The Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games was held today in Paris, so this week for Outdoor Musical Storytime and Family Storytime, I focused on the Olympics and some of its featured sports.

I started out by describing the Olympics and some of the sports the kids might see if they watched it on TV: gymnastics, swimming, diving, cycling, running, etc.

Here are the books and songs that I did:

Books:

Curious George and the Summer Games based on the books by Margret & H.A. Rey

Cute story where George sees kids practicing various sports for an upcoming competition, and tries to join in. Although as usual, he gets in a bit of trouble, he ends up saving the day for a friend who gets stage fright during her gymnastics routine. A good overview of a variety of events like hurdles, the relay race, the long jump, and volleyball. I don’t usually read Curious George books because they tend to be too long for toddlers and preschoolers, but the older kids in my Family Storytime were excited that I was reading one.

Koala Lou by Mem Fox; illustrated by Pamela Lofts

Sweet story about a koala whose mother is too busy to remember to say “Koala Lou, I do love you!” the way she used to, so she decides to compete in and win the climbing competition in the Bush Olympics. She practices and practices, but comes in second instead of first. She is devastated, until her mother finds her and says she loves her and she always will. The kids loved joining in during the parts where the crowd cheers. I always get choked up at the end (an embarrassing occupational hazard!).

Dino Swimming by Lisa Wheeler

Cute, rhyming story about a dinosaur swimming competition. The kids enjoyed pointing out the different types of dinosaurs.

Bike On, Bear! by Cynthea Liu; illustrated by Kristyna Litten

Bear can do absolutely anything, except ride a bicycle. Finally, his mother sends him to the library, where he finds a book that describes the steps involved in learning to ride. He still struggles to get the hang of it until he sees a baby goat in need of a quick rescue, and finds he can ride after all. I love the shameless plug for the library. One of the parents remarked afterwards that you really can learn anything there.

Jubari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

This is such a sweet father and son story, and perfect for storytime because of its large illustrations. Jubari thinks he is ready to try the high dive at the pool, but keeps finding reasons not to climb the ladder. His Dad tells him that sometimes when he is afraid, he takes a deep breath, and finds that the fear turns into a feeling of surprise. Jubari is thrilled to find that it works! Several of the kids had read the book before, but they all seemed to enjoy it.

Songs:

Monkey See, and Monkey Do

We sang this after reading Curious George and the Summer Games. I had a volunteer who mimed the motions with a monkey puppet, and we asked the kids to suggest other motions for the monkey to do.

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: jumping up and down; making a funny face; turning yourself around, etc. I usually end with “When you sit back on the ground…”

Skidamarink A Dink A Dink

We sang this after reading Koala Lou.  I went over the sign language for “I Love You” before we sang the song together. Here’s a link to a YouTube video from Super Simple Songs with the tune:

Skidamarink a-dink, a-dink
Skidamarink a-doo
I love you.
Skidamarink a-dink, a-dink
Skidamarink a-doo
I love you.
I love you in the morning
And in the afternoon.
I love you in the evening
And underneath the moon.
Oh, skidamarink a-dink, a-dink
Skidamarink a-doo
I love you.

We Are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner

We sang this after reading Dino-Swimming. It’s always a hit!

[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs. [A] Whaddaya think of that?
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the [A] dinosaurs. [Dm] We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.
We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.

[F] We stop and eat our [C] food, [F] when we’re in the [C] mood.
[F] Stop and eat our [C] food on the [Dm] ground.
[F] We stop and eat our [C] food, [F] when we’re in the [C] mood.
[F] Stop and eat our [C] food, and [Dm] then we march [A] around.

[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs. [A] Whaddaya think of that?
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the [A] dinosaurs. [Dm] We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.
We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.

[F] We stop and take a [C] rest, [F] over in our [C] nest.
[F] Stop and take a [C] rest at the end of the [Dm] day.
[F] We stop and take a [C] rest, [F] over in our [C] nest.
[F] Stop and take a [C] rest, and [Dm] then you’ll hear us [A] say…

[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs. [A] Whaddaya think of that?
[Dm] We are the dinosaurs [C] marching, marching.
[Dm] We are the [A] dinosaurs. [Dm] We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.
We make the [C] earth [Dm] flat.

[A] And then we RO-AR-OAR!
[A] Because [Dm] we [C] are the [Dm]dino-[D]saurs!

The Bears Are Jumping Up and Down

We did this with the parachute at Outdoor Musical Storytime. I put little plastic bear counters on the parachute. The kids loved watching them fly around. I was a little worried in retrospect that they might hurt if they hit someone though, so I think if I do it again, I will use teddy bears instead.

The bears are jumping up and down,
Up and down, up and down.
The bears are jumping up and down,
At the Olympics today.

The bears are running all around,
All around, all around.
The bears are running all around,
At the Olympics today.

Jump Up by Dan Zanes

This is such a happy song! Years ago, my old manager, Thom Ball, and two volunteers and I recorded an album of Musical Storytime songs that we gave away to our storytime families, and Dan Zane kindly gave us permission to include this one. For my storytimes this week, we did it as our instrument play-along at the end. The kids loved jumping up and down as we sang.

Stay & Play: Paper Gold Medals

This was a quick and easy Stay & Play activity. Before storytime, I cut circles out of yellow paper and punched a hole in each one. I also cut pieces of red nylon cord roughly 24″ long.

For the Stay & Play, I put out the circles, cut pieces of cord, and markers. I told the kids they could make themselves a medal for whatever activity they would like to win a medal in: running, eating ice cream, etc.

Do you have any favorite books about the Olympics or Olympic sports? Please share them in the comments below.