Storytime: Rain

Rain is a great storytime theme for any time of year, but it feels especially apt in the springtime. I’ve done general weather programming in the past (pre-blogging days!), but there’s enough material to focus on rain, and some excellent books to highlight.

Early Literacy Tip: The Itsy Bitsy Spider is more than just a fun song. It describes the natural world. In simple words, we learn that after rain makes everything wet, the sun will shine and dry out the wet areas. What an enjoyable way to learn about what happens after it rains! Often our songs and rhymes describe how the world works.

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. I rotate between elbows, cheeks, hips, noses, arms, chins, thighs, heads, shoulders, ears, knees, and fingers.

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

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

Intro: This week we are enjoying some rainy weather (if not in reality, in our storytime!) We often get a lot of rain this time of year, and sometimes that means we stay inside. Sometimes we might play outside. But either way, rain is important for our world – can you think of what needs water? (Everything needs water!)

Let’s sing what’s maybe the most famous song about rain!
After singing this in a regular way, we invited Itsy Bitsy’s cousins, Very Quiet Spider (very small hand motions and whispers) and Great Big Spider (whole hand spider and booming voice) to the party.
Action Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again
Source: traditional

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

Read: Let’s Go Puddling! by Emma Perry & Claire Alexander (TT) (TB) (FT)
This worked so well I went ahead and used it for all three sessions. It’s a sweet book with the possibility of engaging the crowd with motions and a few sound effects. There are a couple of spots where the text finishes a sentence on the next page spread, so definitely do a little practice run before reading live. A bonus for us, this is one of the five titles on the ballot this year for our state’s Early Literacy Firefly Award. They always release a program guide which has lots of great ideas, and you can see the archived guides going back to 2018.

Read: Raindrops Roll by April Pulley Sayre
A backup title in case Puddling didn’t come in on time. As with all of Sayre’s books, it integrates very simple rhyming text with gorgeous nature photography.

Can we make the sound of a rainstorm?
Activity: Make a Rainstorm (TT) (TB) (FT)
Though this works best with a very large group (like a whole auditorium), it was not bad in our smaller groups of 25-40. The adults were able to switch a little faster than the kids, so there was a good amount of overlap from one motion to the next, which is actually good!
Here’s what we did:
Two fingers making circles on opposite palm
Rubbing hands together
Snaps
Light claps
Hard claps
Jump up and say “Kaboom!” for thunder a couple times during hard claps
Light claps
Snaps
Rubbing hands
Two fingers
Hands up – what a beautiful rain we made!

Fingerplay: During the Spring (TT) (TB) (FT)
During the spring, it often showers (flutter fingers down)
Or… the sun shines for many hours (form circle with arms)
Both are very good for the flowers! (cup hands, extend arms)
Source: Storytime Katie

Look at all this rain! Let’s pull on our rain boots and stomp some puddles.
Action Song: Stomping in the Rain (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Farmer in the Dell)
We’re stomping in the rain,
We’re stomping in the rain
We can’t go yet, we must get wet
We’re stomping in the rain
(repeat: clapping, jumping, turning, tiptoeing, etc)
Source: Adventures of a Bookworm

It’s time to get in the car and go. But how will we see out the windshield?
Action Rhyme: Windshield Wiper (TT) (TB) (FT)
I’m a windshield wiper,
This is how I go
Back and forth, back and forth,
In the rain and snow
Source: Adventures of a Bookworm

Time to get out our scarves! Can we make the sound of the rain with our scarves?
Scarf Song: Rain Is Falling Down (TT) (TB) (FT)
Rain is falling down (flutter scarf down) –
SPLASH! (sweep scarf to the side)
Rain is falling down – SPLASH!
Pitter patter pitter patter (wave scarf up and down quickly)
Rain is falling down – SPLASH!

Sun is peeking out – PEEK! (hide behind scarf, then peek)
Sun is peeking out – PEEK!
Peeking here, peeking there,
Sun is peeking out – PEEK!
Source: Jbrary

Scarf Rhyme: Falling Raindrops (TT) (TB) (FT)
Raindrops, raindrops, Falling all around (wave scarf in a circle)
Pitter-patter on the roof (wave high)
Pitter-patter on the ground (wave low)
Here is my umbrella (open scarf and put above head)
It will keep me dry
When I go walking in the rain (march)
I hold it up so high (reach high)
Source: Bayviews.org

Scarf Song: Under My Umbrella (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Did You Ever See a Lassie)
Come under my umbrella, umbrella, umbrella
Come under my umbrella, It’s starting to rain
With thunder and lightning
And lightning and thunder
Come under my umbrella, It’s starting to rain
Source: traditional

Let’s do some more stomping!
Recorded song: Boots (TT) (TB) (FT)
B-O-O-T-S Boots! B-O-O-T-S – black boots
In my black boots, In my black boots
I stomp around in my black boots
In my boots (stomp, stomp)
In my boots (stomp, stomp)
I stomp around in my boots!
Source: The Laurie Berkner Band, from the album Victor Vito

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

Craft: Raindrop Stamping (TB) (FT)
Inspiration for this craft came from Adventures of a Bookworm! I had white clouds pre-cut and provided light blue paper for them to glue them on. Then, they used toilet paper tube stamps pinched on one side to make a raindrop shape to dip into darker blue paint.

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)
Rainy Days – Deborah Kerbel & Miki Sato
Welcome, Rain! – Sheryl McFarlane & Christine Wei
Raindrop, Plop! – Wendy Cheyette Lewison & Pam Paparone
Soaked – Abi Cushman
Singing in the Rain – Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown, & Tim Hopgood
The Blue Umbrella – Emily Ann Davison & Momoko Abe
When the Storm Comes – Linda Ashman & Taeeun Yoo
Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car – John Burningham
Puddle – Hyewon Yum

This storytime was presented in-person on 3/18, 3/19, & 3/20/24.

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