One last May storytime to blog!
Going on a Picnic was actually my very first theme for storytimes I did on my own in a brand new position at a new library. I wasn’t blogging at that time, of course. I revisited it last month, updating some of the activities.
Early Literacy Tip: Singing games where we do motions as a group (like “Picnic in the Park”) encourage social responsiveness. These activities also help your child learn to feel comfortable in a group setting. When your child begins school, such positive associations will help them adjust to being part of a class.
Welcome Song: Hello, Friends* (TT) (TB) (FT)**
Warm Up Song: Wake Up, Feet* (TT) (TB) (FT)
This is a repeated song that everyone seems to enjoy. I always begin and end with feet and tummies, but find two other body parts to wiggle in the middle. This week it was knees and fingers.
Lifting Rhyme: Toast in the Toaster* (TT) (FT)
Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big* (FT)
Intro: As we get closer to summertime, I start thinking about some of the fun things we can do outside. One of those is to have a picnic! A picnic is a meal you eat outside. You might do other things like fly a kite, play ball, even take a nap!
I had a bag of flannel picnic pieces that I made a couple years ago for Five Hungry Ants (below), and Raffi’s song, Going on a Picnic, both of which mention certain foods. I think I added a couple of other items to fill it out. After the first session, I learned to do groups of things, not individual pieces for each verse! “Let’s pack some fruits and vegetables! How about dessert?” It just shortened the song to fit my audience’s attention span. The foods stayed up while we read our book, then the ants came!
Rhythm Rhyme: Pack a Lunch (TT) (TB) (FT)
(slap knees in rhythm to the rhyme)
Going on a picnic
Gotta pack a lunch
What should we bring to
Munch, munch, munch?
Let’s bring….
(how many picnic items can you think of?)
Optional last verse:
Ready for a picnic,
Ready with a lunch,
Now we’re ready to
munch, munch, munch!
Source: King County (WA) Library System
Transition: If You’re Ready for a Story* (TT) (TB) (FT)
This one was okay. I’m not a huge fan of the Mouse books, but it did feature things I was going to talk about like watermelon and ants.
Read: Mouse’s First Summer by Lauren Thompson & Buket Erdogan (TT)
This is such a funny and silly book, but also takes a little explaining for the littlest ones to get what’s going on. The adults were chuckling and smiling the whole way through, though, and even the littles seemed to really like the pictures.
Read: Pignic by Matt Phelan (TB) (FT)
For time, I only added four ants. It’s not a bad idea to start your counting songs and rhymes at numbers other than five on occasion. I believe the original source said she tosses the ants behind her after the big sneeze, and that has always gotten a lot of giggles for me. 🙂
We packed our lunch, and now it’s time to eat it! But we’re not the only ones who are hungry. Look who is coming to our picnic!
Counting Rhyme: Five Hungry Ants (TB) (FT)
Five hungry ants, marching in a line
They come upon a picnic, where they could dine
They marched into the salad
They marched into the cake
They marched into the pepper
Oh-uh! That was a mistake! AH-CHOOOOOO! (remove an ant!)
Four hungry ants…
(Continue to count down)
Source: Miss Mary Liberry blog
I modified the fruit just slightly from the Jbrary version, but it might be fun to brainstorm fruits and fit them into the structure of the song with your group (probably better with an older group).
Oh, good, the ants are gone! Let’s dig in. One thing that’s tasty at a picnic is a fruit salad!
Action Song: Fruit Salad (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Frère Jacques)
Watermelon, watermelon (big circle with hands)
Strawberry, strawberry (chop with hands on each syllable)
Ba-a-a-a-nana, Ba-a-a-a-nana, (swing arms down, rocking)
Fruit salad, fruit salad! (dance it out!)
Pomegranate, pomegranate (pinch fingers)
Clementine, clementine (hold hands together then open)
Pi-i-i-i-neapple, pi-i-i-i-neapple (peak fingers & move around)
Fruit salad, fruit salad! (dance it out!)
Source: Jbrary
A good one to have in the back pocket, but I didn’t end up using it for time reasons. In the past, I encourage the room to really hit the “Boom Boom Boom” hard – A) because it’s fun and B) because at that point in the song I need a big breath!
Oh, no! The ants are back!
Song: The Ants Go Marching
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah! Hurrah!
The ants go marching one by one,
The little one stops to suck his thumb,
And they all go marching down, to the ground, to get out of the rain.
Boom, Boom, Boom!
(count up)
…two by two, tie his shoe…three by three, climb a tree…four by four, shut the door…five by five, take a dive
Source: traditional
I pretty much did as Michael Rosen does in this video, but encouraged the group to repeat the first four lines as call and response. Once again, as my sessions continued, I shortened to fit our attention. Three obstacles (grass, river, and mud) plus the cave seemed just about right. You can download my reminder sheet here. When we found the bear, I put on my Folkmanis baby bear puppet, which they loved!
It can be fun to play some games when you are on a picnic. Can we pretend to go hunting for a bear?
Retelling/Chant: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen & Helen Oxenbury (TT) (TB) (FT)
We’re going on a bear hunt (We’re going on a bear hunt)
We’re gonna catch a big one! (We’re gonna catch a big one!)
What a beautiful day! (What a beautiful day!)
We’re not scared! (We’re not scared!)
Oh, no! GRASS – Long, wavy grass
We can’t go OVER it, We can’t go UNDER it
We have to go THROUGH it
Swish, swish, swish, swish!
Repeat, going through a River, Mud, a Forest, s Storm, a Cave, finding the bear, and then running back through everything to home.
Source: traditional, as performed by Michael Rosen
I saw the first verse on a library blog, and decided to write some more verses to give the whole story of a day at a picnic. It was fun to come up with the rhymes, and figure out some action to go with each one just like She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain.
Ukulele/Action Song: Picnic in the Park (TB) (FT)
(tune of She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain)
Oh, we’ll all go on a picnic in the park (let’s go!) (come here motion)
Oh, we’ll all go on a picnic in the park (let’s go!)
Bring some lunch and bring a ball,
There’ll be so much fun for all
Yes, we’ll all go on a picnic in the park (let’s go!)
Oh, we’ll eat some chips and sandwiches outside (yum, yum)… (rub tummy)
Fruit salad and lemonade
Taste so good out in the shade…
We’ll play a game of tag or hide and seek (ready or not!)… (cup hands around mouth)
Run around, lickety split
I’ll tag you and then you’re it…
Oh, the sky is getting darker, will it rain? (drip drop)… (wiggle fingers down)
Thunder rumbles, then grumbles more
Pack our stuff before it pours…
(slowly)
I’m glad we had a picnic in the park (yawn)… (cover mouth)
We ran around and ate our lunch
Had some fun, all right a bunch…
Source: verse one by Rhyming Reasor (found on the picture of the handout, not in the text of the blog post),
remaining verses are original
Get a downloadable ukulele songsheet for “Picnic in the Park” here!
Action Song: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!* (TT) (TB) (FT)
Craft: Watermelon on a Stick (TB) (FT)
I made a point of letting them know that watermelon is one of my favorite fruits when we added it to the felt board. (Purportedly my word for it as a toddler was “Oh, Boy” since that’s what everybody said when it came out!) So our craft this week was to make paper plate watermelon slices on a stick! Color the plate, fold, and staple (hint – most staplers will staple through a craft stick!) Add some seed shapes and you’re done!
Play Time
The toddlers have two laundry baskets of baby toys – rattles and cars, sorters and stackers, toy phones and spinners. For the older kids, I have foam blocks, soft food toys, puzzles, and a few other items that are a little more sophisticated than the baby toys. For Family Time, I gauge the overall age of the group and put out what seems right for them. We play for 5-10 minutes at the most, then I ring the bell and ask the kids to help me clean up. I think the clean up bit is good practice for them!
Goodbye Song: See You Later Alligator* (TT) (TB) (FT)
Goodbye Rhyme: Tickle the Stars* (TT) (TB) (FT)
Other books I had available for families to browse (and may work for you on this theme)
Truck, Truck, Goose! – Tammi Sauer & Zoe Waring
This Is the Way a Baby Rides – Susan Meyers & Hiroe Nakata
Pie Is for Sharing – Stephanie Parsley Ledyard & Jason Chin
Max and Marla Are Having a Picnic – Alexandra Boiger
Click, Clack, Quackity-Quack – Doreen Cronin & Betsy Lewin
The Watermelon Seed – Greg Pizzoli
In Our Backyard Garden – Eileen Spinelli & Marcy Ramsey
I Really Want a Bigger Piece! – Harriet Ziefert & Travis Foster
Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! – Bob Barner
This storytime was presented in-person on 5/15, 5/16, & 5/17/23.
Storytime Handout:
*Lyrics to these songs can be found on the Repeated Songs & Rhymes page.
**These symbols indicate the program sessions I used the activities for:
(TT) Toddler Time, ages 1-2
(TB) Teddy Bears, ages 2-3.5
(FT) Family Time, ages 0-3.5
Storytime with Ms. Emily Library 