Last week in Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime, we enjoyed books, songs, and activities celebrating the color Green. As usual, I started out by asking the kids to name things that were Green. They suggested: trees, grass, snakes, and turtles.

Here’s a combination of everything I did for both storytimes.

Books:

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

A beautiful celebration of all of the different shades of green, with cut out shapes revealing colors on the next page. The kids enjoyed calling out things they saw in the illustrations: a lizard, a sea turtle, a tiger, etc.

There’s an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer

This was one of my favorite books to read to my own kids when they were little: a story about a boy who finds a way to lure the alligator under his bed out into the garage, using a trail of food. The kids loved making munching noises.

Mama Don’t Allow by Thatcher Hurd

Cute, musical story about a band of animals who agree to perform on a riverboat full of alligators, with dangerous consequences. I gave out egg shakers before we read this one in Family Storytime, and the kids enjoyed playing them whenever the band played in the story.

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek

Adorable rhyming book about different types of sheep, with the repeated line, “But where in the green sheep?” Several families said this was a favorite of theirs.

Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley

Always a hit! This is such a simple, magical book. I had the kids at Family Storytime turn the pages to make the different parts of the monster’s face disappear.

Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; illustrated by Jen Corace

An old favorite of mine, by one of my favorite picture book authors. Little Pea dreads having to eat his candy for dinner every night, but is excited to have spinach for dessert.

Turtle Walk by Matt Phelan

Simple story about a group of turtles walking to a place to play in the snow. I had the kids walk in place as I read. They enjoyed calling out “No!” each time I read “Are we there yet?”

Songs & Rhymes:

Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes

We sang this after reading Go Away, Big Green Monster in Family Storytime. I like to do it three times, getting faster each time.

Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.
Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.
And eyes and ears, and mouth and nose.
Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.

Red Light, Green Light

I did this as an activity after we read Green. I basically had the kids do different actions (running in place, jumping, clapping, stomping, etc.). I called out “Green Light” to have them start the action, and “Red Light” to make them stop. The kids loved it!

Down By the Banks of the Hanky Panky

This is one of my favorite lapsit rhymes for baby storytime, where caregivers bounce their babies from knee to knee. For Outdoor Musical Storytime, I did it with the parachute, and put a frog puppet on top. The kids got a kick out of watching the frog bounce around on the parachute, as we shook it time to the rhyme.

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky,
With a hip, hop, a hippy hop,
Jump off the lily pad and
Ker-PLOP!

Little Bo Peep

We did this rhyme after reading Where is the Green Sheep? in Family Storytime. I handed out the play scarves, and we did the motions from this JBrary video:

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep (hide scarf behind your back)
And doesn’t know where to find them.
Leave them alone and they’ll come home (wave scarf in front of you)
Wagging their tails behind them! (wag scarf behind you like a tail)

I Had a Little Turtle

Another fun song from JBrary:

I had a little turtle,
His name is Tiny Tim.
I put him in the bathtub,
To see if he could swim.

He drank up all the water,
He ate up all the soap,
And now he’s home sick in bed
With bubbles in his throat!

Bubble, bubble, bubble,
Bubble, bubble, POP!
Bubble, bubble, bubble,
Bubble, bubble, POP!

I’ll See You Later, Alligator

I wrote this song after a storytime discussion about the differences between alligators and crocodiles. We did it as our instrument play-along for Outdoor Musical Storytime. I made a video with photos of alligators and crocodiles to illustrate the differences described in the song:

[C] If you see something in the water
With [F] scales and lots of teeth,
[G7] Looking like a floating log
With [C] four legs underneath.
[C] You can tell that it must be a type
Of [F] dangerous reptile.
But is it an alli[C]-gator
Or a [G7] hungry croco[C]-dile?

I’ll see you [F] later, Alligator, (open and close your hands like an alligator mouth)
With your [G7] mouth shaped like a [C] U, (put the base of your hands together to make a U shape)
But [F] Crocodile, with the V-shaped [G7] smile, (straighter your hands to make a V shape)
It’ll be a while (tap your wrist)
‘Till I see [C] you. (point)

[C] Alligators like to live in swamps,
While [F] crocs prefer a river.
No [G7] matter where you find them,
They’re sure to make you [C] shiver.
On crocs you see their bottom teeth,
On [F] gators just the top.
If you’re able to see [C] either,
You’re [G7] way too close, so [C] STOP!

I’ll see you [F] later, Alligator,
With your [G7] mouth shaped like a [C] U,
But [F] Crocodile, with the V-shaped [G7] smile,
It’ll be a while
‘Till I see [C] you.

A [C] crocodile has lighter skin,
While [F] gator’s skin is dark,
To [G7] help them hide out in the mud
Waiting to [C] catch their mark.
Learning of their differences
Can [F] be a lot of fun,
But one thing they have in [C] common,
If you [G7] see one you should [C] run!

I’ll see you [F] later, Alligator,
With your [G7] mouth shaped like a [C] U,
But [F] Crocodile, with the V-shaped [G7] smile,
It’ll be a while
‘Till I see [C] you.

Stay & Play: Paper Plate Turtles

I found this craft idea on GluedtoMyCraftsBlog.com. Before the storytime, I cut out simple head, tail, and leg shapes from green construction paper. I happened to have some precut cellophane squares in different colors, left over from some other activity. For the Stay & Play, I put out white paper plates, the cut out shapes, the cellophane squares, glue sticks and markers. The kids had fun assembling and decorating their turtles.

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