Tag Archives: library craft for preschoolers

Rainbows and Unicorns: A Storytime About Unicorns

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Several years ago, I remember a little girl asking me if we had any picture books about unicorns. At the time, we had barely any on our shelves or even in the catalog. Thankfully, now we have dozens of fun books about unicorns, and since kids frequently talk about unicorns during my preschool visits and storytimes, I thought I’d dedicate a storytime to them.

Here’s what we did:

Books:

A Unicorn Named Sparkle by Amy Young

Funny, cute story about a little girl who asks for a unicorn for her birthday. She has a very specific idea of what her unicorn will look like, but the one she gets is nothing like she imagined. He eats her clothes and even eats the underpants hanging on the clothes line, he smells funny, and he has fleas. Disappointed, she asks the unicorn man to take him back, but when he gets loaded on the truck, she realizes that she loves him after all.

First Day of Unicorn School by Jess Hernandez; illustrated by Mariano Epelbaum

I stumbled across this book right before Family Storytime, and fell in love with it on the spot. Milly is so excited to get accepted to Unicorn School. There’s only one problem: she isn’t a unicorn, but a donkey in a party hat. When she arrives at unicorn school, she is worried that the other unicorns will discover her secret, but soon finds that they are also all other types of animals in disguise. The kids enjoyed guessing what all of the different animals were and what their “unicorn horns” were made of (toilet plungers, traffic cones, etc.).

Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima

The kids really seemed to enjoy this adorable book about a unicorn who is raised by a pod of narwhals. He always assumes that he is a narwhal too, until he sees a unicorn on a hillside, and discovers his true identity. He is torn between his new unicorn friends and his narwhal ones, but is thrilled to find a way to bring them all together.

You Don’t Want a Unicorn by Ame Dyckman; illustrated by Liz Climo

When a little boy visits a wishing well and wishes for a unicorn, the narrator tries to warn him that unicorns poke holes in the ceiling, poop cupcakes everywhere, and scratch the furniture. Worst of all, they invite their friends over for a unicorn party, which makes an even bigger mess. Finally, the boy decides to wish them all away…and wish for a dragon instead.

Songs:

Sparkle, Sparkle, Unicorn

This uses the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, minus the “Up above the world so high” part in the middle. I asked the kids to suggest things that the unicorn might shoot from her horn (they came up with lightning, bees, flowers, and arrows) and also places they would like to fly (the playground, the zoo, Unicorn Land, and the pool), and we sang it several times using their ideas.

[C] Sparkle, Sparkle, [F] Uni[C]-corn,
[G7] She shoots [C] rainbows [G7] from her [C]horn.
I’ll fly to Hawaii [G7] in the [C] morn,
[G7] On my [C] magic [G7] uni[C]-corn.

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

We sang this after reading First Day of Unicorn School (I realized too late that it would have been fun to make it a school instead of a farm). I asked the kids to suggest different animals and the sounds they made for each verse.

[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!
And on that farm he [F] had a [C] cow,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!
With an moo-moo here, and an moo-moo there,
Here a moo, there a moo,
Everywhere a moo-moo.
[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,
E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!

The Waves on the Ocean

We sang this one after reading Not Quite Narwhal at Outdoor Musical Storytime, shaking the parachute, and singing it through three times, getting faster each time. It’s to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus:

The waves on the ocean go up and down,
Up and down, Up and down.
The waves on the ocean go up and down,
All day long!

Abracadabra

I wrote this song for a Magic Storytime theme years ago. We did it as our instrument play-along at the end, since it talks about getting a unicorn.

One day I found a magic wand (C G)
Out floating in a stream. (F C)
I waved it at my dinner plate, (C G)
And my beets became ice cream! (F G C)

I said, “Abracadabra! (C G)
Alakazaam! (F G)
Abracadabra!” (C G)
And my peas turned into jam. (F G C)

So then I took my magic wand
To school with me one day.
When Teacher said, “It’s time to work.”
I said, “I’d rather play.”

I said, “Abracadabra!
Hocus pocus!” too.
“Abracadabra!”
And my class was at the zoo!
Being taught by a kangaroo.

So if you find a magic wand
Out floating in a stream.
I hope that it will bring to you
Whatever you may dream.

You’ll say, “Abracadabra!
Presto chango!” too.
“Abracadabra!”
Many things will come to you.
Like a treehouse with a view,
And a unicorn or two,
And a chocolate mansion too.
May your every dream come true.

Stay & Play: Unicorn Collage

For this simple Stay & Play, I printed a unicorn coloring page from iHeartCraftyThings.com (they have a lot of options) on white cardstock. After storytime, I put out the coloring pages, markers, glue sticks, and a variety of fake gemstones, paper hearts, and other small decorations. Most of the kids spent a long time coloring and decorating their unicorns.

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

Check It Out! A Storytime for National Library Week

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This week is National Library Week, and today is National Library Worker’s Day. So we had a fun library-themed storytime at the park today. Here’s what we did:

Books:

Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss; illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke

When the kids go off to school, the farm animals are bored. They decide to go to town, and wander into the public library to find something to do. Each animal tries to talk to the librarian, who only hears neighs, moos, and baas, until the chicken comes up to ask for a “Book!” I had a great time reading this aloud. The kids enjoyed supplying the animal sounds, and everyone laughed at the final pun.

The Library Book by Tom Chapin and Michael Mark; illustrated by Chuck Groenink

This super catchy song by Tom Chapin has been stuck in my head for days! The book tells a story of a trip to the library, featuring famous book characters like Winnie the Pooh, Sleeping Beauty, and Madeline. My only complaint is that the librarian shushes people, which is a stereotype I try to avoid, but it does make sense in the context of the song. The kids were dancing, and many of the grown-ups were singing along.

Do Not Bring Your Dragon to the Library by Julie Gassman; illustrated by Andy Elkerton

A little boy really wants to bring his dragon to the library, but the librarian explains all of the reason why it would be a bad idea: dragons are very large, and tend to wander, and when they get too excited, they breathe fire. But she offers a solution that will allow the dragon to enjoy the books while staying safely at home. The large format of this book worked really for our storytime, and I love the diversity of people depicted in the colorful illustrations. The kids joined in on the repeated “Do Not Bring Your Dragon to the Library” refrain.

Songs:

These Are My Glasses by Laurie Berkner

I love this song, and the kids always seem to enjoy it too. Laurie Berkner has a great YouTube video of the song and the motions.

The lyrics are:

These are my glasses,

This is my book.

I put on my glasses,

And open up my book.

Then I read, read, read,

And I look, look, look.

I put down my glasses and whoop! close up the book.

When Ducks Get Up in the Morning

I sang this one as a follow up to Book! Book! Book! It works really well for storytime because the kids can suggest different animals, and you only need to know two chords to play it on the ukulele or guitar. Today we sang about horses, cats, T-rexes, and kids:

[C] When ducks get up in the morning

They [G7] always say, “Good [C] day!”

[C] When ducks get up in the morning

They [G7] always say, “Good [C] day!”

[C] They say, “Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!”

[G7] That is what they [C] say.

[C] They say, “Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!”

[G7] That is what they [C] say.

Five Green and Speckled Frogs

This song worked really well as a follow-up to Book! Book! Book! too. One funny thing about outdoor storytime is that since the kids are usually sitting on a blanket, they sometimes seem hesitant to stand up. So for this one, I encouraged them to hop with me each time we sang the “Five Green and Speckled Frogs” line.

Five green and speckled frogs
Sat on a speckled log.
Eating the most delicious bugs! Yum Yum!
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Now there are four green speckled frogs!

Four green and speckled frogs…etc.

Fly, Fly, Dragon, Fly

I got this song from The Perpetual Preschool, and it was a great lead-in to Do Not Bring Your Dragon to the Library. It’s to the tune of Skip to My Lou:

Fly fly dragon fly
Fly fly dragon fly
Fly fly dragon fly
Way up in the sky.

Hop hop dragon hop
Hop hop dragon hop
Hop hop dragon hop
Dragon, dragon stop!

Stay and Play: Origami Bookmarks

For our Stay and Play, I had the kids decorate Origami Bookmarks (the kind that fits onto the corner of a page). They are very easy to fold, but since my crowd is largely toddlers and preschoolers, I folded a bunch in advance, and put out googly eyes, gluesticks, markers, scissors, foam shapes, some precut paper teeth, and scraps of paper. The kids really seem to enjoy projects that involve gluing things onto the paper, so this was a hit!

I printed out these instructions from the Jewish Community Relations Council and also put out pieces of origami paper, in case anyone wanted to try folding their own. There are also lots of video tutorials, including this one from Red Ted Art, if you need any help following the instructions.

Happy Library Worker’s Day!