Monthly Archives: January 2026

Inside Story: A Storytime about Indoor Activities

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Early Literacy Tip: Playing with rhyming words is a great way to help children learn the phonetic sounds that make up words, which will help them learn to read later on. It’s also a lot of fun!

Since it’s Winter, I thought it would be fun to do a storytime about activities families can do indoors when it’s too cold or wet to go outside.

I started by asking the kids what they like to do when it’s raining. They suggested: reading, playing with magnets, building a fort, and playing with siblings.

Here’s the rest of what we did (a mix of both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime):

Books:

Grace and Box by Kim Howard; illustrated by Megan Lötter

Sweet, colorful story about a girl’s adventures with a refrigerator box, which she can turn into a rocket ship, a house, a tent, and lots of other imaginative things.

Llama Llama Mess Mess Mess by Anna Dewdney & Reed Duncan; illustrated by J.T. Morrow

We recently had J.T. Morrow host a Learn to Draw Llama Llama program at our library. He lives here in town, so I was excited to share this book at storytime. Sadly, Anna Dewdney died in 2016, but J.T. explained that some of the books published after her death were based on manuscripts she had started. In this book, Mama Llama asks Llama Llama to help her clean, and asks him to imagine what would happen if she were to throw all the laundry on the floor, wear the blankets on her head, and skate around the house on roller skates. They end up cleaning the house together, and Llama Llama discovers it’s much easier to play with Mama when the floor is clear. For Family Storytime, I did it after our regular scarf songs, and had the kids throw the playscarves around in the part of the book about throwing clothes in the air, etc. This book was also a big hit at my preschool outreach visits this week.

Rainy Day by Patricia Lakin; illustrated by Scott Nash

Four alligators have an adventure on a rainy day when there seems to be nothing to do. Heading out into the fog, they wind up at a mini-golf course, find a very large dog, play baseball, and end up at the library where they each find a book about different parts of the day. Although not all of the activities mentioned were indoors, I still thought this was a fun book that reminds families that the library is a great place to go on a rainy day.

Blake the Snake Bakes a Cake by Amy Young; illustrated by Alison Young

Cute, funny, rhyming story about a snake named Blake who tries to bake a cake. Only something always seems to go wrong: the cake burns, or gets knocked over, or falls in a lake. Finally, he makes it to the birthday party, where the cake is a big success. Before I read the story, I told the families that it would feature lots of rhyming words, and that playing with rhymes would help them become strong readers when they got older.

Songs & Activities:

Freeze Dance: I recently bought some ribbon wands for Outdoor Musical Storytime, and this seemed like a great opportunity to try them out. I told the kids that a fun thing to do when you’re stuck indoors is to do a freeze dance. We handed out the ribbon wands, and I played The Little Bird Dance from Shenanigans on Tidal on my phone through the Bose speaker (it’s basically an instrumental version of The Chicken Dance, but I like how it gets faster and faster). I modelled waving the wands around and dancing, and then paused the song every few seconds. The kids loved it!

Old MacDonald: For Outdoor Musical Storytime, we sang this with the parachute. We all shook the parachute up and down in time to the beat, and each time we sang, I threw a different animal stuffed animal onto the chute: a pig, a dog, and a snake. One little girl immediately tried to “rescue” the pig, which was hilarious!

Rain is Falling Down

We did this one with play scarves, throwing them up in the air and catching them. I use the tune from JBrary in the video below:

Rain is falling down. SPLASH!
Rain is falling down. SPLASH!
Pitter patter, Pitter patter,
Rain is falling down. SPLASH!

Snow is falling down. SHHH!
Snow is falling down. SHHH!
Swirling, twirling, swirling, twirling,
Snow is falling down. SHHH!

A Hunting We Will Go: We sang this to go along with our discussion of rhyming after reading Blake the Snake Bakes a Cake. Each time we sang it, I asked the kids to suggest something different we could catch, and then we’d try to come up with a rhyme to go with it: we’ll catch a bear and put him in underwear; we’ll catch a snake and put him in a lake; and, my favorite, we’ll catch a fireman and then we’ll try again.

Oh, [C] a-hunting we will go!
A-[F]hunting we will go!
We’ll [G7] catch a fox and put it in a box,
And then we’ll let it [C] go!

There’s Nothing to Do

I wrote this song a while ago, and it seemed like a good fit for this theme. I think sometimes I forget that some of my favorite moments with my own kids are when we’re just hanging out in the living room together.

[C] There’s nothing to [G7] do,
There’s [F] nothing to [G7] do.
Can’t [C] swim in the [G7] pool.
Can’t [F] go to the [G7] zoo.
But my [F] favorite [C] thing in the [E7] whole world to [Am] do.
Is [F] just doing [G7] nothing with [C] you.

We could [C] talk for an [G7] hour.
We could [F] talk for a [G7] day.
And I [C] wouldn’t [G7] remember one thing that we’d [G7] say,
But I’d [F] remember I [C] laughed ’til my [E7] stomach was [Am] sore,
And I’d [F] feel more [C] alive than [E7] ever [Am] before,
‘Cause my [F] favorite [C] thing in the [E7] whole world to [Am] do.
Is just doing [G7] nothing with you.

The [G7] years fly so fast,
It’s like [C] no time at all.
And [G7] I have done more than I’ll [G7]ever recall.
But the [F] very best [C] moments that [E7] I ever [Am] knew
Were [F] just doing [G7] nothing with [C] you.

[C] There’s nothing to [G7] do,
There’s [F] nothing to [G7] do.
Can’t [C] swim in the [G7] pool.
Can’t [F] go to the [G7] zoo.
But my [F] favorite [C] thing in the [E7] whole world to [Am] do.
Is [F] just doing [G7] nothing with [C] you.

Stay & Play: Paper Puzzles

The end of Llama Llama Mess Mess Mess features Llama Llama doing a puzzle with his Mama, so I thought this would be a fun and easy Stay & Play for families to do together.

I put out white cardstock, markers, and kids scissors, and told the kids they could write or draw something, and then cut the paper into a few pieces to make a puzzle for a friend or family member to put together. Or they could ask their grownups to make a puzzle for them to solve. Although I didn’t get any pictures of this, my favorite example was a child who drew a unicorn, and their grandmother wrote the word UNICORN above the picture before they cut it into a puzzle. For Family Storytime, I helped some of the smaller kids write their names to cut into a puzzle.

Do you have any favorite picture books about indoor activities? Please share them in the comments below.

A Long Winter’s Nap: A Storytime About Animals in Winter

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Early Literacy Tip: Point out repeated words and phrases in the books you read together, and have your kids say them with you each time you read them. This helps build the connection between written and spoken language, and helps develop their sight vocabulary.

Happy New Year!

For storytime this week, I decided to do a theme about animals in Winter. I talked a little about hibernation, and shared a chart from animalspot.net showing common animals that hibernate.

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

Harold Hates to Hibernate by Vern Kousky

The sequel to Harold Loves His Woolly Hat, this one features Harold trying to avoid hibernating, because he’s afraid his friends the crows will forget about him. With the help of his friends, he tries to stay awake eating a big meal, wearing warm clothes (stolen from a clothesline), and resting his aching paws in something soft. When he is no longer able to stay awake, the crows promise they will remember him until he wakes up. The kids loved joining in on the repeated “CaCaws!”

The Mitten by Jim Aylesworth; illustrated by Barbara McClintock

Although I love the Jan Brett version of The Mitten, I find this adaptation a bit easier to read to younger kids. The story is essentially the same: a young boy’s lost mitten becomes a shelter for a series of animals escaping the cold. The mitten stretches to hold a squirrel, a rabbit, a fox, and then a bear. But when a little mouse tries to crawl in, the mitten bursts into pieces. I like the repeated rhyme each animal says, and it’s fun to do different voices for each animal.

I Don’t Want to Go To Sleep by Dev Petty; illustrated by Mike Boldt

A sequel to I Don’t Want to Be a Frog. In this story, Owl explains to Frog all of the reasons he can’t do the fun things that his other animal friends enjoy in the Winter, and that instead he will have to bury himself in the mud and sleep. Eventually, Frog decides to hibernate, but only if his friends will join him in the mud. I didn’t actually get to read this one at Family Storytime, like I had planned, but I did read it to a transitional Kindergarten class, and two second grade classes. The second graders especially enjoyed the humor.

Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London; illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz

My favorite of the Froggy books, in this story, Froggy decides he doesn’t want to sleep through the Winter, and goes out to play in the snow. But his mother keeps reminding him about the different articles of clothing he forgot to put on: his pants, his shirt, his coat, and finally, his underwear. The kids enjoyed joining in on the “Froggys!” (Before I read it, I talked about how they could keep an eye out for repeated words like that in the books they read with their grown-ups). I read to a couple of special needs preschools once a month, and have found that the kids there often enjoy repeating the different sound effects in this book (zum, zap, zip, znap, etc.). The kids at my storytimes this week did too.

Songs:

Two Little Blackbirds

One of my favorite storytime songs. It words well as either a finger play or a scarf song. You can also adapt it to other types of birds (ducks, geese, crows, etc.).

Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill, (Hold up both thumbs)
One named Jack, and the other named Jill.
Fly away, Jack! (Put one thumb behind your back)
Fly away, Jill! (Put the other thumb behind your back)
Come back, Jack! (Bring the first thumb out in front).
Come back, Jill! (Bring the second thumb out in the front).

Two little blackbirds sitting on a cloud,
One was quiet, and the other was loud (I make my voice as loud and obnoxious as possible each time I sing the word “Loud!”)
Fly away, Quiet!
Fly away, Loud!
Come back, Quiet!
Come back, Loud!

Two little blackbirds sitting in the snow.
One flew fast!
And the other flew slow!…

Two little blackbirds sitting on a gate.
One was early, and the other was…late!…

Mitten Song

Cute, simple song about mittens. I use the tune from this video, but only do the first verse.

Thumb in the thumb’s place, (wiggle your thumb)
Fingers all together, (squeeze your other fingers together)
This is the song we sing in mitten weather.

The Little Bunny Song

For Outdoor Musical Storytime, we did this one with the parachute. We started with the parachute on the ground, and I threw cotton balls in the middle. We sang the beginning of the song, then shook the parachute up and down when the bunnies “woke up.” The kids loved watching the cotton balls fly into the air.

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!

If All the Raindrops

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, our Winter’s are full of rain rather than snow, so we sang this song as our instrument play-along at the end. I asked the kids to suggest different foods they would like to fall from the sky for each verse.

[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 ice cream and carrots… etc.

Stay & Play: Paper Mittens

Before storytime, I printed out blank mitten templates (there are lots of options online, but here’s a free one from MondayMandala.com). For the Stay & Play, I put out the printed templates, kids scissors, markers, dot markers, tape, and yarn. The kids enjoyed coloring their mittens with the markers and dot markers, and the grown-ups helped them cut the mittens out and tape a long piece of yarn on the back of each one to connect them.

Do you have favorite picture books about hibernation and animals in Winter? Any storytime themes you are interested in trying this year? Please share them in the comments below.