Monthly Archives: October 2026

Costume Party: A Storytime About Costumes & Pretending

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Early Literacy Tip: Before reading a book together, talk with your child about what they think the story will be about (based on the title and the cover), and ask them about any experiences they’ve had that are related to that topic. For example, for a Halloween book, you could ask them what they are looking forward to doing on Halloween.

After 26 weeks of letter-themed storytimes, I was excited to get back to other themes this week.

Since Halloween is in a couple of weeks, this week I chose books and songs about wearing costumes and pretending.

Usually, I organize my blog posts into separate categories for Books and Songs, but this week, I thought I’d just provide the whole outline for Family Storytime. My Outdoor Musical Storytime group lately has been tending towards babies and toddlers, and I may start deviating from themes sometimes with them. I will try to include any relevant variations that I used for that group though.

Family Storytime

My Family Storytime this week included mostly three and four year-olds, with a couple of older siblings. Here’s what we did (the book links go to the Amazon listing, only because it’s the easiest way to find reviews and additional info):

Opening Song: Wheels on the Bus

For Family Storytime, I always put out lots of different animal puppets. When I first restarted this storytime after the COVID lockdown, one of the kids asked if we could put the animals on the bus, and that’s been the tradition ever since. The kids love holding up an animal puppet for each verse. The only downside is that sometimes I worry we’re going to spend the whole storytime singing that song!

[C] The wheels on the bus go round and round,
[G7] Round and round,
[C] Round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
[G7] All through the [C] town.

The cat on the bus goes, “Meow! Meow! Meow!… etc.

The shark on the bus goes, “Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!…etc.

I always end by repeating the first verse, but we sing and make our “wheels” go really fast!

Introducing the Theme: I asked the kids if they had a Halloween costume, and what they were planning to be. Apparently, Elsa is very popular this year, as well as firefighters (I think because of Paw Patrol), and Spiderman.

A colorful illustration featuring children in various costumes for 'Dress-Up Day.' The background is bright yellow, with a child in a bunny suit carrying a blue backpack, and other kids dressed in different outfits, including casual wear and accessories. The title 'Dress-Up Day' is prominently displayed.

Book: Dress-Up Day by Blanca Gomez

This is a sweet, relatable story about a little girl who is excited to wear her rabbit costume for dress-up day at school. But the day of the party, she is too sick to go. Her Mom suggests that she wear it the next day instead, and she does, but she feels embarrassed and sad to discover no one else at school is wearing a costume. Then a boy named Hugo shows up dressed as a carrot, and they have such a great time playing chase on the playground that all of the other kids want to join in. I love the illustrations, which feature a charming and diverse cast of characters. I read this one at Outdoor Musical Storytime too, since it is simple enough for toddlers.

Song: The Sleepy Bunny Song

This song worked well as a follow-up to Dress-Up Day, since the book featured a rabbit costume. Plus, the kids always love it! The version I do is similar to the one in this Little Baby Bum video:

[C] See the little bunnies sleeping (crouch or lie down and pretend to sleep)
[F]‘Till it’s nearly [C] noon.
[F]Come, let us [C] wake them [G7] with a merry tune?
[C]They’re so still.
Are they ill?
NO! Wake up little bunnies! (jump up)
[C]Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop! (hop!)
[F] Hop little bunnies,[C] hop, hop, hop!
[F]Hop little bunnies, [C] hop, hop, hop!
[G7] Hop little bunnies, [C] hop and stop!

Illustration of a cartoon pumpkin with a lid open, revealing two eyes inside, with the title 'Pumpkin Trouble' by Jan Thomas displayed prominently.

Book: Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas

I love Jan Thomas! Her books are all so simple, but clever and funny, with large, colorful illustrations that are perfect for storytime. In this one, Duck accidentally falls into a pumpkin while carving a jack-o-lantern, and gets stuck walking around with the pumpkin on his head. Mouse and Pig run screaming from the “Pumpkin Monster,” and Duck, not realizing that he is the monster, runs after them. The kids thought this book was hilarious. The many pumpkin pictures on the inside cover provided a great opportunity to ask the kids if anyone had a pumpkin at home, and the jack-o-lantern pictures inside the back cover made a great lead-in to our next rhyme. I read this one at Outdoor Musical Storytime too.

Rhyme: Pumpkin Patch

I learned this one from an Orff music training years ago. I asked the kids to crouch down and pretend to be pumpkins, while I walked around them, and when I said, “Just like THAT!” to make a scary face. We did it a second time making a silly face instead.

Pumpkin patch, pumpkin patch, (crouch down like a pumpkin)
Walking all around in a pumpkin patch.
Here is a pumpkin, nice and fat, (stretch out your arms)
Turn into a jack-o-lantern, just like THAT! (make a scary or silly face)

Cover of the children's book 'Something Smells!' featuring a young child peering into a trash can with a displeased expression, set against a textured green background.

Book: Something Smells by Blake Liliane Hellman; illustrated by Steven Henry

This one is a little too subtle for the toddlers in my Outdoor Musical Storytime, but I have really been enjoying sharing it with the preschool and transitional kindergarten classes I visit. Most of them giggle even at the title. A little boy in a skeleton costume narrates the story about his quest to find the source of a terrible smell in his house. It isn’t his father, his dog, his hamster, his cockatoo, his little sister, his baby sister, or his grandmother’s mysterious gerfartzenschanffel, but what could it be? Before he can solve the mystery, his Mom insists that he finally take off his costume and take a bath, and something goes down the drain and disappears, taking the smell with it.

Scarf Song: We Are Spooky Ghosts

One of my very favorite Halloween songs. I originally learned it when I was a music volunteer at my kids’ elementary school, where it had the title, We Are Scary Skeletons, but I adapted it to work with play scarves. We usually sing it a couple of times as ghosts, and then I ask the kids to suggest other spooky things (or things they are planning to be for Halloween) they would like to be, and we pretend to walk like skeletons, or creep like spiders, etc. I made the video below during lockdown, which is why I’m wearing a cloth napkin on my head!

We are spooky ghosts (put scarf on your head)
Floating down the street,
Floating down the street,
Floating down the street.
We are spooky ghosts
Floating down the street.
We’ll scare you!
BOO! (pull scarf off quickly)

We are scary skeletons walking down the street…

Scarf Song: Popcorn Kernels

At Family Storytime, I always do two songs with the play scarves: one that is loosely related to the theme or a book we just read, and this one, which the kids always love. They especially enjoy grabbing handfuls of scarves to throw up in the air. I sometimes do it with the parachute at Outdoor Musical Storytime, and put cotton balls on the chute. It’s to the tune of Are You Sleeping (see the JBrary video below for a demonstration).

Popcorn kernels, Popcorn kernels, (Wave scarves)
In the pot, In the pot. (bundle the scarf into your hand)
Shake ’em, shake ’em, shake ’em. (shake your hands)
Shake ’em, shake ’em, shake ’em.
‘Till they pop! ‘Till they pop! (throw the scarf in the air)

Illustration of a happy cartoon dog peeking out from behind a large, unzipped orange cover, with the title 'A Dog Is a Dog' in bold yellow text and the author's name, Stephen Shaskan, below.

A Dog Is a Dog by Stephen Shaskan

This is a funny, simple, rhyming book full of surprises. A dog is a dog, whether it’s naughty or nice…unless it turns out to be a cat in a dog costume, which turns out to be a squid in a cat costume, which turns out to be a moose in a squid costume, which turns out to be a dog in a moose costume! I think there may be an “a” missing in the line “A cat is cat,” which threw me off for a second, but the book is a lot of fun to read aloud, and the kids enjoyed trying to guess what animal was coming next.

Instrument Play-Along Song: Shoo Fly!

I always end my storytimes by handing out egg shakers and maracas for the kids to play. This is an old traditional song, with lots of different versions, but the one I use is closest to the one in the Greg and Steve video below. I always ask the kids to suggest different things they would like to be for each verse.

CHORUS:
[C] Shoo, Fly, don’t bother [G7] me! (Wave hands as if shooing a fly)
Shoo, Fly, don’t bother [C] me!
Shoo, Fly, don’t bother [G7] me,
I’ll tell you what I want to [C] be.

[C] I fly, I fly,
I fly like a butter-[G7]fly.
I fly, I fly,
I fly like a butter-[C]fly.

CHORUS

I wiggle, I wiggle, I wiggle like a wiggling worm…

Closing Song: The More We Get Together

I always end Family Storytime with The More We Get Together, using ASL signs (as in the Sing & Sign video below). It’s so cute to see toddlers doing the signs, and I love that it uses basic signs that I try to use whenever they come up in storytime, like more and happy.

Stay & Play: Paper Masks

Before storytime, I printed a variety of animal mask templates, and asked one of our VolunTEEN participants to cut them out. I wanted to print them on card stock, but the printer was being difficult, so I used regular computer paper, and asked the volunteer to glue the mask template to a piece of cardstock before cutting them out. FirstPalette.com has some really cute designs:  https://www.firstpalette.com/craft/printable-animal-masks.html

For the Stay & Play, I put out the printed masks, some jumbo craft sticks, markers, and tape (to tape the craft stick on the back). The kids had a great time decorating their masks and then holding them up to their faces.

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

E-Z Does It: A Storytime about the Letter Z

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Early Literacy Tip: When reading books with flaps, ask your child to predict what will be underneath each one before they lift it. Making predictions is a great way to keep kids engaged in the books they read, while also improving their comprehension.

We finally made it to the end of the alphabet! It’s been a fun challenge to revisit, especially since this time I was trying to be more intentional about modeling fun ways to engage kids around early literacy skills like recognizing letters and learning their sounds.

As always, we started by drawing an upper- and lower-case letter Z together in the air, and talking about any Z words we knew. The families suggested zebra, zoo, and zigzag. I pulled a few things out of a paper bag: a zipper, a toy zebra, and a zucchini (for Family Storytime, I also included a picture of a zebu, which is so much fun to say).

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

Illustration of a red truck with a large white cargo area featuring the text 'TRUCKS ZOOMING BY.' Inside the truck, a smiling driver and two passengers enjoy the ride, while other trucks are seen on the road in the background.

Trucks Zooming By by Pamela Jane; illustrated by Barry Gott

There’s always one or two kids in every storytime audience who LOVE trucks, and immediately start pointing excitedly whenever they see one in a picture book. This rhyming story about a little boy traveling with his long-haul trucker parents was a big hit with those kids. Every page features different types of trucks that the family sees on their journey. There’s even one illustration of a trailer full of horses that drew exclamations from the horse-lovers in the crowd.

Book cover of 'Not Yet, Zebra' featuring a playful illustration of a girl with red hair in a blue striped shirt and a zebra, set against an orange background.

Not Yet, Zebra by Lou Kentzler and Julia Wolf

This is my favorite type of alphabet book–one that builds a story around trying to create an alphabetic list (another favorite title along the same lines is Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky). In this story, a little girl is painting animals in alphabetical order, but the zebra keeps trying to sneak into an earlier spot by dressing up as different animals. The kids enjoyed calling out the names of each animal.

A playful zebra character named Zee, wearing yellow pants, running joyfully with a small treat in its hand. The title 'Zee' is prominently displayed in blue, with the author's name 'Michel Gay' in a smaller font below.

Zee by Michel Gay

I’m pretty sure this book is out of print, but it’s a cute story that my Family Storytime families enjoyed (a couple of the grown-ups said, “That’s so sweet!”). A little zebra tries to wake his parents by bringing them coffee and breakfast in bed, but when he trips and spills the tray, he only has enough coffee left to fill a doll’s tea set, and it only wakes his parents enough to give him doll-sized kisses.

Cover of the book 'Dear Zoo' by Rod Campbell, featuring a red zoo cage with a sign that says 'FROM THE ZOO' and a cartoon depiction of a lion peeking out.

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

I had to include this one, even though it’s a board book. It’s such a classic, and it was a big favorite of my own kids. The narrator explains that they wrote to the zoo to send them a pet. Each page features a different animal that the zoo sent, hidden under a flap, and explains why they weren’t a good pet: the elephant was too big, the giraffe was too tall, etc. For my Family Storytime, which has a smaller group, I let the kids take turns opening the flaps. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I asked them to guess which animal was under each flap.

Songs:

Wheels on the Bus

We sang this after reading Trucks Zooming By. It’s such a versatile song, and I love modifying it in silly ways: having the wheels go really fast, having the horn make silly noises, putting animals or favorite characters (Spiderman is a particular favorite) on the bus, and having the grown-ups cry “Waah! Waah! Waah!” It’s also one of the easiest songs to play on the ukulele.

[C] The wheels on the bus go round and round,
[G7] Round and round,
[C] Round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
[G7] All through the [C] town.

The horn on the bus goes “Beep! Beep! Beep!”…

The doors on the bus go open and shut…

The Sleepy Bunny Song

We sang this after reading Not Yet, Zebra, which ends with the zebra sound asleep in bed. This song is always a favorite, especially at the preschools I visit. For some reason, kids love to pretend to be asleep and then jump up suddenly.

[C] See the little bunnies sleeping (crouch or lie down and pretend to sleep)
[F]‘Till it’s nearly [C] noon.
[F]Come, let us [C] wake them [G7] with a merry tune?
[C]They’re so still.
Are they ill?
NO! Wake up little bunnies! (jump up)
[C]Hop little bunnies, hop, hop, hop! (hop!)
[F] Hop little bunnies,[C] hop, hop, hop!
[F]Hop little bunnies, [C] hop, hop, hop!
[G7] Hop little bunnies, [C] hop and stop!

Zoom Zoom Zoom

We sang this with the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime, lifting it up high when we got to “blast off!” The kids loved running underneath each time. For Family Storytime, I gave out play scarves to throw up in the air at the end.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,
We’re going to the Moon.
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,
We’re going to the Moon.
If you want to take a trip,
Climb aboard my rocket ship.
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom,
We’re going to the Moon.
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Blast-off!

Going to the Zoo by Tom Paxton

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. I substituted Grandma for Mommy in the last verse, since we had a lot of grandparents at Outdoor Musical Storytime. It’s such a fun and happy song.

[C] Daddy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow.
[G7] Zoo tomorrow, Zoo tomorrow.
[C] Daddy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow,
And [G7] we can stay all [C] day.

CHORUS:
[F] We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!
[C] How about you, you, you?
[G7] You can come too, too, too! (G7)
We’re [C] going to the zoo, [G7] zoo, [C] zoo!

See the elephants with the long trunk swinging,
Great big ears and a long trunk swinging.
Snuffing up peanuts with the long trunk swinging,
And we can stay all day!

CHORUS

See all the monkeys, they’re scritch, scritch, scratchin’.
Jumping all around and scritch, scritch, scratchin’.
Hanging by the long tails scritch, scritch, scratchin’,
And we can stay all day!

CHORUS

Well, we stayed all day, and I’m getting sleepy,
Sitting in the car getting sleep, sleep, sleepy.
Home already and I’m sleep, sleep, sleepy,
‘Cause we have stayed all day!

We’ve been to the zoo, zoo, zoo!
So have you, you, you!
You came too, too, too!
We’ve been to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

But Mommy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow
Zoo tomorrow, Zoo tomorrow.
Mommy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow,
And we can stay all day!

CHORUS

Stay & Play: Zig-Zag Collage

Colorful pieces of paper scraps in various shapes and sizes laid out on a white sheet.

This was a really simple process art activity, but the kids loved it because they got to use decorative edge scissors, which make different patterns. Honestly, they love any excuse to use scissors!

For the Stay & Play, I put out different colored sheets of origami paper, the decorative edge scissors, white paper, and glue sticks. I had also precut some pieces of origami paper, for any littles that couldn’t use scissors yet. They had a blast cutting different shapes and gluing them on the white paper.

Whew! Can’t believe it’s the end of the alphabet! What themes should I try next? Do you have any favorites? Or any you’ve wanted to try? Please let me know in the comments.

Y, Oh, Y? A Storytime About the Letter Y

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Early Literacy Tip: When reading a story like Yummy, Yucky, which features a particular pattern, make a game out of coming up with your own examples, like Tacos are yummy! Legos are yucky!

We’re almost at the end of our alphabetic journey through storytime! This week, we focused on the letter Y.

As usual, we started by singing the Alphabet Song up to the letter Y (I do finish the song after we cheer for the Letter of the Day). Then we drew upper and lower-case letter Y’s in the air together.

I asked the kids if they knew any words that started with Y. They suggested yogurt, yummy, yucky, and yellow. I also pulled out yard stick (at Family Storytime, I held it up so the kids could see if they were taller or shorter than a yard), some yellow yarn, and a yo-yo.

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

Cover of the children's book 'Yummy Yucky' by Leslie Patricelli, featuring a smiling cartoon baby holding a spoon with a bowl of soup.

Yummy, Yucky by Leslie Patricelli

I don’t usually use board books for storytime, because the format is often small and hard to share in a large group. But I couldn’t resist reading this one, which was a favorite of my own kids when they were little. The illustrations are hilarious, but even if kids were sitting too far away to make them out well, they enjoyed calling out “yummy” and “yucky” on each set of pages: Spaghetti is yummy! Worms are yucky!, etc. Even the older kids were into it.

Cover of the book 'I YAM A DONKEY!' featuring a humorous blue donkey character with exaggerated features and a yam character looking discontent. The background is orange, and the title is in bold, playful letters.

I Yam a Donkey by Cece Bell

I read this one for Family Storytime, which had a number of older kids, including a fourth grader who found it absolutely hilarious. It features an argument about grammar between a donkey and a yam. Eventually several other vegetables show up, and the donkey says, “Oh, you is lunch!” and eats them all.

Cover of the children's book 'I Dare You Not to Yawn' by Hélène Boudreau, illustrated by Serge Bloch, featuring a young boy with orange hair and a blue sweater, making a playful expression.

I Dare You Not to Yawn by Hélène Boudreau; illustrated by Serge Bloch

I’m pretty sure this book is out of print, but we still have several copies in the library system. It was a fun one to do for Family Storytime, since it’s in the evening, and a lot of the kids come in pajamas. A little boy shares his advice for not yawning, since yawning always leads to bedtime. The text and illustrations are designed to make you yawn.

Cover of the children's book 'You Are a LION! And Other Fun Yoga Poses' featuring an illustrated lion roaring and a child in casual clothes sitting in front of it.

You Are a Lion: And Other Fun Yoga Poses by Taeeun Yoo

I read this one for Outdoor Musical Storytime, and demonstrated the poses as I read (with the exception of the lying down ones). It’s a cute book, providing basic instructions on how to do several animal-based yoga poses, like Lion, Frog, and Downward-facing Dog. The kids enjoyed trying to guess which animal went with each one.

Cover of the book 'Blue vs. Yellow' by Tom Sullivan, featuring a blue circle character and a yellow circle character facing each other with playful expressions.

Blue vs. Yellow by Tom Sullivan

Blue and Yellow argue about which is the best color, based on the different items represented by each one. When they take the form of blue and yellow vehicles that crash into each other, they discover that they both enjoy being green. The book ends on a little bit of a cliff-hanger, with Red entering the argument.

Songs:

If All the Raindrops

I know I do this song a lot, but it’s only because the kids seem to enjoy it so much. They especially love suggesting foods that they would like to fall from the sky for each verse. This time we had blueberries and strawberries, and pizza and chocolate eclairs.

[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 cookies and ice cream…

Love Somebody, Yes I Do!

We sang this with the parachute at Outdoor Musical Storytime. I put tiny pompoms on the chute so they would bounce up and down as we sang. It’s part of a much longer song, but I only used the first verse.

Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody, yes I do!
Love somebody and it’s you, you, you!
You, you, you! You, you, you!

You Sing a Song, and I’ll Sing a Song by Ella Jenkins

We sang this with the play scarves at Family Storytime. I asked the kids for different motions to do with the scarves for each verse.

[C] You’ll sing a song, and [Am] I’ll sing a song,
And [C] we’ll sing a [Dm] song toge-[G]ther.
[C] You’ll sing a song, and [Am] I’ll sing a song,
In [G] warm or [C] wintry [G] wea-[C]ther.

You’ll wave a scarf, and I’ll wave a scarf, and we’ll wave our scarves together…

You’ll peek-a-boo, and I’ll peek-a-boo… (put the scarf over your face, then pull it away)

Can You See the Color Yellow?

We sang this after reading Blue vs. Yellow at Family Storytime. The kids had fun pointing out different things around the room to match each color, and suggesting which colors to sing about next.

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] where you [C] are?

Can you see the color blue… etc.

Yellow Submarine

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. I did the first two verses, and then repeated the chorus several times, in different ways (quiet, loud, etc.).

In the [D] town where I was [G] born,
Lived a [Am] man who sailed to [D] sea.
And he [D] told us of his [G] life
In the [Am] land of [D] submarines
So we [D] sailed up to the [G] sun,
Till we [Am] found the sea of [D] green.
And we [D] lived beneath the [G] waves,
In our [Am] yellow [D] submarine.

Chorus:
[G] We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow [G] submarine.
We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, [G] yellow submarine.

And our [D] friends are all a-[G]board.
Many [Am] more of them live next [D] door.
And the [D] band begins to [G] play
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo,
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.

Chorus:
[G] We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow [G] submarine.
We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, [G] yellow submarine.

As we [D] live a life of [G] ease.
Every-[Am] one of us has all we [D] need.
Sky of [D] blue and sea of [G] green,
In our [Am] yellow [D] submarine.

Chorus:
[G] We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow [G] submarine.
We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, [G] yellow submarine.

Stay & Play: Yarn Painting

A hand holding an opened card featuring blue and purple painted flowers, surrounded by other blank cards.

The caregivers were blown away by the results of this process art project, and so was I. Before storytime, I folded letter-sized pieces of white cardstock in half, like a greeting card, and cut pieces of different types of yarn, about two feet long.

For the Stay & Play, I put out the cardstock, yarn pieces, and several different colors of tempera paint. When I did this project for Outdoor Musical Storytime, I put a drop of each color of paint inside each folded paper, and showed the kids how to lay the yarn in the paint so one end was hanging off of the paper. Then they folded the paper, and squished it down, while pulling the yarn out (the caregivers helped with this part).

One woman was so into the process that she and her toddler made five or six yarn paintings. I noticed that she was reusing the paint-covered yarn instead of putting the drops of paint inside the folded paper. That worked better and was less messy. So, for Family Storytime, I put out a paper plate with big blobs of each paint color, along with a spoon. I showed the kids how to use the spoon to dip their piece of yarn in the paint. Then they put their paint-covered yarn in the middle of their unfolded paper before squishing it closed and pulling the yarn out. The finished yarn paintings were kind of astounding.

Do you have any favorite picture books or songs featuring the letter Y? Or any other storytime themes you’re interested in exploring? Please share them in the comments below.