Storytime: Eggs

Eggs are so intriguing! What’s inside? Who lays eggs? We explored eggs and the animals that lay them this week in storytime. (You could also do some breakfast-y type things, but I didn’t go that route.)

This was also a theme that lent itself very well to flannels. I made two new flannels and reused an old one for this theme!

Early Literacy Tip: Children are so curious about the world around them. Take advantage of this curiosity to help them develop background knowledge. When we talk with our children about things that interest them and when we share books to broaden their knowledge, all this learning they have about the world, big ideas and little facts, will help them later understand what they 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. 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* I’ve actually stopped doing this one in general, but keep it in my flip display of rhyme and song lyrics so I can use it as a backup at any time.

Intro: (point out eggs on the flannelboard) Oh, my, what are these? Eggs! A lot of animals are born from eggs. I wonder what is inside these eggs?

This is an old standby – I use it a lot!
Fingerplay: Ten Fluffy Chicks (TT) (TB) (FT)
Five eggs and five eggs, And that makes ten
Sitting on top is mother hen
Cackle, cackle, cackle, And what do I see?
Ten fluffy chicks as yellow as can be
Source: Mel’s Desk

Flannel from Sunflower Storytime, now defunct. You can download it here.

Tickle: Chicken in the Barnyard (TT) (TB) (FT)
Chicken in the barnyard (circle baby’s hand or tummy)
Staying out of trouble
Along comes a turkey (move fingers up arm or chest)
Gobble, gobble, gobble! (tickle under arm or chin)
Source: Jen in the Library

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

Read: Whose Chick Are You? by Nancy Tafuri (TT)
This one was nice and simple, but I wished there were turtle eggs or something that was non-avian.

Read: Egg by Kevin Henkes (TB) (FT)
The surprise factor was fun! I also appreciated how there were opportunities to talk about emotions. The last (twist) page didn’t quite hit home for my group, but overall the book worked.

Do you know a famous rhyme about a big egg who sits on a wall?
A bit of a mash-up: I did the full body movement I found on the intellidance video, while giving the option to rock in a lap as well. I didn’t do the “and crack” she does at the end, but launched straight to “Humpty Dumpty fell in a puddle…” My flannel is double sided, so a quick flip shows Humpty cracked.
Action Rhyme: Rock on the Wall (TT) (TB) (FT)
Rock and rock and rock on the wall (rock side to side)
Rock and rock and hope we don’t fall…
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall (bounce up and down)
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall! (tilt back or thru legs)
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men (bounce or rock fast!)
Couldn’t put Humpty together again
Humpty Dumpty fell in a puddle
Humpty Dumpty needed a cuddle (give baby a big hug)
Source: Felt-tastic Flannelboard Funtime & Intellidance (see it here as a lap rhyme, and here as a full body action rhyme)

I worked HARD on this flannel, and I’m very pleased with how it turned out. To get the heathered look on the duck and duckling, I started with a heathered gray felt and painted it with watercolors. It worked, though it took a long time to dry! I also painted the duck egg a light blue/teal. I wanted all three eggs to look different, and the ducks to be a little more realistic.
Wow, here are some more eggs! They look different, don’t they?
Flannel Story: Three Eggs in a Basket (TT) (TB) (FT)
There were three eggs in a basket.
The first egg started to rock. Tap, tap, CRACK! Out came a little chick.
The second egg started to rock. Tap, tap, CRACK! A duckling popped out.
The third egg began to rock back and forth. Tap, tap, CRACK! Out popped a little turtle! (Did you know turtles came from eggs?)
Along came a mother hen. “Where is my baby?” she asked. Which one is her baby?
Along came a mamma duck. “Where is my baby?” she asked. Which one is her baby?
Along came a mamma turtle. “Where is my baby?” she asked. Which one is her baby?
All of the mothers have found all of their babies! Yay!
Source: Librarian Is on the Loose

Turtles aren’t the only reptiles that hatch from eggs. Did you know dinosaurs also hatched from eggs?
Action Rhyme: Inside Her Eggshell (TT) (TB) (FT)
Inside her egg shell, white and round
Baby dinosaur is safe and sound
But she wants to come out into the light
So she pushes and shoves with all her might
Her shell soon cracks and creaks and pops
One big jump and out she pops!
Source: Yogibrarian

Activity: Dino Eggs (TT) (TB) (FT)
Can you find any eggs around our room? See if you can find an egg and bring it to your grownup. Then we’ll see what’s inside!
I “hid” plastic eggs with felt dinosaurs made from our die cutter around the room. There aren’t many places to hide things, so this was mostly on top of the chairs that remain at the tables, and a couple in the windowsills. The kids loved finding eggs and bringing them up to the mini-flannelboard (we use with outreach) that was low enough for them to reach (mine is up higher). After the scrum of kids retreated, we counted how many dinos they found.
Source: Falling Flannelboards

Now let’s come up and pick out an egg shaker!

Couldn’t do an egg program without some egg shaking!
Shaker Rhyme: Egg Shakers Up (TT) (TB) (FT)
Egg shakers up, egg shakers down
Egg shakers dancing all around the town
Dance them on your shoulders, Dance them on your head
Dance them on your knees, And tuck them into bed!
Source: Jbrary

This one actually didn’t work that well. The kids were confused about rolling the egg on the floor, even though I was demoing. I nixed it for the third group.
Shaker Rhyme: Little Egg (TT) (TB)
Once there was a little egg that jumped down to the floor
It started rolling all around then rolled right out the door
Little egg, roll, roll, roll, Roll all around
Little egg roll, roll, roll, All across the ground
Source: Jen in the Library

This was a backup and came in handy when I didn’t do the Little Egg rhyme.
Shaker Song: Shake Your Shaker (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

We ended with a recorded song.
Recorded Song: I Know a Chicken (TT) (TB) (FT)
Source: The Laurie Berkner Band, from the album Whaddaya Think Of That?

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

Craft: Egg Babies (TB) (FT)
Inspiration for this craft came from Krokotak, but I wanted the option to choose what egg baby was inside your egg. I used Canva to find outline images of animals that hatch from eggs, and sized them and an egg shape to fit. There were enough egg babies for each child to choose several, and they could switch them out in their egg or glue one down.

Download the egg template here. Download egg babies here.

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)
An Egg Is Quiet – Dianna Aston & Sylvia Long
Guess What Is Growing Inside this Egg – Mia Posada
Egg – Amy Sky Koster & Lisel Jane Ashlock
Hatch! – Roxie Munro
Where Are the Eggs? – Grace Lin
Tillie Lays an Egg – Terry Golson & Ben Fink
First the Egg – Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Hello, I’m Here! – Helen Frost & Rick Leider
Duck, Duck, Dinosaur – Kallie George & Oriol Vidal
Mother Bruce – Ryan T. Higgins

This storytime was presented in-person on 3/25, 3/26, & 3/27/24.

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