Storytime: Color Wheel – Purple

Wow, I didn’t expect purple to be such a difficult color to program for! There should be more books about grapes, plums, and violets. But I was glad that I found a flannelboard set of the Gigantic Turnip in our storage, and the PB & J song is such a standard. I got creative on the rest, with the help of some other color storytime blogs.

In planning these color-based themes, I brainstorm objects/animals/plants that are generally the color in question and songs and rhymes that work with those things. Yes, it was shorter this time. Here’s the list:

Grapes
Eggplant
Blackberry (ish)
Cabbage
Onion
Violets
Plums
Lavender/Lilac flowers
Grape Jelly
Turnips

Amazingly, there aren’t songs about purple cabbage and red onions. 🤔

Early Development Tip: Purple is a beautiful color, and there are so many different words to describe the color purple. Learning synonyms (like lilac, lavender, orchid, violet, fuschia, eggplant, plum) helps young children expand their vocabulary. Research shows that who know more find it easier learn read.

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 thighs & heads.

Lifting Rhyme: Toast in the Toaster* (TT) (FT)

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big* (FT)

Intro: Look at these beautiful colors on this color wheel! Today’s color is purple! Can you think of anything that is purple? Write answers on whiteboard in purple pen. Is anyone wearing purple today?

I made this color wheel, using the “chart” feature in Canva, since I wanted an unusual seven-wedge pie, including pink, which I couldn’t find already made.

I plan to do this rhyme at the beginning of all of the color sessions. Just in case someone doesn’t wear a particular color, I gave out small colored dot stickers (that my library already had) to each kid as they arrive.
Action Rhyme: The Color I See (TT) (TB) (FT)
Purple, purple is the color I see
If you’re wearing purple, then show it to me
Stand up, take a bow, turn around
Show me your purple and sit back on the ground
Source: Librarian vs. Storytime

Transition: If You’re Ready for a Story* (TT) (TB) (FT)

Today’s story is a very old one. There are a lot of books that retell it, but today I’m going to tell it to you using our flannelboard to illustrate.
Tell: The Giant Turnip (TT) (TB) (FT)
I pulled the bones of the story from this one on the Arts on the Move site, but modified it a bit to suit my own taste. (The woman was the gardener and the man had a fantastic turnip soup recipe) The flannel was donated to my library with a bunch of others. It was made on very thin white material (milk filters?) and colored. In the picture they had finally pulled the turnip and they’d all fallen down!

This was a good transition; we started by pulling our turnips, and ended with sniffing purple flowers to flow to the next activity.
Let’s put our pretend hats on and see what purple things we can pretend.
Action Activity: Purple Pretending (TT) (TB) (FT)
(act out different purple activities. Here are some we tried)
Pull a purple turnip
Eat a purple popsicle
Climb a purple mountain
Act like a purple monster
Color with a purple crayon
Spread purple jam on bread
Fly like a purple bird
Chew purple bubble gum
Sip purple grape juice
Smell purple flowers
Source: The Lion Is a Bookworm

Several of my purple ideas were flowers, so I expanded a bit on that theme and changed a generic flower rhyme to this. I wanted realistic renditions of these very different flowers, so opted for photographs. We talked a little about how the different purple flowers were different – darker, lighter, more pinky purple, etc.
Several lovely flowers are purple. In fact, we get the names for some of my favorite purple shades come from flowers. Violet, Lavender, Lilac, Orchid.
Counting Rhyme: Four Purple Flowers (TT) (TB) (FT)
Four pretty purple flowers in the meadow grew
“Hmmm,” I said, “I bet they smell pretty, too!”
I bent down to sniff but they tickled my nose
Ah-CHOO! Oh, no!
Away one flower blows!
(count down)
Source: adapted from Jen in the Library

I felt like I needed another grape song, so adapted the itsy bitsy spider.
Does anyone like grapes? There are green grapes, but there are also PURPLE grapes! I like to eat grapes, but so does this caterpillar.
Song: Up the Grapevine (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Itsy Bitsy Spider)
The itsy bitsy caterpillar climbed up the twisty vine
She reached for purple grapes and then began to dine
The plump grape burst and all the juices ran down
So the itsy bitsy caterpillar slid down to the ground – Whee!
Source: original, adapted from the traditional

Purple grapes make a delicious grape jelly. And you can use THAT to make… a PB&J!
Lots of ways to do this song, here’s mine.
Song: Peanut Butter and Jelly (TT) (TB) (FT)
Peanut, peanut butter… and jelly! (clap and pat)
Peanut, peanut butter… and jelly!
Verses:
First you take the peanuts & you crush ‘em, you crush ‘em (x2 each verse) (crush fist into opposite hand)
Then you take some grapes & you squish ‘em, you squish ‘em (stomp feet)
Then you take the bread and you spread it, you spread it (swipe hand across opposite hand)
Then you take the sandwich and you eat it, you eat it (hands to mouth)
(last chorus sung as if your mouth is full!)
Source: traditional

And here’s where I ran out of purple ideas… So we got out our shakey eggs!
That PBJ gave me so much energy! Let’s shake some of our energy out with some shaker egg songs.
Shaker Song: Shake Your Shaker (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Grand Old Duke of York)
You shake your shaker high,
You shake your shaker low
You shake your shaker fast, fast, fast
And then you shake it slow
Source: Harris County (TX) Public Library

Shaker Song: Shake it to the East (TT) (TB) (FT)
Shake it to the east,
Shake it to the west
Shake it all around and
Then you take a rest
Shake your shakers up,
Shake your shakers down
Shake it, shake it, shake it,
And then you settle down!
Source: Jbrary

Perhaps this is a grape milkshake? Or even a PBJ flavored one?
(OMG, a PBJ flavored milkshake sounds awesome!)
Shaker Song: The Milkshake Song (TT) (TB) (FT)
You take a little milk – pour some milk!
And you take a little cream – pour some cream!You stir it all up,
You shake it and you’ll sing…
Milkshake, milkshake shake it up, shake it up!
Milkshake, milkshake shake it all up! (x2)
Source: Old Town School of Folk Music, from the album Songs for Wiggleworms

Action Song: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!* (TT) (TB) (FT)

Craft: Purple Process Art (TB) (FT)
I provided tissue paper squares in various shades of purple, glue sticks, purple crayons, and some purple stickers (smiley faces and stars, not pictured) from the sticker bin for them to create whatever they would like.

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)
The Turnip – Pierr Morgan
Peanut Butter & Jelly – Nadine Bernard Westcott
Harold and the Purple Crayon – Crockett Johnson
The World Needs More Purple People – Kristen Bell, Benjamin Hart, & Daniel Wiseman
Purple is Best – Dana Meachen Rau & Mike Cressy
Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes – Margie Palatini & Barry Moser
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse – Kevin Henkes
A Perfectly Messed-Up Story – Patrick McDonnell
Monster Boogie – Laurie Berkner & Ben Clanton
Creepy Crayon – Aaron Reynolds & Peter Brown
The Purple Puffy Coat – Maribeth Boelts & Daniel Duncan

This storytime was presented in-person on 2/19, 2/20, & 2/21/24.

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