Because of the rainy weather recently, today was our first Outdoor Musical Storytime in three weeks. Our theme was Kindness, in honor of World Kindness Day on Sunday, November 13. Our library system is also offering programs in support of United Against Hate Week, and the two topics seemed to fit together nicely, although for my young crowd, I focused more on the kindness side.

Here’s what we did:

Books:

Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems

One of my very favorite Elephant & Piggie Books, which is saying a lot! In this one, Gerald buys an ice cream cone, and then is hit with a difficult dilemma: should he share it with his best friend, Piggie? After an agonizing debate, he decides that he will share it, only by then, his ice cream has melted. Luckily, Piggie has brought a cone of her own to share with him. Claire read the part of Gerald, and I read Piggie, and we had an ice cream cone made of paper to use as a prop, which the kids were fascinated by (several little ones came up to the front to have a closer look).

How Much Is That Doggie in the Window? by Bob Merrill and Iza Trapani

I love this book so much, and it fit perfectly with the theme. In this adaptation of the classic song by Bob Merrill, a little boy is determined to save his money to buy the adorable puppy in the pet shop window, but ends up spending it all to help cheer up different members of this family. When he goes back to say hi to the puppy, the shop keeper tells him the puppy has been bought by a family to thank their very special young son for all the kind things he had done. When the boy gets home, he finds the puppy waiting for him (which gets me every time!). One of the parents came up to take a photo of the book cover at the end, so she could find her own copy.

Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein

This one was a bit longer than the books I usually read, but it fit so well with the theme. A little girl’s smile inspires a woman to send cookies to her grandson in Mexico, who is inspired to share the cookies with his class, which starts a whole chain of other kind acts that spread all around the world.

Songs:

If All the Raindrops

We sang this one after Should I Share My Ice Cream? This is one of my favorite storytime songs, because the kids love joining in on the “Ah-Ah-Ah-Ahs” and suggesting different foods to fall from the sky for each verse. Today we had pizza and gum, chocolate and goldfish crackers, and blueberries and watermelon.

[C] If all the raindrops were [G7] lemon drops and [C] gum drops,

Oh, what a rain it would [G7] be.

[C] I’d stand out- [G7] side with my [C] mouth open [G7] wide,

[C] “Ah, Ah, Ah, [G7] Ah, Ah, Ah, [C] Ah, Ah, Ah, [G7] Ah!”

[C] If all the raindrops were [G7] lemon drops and [C] gum drops,

Oh, what a [G7] rain it would [C] be!

If all the raindrops were blueberries and watermelon, etc…

B-I-N-G-O

We sang this one to go along with How Much Is That Doggie in the Window? Claire held up a dog puppet, and I had the kids bark instead of clap every time we left out a letter. At the end, we barked the whole song. This is an old standby, but here’s a video from Super Simple Songs, just in case you’re not familiar with it.

[C] There was a farmer [F] had a [C] dog,

And Bingo [G] was his [C] name-o.

[C] B-I- [F] N-G-O

[G] B-I- [C] N-G-O

[Am] B-I- [F] N-G-O

And [G] Bingo was his [C] name-o.

We Bounce and We Bounce and We Stop!

This one didn’t have anything to do with the theme, but it’s such a great movement song, and the kids always love it. I added different actions for each verse: clapping, turning, running in place, and hugging.

[C] We bounce and we bounce and we stop!

[C] We bounce and we bounce and we stop!

[C] We bounce and we bounce and we bounce and we bounce,                    

[C] And we bounce and we [G7] bounce and we [C] stop!

We clap and we clap and we stop! … etc.

This Little Light of Mine

We did this one as an instrument play-along, and everyone was dancing along. It’s such a happy song! I changed the lyrics a bit, in order to fit the theme. Here’s a Raffi video for the tune:

[G] This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.

[C] This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it [G] shine.

[G] This little light of mine, I’m [B] gonna let it [Em] shine,

Let it [G] shine, let it [D] shine, let it [G] shine.

Gonna spread some kindness ’round the world. I’m gonna let it shine…

Won’t let anyone (pff!) it out, I’m gonna let it shine…

Stay & Play: Kindness Rocks

Super easy craft! I just put out small rocks and crayons and told the kids to decorate them however they liked. They could either keep the rocks, give them to a friend or loved one, or put them in a place outside where people might see them and smile. I had a wide range of rocks, some that a coworker had purchased for a previous craft, and some I just found on the beach. The one in the photo was a bit dark. If I do it again, I think I will stick to lighter colored rocks.

Other Books About Kindness

I was recently asked to do an outreach storytime at a Kindergarten about kindness, so here are two other books I read:

A Small Kindness by Stacy McAnulty; illustrated by Wendy Leach

Very sweet classroom story, similar to Because Amelia Smile, about a chain of kind acts that spreads from one person to another in a school. The kids loved how each kind act added color to a new person in the illustrations.

Thank You, Omu by Oge Mora

This was the Read for the Record book a few years ago, and I really enjoy reading it to elementary school classes. When an old lady named Omu (an Igbo word meaning “Queen”) makes a pot of stew for her dinner, the smell draws people from all over her community to her door. She gives a bowl of stew to each person, until it is all gone. But just as she is feeling sad about not having any stew for herself, everyone she shared with shows up at her door with a feast. The kids always love joining in on the “Knock, Knocks!”

What are your favorite books, songs, or crafts celebrating kindness? Please share them in the comments below.