This Friday (May 20) is National Bike to Work Day, which our library system is celebrating with a series of bicycle workshops, giveaways, and free bike inspections in a three-day Bike to Your Library Weekend. Our libraries even allow patrons to check out bicycles for a week at a time from most of our locations.

Since my Outdoor Musical Storytime is at a local park, several of the kids ride their own bikes there each week, so I thought Bicycles would be a fun theme to explore.

Here’s what we did:

Books:

Duck on a Bike by David Shannon

This book worked perfectly for storytime because it features so many farm animals. The kids loved calling out the name of each one and the sound it makes. When Duck finds an unattended bike on the farm, he enjoys showing off in front of all of the other animals, until they all decide they want to ride bikes too. I wasn’t able to get a second copy of the book in time, so my coworker Claire held up puppets of the different animals (cow, dog, mouse, etc.) as I read, and then we sang Old MacDonald Had a Farm at the end, using the same puppets.

Take a Ride By My Side by Jonathan Ying and Victoria Ying

A rhyming book reminiscent of Dr. Seuss, featuring a conversation between a cat and dog as they take a trip using bicycles, a canoe, a submarine, an airplane, and a rocket ship. They finally arrive on the Moon, and then head back home. Very cute, simple story, with clear illustrations.

Bear’s Bicycle by Laura Renald; illustrated by Jennie Poh

Bear hopes to learn to ride a bike in time for the Spring Scoot, but after following the instructions in his book, he falls down the first time he tries. He decides he needs a new book, and on his way to the library, sees several other friends learning to ride too. I had the kids act out the “pedal-wobble CRASH!” each time it came up in the story, which they loved.

SONGS:

The Wheels on the Bike

A bike version of The Wheels on the Bus.

[C]The wheels on the bike go round and round.

[G7]Round and round, [C] Round and round.

The wheels on the bike go round and round,

[G7]All over [C] town.

The helmet on my head goes on and off…

The streamers on the bike go swish, swish, swish…

The bell on the bike goes ring, ring, ring…

The light on the bikes goes blink, blink, blink…

I Have a Little Bicycle

I found this one from Miss Nina, whose video is below. I printed out pictures of a red light and a green light to hold up, and had the kids move their arms in circles while we sang:

I have a little bicycle,

I got it at the shop.

And when I see the big red light,

I know it’s time to stop!

I have a little bicycle,

I ride it to and fro.

And when I see that big green light,

I know it’s time to GO, GO, GO!

My Bicycle by Laurie Berkner

I can always count on Laurie Berkner to have a song to go with almost any theme. We did this as an instrument play-along (when we hand out shakers at the end), but it would be just as fun with just the motions. You only need two chords to play it on ukulele or the guitar:

Here’s a link to the video with the melody:

[C] First I ride my bicycle very slowly,
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba [G7] bicycle riding.

[G7] Then I ride my bicycle a little bit faster
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba [C] bicycle riding.

[C] Then I ride my bicycle even faster
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba [G7] bicycle riding.

[G7] Then I ride my bicycle
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba bicycle,
Really, really, really, really, really, really [C] fast!

[C] First I ride my scooter very slowly,
Scoot scoot, scooby doot, [G7] scooter riding.

[G7] Then I ride my scooter a little bit faster,
Scoot scoot, scooby doot [C] scooter riding.

[C] Then I ride my scooter even faster,
Scoot scoot, scooby doot scooter riding.

[G7] Then I ride my scooter,
Scoot scoot, scooter,
Really, really, really, really, really, really [C] fast!

[C] First I walk around the house very slowly,
Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa walkin’ a- [G7]round.

Then I walk around the house a little bit faster
Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa walkin’ a-[C]round.

[C] Then I run around the house even faster
Ra-ra-ra-ra-ra runnin’ a-[G7]round.

[G7] Then I run around the house
Ra-ra run around the house,
Really, really, really, really, really, really [C] fast!

I’m really, really, really, really,
Really, really, really, really,
Really, really, really, really,
Really, really [G7] fast!

Stay & Play: Bicycle Drawings

This was a really easy project, but it was fun to see what the kids came up with. I printed out a blank sheet with a bicycle clip art picture in the corner. Then I gave the kids markers and stickers to create a picture of where they would like to ride their bicycle, or how they would like to decorate their bicycle, or the kinds of things they might see while they were riding. It was pretty open-ended. Here’s a .pdf of the template:

What are your favorite books about bicycles? Please share them in the comments.