Early Literacy Tip: Share the sounds that letters make, especially strong consonants like F or P, and make a game of noticing words you hear throughout the day that start with that sound.

This past week, we continued our journey through the alphabet by focusing on the letter F in storytime.

As usual, I started by writing the letter F on my whiteboard and asking the kids to write an upper and lower case letter F in the air with me. I emphasized the sound that the letter F makes, and asked them if they knew any words that started with that sound (In Family Storytime, I accidentally asked, “Do you know any F words?” and then quickly said, “No, not that one!” Luckily, none of the kids caught it, but the grown-ups laughed). The kids suggested frog, fish, and fun, which I wrote on the board. I also asked them to pull different items out of a paper bag: a paper fan, a fork, and a flower.

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books

Follow Me, Flo by Jarvis

Cute story, featuring an adorable duckling named Flo, whose father invents a song to help her remember their path. When she gets lost and runs into a hungry fox, the song helps her find her way back to her Dad.

The Wide-Mouthed Frog by Keith Faulkner; illustrated by Jonathan Lambert

I love this simple pop-up book based on an old joke (we have a non-circulating copy on our staff Story Shelf). A curious wide-mouthed frog asks different animals what they like to eat, until he learns that the alligator likes to eat tasty wide-mouthed frogs. The big pop-out alligator always gets a big response from the kids!

Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

One of my favorite storytime books, featuring an adorable kitten who thinks the moon is a big bowl of milk in the sky that she can’t quite reach. The large black and white drawings, and simple, relatable story make it perfect for almost any age.

Can You Make a Scary Face by Jan Thomas

One of several interactive picture books by Jan Thomas. This one asks the reader to stand up, then sit down, then stand up again, and then pretend there is a little bug on their nose, which gets stuck in their shirt. The kids loved following the instructions on each page. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, my coworker Isabella held up a big frog puppet for the part with the giant frog.

Sam’s First Word by Bea Birdsong; illustrated by Holly Hatam

Funny story about a little girl named Sam, whose family and neighbor are all hoping their name will be her first word. They are so busy coaching her to say, “Mama,” or “Papa,” or “Nana” that they don’t notice that her actual first word is “Poop!” I’ve been reading this book at local preschools lately, and it’s been fun to ask the kids what their first word was (a lot of them don’t remember, but their guesses are often very funny).

Songs & Rhymes

Do As I’m Doing

We sang this after reading Follow Me, Flo. You can do different motions each time for the kids to copy, or ask the kids to suggest their own.

[C] Do as I’m doing, follow, follow [G7] me.
[C] Do as I’m doing, follow, [G7] follow [C] me.
[C] Follow, [G7] follow, [F] follow [C] me.
[F] Follow, [C] follow, [G7] follow [C] me.
Follow, [G7] follow, [F] follow [C] me,
[F] Follow, [C] follow, [G7] follow [C] me.

Five Green and Speckled Frogs

We sang this after reading The Wide Mouthed Frog. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I held up a frog puppet, and pretended to have it slurp a bug off of the kids heads each time we got to the “Yum Yum!” line.

Five green and speckled frogs
Sat on a speckled log.
Eating the most delicious bugs! Yum Yum!
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Now there are four green speckled frogs!

Four green and speckled frogs…etc.

Down By the Banks of the Hanky Panky

This is a lapsit rhyme I used to use for baby storytime, where you bounce the baby from knee to knee. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I put a frog puppet on the parachute, and we lifted the parachute up and down in time with the rhyme to make it “jump” around.

Down by the banks of the hanky panky,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky,
With a hip, a hop,
A hippity-hop,
Jump off the lilypad and kerplop!

Five Days Old by Laurie Berkner

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end, after reading Sam’s First Word. It’s such a fun and happy song, and the kids always enjoy jumping up and down.

[C] I’m sitting here, I’m [F] one day old, and [C] I’m sitting here I’m [F] two [G7] days [C] old.
[C] I’m sitting here, I’m [F] three days old, and [C] I’m sitting here I’m [F] four [G7] days [C] old.
[F] One [C] day, I’ll [F] be a [C] year, then [F] I’ll be [C] two, then [G7] three, then four.
[C] As for now I’m [F] sitting here, I’m [C] five days old and [F] no [G7] days [C] more!

I’m jumping up, I’m one day old…

I’m clapping my hands, I’m one day old…

I’m kicking my legs, I’m one day old…

Getting really tired, I’m one day old…

I’m jumping up, I’m one day old…

Stay & Play: Flower Painting

This is my all-time favorite process srt activity, especially for Outdoor Musical Storytime. I just put out white paper and a variety of flowers (this time I used nasturtiums, flowers from a broccoli plant, and lavender). The kids love squishing the petals into the paper and “painting” with their finger.

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