Early Literacy Tip: Play the alphabet game, either while you’re out in the world, or reading books together. Challenge your child to find a particular letter, or look for each letter of the alphabet in order.

This week we reached the letter I have been dreading ever since I started my storytime journey through the alphabet: X! There are so few words that start with the letter X, and even fewer picture books that feature those words. So instead, we focused on words with X in them.

As usual, we started by drawing an upper and lower-case letter X in the air together, and then talking about words that started with that letter. The caregivers mostly supplied the few we came up with (X-ray and xylophone, although one little boy suggested expert). I pulled a few items out of a paper bag: a xylophone, a candle (made of wax), and a box.

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Edna, the Very First Chicken by Douglas Rees; illustrated by Jed Henry

This book had one little boy in my Family Storytime literally cackling, and he quickly snatched it up to check it out after storytime. Very cute story about a T.Rex who bullies all of the other dinosaurs, until he meets a chicken who stands up to him. Warning: the chicken does get eaten, but only very briefly!

Tea Rex by Molly Idle

A cute, funny picture book depicting a little girl’s attempts to host a giant T. Rex at her fancy tea party. I read this one for Outdoor Musical Storytime, since it’s a less violent T. Rex title than Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Edna, the Very First Chicken, and that crowd tends to skew younger.

The Mixed Up Truck by Stephen Savage

This book was a big hit at both storytimes (I can still hear one of the preschoolers at Family Storytime whispering “There’s an excavator!” reverently to his Mom, while pointing at one of the trucks in the illustrations). It’s a funny, simple story about a cement mixer who keeps mixing the wrong white powder with water, and ends up making a giant cake with frosting instead of cement for a building. In the end, he mixes up a bunch of soap for a giant bubble bath.

Mix It Up by Hervé Tullet

My Family Storytime is in the evening, and tends to draw a smaller crowd. The kids there loved playing along with this interactive picture book, which asks you to “mix” different colors together by rubbing one colored spot and then another, to see what color it makes on the next page.

Grace and Box by Kim Howard; illustrated by Megan Lötter

Very cute story about a little girl named Grace, and a refrigerator box, who transforms into all kinds of things: a rocket ship, a city, a house, etc. When Box starts to sag, Grace doesn’t know what to do, until she figures out how to work with Box’s changes, and keep the imaginative play going.

Songs:

We Are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner

We sang this after reading Tea Rex in Outdoor Musical Storytime and after reading Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Edna, the Very First Chicken in Family Storytime. Always a hit!

[Dm] We are the [C] dinosaurs marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs. [A] Whaddaya think of that?
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the [A] dinosaurs. [Dm] We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.
We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.

[F] We stop and eat our [C] food, [F] when we’re in the [C] mood.
[F] Stop and eat our [C] food on the [Dm] ground.
[F] We stop and eat our [C] food, [F] when we’re in the [C] mood.
[F] Stop and eat our [C] food, and [Dm] then we march [A] around.

[Dm] We are the [C] dinosaurs marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs. [A] Whaddaya think of that?
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the [A] dinosaurs. [Dm] We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.
We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.

[F] We stop and take a [C] rest, [F] over in our [C] nest.
[F] Stop and take a [C] rest at the end of the [Dm] day.
[F] We stop and take a [C] rest, [F] over in our [C] nest.
[F] Stop and take a [C] rest, and [Dm] then you’ll hear us [A] say…

[Dm] We are the [C] dinosaurs marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs. [A] Whaddaya think of that?
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the [A] dinosaurs. [Dm] We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.
We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.

[A] And then we RO-AR-OAR!
[A] Because [Dm] we [C] are the [Dm]dino-[D]saurs!

Can You See the Color Red?

We sang this after reading Mix It Up. The kids always love pointing out different colored objects all around the room.

 To the tune of Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Can you [C] see the color yellow,
The [F] color yellow, the [G7] color yellow?
Can you [C] see the color yellow,
[F] Right here [G7] in this [C] room?

Can you see the color blue… etc.

We’re Making Veggie Stew

Similar to a song I came up with for letter V a few weeks ago. This time I wanted to incorporate the word “mix,” so I adjusted it a little. We threw plush veggies on the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime, and shook the chute in time with the song.

To the tune of The Farmer in the Dell:

We’re making veggie stew!
We’re making veggie stew!
Throw veggies in and mix them in,
We’re making veggie stew!

A carrot’s in the stew!
A carrot’s in the stew!
We’ll throw it in, and mix it in,
A carrot’s in the stew!

Some peas are in the stew…etc.

X Marks the Spot

I was having trouble finding a good letter X song, so I wrote this one. I actually ended up just singing the first verse and repeating the chorus several times. Each time, I asked the kids what “treasures” they would like to find in the chest, and we replaced the “chocolate coins” with their suggestions. They came up with apples and diamonds.

[C] We found an ancient [Am] treasure map
[F] Inside a hollow [G] tree.
[C] Showing landmarks [Am] far away
[F] In a land across the [G] sea.
[F] We climbed aboard our trusty [C] ship
[F] Our sails high and [C] unfurled,
[C] Sailing towards that [Am] letter X
[F] On the [G] far side of the [C] world.

CHORUS:
X marks the [G] spot
Where we’ll [F] find what we have [C] sought.
Don’t [G] know what riches there may be
But I [F] hope that it’s a [G] lot!
[F] Perhaps we’ll find some [C] chocolate coins (replace with treasures of your choice!)
And [F] gold and [G] emeralds too,
But the [C] greatest treasure [G] I have found
[F] Is the [G] time I’ve spent with [C] you.

We’ll [C] sail through wild and [Am] stormy seas
Where [F] dragons prowl the [G] deep,
Where [C] waves roll high
And [Am] mermaid songs will [F] lull us all to [C] sleep.
At [F] last we’ll find the [C] desert isle
And [F] dig until we’ve [C] found
That [C] shiny golden [Am] pirate chest
Of [G] treasure under- [C]ground.

CHORUS:

Crayon resist is one of my favorite process art activities. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I put out white construction paper, watercolor palettes, cups of water, paintbrushes, and white crayons.

For Family Storytime, I actually decided to put out waterbrush brush pens (leftover from a Chinese calligraphy program years ago) instead of regular brushes. They are brushes with a built-in compartment that you can fill with water, so it comes out when you squeeze it. The kids LOVED the brush pens, and they ended up being a lot less messy than cups of water that often end up spilling.

I initially suggested that the kids or their caregivers could write a letter X or a word or drawing on the paper with the white crayon, and then paint over it with the watercolor paints to see it magically appear. A lot of the caregivers ended up writing their child’s name. It always takes kids a few minutes to learn how to wet the paint first when working with watercolor, but once they start painting, they are always very engaged.

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