Continuing our Reading through the Alphabet series of storytimes, this week we had fun celebrating the letter C for both Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime.

I started by holding up a Cat stuffed animal, Corn, a Carrot, and a Chicken. I wrote the words on a whiteboard and asked the kids what they had in common. Then we drew the letter C in the air together, before reading our first book.

Here’s what we did:

Books:

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

The classic story about a peddler whose caps are stolen by a tree-full of monkeys. Although it’s a longer story than I usually do for my Outdoor Musical Storytime, the kids loved acting out the part of the monkeys: shaking their hands and saying, “Tsz! Tsz! Tsz!”

Chameleon! by Joy Coyley; photographs by Nic Bishop

I did this one for my Family Storytime. The text is very simple, following the adventures of a beautiful chameleon as he looks for food and avoids danger. The kids were mesmerized by the large, colorful photographs.

Who Took the Cookies from the Cookie Jar? by Bonnie Lass & Philemon Sturges; illustrated by Ashley Wolff

Fun variation of the classic rhyme, featuring a wide range of animals, including a raven, a beaver, and a turtle. The illustrations are colorful and fun, and the kids loved the ending, where the culprit turned out to be a whole bunch of ants.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

I couldn’t resist including this essential classic about the hungry caterpillar who eats a wide variety of foods on his journey to becoming a beautiful butterfly. The kids enjoyed calling out the names of the different fruits.

Songs:

Monkey See, Monkey Do

This is one of my old standbys, which the kids always seem to enjoy. I asked them for suggestions on things the monkey could do, and they came up with jumping, galloping, and shaking their tails.

When you clap, clap, clap your hands,

The monkey clap, clap, claps his hands,

Monkey see, and monkey do,

The monkey does the same as you!

Repeat with other motions: when you jump up and down; make a funny face; turn yourself around; and sit back on the ground.

Do You See the Color Blue?

We sang this one after reading Chameleon! The kids had the best time pointing out everything they could see that matched the color we were singing about. It’s to the tune of Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Do you see the color blue, the color blue, the color blue?

Do you see the color blue, right here in this room?

Do you see the color red… etc.

Butterfly Song

My coworker Angela taught me this one, which we sang after reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I handed out play scarves before we sang it, and had the kids bundle them up to be chrysalises and wave them in the air to be butterflies. The song is to the tune of Up on the Housetop. Here’s a video by Colleen Niedermeyer:

First comes a butterfly (Wave scarf)

Who lays an egg. (Make a circle with your thumb and index finger).

Out comes a caterpillar (Wiggle your finger like a caterpillar)

With lots of legs.

Now see the caterpillar spin and spin (Spin the scarf),

A little chrysalis to sleep in (Bundle scarf up in a ball).

Oh, oh, oh, wait and see…

Oh, oh, oh, wait and see…

Out of the chrysalis, my, oh, my!

Out comes a beautiful butterfly! (Wave scarf).

Candy Corn for Dinner

We sang this as our instrument play-along (after handing out the shakers). This was one of the first songs I ever wrote.

This song was also on an album we made a long time ago to distribute to storytime families at the Millbrae Library. Here’s a link to that version on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ashley-larsen-1/sets/musical-storytime-2016

           
[C] Mom and dad put me in charge of our [G] dinner to-[C]night.                                                                
[C] They said I could make anything as [D] long as we ate [G] right.                                                            
[C] I had to serve some vegetables, a [G] salad, and a [C] stew.
I thought a while and cooked a bit, and here is [G] my me-[C]nu.

CHORUS
[F] We’re having candy corn for [C] dinner
[G7] With a side of [C] chocolate stew.
A [F] three jelly bean [C] salad,
[G7] And an ice cream sandwich [C] too.

[C] I don’t know why Mom and Dad say [G] cooking is a [C] chore.                                                                
[C] ‘Cause I had such a great time [D] going to the grocery [G] store.                                                            
[C] My Mom said we were out of milk, so I [G] bought a big milk-[C] shake.
And since my Dad likes cheese so much, I bought him a [G] cheese-[C] cake.

CHORUS
[F] We’re having candy corn for [C] dinner
[G7] With a side of [C] chocolate stew.
A [F] three jelly bean [C] salad,
[G7] And an ice cream sandwich [C] too.

[F] Life is [C] better [G7] when it’s [C] sweet,
[F] Like a big hot [C] plate of [G7] Rice Krispie treat.

[C] So if you have to cook tonight, I hope you’ll [G] learn from [C] me.                                                          
[C] And make your family carrot cake or [D] cherries jubi-[G]lee                                                            
[C] Even if they don’t approve, you can [G] count it as a [C] win.
You’ll have a yummy dinner and you’ll never have to [G] cook a-[C]gain

CHORUS
[F] We’re having candy corn for [C] dinner
[G7] With a side of [C] chocolate stew.
A [F] three jelly bean [C] salad,
[G7] And an ice cream sandwich [C] too.

STAY AND PLAY: DOT MARKER CATERPILLARS

For the Stay and Play, I put out dot markers, white cardstock, markers and googly eyes. As usual, I told the kids they could make caterpillars, or whatever else they wanted with the art supplies. There were some really fun dot marker and line creations.

What are your favorite books or songs about the letter C? Please share them in the comments below.