Well, my journey through the alphabet was interrupted last week by a bad case of laryngitis, but this week I was finally able to get to the Letter Y.

We started by talking about words that begin with the letter Y, and I wrote each one down on a piece of paper: yellow, yak, yawn, and yarn. I also showed them a yo-yo, which the kids were VERY interested in. Then we drew the letter Y in the air together.

Here’s a combination of the books and songs I used for Family and Outdoor Musical Storytime.

Books:

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Jon Klassen

This is such a quirky story, but so much fun to read aloud. It’s one of my go-to read-alouds for older kids (like second grade), but I decided to try it for my Family Storytime, and they loved it too. When Annabelle finds a box of yarn, she makes sweaters for everyone in town, but miraculously never runs out of yarn, even when she starts covering the trees and buildings in sweaters. A greedy archduke steals the box, but finds it empty and throws it into the sea, where it makes its way back to Annabelle, full of yarn once more. The illustrations are mesmerizing.

Blue vs Yellow by Tom Sullivan

Blue and Yellow are arguing about which is the better color, until they crash into each other and discover together they can make a whole new color. The kids had a great time calling out the names of the blue, yellow (and green!) objects on each page.

You Are a Lion: And Other Fun Yoga Poses by Taeeun Yoo

I love this simple book of yoga poses. The kids loved doing the poses and pretending to be the different animals: lion, snake, cat, and dog. I wasn’t sure if there would be enough room for the lying down pose at the end, but they made it work.

I Dare You Not to Yawn by Hélène Boudreau; illustrated by Serge Bloch

Very cute, funny book warning kids what to avoid if they don’t want to be sent to bed in the evening: big stretches, cute baby animals, cuddly stuffed animals, and anything else that might make you have to yawn.

Songs

Do You See the Color Blue?

This song always gets the kids excited, as they look around the room pointing to things that match each color. It’s to the tune of Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Do you [C] see the color yellow,
The [F] color yellow, the [G7] color yellow?
Do you [C] see the color yellow?
[F] Tell me [G7] what you [C] see.

Do you see the color red… etc.

You Sing a Song

We did this song with play scarves for Family Storytime, and the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime. It’s such a versatile song, and works for all kinds of different motions.

[C] You’ll sing a song, and [Am] I’ll sing a song,
And [C] we’ll sing a [Dm] song toge-[G]ther.
[C] You’ll sing a song, and [Am] I’ll sing a song,
In [G] warm or [C] wintry [G] wea-[C]ther.

For Play Scarves

You’ll wave a scarf, and I’ll wave a scarf, and we’ll wave our scarves together…

You’ll peek-a-boo, and I’ll peek-a-boo… (put the scarf over your face, then pull it away)

You’ll throw a scarf, and I’ll throw a scarf…

For Parachutes

You shake the chute, and I’ll shake the chute, and we’ll shake the chute together…

You shake it fast, and I’ll shake it fast…

You lift it high, and I’ll lift it high…

Yellow Submarine by the Beatles

We did this for our instrument play-along at the end. It was one I used to sing with Thom Ball, who was an amazing musician, in some of our early musical storytimes, so it brought back some wonderful memories.

In the [D] town where I was [G] born,
Lived a [Am] man who sailed to [D] sea.
And he [D] told us of his [G] life
In the [Am] land of [D] submarines
So we [D] sailed up to the [G] sun,
Till we [Am] found the sea of [D] green.
And we [D] lived beneath the [G] waves,
In our [Am] yellow [D] submarine.

Chorus:
[G] We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow [G] submarine.
We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, [G] yellow submarine.

And our [D] friends are all a-[G]board.
Many [Am] more of them live next [D] door.
And the [D] band begins to [G] play
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo,
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.

Chorus:
[G] We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow [G] submarine.
We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, [G] yellow submarine.

As we [D] live a life of [G] ease.
Every-[Am] one of us has all we [D] need.
Sky of [D] blue and sea of [G] green,
In our [Am] yellow [D] submarine.

Chorus:
[G] We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow [G] submarine.
We all live in a [D] yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, [G] yellow submarine.

Stay & Play: Yarn Resist Art

This project was inspired by a post on thepinterestedparent.com. It was a little labor-intensive to set up, but the kids had a good time with it.

Before storytime, I wrapped yarn around pieces of white cardstock and taped it on the back with removable tape. I tried to make several large X shapes on the front of the paper.

For the Stay & Play, we put out the yarn-wrapped paper and dot markers. I told the kids to dot different colors all over the paper, including the yarn. They had fun seeing the patterns that appeared when they pulled the yarn away. (Some kids even unwrapped the yarn, but left it taped to the back of the paper to create a very colorful kite!).

Do you have any favorite books or songs featuring the letter Y? Please share them in the comments below. I’m also almost at the end of the alphabet, so if you have any storytime themes you would like me to cover, I would love the challenge!