Early Literacy Tip: Play rhyming games with your kids by asking them to come up with words that rhyme with another word, or asking them to guess which rhyming word you are thinking of. Rhymes are one of the best ways to help kids learn the sounds that make up the parts of words, an essential skill for learning to read later on.

This week, we focused on the letter J for storytime. As usual, I started by having the kids draw a capital and lowercase letter J in the air with me, and then asked them if they knew any words that started with J. They came up with jellybean, jellyfish, and jelly. I also pulled some items out of a paper bag: a jaw harp, a jar, and a jack-in-the-box (which I demonstrated several times. They loved it!).

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

Jamberry by Bruce Degen

This classic book was a childhood favorite of my own kids, and the storytime families were excited to see it too. Rhyming text and large, beautiful illustrations describe a fantasyland full of different kinds of berries and animals.

Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

I love this book about a young boy named Jabari who decides to jump off of the high dive for the first time, but keeps finding reasons to put it off (thinking of the dive he wants to do, doing his stretches, etc.). His Dad tells him that sometimes when he’s afraid, he takes a deep breath, and discovers that the fear feels more like a surprise. His trick works for Jabari, who finally does his dive. The descriptions and illustrations are perfect for storytime.

Joy by Yasmeen Ismail; illustrated by Jenni Desmond

Very cute story about a kitten’s joy at playing with a ball of yarn, until she takes a tumble. A sweet exploration of different types of feelings. I have a volunteer who helps with Family Storytime, and she acted out the kitten’s motions with a kitten stuffed animal as I read.

Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw; illustrated by Margot Apple

Classic rhyming story about a group of sheep who take a joyride in a Jeep. Before I read it, I asked the kids to guess the last word in the title, based on the rhyme and the picture on the front cover.

Songs:

Peanut Butter and Jelly

This is an old camp song that I remember learning in Girl Scouts when I was a kid. Our library actually has a set of props for this, and I used them when I sang the song. I often ask the kids to suggest a type of berry to pick for the jam. At the end, I usually pretend to have peanut butter stuck to the roof of my mouth, and we all pour and drink a pretend glass of milk. The version I sing is a little different than the one in this Super Simple Songs video (they repeat the “Peanut, peanut butter” line after each action, while I only sing it once per verse. See below.), but the tune is basically the same.

First, you take the peanuts and you pick ’em, (pretend to pick peanuts)
You pick ’em, you pick ’em, pick ’em, pick ’em.
Then you smash them, you smash them, (clap your hands together)
You smash ’em, smash ’em, smash ’em.
Then you spread ’em, you spread ’em. (pretend to spread something on one hand)
You spread ’em, spread ’em, spread ’em.
Singing, “Peanut, peanut butter (wave your hands to the right)
And jelly! (wave your hands to the left)
Peanut, peanut butter (wave your hands to the right)
And jelly!” (wave your hands to the left)

Then, you take the berries and you pick ’em, (pretend to pick berries)
You pick ’em, you pick ’em, pick ’em, pick ’em.
Then you smash them, you smash them, (clap your hands together)
You smash ’em, smash ’em, smash ’em.
Then you spread ’em, you spread ’em. (pretend to spread something on one hand)
You spread ’em, spread ’em, spread ’em.
Singing, “Peanut, peanut butter (wave your hands to the right)
And jelly! (wave your hands to the left)
Peanut, peanut butter (wave your hands to the right)
And jelly!” (wave your hands to the left)

Then you take the sandwich and you bite it, (pretend to bite a sandwich)
You bite it, you bite it, bite it, bite it.
Then you chew it, you chew it, you chew it, (pretned to chew)
Chew it, Chew it.
Then you swallow it, you swallow it, (rub your tummy)
You swallow it, swallow it, swallow it.
Singing, “Peanut, peanut butter (wave your hands to the right)
And jelly! (wave your hands to the left)
Peanut, peanut butter (wave your hands to the right)
And jelly!” (wave your hands to the left).

Down in the Jungle

For Family Storytime, I gave out play scarves before we sang this one, and then we mimed washing them. I asked the kids to suggest different animals each time we sang it. I use the same tune as the Sing and Learn with Vicky video below:

Down in the jungle where nobody goes,
There’s a little baby elephant washing his clothes.
With a rub-a-dub here, and a rub-a-dub there.
That’s the way he washes his clothes!

Jellies Floating

We sang this with the parachute at Outdoor Musical Storytime. I threw cotton balls on the parachute and told the kids they were our jellyfish.

To the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down.

Jellies floating up and down,
Up and down,
Up and down.
Jellies floating up and down,
In the sea.

Jellies floating all around,
All around,
All around.
Jellies floating all around,
In the sea.

Jump Up

We did this as our instrument play-along at the end. The kids loved jumping up and down as we sang. It’s such a fun and happy song!

[C] Jump up day is breaking
[G7] Jump up let’s get shaking
[C] I know you’re lying down
[F] Jump up and we’ll dance a-[C]round

Jump up bells are ringing
And i hear friends are singing
Oh yea, it’s a crazy sound
Jump up and we’ll dance around

Jump up stand on your tip toes
Reach out grab a rainbow
Turn it upside down
Jump up and we’ll dance it around

Jump up clouds are passing
Look up the sky is laughing
I know we’ll be laughing too
Jump up I want to dance with you

Jump up you know i love you
That’s right i love love love you
A new day is shining down
Jump up and we’ll dance around

Stay & Play: Beaded Jewelry

I actually did a different craft for Family Storytime, but didn’t get to take pictures. For that one, I just put out white cardstock, markers, and kids scissors, and told the kids to draw a picture and then cut it into a jigsaw puzzle. I told them they could challenge their caregiver to put the puzzle together, or have their caregiver cut the pieces and challenge them do to the puzzle.

For Outdoor Musical Storytime though, I put out a large selection of Pony beads and pipe cleaners, and let the kids make beaded bracelets. They always love threading the beads, and it’s a wonderful activity for developing their fine motor skills.

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