Early Literacy Tip: When reading a book with a repeated word or phrase, like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, pause to let your child fill in the word. You can also point to the word to reinforce their print awareness.

I was so excited this week to see storytime families actively engaging in our focus on letters and letter sounds. One of my regular Family Storytime kids came in announcing the letter of the day before I even said it, and, during our Hat activity at the end, I overheard a grandmother asking her grandson what letter the word hat starts with, and he said, “H!” She even took time to enunciate the “ha- ha- hat.” This was exactly what I was hoping for when I decided to revisit the alphabet in my storytimes: providing caregivers with simple, fun ways to practice basic early literacy skills in their daily routines.

As usual, this week I started by writing the Letter H on my whiteboard, and asking the kids to draw a capital and lowercase letter H in the air with me. Then we talked about the sound letter H makes and some common words beginning with H. I pulled some items out of a paper bag: a toy horse, a toy hippo, a harmonica, and a hat.

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

Books:

I’m Hungry! / ¡Tengo hambre! by Angela Dominguez

I love the Lolo and Birdie books by Angela Dominguez. They are all very simple bilingual stories in English and Spanish, featuring a dinosaur who speaks Spanish, and a bird who translates into English. In this one, Lolo the dinosaur complains that he’s hungry, and Birdie suggests different foods he might like to eat (she is dismayed when he says he would like to eat “un pajaro azul” but appeases him with some galletas instead. It’s also a fun book to use for letter h, because you can point out that h is silent in Spanish. One Family Storytime family loved this book so much that they asked to borrow it.

How to Find a Bird by Jennifer Ward; illustrated by Diana Sudyka

I read this one at Outdoor Musical Storytime, which is held in one of our County parks, so there are lots of birds all around. I took a moment before I read it to demonstrate the Merlin app (a free app from the Cornell Bird Lab), and how you could use it to identify the bird songs nearby. The book describes different ways to look for birds, with lots of different types of birds hidden in the illustrations.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

The kids at Outdoor Musical Storytime were excited when I held this book up, since many of them have it at home. They also enjoyed calling out the names of the different foods the caterpillar ate, and yelling out “hungry!” each time I paused on the line, “But he was still…”

There’s a Mouse in My House by Ross Collins

Funny, rhyming sequel to There’s a Bear in My Chair (which many of the kids had read). In this one, the polar bear complains about the mouse that has settled in his house. He would throw him out, he says, except the mouse knows tai kwon do. He eats like a buffalo, and leaves the bear one pistachio. But when the mouse’s friends show up to throw the bear a party, he decides they are nice after all.

Hooray for Hat by Brian Won

This is such a colorful, fun book, about a variety of grumpy animals who cheer up when someone gives them each a hat. The kids loved joining in on the repeated “Hooray for Hat!” line, which appears in large colorful letters. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I handed out the egg shakers at the end, and we all shook the shakers each time we yelled, “Hooray!”

Songs:

If You’re Happy and You Know It

This song is a classic for a reason, although I’ve tweaked it a bit by adding in different emotions. The kids always giggle when we pretend to cry “Boo hoo.” You can ask them to suggest other emotions as well.

[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!”

Two Little Blackbirds

We sang this after reading How to Find a Bird. I often give out play scarves with this one and have the kids pretend they are birds.

Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill, (Hold up both thumbs)
One named Jack, and the other named Jill.
Fly away, Jack! (Put one thumb behind your back)
Fly away, Jill! (Put the other thumb behind your back)
Come back, Jack! (Bring the first thumb out in front).
Come back, Jill! (Bring the second thumb out in the front).

Two little blackbirds sitting on a cloud,
One was quiet, and the other was loud (I make my voice as loud and obnoxious as possible each time I sing the word “Loud!”)
Fly away, Quiet!
Fly away, Loud!
Come back, Quiet!
Come back, Loud!

Two little blackbirds sitting in the snow.
One flew fast!
And the other flew slow!…

Two little blackbirds sitting on a gate.
One was early, and the other was…late!…

The Butterfly Song

A fun song to go along with The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

First comes a butterfly (Wave scarf or move your hands like a butterfly)
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 in your hand or make a fist).
Oh, oh, oh, wait and see…
Oh, oh, oh, wait and see…
Out of the chrysalis, my, oh, my!
Out comes a beautiful butterfly! (Open up hand and wave scarf).

Hickory Dickory Dock

In Outdoor Musical Storytime, we sang this with a mouse puppet on the parachute, lifting the parachute up and down. For Family Storytime, I gave the kids scarves to make pretend mice that ran up and down their arms. Here’s a video from The Learning Station with the tune.

Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands in rhythm)
The mouse ran up the clock (run fingers up arm)
The clock struck one: BONG!
The mouse ran down (run fingers down arm)
Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands)

Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands in rhythm)
The mouse ran up the clock (run fingers up arm)
The clock struck two: BONG! BONG!
The mouse went, “BOO!” (cover your face and then uncover it when you yell, “BOO!”)
Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands)

Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands in rhythm)
The mouse ran up the clock (run fingers up arm)
The clock struck three: BONG! BONG! BONG!
The mouse went “Whee!” (run fingers down body quickly)
Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands)

Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands in rhythm)
The mouse ran up the clock (run fingers up arm)
The clock struck four: BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG!
The mouse said, “No more!” (hold hands out palms up and shrug shoulders)
Hickory Dickory Dock (clap hands)

The Hokey Pokey

We sang this as our instrument play-along at the end. Parents always seem to enjoy doing this one with their kids.

[C] You put your right hand in,
You put your right hand out.
You put your right hand in,
[G] And you shake it all about!
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That’s what it’s all [C] about!

Repeat with left hand, right foot, left foot, head, and whole body.

Stay & Play: Paper Bowl Hats

This was such an adorable project. I got the idea from raisecuriouskids.com.

Before the storytime, I had a volunteer punch holes on either side of each bowl and thread a long piece a ribbon from one hole to the other. For the Stay & Play, I put out the bowls, along with markers, and Washi tape in different patterns. The kids had fun decorating the bowls, and the caregivers helped them tie the ribbon into a loose chin strap. They all looked so cute in their little bowl hats!

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