October is Bat Appreciation Month, so I was excited to devote a couple of storytimes to celebrating bats.

I started by sharing photos of three different kinds of bats: two that are common in the Bay Area (the Mexican free-tailed bat and the large brown bat), and one that families can visit at the Oakland Zoo (the Malayan flying fox, a large fruit bat). I talked a little bit about how bats eat a lot of the bugs that we don’t like, including lots of mosquitoes, but that some of them eat fruit, and some even drink blood (although they are small, and rarely target people).

Here’s what we did:

Books:

Superbat by Matt Carr

Funny story about a bat who makes himself a costume in order to become Superbat. The problem is that all of the superpowers he has (amazing hearing, the ability to fly, and echolocation) are things that all of his other bat friends can do too. He is about to give up his dream, when his bravery helps him save a family of mice. The kids enjoyed yelling, “Superbat!”

Mr. Bat Wants a Hat by Kitty Black; illustrated by Laura Wood

A cute, colorful picture book about a bat who decides he would like a hat. He takes an especially nice one from a baby, who gets understandably upset. Eventually he feels bad and returns the hat, and is thrilled to receive a pair of socks in return. I had the kids make “Wah!” sounds along with the baby.

I Am Bat by Morag Hood

This is such a simple book, but I really enjoy reading it aloud in my super squeaky “bat voice.” Bat talks about his love for cherries, and is greatly upset when some of them disappear. Luckily, a pear appears in their place. The kids enjoyed naming the different types of animals who are stealing the cherries.

Kit and Caboodle by Anna Pignataro

Sweet story about a witch named Kit, who rescues an injured bat named Caboodle. Her attempts to fix his wing with magic don’t work out, but she cares for him until he recovers, and eventually he ends up rescuing her in return.

Fiona, the Fruit Bat by Dan Riskin; illustrated by Rachel Quiqi

Full disclosure: I was planning to read this one for Family Storytime, but we ran out of time. I think it’s a great book for describing how echolocation works, through a simple story about a young bat flying alone in the dark for the first time.

Trick or Treat, Bugs to Eat by Tracy C. Gold, illustrated by Nancy Leschnikoff

Adorable rhyming Halloween book full of facts about bats. The kids enjoyed making “Eww!” sounds whenever the book described all the yummy bugs the bat is excited to eat.

Songs:

I’m A Bitty Bitty Bat by Stephanie Leavell

I really like this bat-themed movement song, and the kids enjoyed flying around like bats as we sang it. You can add in your own motions.

I’m a [Am] bitty, bitty bat,
A [Dm] bitty, bitty [Am] bat.
[Dm] Flying a-[Am]round,
I’m a [E7] bitty, bitty [Am] bat.

I’m a [Am] great big bat,
A [Dm] great big [Am] bat.
[Dm] Flying a-[Am]round,
I’m a [E7] great big [Am] bat.

Chorus:

I’m [Dm] flying, I’m [Am] flying.
I’m a [E7] bitty, bitty, bitty, bitty bat.
I’m [Dm] flying, I’m [Am] flying.
I’m a [E7] bitty, bitty, bitty, bitty [Am] bat.

I’m a balancing bat,
A balancing bat.
Flying around,
I’m a balancing bat.

Chorus:

I’m flying, I’m flying.
I’m a bitty, bitty, bitty, bitty bat.
I’m flying, I’m flying.
I’m a bitty, bitty, bitty, bitty bat.

I’m a bouncing bat…

The Bats in the Sky

We sang the first verse (below) with the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime, raising it up and down as we sang. For Family Storytime, I extended it into a longer song about Halloween, and asked the kids to suggest different things they might see on Halloween. It’s to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus.

The bats in the sky fly up and down,
Up and down, Up and down.
The bats in the sky fly up and down,
All night long.

Halloween version:

The [C] bats in the sky fly up and down,
[G7] Up and down, [C] Up and down.
The [C] bats in the sky fly [G7] up and down,
On Hallo-[C]ween.

The witches in the house go, “Hee, hee, hee!
Hee, hee, hee! Hee, hee, hee!”
The witches in the house go, “Hee, hee, hee!”
On Halloween.

The ghosts in the house go, “Boo! Boo! Boo!”…

The children at the door say, “Trick or Treat!”…

Soooky Bats

We sang this variation of Scary Skeletons with the play scarves for Family Storytime. I had the kids take two scarves each, and wave them like bat wings.

We are spooky bats
Flying down the street,
Flying down the street,
Flying down the street.
We are spooky bats
Flying down the street.
We’ll scare you…BOO!

Apples and Bananas

We sang this as our instrument play-along, after reading I Am Bat. It’s a silly traditional camp song, but the kids love it, and it’s a great way to focus on the different vowel sounds. I usually change all of the vowels in each line (including the “I like to eat” part), which is different from the way they sing it in this Super Simple Songs video:

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)

Stay & Play: Sponge Painted Bat Pictures

I based this one on a craft from Tiny Teaching Shack. This was messy, but a fun way to give the kids a chance to try relief art, which is always a bit magical.

Before storytime, I printed lots of bat templates on white cardstock and cut them out (there’s a great collection of them here on OneLittleProject.com). For the Stay & Play, I put out black construction paper, the bat templates, removable restickable glue sticks, paper bowls with different colors of tempera paint, and sponge brushes. I showed the kids how to glue a bat or two onto their black paper ,and then paint the whole paper (including the bat) with the sponge brushes. They loved peeling the bat off at the end to see the shape appear in black in the middle of their painting.

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