Early Literacy Tip: Talk about the different sounds that letters make. Understanding that each letter makes a particular sound (or a few different sounds) is key to building the decoding skills kids will need to learn to read later on.

This week, we continued our storytime journey through the alphabet, this time focusing on the letter C.

I started by writing the letter C on a whiteboard, and then asking the kids to trace a letter C in the air with me. Then I asked them to suggest words starting with the letter C. They came up with: cat, candy, cake, and cookie. I also pulled some items out of a paper bag: a cup, a toy car, and a circle. We talked a little bit about how the first “C” in circle makes an “S” sound, while the second “C” makes the more common “K” sound.

Here’s the rest of what we did (this is a combination of what we did in Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime).

Books:

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff; illustrated by Felicia Bond

I read this for Family Storytime. It’s always fun to read a really popular, classic book from time to time, because the kids are usually excited to see a book they know (and often have at home). This cautionary, circular tale describes the long series of demands that a mouse will have if you give him a cookie.

Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Kevin Cornell

Funny, interactive story that invites the reader to count the monkeys. Only the monkeys keep being scared away by a succession of different animals and people: 1 King Cobra; 2 Mongooses (or Mongeese?); 3 Crocodiles, etc. Each time, the reader is asked to help in a different way: moving their hand in a zig-zag; yelling “Scram!”, etc. The large, colorful illustrations make it perfect for storytime.

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

This book is longer than the books I typically share at Outdoor Musical Storytime (which has a larger, younger crowd than Family Storytime), but it worked well because it’s so interactive. Plus, the few older kids who were there were mostly familiar with the book already, and excited to hear it again. The story is about a peddler whose caps are stolen by bunch of monkeys in a tree. He scolds the monkeys by shaking first one fist and then two, and then stamping his feet. But the monkeys only mimic him and say, “Tsz! Tsz! Tsz!” The kids loved pretending to be the monkeys!

Circle by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Jon Klassen

Part of the Shapes Trilogy, this book features the shapes playing hide-and-seek. When Triangle violates Circle’s rule about not hiding behind the waterfall, Circle goes into the dark cave behind the waterfall to look for her. This book is a little too “spooky” for my Outdoor Musical Storytime crowd, but it was a big hit at Family Storytime.

Catch That Chicken! by Atinuke; illustrated by Angela Brooksbank

I like this book because of its unusual setting (a Nigerian village) and repeated “Catch That Chicken!” line. It also provided a good opportunity to talk about how the letter “C” can make different sounds when combined with other letters, like “Ch.” The story is about a little girl named Lami, who is the best chicken catcher in the village. When she falls and hurts her ankle, she worries she won’t be able to catch chickens anymore, until she realizes there’s an easier way to catch them.

Songs & Rhymes

Can You See the Color Yellow?

We sang this after reading Caps for Sale (which talks about the different colored caps) in Outdoor Musical Storytime. This song always gets the kids excited, as they look around and point to things around them that match each color. It’s 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] where you [C] are?

Can you see the color blue… etc.

These Are the Colors Over You

I got this song from La La Librarian (see the video below). Usually at Outdoor Musical Storytime, I try to do a theme-related song with the parachute, and then follow it with Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, where the kids usually run underneath once we raise the parachute in the air. For this week, I started with Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, and had the kids stay under the parachute at the end, so we could wave it over them while we sang this song.

Red and green, and yellow and blue,
These are the colors over you.
Red like an apple, green like a tree,
Yellow like the sun, and blue like the sea.
Red and green, and yellow and blue,
These are the colors over you.

I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock

This is one of favorite songs for baby and toddler storytimes. This week, I decided to try it with play scarves at Family Storytime.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock (rock side to side, or wave scarf back and forth)
I’m a little cuckoo clock
Tick Tock, Tick Tock
Now I’m striking one o’clock…
Cuckoo! (Jump up, or throw scarf in the air in the air)

(Repeat for two and three o’clock)

I’m Gonna Catch You by Laurie Berkner

We did this as our instrument play-along at the end. It’s such a “catchy” song!

[C] I’m gonna [F] catch you
[C] You’d better [F] run
[C] I’m gonna [F] catch you
[C] Here I come!

So I jumped into [F] Mon-[C]day,
And I had an ice cream [F] sun-[C]dae

But then I [B♭] turned around,
And I heard a [G] sound.

It said, I’m gonna catch you
You’d better run
I’m gonna catch you
Here I come!

So I jumped into Tuesday,
Had myself a snooze-day…

But then I turned around, and I
Heard a sound, 
It said,
I’m gonna catch you
You’d better run
I’m gonna catch you

Here I come!

So I jumped into Wednesday,
Had a make-new-friends-day…

But then I turned around, and I
Heard a sound, 
It said,
I’m gonna catch you
You’d better run
I’m gonna catch you
Here I come!

So I jumped into Thursday,
Had myself a nurse-day…

But then I turned around, and I
Heard a sound,

It said, I’m gonna catch you
You’d better run
I’m gonna catch you
Here I come!

So I jumped into Friday,
Had myself a shy-day…

But then I turned around, and I
Heard a sound,
It said, I’m gonna catch you
You’d better run
I’m gonna catch you
Here I come!

So I jumped into Saturday,
Had a baseball-batter-day…

But then I turned around, and I
Heard a sound,
It said, I’m gonna catch you
You’d better run
I’m gonna catch you
Here I come!

So I jumped into Sunday
Had a super-fun-day…

And then I turned around, and I heard a sound, and it said:
I’m gonna catch you, you’d better run
I’m gonna catch you, here I come!

I’m gonna catch you, you’d better run
I’m gonna catch you, here I come!

I’m gonna catch you, you’d better run
I’m gonna catch you, here I come!

I’m gonna catch you, you’d better run
I’m gonna catch you, here I come!

I caught you!

Stay & Play: Crayon Resist Watercolor Painting

This is one of my favorite process art activities, although, like most paint-related projects, it requires a bit of set-up (and clean-up). For the Stay & Play, I put out white cardstock, watercolor paint sets, small cups of water, paint brushes, and a few white crayons. I explained to the families that if they wrote or drew in white crayon on the white paper, it would look invisible until they painted over it with the watercolor paints.

What I love about this project is that often the caregivers write a “secret message” or draw something special (like the child’s handprint traced above), and the children get to reveal what they wrote or drew when they paint over it. In any case, it’s always a big hit.

Do you have any favorite books, songs, or activities featuring the letter “C”? Please share them in the comments below.