Storytime: Shapes

The one bad thing about being caught up with blogging your storytimes is that there’s no backlog to hold you over when you’re on break! I usually do three weeks of programming per month, so there are sometimes one or two weeks of a break. In the summer I’m doing seven weeks straight, and I know there are other libraries that do longer sessions of 6-9 weeks before taking a break, but the frequent short break works best for me and my community. What sort of schedule do you use for your storytimes?

In any case, this session was our last of my “early concepts” themes, after doing the alphabet and numbers/counting (and a color series earlier in the spring.) Shapes are so important for learning letters and recognizing patterns. They can get more advanced, since there are tons of kinds of shapes, but I generally kept this session to the most basic ones.

Early Literacy Tip: Identify the shapes you see and talk about them with your children. Circles and triangles are often parts of letters. Being able to recognize shapes is the first step to recognizing letters, which will help your child learn to read later. –adapted from The Early Literacy Kit: A Handbook and Tip Cards by Betsy Diamant-Cohen & Saroj Ghoting

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) (TB) (FT)

Intro: Today we are learning about shapes! I see some shapes on the board. Let’s see if we can identify them.

Shape Flannel
This was from a pre-made set purchased from Oriental Trading. I went with our most basic shapes: square, circle, triangle, and rectangle.

I took each shape off the board and described it a bit: “This shape has four corners, and four sides, and all the sides are the same length. Hm, what shape could it be?” Then launched into the song. I had several kids call out “square” before we got to the end, which is totally fine! Jbrary suggests giving each kid a felt shape to shake but with so many kids I adjusted the words and it worked better for my group. And I would always rather do the Muffin Man tune than Mary Had a Little Lamb, which is droning and boring to me.
Song: What Shape This Is (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Do You Know the Muffin Man)
Do you know what shape this is,
What shape this is,
What shape this is?
Do you know what shape this is?
So shout, “Hooray for… SQUARES!”
(repeat, showing different shapes)
Source: adapted from Jbrary

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

Read: Big Box of Shapes by Wiley Blevins & Elliot Kreloff (TT) (FT)

Although the kid were actually quite intrigued by the illustrations, I’m not sure this is an effective shapes book for this age. Plus, whenever I said, “Where’s Cat?” they pointed out the second Kitty – a little confusing. It was not very obvious where Cat might be hiding, so the guessing and predicting weren’t generally right, which I think might be discouraging. Super cute book, but maybe better for older kids or one-on-one rather than storytime.
Read: Kitty & Cat: Bent Out of Shape by Mirka Hokkanen (TB)

So let’s do something with our shapes. Maybe we can try to build a house!
I adapted this one just a bit to hide my cute little mouse behind the rectangle of the door. After the rhyme was done, we knocked and – whoop! There was little mouse!
Flannel Rhyme: Build a House (TT) (TB) (FT)
Some houses are wood and some are stone
But let’s build one with shapes alone
Start with a square but we won’t stop
Add a triangle up on the top
Then a rectangle for the door
Now square windows 1, 2, 3, 4
A little circle just for fun
And a big yellow one for the sun
A house of circles, rectangles, triangles, and squares…
Now I wonder… who lives there?
Source: adapted from Keen on Librarianship

There are some shapes that are special, like this one (put up felt heart). Let’s make a heart with our hands!
This rhyme sets us up for the next one.
Action Rhyme: Make a Heart (TT) (TB) (FT)
Put your hands together
This is how we start
Now curve your fingers around
And now we make a heart!
Source: King County (WA) Library System

So, what on our bodies looks kind of like a circle? (Our head!) And we can see a bit of a square with our middles.
We went through each of the motions first, then repeated the song a couple times, getting faster.
Action Song: Shapes Song (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes)
Circle, square and triangle (Triangle) (point to head, torso, then make a triangle with fingers)
Circle, square and triangle (Triangle)
Heart and star and rectangle (make heart with hands as above, jump into a star shape with arms and legs out, then jump body back together with arms and legs in)
Circle, square and triangle (Triangle)
Source: Yogibrarian

I made this one up, but didn’t end up using it. Each group was getting wiggly by this time in the session, so I decided to get out the scarves rather than try to plow through. I’m curious how it would have gone! (I even made some polygon visuals to add to the board at the end!) This could also be done with shakers instead of clapping.
Clapping Rhyme: Sides and Corners
No corners, one side,
That’s the way the circle rides (roll arms)
Two sides short, and two sides long
That’s the way a rectangle is strong: 1, 2! 1, 2! (clap)
Three corners, three sides
That’s the way a triangle slides: 1, 2, 3!
Four sides, all the same
That’s the way a square is named: 1, 2, 3, 4!
Five or more, what you’ve drawn
Is some kind of polygon: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or more! (clap a lot!)
Source: original

Let’s warm up our scarves by doing some shaking.
Scarf 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 scarves up, shake your scarves down
Shake it, shake it, shake it and then you settle down
Source: Jbrary

Let’s take a closer look at our scarves. Can you lay your scarf on your lap or on the ground? How many corners does it have? How many sides? Are they all the same?
I was pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to get more shapes out of our scarves. I’ve only seen the four corners verse online.
Scarf Song: My Scarf (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of My Hat It Has Three Corners)
My scarf it has four corners,
Four corners has my scarf
If it had not four corners,
It would not be my scarf!

[But what if we folded it in half vertically? Now it has four corners, and four sides, but two sides are shorter than the others – it’s now a… Rectangle!]

My scarf it is a rectangle…

[Let’s try folding our scarves from corner to corner diagonally. Now my scarf has three corners and three sides. What is it now?]

My scarf it is a triangle…

[Hm, we’ve made a few shapes, but what about a circle? Is there a way to make our scarf a circle? Here I try folding in the corners and holding up a lumpy shape – that doesn’t look very good. Oh, I have an idea! Can you make your scarf a shape like this? (twirl in a circle)]

My scarf it is a circle…
Source: adapted from Jbrary

I know another way to make a scarf circular, or like a ball. We can scrunch it up!
Scarf Song: Popcorn Kernels (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Frère Jacques)
Popcorn kernels, Popcorn kernels (wave scarves overhead)
In the pot, In the pot (bunch up scarves in your fists)
Shake them, shake them, shake them (shake)
Shake them, shake them, shake them
’til they POP! ’til they POP!(toss scarves up into the air)
Source: Jbrary

What was this again? (point to yellow circle by house)
Scarf Rhyme: Big Round Sun (TT) (TB) (FT)
Big round sun In the summer sky (use scarf to make a circle with your arms above head)
Waved to a cloud
That was passing by
The little cloud laughed
As it started to rain
Then out came the
Big round sun again
Source: Mel’s Desk

Let’s sing to Mr. Sun to help us play outside! Shake along or make a circle shape with your arms.
Ukulele Song: Mr. Sun (TT) (TB) (FT)
Oh, Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun
Please shine down on me
Oh, Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun
Hiding behind a tree

These little children are asking you
To please come out so we can play with you

Oh, Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun
Please shine down on me
Source: Raffi (from the album Singable Songs for the Very Young)

Get a downloadable ukulele songsheet for “Mr. Sun” here!

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

Craft: Shape Pictures Craft (TB) (FT)
Very simple, just a bowl full of different colored and sized shapes – squares, circles, triangles, and rectangles, and encouraged them to make whatever they would like – rockets, houses, vehicles, or even just abstract art!

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)

Other books I had available for families to browse (and may work for you on this theme)
City Shapes – Diana Murray & Bryan Collier
Some of These Are Snails – Carter Higgins
Round – Joyce Sidman & Taeeun Yoo
Go, Shapes, Go! – Denise Fleming
Round Is a Tortilla – Roseanne Greenfield Thong & John Parra
Shapes & Shapes – Ivan Brunetti
The Shape of You – Mượn Thị Văn & Miki Sato
Baby Party – Rebecca O’Connell & Susie Poole
Circle / Triangle / Square – Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen
Circle! Sphere! (¡Círculo! ¡Esfera!)– Grace Lin

This storytime was presented in-person on 9/9, 9/10, & 9/11/24.

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

† Click the image of rhyme/song sheets to download a non-branded PDF