September is National Fruits and Veggies Month, so I thought it might be fun to do a storytime about vegetables.

Here’s what we did:

Books:

How Are You Peeling? by Saxton Freymann & Joost Elffers

This is an older title, but the adorable faces made from various fruits and vegetables always draw the kids in. The text is a rhyme about feelings. I also love the newer book Foodie Faces by Bill and Claire Wurtzel, although it features several other types of food (oatmeal, bagels, etc.). The kids love naming the foods in each picture.

Rainbow Stew by Cathryn Falwell

Sweet, colorful, rhyming book about a family visiting their Grandpa on a rainy day, and having a great time picking a wide variety of vegetables from the garden to make his famous Rainbow Stew.

Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller & Anne Wilsdorf

This one’s a bit longer than the ones I usually read, at least for Outdoor Musical Storytime, but it’s such a sweet story, and it held the kids’ interest in spite of the length. When Sophie picks out a butternut squash from the farmer’s market, it becomes her new best friend, until it begins to get mushy. The kids loved the ending.

Carrot and Pea: An Unlikely Friendship by Morag Hood

This is a very short, simple book, but even the older kids at Family Storytime enjoyed it. Even though Carrot looks nothing like Pea and his other pea friends, he has special qualities all his own that make him a wonderful friend.

Songs:

If You’re Happy And You Know It

We sang this after reading How Are You Peeling?

[C] If you’re happy and you know it, clap your [G7] hands! (clap, clap)
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your [C] hands! (clap, clap)
If you’re [F] happy and you know it, and you [C] really want to show it,
If you’re [G7] happy and you know it, clap your [C] hands! (clap, clap)

If you’re sad and you know it, cry, “Boo hoo!”…

If you’re angry and you know it, say, “I’m mad!”… (stomp feet while saying, “I’m mad!”)

If you’re shy and you know it, hide your face… (cover your eyes, and then uncover them and say, “Peek-a-boo!”

If you’re sleepy and you know it, yawn and stretch…

If you’re happy and you know it, shout, “Hooray!”

Popcorn Kernels

I usually sing this every week with play scarves for Family Storytime. This week, though, we sang it with a parachute in both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime (we have a few different parachutes for outdoor or indoor use). I threw cotton balls on the parachute, and the kids LOVED watching them bounce around.

Popcorn kernels, Popcorn kernels,
In the pot, In the pot.
Shake ’em, shake ’em, shake ’em.
Shake ’em, shake ’em, shake ’em.
‘Till they pop! ‘Till they pop!

I Like to Eat Vegetables

This song was inspired by one in a list of vegetable songs from preschooleducation.com. I used the tune to Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush. For each verse, I asked the kids to name a vegetable that they like, and we sang about them.

[C] I like to eat vegetables,
[G7] Vegetables, [C] vegetables.
I like to eat vegetables,
[G7] Each and every [C] day.

Ishan eats some onions,
Onions, onions,
Ishan eats some onions,
Each and every day.

Eat a Vegetable by Gary LaPow

We used to sing this song years ago in Musical Storytime, and I had forgotten how much fun it was!

Chorus:
[C] Eat a vegetable for [G7] dinner.
Eat a vegetable for [C] lunch.
Cut ‘em up and [F] cook ‘em in a pot,
And [C] eat ‘em [G7] by the [C] bunch!

[C]Now a tomato’s red and [G7] juicy,
But be careful for your [C] shirt.
You’d better watch out on the [F] very first bite,
To-[C]matoes [G7] like to [C] squirt!

Chorus

Corn is bright and yellow.
You can eat it right on the cob.
Melt some butter along the top.
Look out! That corn is hot!

Chorus

Now a carrot can be soft,
When you cook it in a stew.
But if you eat a carrot raw my friend,
You better chew and chew and chew and chew and chew and chew and chew!

Stay & Play: Painting with Vegetables

One of the simplest Stay & Play activities I’ve ever done. Basically, the idea was just to provide vegetables (celery and asparagus) and plates of tempera paint and let the kids use the veggies as brushes. The only problem: I somehow forgot to bring white paper to the park for Outdoor Musical Storytime! Oops! Luckily, I had brought a stack of paper plates to put the paint out on, and miraculously we had enough for each child to paint the back of a plate. They had a wonderful time.

A caveat about this project: I know there’s considerable debate about using food in art activities (and sometimes policies prohibiting it) because of food insecurity that may be impacting local families, and also the risk of appearing to encourage food waste. For that reason, I don’t often use it. But since this storytime was intended as a celebration of vegetables (which often get a bad rap among children), I wanted the kids to have the opportunity to explore them in a fun, hands-on way, which hopefully might make them more inclined to try eating something like asparagus. I think if I do this theme again, though, I might bring something like carrots with the greens still attached, so the kids can see how they grow, and then do a project (like painting or leaf rubbings) with the parts of the plant that we don’t usually eat. I really wish we could serve snacks, because it would be really fun to have kids “paint” paper plates with something like a veggie dip and then eat the brushes.

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