Monthly Archives: March 2025

Bookworms: A Storytime About Worms

Posted in Storytime themes by

I love to do storytimes about things kids are likely to see in the world outside, especially since one of my storytimes is in a local park. This week, we had a good time celebrating earthworms.

Here’s what we did:

Books:

What About Worms? by Ryan T. Higgins

One of the Elephant & Piggie Like Reading books, this one features a tiger who is not afraid of anything, except worms. When his fear of worms leads him to drop his flower pot and an apple, and leave a book that appears to be about worms (but is actually about tigers), he gains the gratitude of a bunch of worms who are eager to give him a “worm hug.” I love to do silly voices when I read, and this one provides lots of opportunities to voice different worms.

Here are the Seeds by JaNay Brown-Wood; illustrated by Olivia Amoah

A rhyming book about two kids planting a garden, but running into problems along the way: not enough water, too much water, etc. The kids liked guessing what the different problems were.

Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin; illustrated by Harry Bliss

Funny picture book diary that captures the daily struggles of an earthworm, but also highlights the important role worms play in helping plants grow. The part about the worms only being able to “put their head in” when they do the Hokey Pokey got a big laugh.

Ear Worm by Jo Knowles; illustrated by Galia Bernstein

Cute, cumulative story about an earthworm who is trying to figure out who got a song stuck in his head. Along the way he meets a number of other animals who share their own earworms.

Songs:

Shoo Fly

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. I asked the kids for suggestions of what animals they would like to be.

CHORUS:

Shoo, Fly, don’t bother me! (Wave hands 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 wiggle, I wiggle,
I wiggle like a wiggling worm.
I wiggle, I wiggle,
I wiggle like a wiggling worm.

CHORUS

I hop, I hop, I hop like a kangaroo…

The Worms Go Wiggling

We sang this with the parachute. I put two pipe cleaners I had curled up like worms on the parachute so the kids could make them bounce up and down. It’s to the tune of The Ants Go Marching.

The worms go crawling all around,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The worms go crawling all around,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The worms go crawling all around,
The have a party underground.
But they all go crawling out of the ground
When it starts to rain.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Wiggly Wiggly Worms

We sang this with the play scarves, pretending they were worms crawling up and down our bodies. I used the tune to Hickory Dickory Dock.

Wiggly, wiggly worms.
Wiggly, wiggly worms.
Climbing up and climbing down,
Wiggly, wiggly worms!

The Hokey Pokey

We sang this to go along with Diary of a Worm, which makes a joke about the song.

[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!

Stay & Play: Paper Circle Worms

I found this easy activity on At Home With Zan.

Before the storytime, I cut out a bunch of circles out of different colors of paper (it helps that we have a circle cutter for our button machine).

For the storytime, I put out white paper, the paper circles, markers, dot markers, and gluesticks. The kids had fun assembling their worms (some just glued the circles together without putting them on the white paper), and decorating them.

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

Butterfly Effect: A Storytime About Butterflies

Posted in Storytime themes by

Sorry for the long delay between posts! I missed several weeks of storytime because my Mom was having knee surgery and then I got the flu, but we had a great time this week celebrating butterflies at Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime.

Here’s what we did:

Books:

Bianca and the Butterfly by Sergio Ruzzier

Sweet story about a polar bear who is amazed to find a butterfly with colors she has never seen before. The butterfly leads her on an unexpected adventure when the ice floe she is standing on breaks away, and she discovers a land of new smells and foods before finding her way back home.

Bob and Otto by Robert O. Bruel; pictures by Nick Bruel

I love this story about the friendship between a caterpillar named Bob, and a worm named Otto, who are separated when Bob decides to climb up into the branches of a tall tree. When they meet again, Bob has transformed into a butterfly, and Otto is sad that he didn’t follow his friend so he could grow wings too. But Bob assures him that by digging in the dirt under the tree, he helped the tree grow the leaves he needed.

Are You a Butterfly? by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries

This is one of my favorite nonfiction series. This one follows the life cycle of the butterfly, in very kid-friendly language.

Señorita Mariposa by Ben Gundersheimer; illustrated by Marcos Almado Rivero

Bilingual song in English and Spanish about the migration of monarch butterflies. Our community is within driving distance of Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, which is an amazing place to see the monarchs clustered in the winter. I gave out egg shakers before I sang this one, and used a tune roughly based on Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star.

Songs:

The Butterfly Song

I learned this song from my coworker, Angela, and it’s become one of my favorites, especially because somewhere along the way our library acquired a really cool Life Cycle of the Monarch puppet from Folkmanis, which allows you to switch between the caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly. I flew the butterfly around at the end to give “kisses” to the kids.

First comes a butterfly (Wave scarf or move your hands like a butterfly)
Who lays an egg. (Make a circle with your thumb and index finger).
Out comes a caterpillar (Wiggle your finger like a caterpillar)
With lots of legs.
Now see the caterpillar spin and spin (Spin the scarf),
A little chrysalis to sleep in (Bundle scarf up in a ball in your hand or make a fist).
Oh, oh, oh, wait and see…
Oh, oh, oh, wait and see…
Out of the chrysalis, my, oh, my!
Out comes a beautiful butterfly! (Open up hand and wave scarf).

Parachute Song: Butterflies Fly Up and Down

For our parachute song, I put a handful of pompoms on the parachute, and we watched them bounce up and down as we sang. It’s to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus.

Butterflies fly up and down
Up and down,
Up and down,
They fly around all over town,
All day long.

Scarf Song: A Butterfly Is Landing on My Nose

For my play scarf song at Family Storytime, I had the kids pretend their scarves were butterflies landing on different body parts. This song is to the tune of I’m a Little Teapot.

A butterfly is landing on my nose,
On my head,
And on my toes.
Now the butterfly is landing on my knee,
She’ll fly away when I count to 3.
1…2…3…!
(Throw the scarf)

Shoo Fly

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. I asked the kids for suggestions of what animals they would like to be.

CHORUS:

Shoo, Fly, don’t bother me! (Wave hands 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 fly, I fly,
I fly like a butterfly.
I fly, I fly,
I fly like a butterfly.

CHORUS

I roar, I roar, I roar like a lion…

Stay & Play: Coffee Filter Butterflies

One of the most familiar butterfly crafts I know, but the kids LOVED flying their butterflies around afterwards.

For the Stay & Play, I put out coffee filters, pipe cleaners, and dot markers. We recently got some Royal Shimmer Dot Markers that have been a big hit. The kids needed some help twisting the pipe cleaners around the middle, but they had a great time decorating the coffee filters.

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