop cupcakes everywhere, and scratch the furniture. Worst of all, they invite their friends over for a unicorn party, which makes an even bigger mess. Finally, the boy decides to wish them all away…and wish for a dragon instead.

Songs:

Sparkle, Sparkle, Unicorn

This uses the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, minus the “Up above the world so high” part in the middle. I asked the kids to suggest things that the unicorn might shoot from her horn (they came up with lightning, bees, flowers, and arrows) and also places they would like to fly (the playground, the zoo, Unicorn Land, and the pool), and we sang it several times using their ideas.

[C] Sparkle, Sparkle, [F] Uni[C]-corn,
[G7] She shoots [C] rainbows [G7] from her [C]horn.
I’ll fly to Hawaii [G7] in the [C] morn,
[G7] On my [C] magic [G7] uni[C]-corn.

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

We sang this after reading First Day of Unicorn School (I realized too late that it would have been fun to make it a school instead of a farm). I asked the kids to suggest different animals and the sounds they made 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!

The Waves on the Ocean

We sang this one after reading Not Quite Narwhal at Outdoor Musical Storytime, shaking the parachute, and singing it through three times, getting faster each time. 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!

Abracadabra

I wrote this song for a Magic Storytime theme years ago. We did it as our instrument play-along at the end, since it talks about getting a unicorn.

One day I found a magic wand (C G)
Out floating in a stream. (F C)
I waved it at my dinner plate, (C G)
And my beets became ice cream! (F G C)

I said, “Abracadabra! (C G)
Alakazaam! (F G)
Abracadabra!” (C G)
And my peas turned into jam. (F G C)

So then I took my magic wand
To school with me one day.
When Teacher said, “It’s time to work.”
I said, “I’d rather play.”

I said, “Abracadabra!
Hocus pocus!” too.
“Abracadabra!”
And my class was at the zoo!
Being taught by a kangaroo.

So if you find a magic wand
Out floating in a stream.
I hope that it will bring to you
Whatever you may dream.

You’ll say, “Abracadabra!
Presto chango!” too.
“Abracadabra!”
Many things will come to you.
Like a treehouse with a view,
And a unicorn or two,
And a chocolate mansion too.
May your every dream come true.

Stay & Play: Unicorn Collage

For this simple Stay & Play, I printed a unicorn coloring page from iHeartCraftyThings.com (they have a lot of options) on white cardstock. After storytime, I put out the coloring pages, markers, glue sticks, and a variety of fake gemstones, paper hearts, and other small decorations. Most of the kids spent a long time coloring and decorating their unicorns.

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