colors – Storytime with Ms. Emily Library

Storytime: Color Wheel – Green

Posted on April 5, 2024April 4, 2024 by msemilylibrary

Welcome back to me catching up on programs from a few weeks ago! Here is our LAST in the Color Wheel series, and possibly the easiest one to plan: Green. This has been a great series, and it largely allowed for broad options in choosing rhymes, songs, and books (except purple!) Green is no exception, and I had, in fact, done “green” storytimes in the past as a March theme. I did a few new-to-me activities as well as a couple old favorites. I was even inspired to make up a new rhyme!

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. Here’s my list for green!

Frogs
Turtles
Peas
Plants/Trees
Broccoli/other veg
Alligator/Crocodile
Kiwi
Caterpillar
Snake
Grass
Avocado
Lime

Early Development Tip: Take advantage of the many opportunities during the day to give words to feelings—your child’s feelings and your own. This can be done when the child is playing, making transitions from one activity to another, or while looking at the facial expressions of characters as you read books together. Your child is not only learning vocabulary, but also learning how to identify different feelings which helps with self-regulation.

Welcome Song: Hello, Friends* (TT) (TB) (FT)**

Hello Friends rhyme sheet. Includes a smiling rainbow and two yellow ducks at the bottom. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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.

Wake Up Feet thumbnail, with a graphic of three pairs of baby-sized shoes. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

Toast in the Toaster thumbnail, with a graphic of a toaster with a piece of bread hovering above it. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

This is Big Big Big thumbnail, with a graphic of an anthropomorphic ruler. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Intro: Look at these beautiful colors on this color wheel! Today’s color is green! Green is made when we mix yellow and blue together. Can you think of anything that is green? Write answers on whiteboard in green pen. Is anyone wearing green 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.

A round color wheel showing the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and pink, with a highlighted white outline wedge around blue, which can spin on a push pin in the middle.

I did 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)
Green, green is the color I see
If you’re wearing green, then show it to me
Stand up, take a bow, turn around
Show me your green and sit back on the ground
Source: Librarian vs. Storytime

The Color I see thumbnail, with a graphic of a clothes rack with various colored clothing. The place where the color name is repeated is shown as a blank within the text. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

Read: What Does Little Crocodile Say? by Eva Montanari (TT) (FT)
This was an absolute hit. I asked the group to help me tell the story by helping me make the noises. Everyone participated! The little ones enjoyed that, and the grown-ups also had fun with the story – lots of “awwws” on the last reveal.

What does little crocodile say book cover

Read: Turtle Walk by Matt Phelan (TB)
Although this is a lovely book, with simple and repetitive words, it was just a little too conceptual for my group. I tried pointing out that the seasons were changing, and everyone liked the cute pictures of the turtles playing in the snow, but I’m not sure they really got that concept of the time passing.

The order of activities depended on which book we read – we followed it with the rhyme matching, then did the other.

This was very fun. I did it as shown in the KCPL video first, with just hand motions, then got out my crocodile puppet, which they loved! I offered to let them pet the croc after, and a few were very excited and few hung back.
Action Rhyme: The Hungry Crocodile (TT) (TB) (FT)
Here comes the hungry crocodile
With his sly, toothy smile
Going chomp chomp chomp
In the swamp swamp swamp
So swim fast, fish
Birds, fly away
Move along, turtles and crabs
Hurry on your way
For here comes the hungry crocodile
With his sly, toothy smile
Going chomp chomp chomp
In the swamp swamp swamp
Source: King County (WA) Library System

the hungry crocodile thumbnail, with a graphic of a green cartoon croc. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Here’s a rhyme about a hungry turtle.
Fingerplay: There Was a Little Turtle (TT) (TB) (FT)
There was a little turtle (make fist)
who lived in a box (cover fist with arm)
he swam in the puddles (fist wiggles like swimming)
he climbed on the rocks (fist climbs up opposite arm)
He snapped at a mosquito, (pinch with thumb and fingers at each “snap”)
he snapped at a flea
He snapped at a minnow,
he snapped at me!
He caught that mosquito, (clap each “caught”)
He caught that flea
He caught that minnow
But he didn’t catch me! (waggle finger)
Source: Jbrary

there was a little turtle thumbnail, with a graphic of a green turtle with a brown and green shell. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

And don’t forget about the green frog!
Fingerplay: Mr. Bullfrog (TT)
Here is Mr. Bullfrog (make fist)
Sitting on a rock (place fist on other palm)
He jumps into the water… (lift fist, building anticipation)
KERPLOP! (clap hands together)
Source: Storytime with Miss Tara and Friends

Mr. Bullfrog thumbnail, with a graphic of a realistic looking clipart bullfrog on a rock. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Action Rhyme: Funny, Funny, Froggy (TB) (FT)
Funny, funny froggy, Hop, hop hop!
Funny, funny froggy, Stop, stop, stop!
Funny, funny froggy, Jump with me
Funny, funny froggy, Now go free!
Source: adapted from Books and Bibliotheks

Funny funny froggy thumbnail, with a graphic of a silly cartoon frog with its tongue sticking out. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

We passed out scarves. I’ve done this rhyme several times without in the past, but it lends itself very well to scarf play!
Now let’s think about some green plants. Can we pretend to be trees?
Scarf Rhyme: Be a Seed (TT) (TB) (FT)
Be a seed, small and round (crouch, with scarf scrunched)
Sprout, sprout, sprout up from the ground (stand up)
Shake your leaves for all to see (shake arms and scarf)
Stretch your arms up, you’re a tree! (stretch tall)
Source: Jbrary

Be a seed thumbnail, with a graphic of an acorn and a tree. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Again, I don’t think this was originally meant to be used with scarves, but it works well. For bees buzzing, we shook our scarves.
What makes trees green? Their leaves! Demo: We’re going to have a big leaf, little ladybug, and then the bees are going to come buzzing around. Can you buzz like a bee?
Scarf Song: A Big Green Leaf (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Ram Sam Sam)
A big green leaf, a big green leaf (hold scarf apart)
Little ladybug (pinch fingers/scarf close)
On a big green leaf (x2)

A bumblebee- BZZ! (tickle or wave scarf around)
A bumblebee- BZZ!
And a little ladybug On a big green leaf (x2)
Source: Storytime in the Stacks

a big green leaf thumbnail, with a graphic of a green leaf with a small ladybug crawling on it, and a black and yellow bumblebee flying opposite. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

We waved the scarves rhythmically until we we came to the body part, then put the scarves there. I moved from place to place where food might go – head, chest, lap, then feet.
There are also a lot of green plants that are good to eat, and good for your body. This is a silly song about green zucchini!
Scarf Song: Green Zucchini (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Alouette)
Green zucchini, I like green zucchini
Green zucchini, That’s what I like best
Do you like it on your head?
Yes, I like it on my head!
On your head? On my head! Ooooooh!
Source: Jbrary

green zucchini thumbnail, with a graphic of two zucchini, one whole and one partially sliced into medallions. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

We’d done the lemonade chant a couple weeks ago for the “Yellow” theme, and looking at my “list of green things” and saying broccoli out loud, it just fit. Our scarves were just accessories for this. I held mine loosely between fingers while clapping.
And one more rhyme about good green things to eat! We pretended to be a big tree earlier. Have you ever eaten a tree? Or something that LOOKS like a tree – broccoli!
Chant: Broccoli (TB)
Broccoli (clap, clap, clap!)
Peas and beans (clap, clap, clap!)
All these greens (clap, clap, clap!)
Taste good to me! (clap, clap, clap!)
Broccoli, peas and beans
All these greens taste good to me
Turn around, Jump up and down
Sit down to lunch and Go to town! Nom, nom!
Source: original, adapted from the traditional “Lemonade” clapping game

broccoli thumbnail, with a graphic of a dinner plate featuring broccoli, peas, and green beans. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

zoom zoom zoom thumbnail, with a graphic of a rocket ship. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Craft: Green Finger Paint Art (TB) (FT)
Everyone got a blob of blue and a blob of yellow paint to mix up, then paint whatever they liked! You can see a bit of blue toward the back of the croc that didn’t get blended.

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)

See you later thumbnail, with a graphic of a green alligator, brown crocodile, ladybug, and jellyfish. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Goodbye Rhyme: Tickle the Stars* (TT) (TB) (FT)

Tickle the stars thumbnail, with a graphic of blue and pink stars. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Other books I had available for families to browse (and may work for you on this theme)
Where Is the Green Sheep? – Mem Fox & Judy Horacek
Our Green City – Tanya Lloyd Kyi & Colleen Larmour
A New Green Day – Antoinette Portis
Is This Your Class Pet? – Troy Cummings
Eco Girl – Ken Wilson-Max
The Swamp Where Gator Hides – Marianne Berkes & Roberta Baird
A Good Place – Lucy Cousins
Green on Green – Dianne White & Felicita Sala
In the Tall, Tall Grass – Denise Fleming

This storytime was presented in-person on 3/4, 3/5, & 3/6/24.

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

Storytime: Color Wheel – Purple

Posted on March 22, 2024April 19, 2024 by msemilylibrary

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!

picture of flannel story of the giant turnip, with a brown lump of a hill, purple turnip with green stem, a man, woman, and girl dressed in traditional Russian attire, and a dog, cat, and mouse.

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

purple pretending thumbnail, with a graphic of two thought bubbles in purple. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

Flannel of printed and laminated photographs of violets, lilacs, lavender, and orchids.

four purple flowers thumbnail, with a graphic of lavender, violets, lilacs, and orchids. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

Up the grapevine thumbnail, with a graphic of a grapevine with a green caterpillar beginning to climb the base of the vine. Purple grape clusters hang down. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

peanut butter and jelly thumbnail, with a graphic of peanuts, grapes, a knife with peanut butter on it, one piece of bread spread with jelly and another with peanut butter, and a sandwich cut diagonally with one bite taken out of it. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

shake your shaker thumbnail, with a graphic of blue, purple, and yellow eggs. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

shake it to the east thumbnail, with a graphic of four kids. Three have maracas and are shaking, and the fourth is sitting reading a book. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

the milkshake song thumbnail, with a graphic of a pink milkshake with whipped cream and a cherry and straw, with a smiley face on the glass. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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.

craft showing a flower and bunch of grapes made with tissue squares and crayons.

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:

handout thumbnail, including suggested books, rhyme and song lyrics.

*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: Color Wheel – Pink

Posted on March 9, 2024March 9, 2024 by msemilylibrary

Okay, so I know that pink isn’t officially on the color wheel (and according to Pink Is Not a Color by Lindsay Ward isn’t even a color but just a “tint”), but I had plenty of ideas for pink and I was able to schedule it during the week of Valentine’s Day, so it got added to our color wheel!

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. Here’s this week’s list:

Pigs
Flamingos
Strawberry ice cream
Watermelon
Axolotl
Blobfish
Shrimp
Radish
Flowers
Hearts
Bubblegum
Worms
Ballet costumes/tutus

This was an odd week for me – I ended up getting a cold and stayed home on Monday and Tuesday, and thankfully my colleagues covered for me. So I only presented the program once on Wednesday. I realize that presenting three times really does help me get a good feel for what works best and how to adjust a bit here and there. Doing just one didn’t really do that for me, so it would be interesting to see how different groups react to some of the activities. I know a few things my colleagues weren’t familiar with just got skipped, which is fine! It all worked out in the end.

Early Development Tip: The song Sticky Bubblegum incorporates cross-lateral movement (crossing the midline of the body, which promotes brain/body development and gross motor skills), body part identification, pretend/imaginative play, vocabulary, and listening and doing.

Welcome Song: Hello, Friends* (TT) (TB) (FT)**

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 pink! Can you think of anything that is pink? Write answers on whiteboard in red pen. Is anyone wearing pink 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)
Pink, pink is the color I see
If you’re wearing pink, then show it to me
Stand up, take a bow, turn around
Show me your pink and sit back on the ground
Source: Librarian vs. Storytime

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

I believe that both of my colleagues chose this book to read. My Wednesday group was a little young, so I chose it, too. It’s silly and very short, with very bold graphics, so a great storytime choice.
Read: The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli (TT) (TB) (FT)

I’d planned to read this one to my slightly older group on Tuesday. It’s a bit longer, but has lots of animals in it, plus a seek and find feature. But because I was out sick, it didn’t get a reading.
Read: Pinky Got Out! by Michael Portis & Lori Richmond

Can you pretend you have a great big watermelon in your arms?
Action Song: Watermelon (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Frère Jacques)
Watermelon, Watermelon,
On the vine, On the vine,
Sweet and pink and yummy, Sweet and pink and yummy,
Please be mine! Please be mine!

Watermelon, Watermelon,
Thump, thump, thump, Thump, thump, thump,
I think you are ready, I think you are ready
Big and plump! Big and plump!
Source: King County (WA) Library System

Watermelon thumbnail, with a graphic of a whole watermelon and a slice of watermelon. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Let’s do a silly fingerplay about a small pink animal who lives in the soil and likes to wiggle around. What is it? An earthworm! But oh, no, these worms have lost their wiggle!
Fingerplay: The Worm Wiggle (TT) (TB) (FT)
Here are some worms who are, oh, so sad (limp fingers)
They’ve lost all the wiggles that they once had
They wonder if you, just for today
Would lend them your wiggles so they can play?
Wiggle them up and wiggle them down
Wiggle the worms around and around
Wiggle them high and wiggle them low
Wiggle them fast and wiggle them slow
Wiggle them over your shoes and your socks
Then wiggle them back into their box (fold into other hand)
Source: Storytime with Miss Tara

the worm wiggle thumbnail, with a graphic of five worms wiggling in various ways. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

I really wanted a flamingo rhyme, but couldn’t find one other than “If You’re a Flamingo and You Know It.” So I wrote this one to be a little shorter but still action based. (It might work a little better if we had read the flamingo book and knew some facts about flamingos)
I can think of two other animals that are pink. Can you think of one with wings?
Action Rhyme: Pink Flamingo (TT) (TB) (FT)
I’m a pink flamingo, flapping to the coast (flap arms)
I stand on one leg, straight as a post (stand on one leg)
I wade in the water and search for a bite (hand nibbles downward)
These pink shrimp taste just right (rub tummy)
When the day is over and the sun gets low
I tuck my head under my wing and sleep just so
(cover head with arm, AND stand on one leg if you can!)
Source: original

Pink flamingo thumbnail, with a graphic of three flamingos, one flying, one bending down while standing on one leg, and one with their head tucked backward in sleep (also on one leg). click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Maybe you’ve done this nursery rhyme on your toes before, but let’s try it on our fingers.
Fingerplay Rhyme: This Little Piggy (TT) (TB) (FT)
(wiggle each toe or finger on one side, starting with the thumb)
This little piggy went to market
This little piggy stayed home
This little piggy had roast beef
And this little piggy had none
And this little piggy cried “wee wee wee” all the way home (tickle!)

(now try on the other hand or foot, starting with the pinky)
This little piggy had a rub-a-dub-dub
And this little piggy had a scrub-a-dub-dub
This little pig-a-wig ran upstairs
And this little pig-a-wig cried out ‘BEARS!’
Down came the jar with a big slam bam (clap or pat foot)
And this little piggy had all the jam
Source: traditional, second verse found with King County (WA) Library System

This little piggy thumbnail, with a graphic of a cartoon pig and a spilled jar of purple jam. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

I would have done this one with the Tuesday group, but my colleague decided to nix it for This Little Piggy. I have used this in the past, but I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about it before! I got the flannel printout pieces from the now-defunct Sunflower Storytime. Since they don’t have it online anymore, I feel okay posting it here for you. (If you are the Sunflower original and want me to desist, please just let me know!) The flannel is fun because it’s reversable – the pigs flip and the dirty side shows!
The other animal I am thinking of is pink – lives on a farm, likes to take mud baths, says OINK!
Counting Song: Five Pigs So Squeaky Clean
(tune of Five Green and Speckled Frogs)
Five pigs so squeaky clean,
Cleanest you’ve ever seen
Wanted to go outside and play, Oink! Oink! (clap, clap)
One jumped into the mud
Landed with a great big thud
Then there were four clean squeaky pigs (count down)
Source: Sunflower Storytime (no longer online)

Download Sunflower Storytime’s flannelboard template here.

flannelboard pieces for Five Pigs So Squeaky Clean - five printed and laminated ovals containing a cartoon pig in each. The first two have brown splotches on them, the last three are clean pink. The dirty pigs face right and the clean pigs face left.

five pigs so squeaky clean thumbnail, with a graphic of five pigs: three clean and two dirty. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Not sure if this got done on Monday, but it was crossed off my Tuesday sheet!
Song: Sticky Bubble Gum (TT) (FT)
(Spoken intro)
Did you bring your bubble gum?
What about pretend bubble gum?
Can you find some pretend bubble gum in your pocket? Reach in and get it out.
Unwrap it, and stick the wrapper back in your pocket – we don’t want to litter!
Is your gum pink like mine is?
Let’s pop it in and start chewing
Is it soft and squishy? Is it yummy?
Let’s blow an imaginary bubble – show me with your hands as you blow it
Bigger, bigger – oh, no it popped!
There’s sticky bubble gum everywhere. Pull it off your forehead, nose, chin…
Now squish it all together in a big sticky ball of bubble gum.
And SMASH IT!
Oh, no, it’s so sticky that my hands are stuck together.
The only way I know to get them unstuck is to sing the sticky bubblegum song.
(Singing)
Sticky sticky sticky sticky bubble gum
Bubble gum, Bubble gum
Sticky sticky sticky sticky bubble gum
Sticking your hands to your knees! and UN-STICK!
Source: Carole Peterson (see her perform this, including the guided intro, at https://vimeo.com/95412823)

Sticky bubblegum thumbnail, with a graphic of a pair of lips blowing a pink bubble. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

What color is a hug? Hugs aren’t really a color, but when people think of love, a lot of times they think of pink! Pink can be a love color.
Action Rhyme: Up and Down (TT) (TB) (FT)
Put your arms up, Put your arms down
Put them in the middle, Move them all around
One arm to the left, One arm to the right
Give yourself a hug, And hold on tight!
Source: Mansfield/Richland County (OH) Library (storytime page no longer functional)

up and down thumbnail, with a graphic of a boy and a girl giving themselves a hug. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

I like making up Down By the Bay rhymes! Here are the ones I came up with that have to do with the pink things we talked about today.
Silly Song: Down By the Bay (PINK Edition!) (TT) (TB) (FT)
Down by the bay,
Where the watermelons grow
Back to my home, I dare not go
For if I do, my mother will say:
“Did you ever see a pig wearing a fancy wig,
Down by the bay?”

Additional verses:
…flamingo doing the limbo…
…worm watering his fern…
…slug giving another slug a hug…
…have a time you couldn’t make a rhyme…
Source: adapted from the traditional

Download a ukulele songsheet for Down By the Bay!

Thumbnail of "Down By the Bay" ukulele song sheet

down by the bay pink edition thumbnail, with a graphic of a pig wearing a curly blonde wig, two slugs crisscrossed with pink hearts above them, a pink worm holding a watering can by a potted fern, and a flamingo behind a limbo stick. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

Craft: Pink Hearts (FT)
Very simple – I used our die-cutter to make big pink hearts that they could decorate with crayons or dot markers. I didn’t make a sample, but pictured below is a sample I made for an “I Love Me” program, just to see the shape of the heart.

Craft showing a pink scalloped heart shape with the name EMILY written vertically down the middle, with "I like my smile" "My hands let me be creative" "I am friendly" "I am kind" also written on it, decorated with hearts, stars, stickers, and jewels.

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)
On Account of the Gum – Adam Rex
Pink Is Not a Color – Lindsay Ward
Pig Takes a Bath – Michael Dahl & Oriol Vidal
Have You Ever Seen a Flower – Shawn Harris
Pink is for Everybody! – Ella Russell & Udayana Lugo
How to Say Hello to a Worm – Kari Percival
Fussy Flamingo – Shelly Vaughan James & Matthew Rivera
The Book Hog – Greg Pizzoli
I Love My Tutu Too! – Ross Burach
Ice Cream Face – Heidi Woodward Sheffield

This storytime was presented in-person on 2/12, 2/13, & 2/14/24.

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

Storytime: Color Wheel – Orange

Posted on March 1, 2024March 9, 2024 by msemilylibrary

We are trucking along on our color series and this week’s session was our first secondary color, orange. There were plenty of books and rhyme ideas, and I even had to cut a rhyme about carrots in the end. I’m very pleased that I was able to work in using our parachute for this session, too.

In planning these color-based themes, I brainstorm what is orange and songs and rhymes that work with those things. Here’s this week’s list:

Pumpkins
Oranges
Carrots
Basketball
Goldfish
Tigers
Orange tabby cats
Monarch butterflies
Traffic cones
Fall leaves

Early Development Tip: Your child may enjoy flap books. It’s a kind of peek-a-boo game using a book! Developing an enjoyment of books goes a long way for them later when they need persistence to stick with learning to read.

Welcome Song: Hello, Friends* (TT) (TB) (FT)**

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! In the next couple of months, we’re going to get to know each of these colors in our storytimes. Today’s color is orange! Can you think of anything that is orange? Write answers on whiteboard in orange pen. Is anyone wearing orange 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)
Orange, orange is the color I see
If you’re wearing orange, then show it to me
Stand up, take a bow, turn around
Show me your orange and sit back on the ground
Source: Librarian vs. Storytime

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

I was surprised that this didn’t really go over as well with the 1-2 year olds. The flaps just didn’t hold their attention – maybe it was just a bad day no matter what book. But I chose not to revisit this one for my other two sessions.
Read: Where is Tippy Toes? by Betsy Lewin (TT)

This one went much better. I was kind of amazed how quiet and attentive they were, especially after the opening lines that include a “Shhh!” I made a little joke about tigers being orange, but this tiger was a little more yellow that I’d hoped, and the adults got a chuckle out of that.
Read: Don’t Wake Up the Tiger by Britta Teckentrup (TB) (FT)

This one I only did after reading Tippy Toes, so needed a little transition.
Tippy Toes is an orange cat – but there’s a BIG cat who is also orange – a TIGER! What kind of markings does a tiger have? What about their friends the leopards?
Tickle Song: Spots, Spots, Spots (TT)
(tune of the baseball organ build up)
Spots, spots, spots, spots,
Spots, spots, spots, spots
A leopard has lots of spots
What a lot of spots he got!
A tiger’s stripes are always nice…
But a leopard has lots of
Spots, spots, spots, spots,
Spots, spots, spots, spots… (tickle!)
Source: Jbrary

Spots, spots, spots thumbnail, with a graphic of a tiger and leopard dancing. click the image to download a non-branded PDF.

Action Rhyme: Tiger, Tiger (TB) (FT)
Tiger, tiger, turn around
Tiger, tiger, touch the ground
Tiger, tiger, reach up high
Tiger, tiger, touch the sky
Tiger, tiger, find your nose
Tiger, tiger, touch your toes
Tiger, tiger, touch your knees
Tiger, tiger, sit down please
Source: Storytime Jennifer

tiger, tiger thumbnail, with a graphic of a cartoon tiger. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Oh, look at this! This is a beautiful bug who has lovely orange wings – a monarch butterfly. But it doesn’t start life with wings. I used a caterpillar and butterfly felt from other sets I’ve made.
Fingerplay: My Friend Caterpillar (TT) (TB) (FT)
My friend caterpillar (fingers crawl up arm)
Made its cocoon one day (close hands together)
It turned into a butterfly (open hands with thumbs hooked)
And quickly flew away (flap hands)
Source: Storytime Katie

flannel pieces of an orange monarch butterfly and a yellow, black, and white monarch caterpillar

my friend caterpillar thumbnail, with a graphic of a tree branch with a caterpillar on the leaf, a cocoon hanging from the branch, and a monarch butterfly flying away. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Oh, our butterfly has landed on this large, round, vegetable in the garden. What is it? A pumpkin!
I really enjoy this one. The dynamic speed with the rolling arms (as well as the cadence of the song) really hooks the littles.
Action Song: Roly Poly Pumpkin (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Itsy Bitsy Spider)
Oh, the roly-poly pumpkin (roll arms, gradually speed up)
Went rolling down the hill
Once it started rolling
It couldn’t keep still
It rolled and rolled
Until it bumped into a rock (clap)
Then the roly-poly pumpkin (roll slowly)
Rolled to a stop (hands spread)
Source: King County (WA) Library System

roly poly pumpkin thumbnail, with a graphic of a small smiling pumpkin tumbling down a brown hill. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Time to get out the parachute! I have one more song about a pumpkin. Can we walk in a circle?
Parachute Song: Ring Around the Pumpkin (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Ring around the Rosies)
Ring around the pumpkin
Orange, big, and round
Pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seeds
We all fall down!
Source: The Lion is a Bookworm Blog

ring around the pumpkin thumbnail, with a graphic of a large orange pumpkin. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Something else that is round and orange is a basketball. Can you pretend to bounce like a basketball?
We bounced up and down once by ourselves, then I added two small foam basketballs to the parachute to bounce!
Parachute Rhyme: Bouncing Ball (TT) (TB) (FT)
I’m bouncing, bouncing everywhere,
I’m bouncing, bouncing like a ball,
I bounce and bounce until I fall! (drop to the floor)
Source: Librionyian

bouncing ball thumbnail, with a graphic of a basketball with cartoon motion lines indicating a bounce. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

For the coup de grâce on our parachute, I threw in some fake autumn leaves.
Parachute Song: Autumn Leaves Are Falling Down (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of London Bridge)
Autumn leaves are falling down
Falling down, falling down
Autumn leaves are falling down
All around the town

The wind will blow them round and round…
Source: King County (WA) Library System

autumn leaves thumbnail, with a graphic of orange leaves swirling in lines indicating wind. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

This is a great way to put the parachute away.
Parachute Song: Parachute Fly (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Skip to my Lou)
(kids go under the parachute and adults raise and lower)
Up, up, up it goes,
Down, down, down so low
Raise our parachute to the sky
Count to 3 and watch it fly
Spoken:
Up on one…
Down on two…
Up on three…
and FLY! (adults let go and leader pulls ‘chute in to themselves)
Source: Gymboree

Parachute fly thumbnail, with a graphic of an overhead view of children holding on to a colorful parachute with balls bouncing on top. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

Craft: Color Mixing (TB) (FT)
Here’s a fun and no-mess way to explore color mixing. Start with a heavy duty zip-top bag (I practiced with gallon size, but ended up buying quart size.) Did you know you can remove the white write-on labels using hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol!? I added a dollop of red and a dollop of yellow to each bag, squeezed out the air and taped them down to the tables using clear packing tape. I also printed out half-sheets of the various “orange” things we talked about. The pictures are black and white outlines so that that they could move the paint around to “color” them in or “find” them under the paint. The kids moved the paint around in the bag to mix up the paints and make orange. You might experiment with your paint – I found that I needed more yellow and less red to get a good orange color. Afterward, I told everyone they could take their bag of paint home (plus the image papers) if they wanted. A few did, but not the majority!

Download a template for the background images here.

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)
Creepy Carrots! – Aaron Reynolds & Peter Brown
Leaf Jumpers – Carole Gerber & Leslie Evans
Piggies in the Pumpkin Patch – Mary Peterson & Jennifer Rofé
I’m a Little Pumpkin – Hannah Eliot & Anna Daviscourt
Señorita Mariposa – Ben Gundersheimer & Marcos Almada Rivero
It’s a Tiger! – David LaRochelle & Jeremy Tankard
Dino-Basketball – Lisa Wheeler & Barry Gott
Orange Pear Apple Bear – Emily Gravett
An Orange in January – Dianna Hutts Aston & Julie Maren
Mr. Tiger Goes Wild – Peter Brown

This storytime was presented in-person on 2/5, 2/6, & 2/7/24.

Storytime Handout:

handout with suggested books, rhyme and song lyrics.

*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: Color Wheel – Yellow

Posted on February 9, 2024April 4, 2024 by msemilylibrary

Before we get started with this theme, I have a question for readers! Would it be helpful for me to post my rhyme/song sheets? These are 11×17″ (tabloid size) sheets that I print and put on my easel for grown-ups to follow along. I tape them in a stack to the top and flip them as we progress. I usually try to do a cute graphic for visual interest (all made in Canva). I’ll include these today – click on the thumbnail to download a full sized non-branded PDF. If you like them, let me know!

Our third color of this series is Yellow. I was really happy with this plan – it was fun, it flowed smoothly, and was well received.

In planning these color-based themes, I brainstormed what is yellow (usually or always) and songs and rhymes that work with those things. Here’s that list for yellow:

Bananas
Corn
Ducks
Chicks
Lemons
Dandelions
Sun/sunshine/Moon/Stars
School bus
Noodles
Sunflower
Pineapple
Bees
Cheese
Crown/gold
Bulldozers/construction equipment
Taxicabs

Last time, I felt that my transitions didn’t flow very well, so I made an intentional effort to work on those more this week. It paid off and I felt a lot more confident in moving from one song to another.

Early Development Tip: Rhymes, songs, and books often have vocabulary that we use more rarely in conversation. Sharing these withyour little one expands their vocabulary, and putting an action to the words (“mashing” or “chopping” bananas,for example) further reinforces the meaning behind the word.

Welcome Song: Hello, Friends* (TT) (TB) (FT)**

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! In the next couple of months, we’re going to get to know each of these colors in our storytimes. Today’s color is yellow! Can you think of anything that is yellow? Write items on whiteboard in yellow pen. Is anyone wearing yellow 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)
Yellow, yellow is the color I see
If you’re wearing yellow, then show it to me
Stand up, take a bow, turn around
Show me your yellow and sit back on the ground
Source: Librarian vs. Storytime

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

This worked really well, with the anticipation of guessing and seeing what vehicle was teased.
Read: The Bus for Us by Suzanne Bloom (TT) (FT)

I have to keep reminding myself that toddler humor is not that advanced. On the surface, this seemed like a great book – funny, but short and not a ton of text. Unfortunately, they just didn’t really get it.
Read: Counting to Bananas by Carrie Tillotson & Estrela Lourenço (TB)

What kind of fruit is yellow?
In the first group, I got “lemon!” I gave some more clues to get us to banana.
Chant: Bananas Unite! (TT) (TB) (FT)
Bananas……unite!
Peel bananas, peel, peel bananas (x2)
(arms begin above head, and peel down one after the other)
Chop bananas, chop chop bananas (x2)
(make a chopping motion with one hand on the palm of the other)
Mash bananas, mash mash bananas (x2)
(smoosh the palms of the hands together)
Eat bananas, eat, eat bananas (x2)
(bring hands up to mouth as if eating)
Goooooooooo BANANAS! (arms go wild!)
Source: Jbrary

Bananas unite thumbnail, with a graphic of a smiling banana. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Bzzz, bzzz – what’s that I hear? Some bees! Bees make honey. Who likes to eat golden yellow honey? Bears.
Tickle Rhyme: Bears Eat Honey (TT) (TB) (FT)
Bears eat honey
They think it’s yummy
In their tummy
But…
The bees don’t think it’s funny!
(Buzz, buzz, buzz!) (tickle)
Source: King County Library System via Storytime Katie

Bears eat honey thumbnail, with a graphic of a bear with a paw in a honeypot, surrounded by bees. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

What’s another animal that is yellow? Quack, quack!
Action Rhyme: Yellow Duck (TT)
When a yellow duck walks down the street
Quack goes his bill and waddle go his feet
He comes to a puddle and with a bound
In goes the yellow duck and swims around!
Source: Storytime in the Stacks

Yellow duck thumbnail, with a graphic of a duck walking and a duck swimming. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

I used the flannelboard set I originally got from Sunflower Storytime. It’s no longer published, so you can download it here.
Look at these – what are they? Eggs. Eggs aren’t yellow, are they?
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

Ten Fluffy chicks thumbnail, with a graphic of the flannelboard hen and 2 clutches of 5 eggs. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Let’s do a rhyme about a vehicle that is usually yellow. It’s a taxi cab! You might use a taxi cab when you are visiting a big city and need a way to get around.
For the Toddler Time (youngest) group, we just clapped and patted. For the other two groups, we passed out our “rhythm sticks” (aka unsharpened pencils) and tapped the rhythm.
Action Rhyme/Rhythm Stick Song: Taxi Cab (TT) (TB) (FT)
(in the style of Pat-a-Cake)
Taxi cab, taxi cab (pat and clap)
Driving day and night
We’ll visit the city And see all the sights!
We’ll roll… (roll arms)
And we’ll STOP! (two hands up)
(repeat a couple of times, varying how long you “roll” – this is the taxi being in traffic!)
We’ll get out and look around (return to pat and clap)
We’ll hail another cab
And be homeward bound – TAXI! (lift arm)
Source: original

Taxi cab thumbnail, with a graphic of a taxi at the top and a child sitting on their grownups shoulder's raising their hand at the bottom. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

A vehicle that’s usually painted yellow is a – school bus!
Rhythm Stick Song: The Wheels on the Bus (TT) (TB) (FT)
The wheels on the bus go round and round (circle sticks)
Round and round, Round and round
The wheels on the bus go round and round
All through the town

The wipers on the bus go Swish, swish, swish (wiper motion)
The doors on the bus go open and shut (open/close sticks)
The driver on the bus says “Move on back” (sticks to shoulders)
The kids on the bus go up and down (bounce sticks)
Source: traditional, rhythm stick adaptations via Jbrary

Wheels on the bus thumbnail, with a graphic of diverse children in a yellow school bus. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

Here’s a fun clapping rhyme we can do with our sticks.
This is a traditional clapping game, and like all traditional games, there are endless variations. Many of them end with kicking a boyfriend out of town, but I went with a can instead!
Clapping Game/Rhythm Sticks: Lemonade (TB) (FT)
Lemonade (clap, clap, clap!)
Crunchy ice (clap, clap, clap!)
Sip it once (clap, clap, clap!)
Sip it twice (clap, clap, clap!)
Lemonade, Crunchy ice,
Sip it once, Sip it twice
Turn around, Touch the ground
Now kick that can right out of town –
and FREEZE!
Source: traditional – these girls are adorable demonstrating

Lemonade thumbnail, with a graphic of a glass of lemonade at the top and a smiling lemon at the bottom. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

So this one we’ll do at the end of each color session, too – so there are some familiarity bookending this series. I have rainbow colored scarves, and pass them out for everyone to wave around while we sing.
Scarf Song: Rainbow Colors (TB) (FT)
(tune of Twinkle Twinkle)
Rainbow colors way up high, Happy colors in the sky
Red and pink and green and blue
Yellow, orange, and purple, too
Rainbow colors way up high, Happy colors in the sky
Source: adapted from King County (WA) Library System

Rainbow colors thumbnail, with a graphic of pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple paint splotches. click the image to download a non-branded PDF

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

Craft: Yellow Abstract Art (TB) (FT)
Another process art craft to focus more on creativity than on a finished product. I provide some art supplies and let the kids do what they wish. Each week, I’ll plan to use slightly different media, but hope to keep the craft very open ended. This week I provided yellow crayons, yellow paper shapes, glue sticks, yellow dot markers, and yellow stickers.

Yellow abstract art - showing a figure made of a cut paper shapes (squares and triangles) holding a crayon drawn banana next to a bunch of bananas, covered in yellow dots.

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)
A Seed Grows – Antoinette Portis
Thank You, Bees – Toni Yuly
Pineapple Princess – Sabina Hahn
5 Little Ducks – Denise Fleming
Five Fuzzy Chicks – Diana Murray & Sydney Hanson
B Is for Baby – Atinuke & Angela Brooksbank
Ducks Away! – Mem Fox & Judy Horacek
Beehive – Jorey Hurley
Truck Full of Ducks – Ross Burach
Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas – Aaron Blabey

This storytime was presented in-person on 1/22, 1/23, & 1/24/24.

Storytime Handout:

thumbnail of handout with book suggestions, rhyme and song lyrics

*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: Color Wheel – Red

Posted on January 26, 2024January 25, 2024 by msemilylibrary

Starting our Color Wheel series with the primary colors, last week was Blue, this week is RED. There are lots of great red things to build our storytime around.

First off, I brainstorm what is red (usually or always) and songs and rhymes that work with those things. Here’s what I came up with for red:

Berries: Strawberry, raspberry, cherry
Apples
Cardinal bird
Tomato/Spaghetti/Pizza
Fire engines
Crabs
Ladybugs
Stop signs
Caboose
Barn
Hot/Bell Peppers

And thinking of extension activities, here are ones that came to mind:

One Red Sock flannel
Five Fat Sausages (my flannel shows the sausages as red)
Five Little Apples
Four Juicy Apples
Great Big Apple Tree
Green Means Go (? – uses three colors)
Little Apple Seed
Little Red Caboose
Little Red Train Going Down the Track
Hurry Drive the Fire Truck
Pat a Cake Pizza
Pick Berries High
Picked a Strawberry
Pretty Ladybug

I also searched other blogs for a red theme and got a few other ideas, then wove together a plan. I think I’m learning that the transitions are very important for these – it feels a little cheap to say, “oh, here’s another thing that’s red.” I didn’t do a great job with that this week, and I felt it during the program. It was a little disjointed and not as satisfying for me. Next week, yellow, I concentrated more on how to move from one topic to another and was a lot happier with the result.

Early Development Tip: Songs and rhymes that focus on body parts and their actions increase children’s awareness of how different parts of the body can start specific movements. By using their muscles to make the motions in a song, children develop both their gross motor skills and body self-awareness.

Welcome Song: Hello, Friends* (TT) (TB) (FT)**

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! In the next couple of months, we’re going to get to know each of these colors in our storytimes. Today’s color is red! Can you think of anything that is red? Write items on whiteboard in red pen. Is anyone wearing red 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)
Red, red is the color I see
If you’re wearing red, then show it to me
Stand up, take a bow, turn around
Show me your red and sit back on the ground
Source: Librarian vs. Storytime

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

A definite classic.
Read: The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don & Audrey Wood (TT)

book cover of The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear

A much newer book, but one that really worked well. I decided to repeat it for my third session, even though they skew younger.
Read: Firefighter Flo! by Andrea Zimmerman & Dan Yaccarino (TB) (FT)

I changed the song order around depending on which book I read – we did “Picked a Strawberry” first after the Little Mouse book, and “Hurry Drive the Firetruck” after Firefighter Flo.

Song: Picked a Strawberry (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Clementine)
Picked a strawberry, picked a strawberry
That was growing in the sun
Then I washed it, and I ate it
And I picked another one
Repeat with other red foods: apple, tomato, raspberry, etc
Source: Jbrary

This was a new to me apple rhyme, and a nice change from my usual Two Little Apples.
Action Rhyme: Little Red Apple (TT) (TB) (FT)
A little red apple grew high in a tree (raise fist above head)
I looked up at it, It looked down on me
“Please, please, please come down,” I said
And that little red apple fell right on my head! (bonk your own head with fist)
Source: Librarian vs. Storytime

I can think of another food that doesn’t grow on a tree or a bush, but it has a delicious red sauce on it. Pizza!
Tickle Rhyme: Pizza Pickle Pumpernickel (TT) (TB) (FT)
Pizza, pickle, pumpernickel, (bounce)
My little one shall have a tickle! (tickle)
One for your nose, And one for your toes,
And one for your tummy, where the pizza goes!
Source: King County (WA) Library System

Oh, there’s a tiny red bug over here. Do you know her name?
I used a flannel ladybug that I made for a bug storytime to fly around and land on my parts.
Body Rhyme: Ladybug, Ladybug (TT) (TB) (FT)
Ladybug, ladybug, Fly out of the farm
and land right on my little arm
Pair other rhyming places/body parts like:
Tree/Knee, Bed/Head, Rose/Nose
Source: Storytime Secrets

This one uses a problematic tune, so I try to sing it more like Old Town School of Folk Music. The actions are a lot of fun, and I always enjoy slowly driving back to the station.
Wee-oo, I hear a siren! What red vehicle uses a siren?
Action Song: Hurry, Hurry (TT) (TB) (FT)
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

Additional verses: …turn the corner; …climb the ladder; …spray the water; Slowly, slowly, to the station…
Source: Old Town School of Folk Music

There’s another vehicle that’s usually painted red, and it’s at the end of a train.
This is always a fun song, which I play on ukulele, and use a wooden train whistle to do the Woo-woos at the end of each verse, encouraging the kids to woo along.
Ukulele Song: Little Red Caboose (TT) (TB) (FT)
Little red caboose chug, chug, chug,
Little red caboose chug, chug, chug,
Little red caboose behind the train, train, train, train
Smokestack on its back, back, back, back
Coming down the track, track, track, track
Little red caboose behind the train, Woo-woo!

Little red caboose chug, chug, chug,
Little red caboose chug, chug, chug,
Little red caboose behind the train, train, train, train
Always at the end, end, end, end
Comin’ round the bend, bend, bend, bend
Little red caboose behind the train, Woo-woo!

Always on time, time, time, time
Comin’ down the line, line, line, line
Little red caboose behind the train, train, train
Never running late, late, late, late
Comin’ through the gate, gate, gate, gate
Little red caboose behind the train, Woo-woo!
Source: Lindsay Munroe

Get a downloadable ukulele songsheet for “Little Red Caboose” here!

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

Craft: Red Abstract Art (TB) (FT)
Another process art craft to focus more on creativity than on a finished product. I provide some art supplies (all red!) and let the kids do what they wish. Each week, I’ll plan to use slightly different media, but hope to keep the craft very open ended. This week I provided red crayons, red tempera paint, and red stickers.

Abstract art with red shapes made by different shades of red crayons, painted squiggles, and stickers of a red umbrella.

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)
Mine! – Candace Fleming & Eric Rohmann
Apple Farmer Annie – Monica Wellington
One Fox – Kate Read
Yoo-Hoo, Ladybug! – Mem Fox & Laura Ljungkvist
Firefighter Duckies! – Frank W. Dormer
One Red Sock – Jennifer Sattler
Pete’s a Pizza – William Steig
Llama, Llama Red Pajama – Anna Dewdney
Pizza Day – Melissa Iwai

This storytime was presented in-person on 1/15, 1/16, & 1/17/24.

Storytime Handout:

thumbnail of handout with suggested books, rhymes, and song lyrics

*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: Color Wheel – Blue

Posted on January 12, 2024January 12, 2024 by msemilylibrary

Welcome, 2024! I was off on medical leave during the month of December, so I’m coming back fresh, with a new theme series – colors!

While I was off, I was able to clock in and do some work from home, prepping for upcoming programs, ordering books, and so on. Usually when I’m preparing program plans, I can flip through books and get some inspiration for rhymes and songs based on the books that we’ll share. Unfortunately, I didn’t have access to my library’s collection at home, so I was spinning my wheels on how to plan when I hit upon the idea of colors as a theme. It’s very flexible – I was able to select any number of extension activities based on things that are a certain color, and I knew that I would have a lot of options for books to choose from when I returned to work and was able to look at them in person. Plus, I was able to plan out about two and a half months, getting “Pink” in Valentine’s Day week and “Green” in the week before St. Patrick’s.

I chose to do the rainbow colors plus pink, and started with primary colors, blue, red, then yellow. For each color, I brainstormed things that were that color (trying to keep to things that were usually or always that color.) I also searched other storytime blogs for color theme ideas. Here was my brainstorm list for blue:

Blueberries
Sky
Water/Rain/Ocean
Whale/Shark/Fish
Blue Jay/Bluebird
Butterfly
Jeans

I didn’t find any rhymes for jeans (if you know one, please share!), and I saved all my butterfly rhymes for Orange week, but this was a good starting out point. I think my lists for other colors got a bit longer – blue seems a little less naturally-occuring than red or green – but I found plenty of material to use!

Early Development Tip: Learning how to deal with big feelings is one crucial way we can help our child’s development. The act of taking slow, deep breaths triggers a cascade of mind-body systems that can result in increased comfort, relaxation, vigor, and alertness, and reduced symptoms of confusion, anxiety, stress, sadness, and anger – and it works fast. Taking a breathing break regularly gives kids the practice for using this tool when they really need it.

Welcome Song: Hello, Friends* (TT) (TB) (FT)**

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! In the next couple of months, we’re going to get to know each of these colors in our storytimes. Today’s color is blue! Can you think of anything that is blue? Write blue items on whiteboard in blue pen. Is anyone wearing blue 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)
Blue, blue is the color I see
If you’re wearing blue, then show it to me
Stand up, take a bow, turn around
Show me your blue and sit back on the ground
Source: Librarian vs. Storytime

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

One very old book, and one very new book, both on the same topic.
Read: It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw (TT) (FT)

book cover for it looked like spilt milk

This is a very interactive book!
Read: Ploof by Ben Clanton & Andy Chou Musser (TB)

I decided to go with three clouds, since I had a lot planned. I’d made these clouds for a moon hiding game.
Flannel/Counting Rhyme: Five Little Clouds (TT) (TB) (FT)
Five little clouds up in the sky (five fingers up)
Drifting, floating way up high (float hand around)
When a big gust of wind came blowing through (blow on finger)
One disappeared from the sky so blue (lower a finger)
Source: Jen in the Library

Flannel of three clouds, one light blue, medium blue, and salmon colored.

There’s a lovely bird who flies through the blue sky who is also blue – a bluebird!
Fingerplay: Little Bluebird (TT) (FT)
Little bluebird rests in a tree (put index finger on shoulder)
Little bluebird looks at me (turn index finger inward)
Little bluebird chirps, “Hello” (flex finger)
Spread your wings and away you go! (spread arms and flap)
Source: Librarian vs. Storytime

I did this one right after our cloud counting rhyme during the Teddy Bear session, and that was a mistake. Two counting songs in a row just felt a little repetitive. But it’s a fun song!
Do you know who this is? It’s Pigeon! Did you know he was a triplet? Here’s pigeon and his siblings sitting on a wall.
Song: Three Blue Pigeons (TB)
Three blue pigeons, Sittin’ on a wall
Three blue pigeons, Sittin’ on a wall
If one of those pigeons should happen to fall…
There’d be two blue pigeons sittin’ on a wall!
(count down)
Source: Long Beach Public Library

printed and laminated flannelboard pieces of a red brick wall with three copies of Mo Willems' pigeon character on top.

Since I have tried and failed to do circle walking songs in the past (too many people, too small a space), I encouraged kids to go round the blueberry bush with their grownup in a two-person circle.
Oh, what’s that I see? The bluebird landed on a blueberry bush! Yum!
Action Song: The Blueberry Bush (TT) (FT)
(tune of The Mulberry Bush)
Here we go round the blueberry bush,
The blueberry bush, the blueberry bush
Here we go round the blueberry bush,
So early in the morning!

additional verses:
Pick the blueberries, small and round…
Taste the blueberries, ripe and sweet…
Source: Librarian vs. Storytime

Breathing Break: Ocean Breath (TT) (TB) (FT)
Oh, my, I hear something. The ocean! Can we make the sound of the ocean with our breath? Take a big breath in, hold it for just a moment, then let the wave crash – TCHHHHHHH!

I have a blue shark puppet that was fun to pull out during verse two!
What might we find in the water?
Flannel/Action Song: All the Fish (TT) (TB) (FT)
All the fish are swimming in the water (weave hands back and forth as if swimming)
Swimming in the water, Swimming in the water
All the fish are swimming in the water
Bubble, bubble, bubble, (corkscrew index fingers upwards)
…SPLASH! (clap)

additional verses:
All the sharks are chomping…
All the whales are spraying…
Source: adapted from Caspar Babypants, from the album “I Found You”

flannel showing a small green and blue fish, a grey shark, and a blue whale. Sitting above the flannelboard is a puppet of a shark.

I showed one of the pails and asked if anyone knew what it was – “Bucket!” of course.
Whale would like to play a game with us!
Flannel Game: Whale behind the Pail (TT) (TB) (FT)
Little whale, little whale,
Are you behind the BLUE pail?
Source: Long Beach Public Library

Download the flannel template here!

printed and laminated flannelboard pieces of six pails in different colors: blue, purple, red, orange, green, and yellow, with a small blue whale.

So this one we’ll do at the end of each color session, too – so there are some familiarity bookending this series. I have rainbow colored scarves, and pass them out for everyone to wave around while we sing.
Scarf Song: Rainbow Colors (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Twinkle Twinkle)
Rainbow colors way up high, Happy colors in the sky
Red and pink and green and blue
Yellow, orange, and purple, too
Rainbow colors way up high, Happy colors in the sky
Source: adapted from King County (WA) Library System

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

Craft: Blue Abstract Art (TB) (FT)
I’ve been thinking about doing more process art, and these color themes are a perfect way to do that. I provide some art supplies (all blue!) and let the kids do what they wish. Each week, I’ll plan to use slightly different media, but hope to keep the craft very open ended. This week I provided blue crayons, blue dot markers, and blue foam stickers and shapes.

picture of craft: blue abstract blob shapes are drawn in various shades of blue crayon. Blue dots from a dot marker are all over the page, and different shaped foam stickers (teardrops, triangles, and a whale) are also glued on.

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)
My Ocean is Blue – Darren Lebeuf & Ashley Barron
Little Blue Truck – Alice Schertle & Jill McElmurry
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus – Mo Willems
Blue Goose – Nancy Tafuri
The Proudest Blue – Ibtihaj Muhammad, SK Ali, & Hatem Aly
In a Blue Room – Jim Averbeck & Tricia Tusa
Have You Seen My New Blue Socks? – Eve Bunting & Sergio Ruzzier
Here Comes Ocean – Meg Fleming & Paola Zakimi
Blue Chicken – Deborah Freedman
Chomp: A Shark Romp – Michael Paul

This storytime was presented in-person on 1/8, 1/9, & 1/10/24.

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

Flannelboard: Pirate Jack Gets Dressed

Posted on April 27, 2022April 27, 2022 by msemilylibrary

If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading Pirate Jack Gets Dressed by Nancy Raines Day & Allison Black, check him out! This swashbuckler takes us through his morning dress routine, which consists of a long list of clothing items in a variety of colors, all in charming rhyme that begs to be read with a jaunty pirate-y accent. I love that there are some more unusual clothes, like a vest and sash, as well as colors often overlooked in books that focus on the rainbow, like gold and silver and brown. Hello, vocabulary!

A picture of the Pirate Jack Gets Dressed book cover.

Adding one clothing piece after another is a perfect fit for flannel adaptation. I first blogged about this set in a What We Wear/Clothing themed storytime and was inspired by a resource my state library put together on nominees for their Early Literacy Firefly Award (you can find their template in the 2020 program guide). I changed the set quite a bit, giving Jack his distinctive features from the book and lengthening his body so his sock and boot actually fit on his leg.

Photo of all the separate pieces of the Pirate Jack felt set, including gray long johns, a white shirt, yellow pants, a blue vest, a pink sock, a brown boot and brown peg leg, a red waist sash, an orange head sash, a silver (gray) hook, a purple coat, gold earrings, and a green parrot.

Thanks to reader Jennifer who asked about a template for this flannel set! I didn’t initially make a template, but scanned my finished pieces so you could recreate it if you wish. There are notes on the template that indicate where pieces might be layered, and a scan of a few of the back pieces to see how a couple of the trickier pieces are put together. One more note – my pieces are a little small. I think if I were doing this again, I would enlarge it a bit just to make it easier to see and work with. You should be able to use your printer dialog box to enlarge (probably anywhere from 20-50% might be good) and print on tablet (11×17) sized paper instead of the default letter (8.5×11).

Photo of Pirate Jack flannel with all the pieces put together so he is "dressed"

Pirate Jack is a great multi-use flannel. You could use this one for a Clothing theme, as I did, one for Pirates or the Ocean, or, of course, Colors. It’s a great fit for the Collaborative Summer Library Program’s Oceans of Possibilities theme for summer 2022. Enjoy!

Download the Pirate Jack template here!

thumbnail of 2 of 4 pages of the Pirate Jack template

Preschool Storytime: Colorful Stories

Posted on May 25, 2021 by msemilylibrary

There’s just something about spring that makes me want to do stories about colors! And the retelling of White Rabbit’s Color Book is kind of magical.

A “color” storytime is also a good opportunity to talk about race in an explicit way in storytime. This is something that I’ve been wanting to do but just have not felt there was a comfortable “in” to get there. Of course, it’s not about me (a white woman) being comfortable. There’s some fear of messing up and fear of possible push-back, but none of those are good reasons to avoid talking about race in an age-appropriate way. I consulted with a librarian of color that was kind enough to offer feedback and went for it. There was no push-back that I’m aware of and I hope that it was a good way to educate both kids AND their parents that it is okay and necessary to talk about race even with young kids.

You can see the virtual program that does not include the full books read aloud here.

Early Education Tip: Research shows that children form race-related ideas long before they’re ready to talk about race and racism… awareness of race begins as early as infancy! No matter their age, all children collect clues from their experiences to make sense of the world, so early, honest, and age-appropriate conversations really matter. Check out the Sesame Street Workshop’s excellent resources and videos for every age:
https://www.sesameworkshop.org/what-we-do/racial-justice

Welcome Song: We Clap and Sing Hello

Discussion: [For my virtual audience: To get ready for today’s storytime, please grab 1 or 2 scarves, bandanas, washcloths, or even a t-shirt that has a rainbow color – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple.] Now that it’s starting to be springtime, I’m noticing lots and lots of colors outside, how about you? New leaves, new flowers! Let’s do some rhymes and songs that celebrate colors! Let’s get warmed up by identifying some colors and shapes.

Rhyme Game: Pink Square, Pink Square
Pink square, pink square, what do you see?
I see a … blue circle looking at me.

Blue circle, blue circle, what do you see?
I see a … green rectangle looking at me.
Credit: Sunflower Storytime

Flannel of colorful shapes: pink square, blue circle, green rectangle, red heart, yellow 5 pointed star, purple diamond, and orange triangle.

I have a flannel for this book, but it felt like I had a lot of props and flannels going on with this storytime, so I decided to just read the book this time.
Read: Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

Flannel of "Dog's Colorful Day" including the black and white dog figure and colored dots: red, brown, pink, blue, gray, yellow, purple, orange, and green.

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake
Blue is the lake (point to the floor)
Yellow is the sun (point to the sky)
Silver are the stars when the day is done (wiggle fingers)
Red is the apple (make circle with hands)
Green is the tree (raise arms over head like branches)
Brown is the cookie for you and me! (rub tummy)
Credit: Harris County Public Library via Librionyian

Action Song: If You’re Wearing…
tune of “Do You Know the Muffin Man”
If you’re wearing red today, red today, red today
If you’re wearing red today,
Would you touch your head?

Additional verses:
brown … touch the ground
blue … tie your shoe
white … take a bite
green … look mean
black … touch your back
gray … shout “hooray!”
Credit: adapted from Lego Librarian

Discussion: There’s one color that doesn’t get a lot of attention, but it’s a beautiful color that we all have with us all the time! It’s BROWN, and everyone’s skin has some brown in it. The thing that makes our skin brown is called melanin, and that’s also what helps color our hair and our eyes. Some people have a lot of melanin, and some people only have a little bit. There are some people whose bodies don’t produce melanin at all, but that’s quite rare. In this next book, a little boy describes all the different colors of brown in his family! No one has exactly the same color. I love how he gives them all beautiful names.

Read: Brown: The Many Shades of Love by Nancy Johnson James & Constance Moore

I encouraged kiddos to use their scarves for this if the wanted to.
Flannel/Scarf Song: Bubble, Bubble, Pop!
One little red fish swimming in the water, (motion one finger, then weave hand back and forth as if swimming)
Swimming in the water, swimming in the water,
One little red fish swimming in the water
Bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble, (corkscrew index fingers upwards on both sides)
POP! (clap)
(repeat, change the number and/or color of fish)
Credit: Jbrary

Flannel of fish with googly eyes. There are 1 red, 2 blue, 3 green, and 4 purple fish of various hues.

Scarf Song: Rainbow Dancers
Rainbow dancers let’s get ready
Hold your scarves nice and steady
You’ll hear the colors of the rainbow
Listen for your time to go:
Shake red… Shake orange… Shake yellow…
Shake green… Shake blue… Shake purple…
Red scarves – turn around! Orange scarves – up and down!
Yellow scarves – reach up high! Green scarves – fly, fly, fly!
Blue scarves – tickle your nose! Purple scarves – touch your toes!
Everybody dance around
Swirl your scarves up and down!
Shake purple… Shake blue… Shake green…
Shake yellow… Shake orange… Shake red…
Rainbow dancers dance around
Scarves swirl up and down
Our colorful dance is at an end
Thank you, thank you, all my friends
Credit: Jbrary

Flannel Retelling: White Rabbit’s Color Book by Alan Baker
I used the fantastic tutorial on Sunflower Storytime to put this together. I couldn’t find colored pails, so I covered white pails with felt.
Some tips I learned:
• Make sure the pails are well ABOVE the eyeline/camera line of your audience, so they can’t see inside
• PRACTICE
• Arrange the rabbits in the order that you’ll be exchanging them in the pails, but try to separate them if possible.
• Felt sticks to itself (as we all know!) You may need to draw out your “hop, swish, swish, swish” and maybe add some kind of flourish so that you have time to release one rabbit and pull out another without them sticking
• PRACTICE!

Since it’s springtime, let’s end with a rhyme about rain! Get your scarves out!
Scarf Song: Rain on the Green Grass
Rain on the green grass (flutter scarf downward)
Rain on the tree (arms up like branches)
Rain on the rooftop (fingers peak together like a roof)
But NOT on me! (hold scarf above head)
Repeat with different colored items: yellow duck, pink flower, blue stream, brown squirrel, etc.
Credit: King County Library System

Craft: Rainbow
Simple, simple craft, inspired by Storytime Katie. In my instructions home, I emphasized the idea of creative freedom, and making this a “process” craft instead of a “product” craft. Process-focused art gives a child an open-ended project so they have the opportunity to express themselves in the art. I provided the rainbow template and some tissue paper squares, but also suggested using other mediums – paint, crayons, markers, or colored pencils instead of or in addition to the tissue squares.

sheet showing a black and white rainbow arc with colorful tissue paper squares glued to it. — Image from Storytime Katie

I also suggested these alternative titles during the permanent YouTube video.
Red Is a Dragon by Roseanne Thong & Grace Lin
Are Your Stars Like My Stars by Leslie Helakoski & Heidi Woodward Sheffield
Mix It Up! by Hervé Tullet

Closing Rhyme: Tickle the Stars

This storytime was presented virtually on 4/6/21.

Storytime Handout:

Handout including suggested books, rhyme and song lyrics

Preschool Storytime: Green

Posted on May 17, 2021May 17, 2021 by msemilylibrary

This was a milestone storytime for me. It was the one that I had planned and ready to go March 17, 2020, but was abandoned because our library closed March 16th. Because it was tied up as a St. Patrick’s Day alternative, I never used the theme later on while doing virtual, but held on to it to use in March 2021. So getting this ready for this year had a lot of “capital F” Feelings surrounding it.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not really into doing holiday themed programs, but would prefer to celebrate some secular aspect of popular holidays. Thus, instead of going on about leprechauns, rainbows, and Catholic saints, I focused this theme on the color green.

You can see the virtual program that does not include the full books read aloud here.

Early Literacy Tip: “Crossing the midline” is when we move our arm or leg across the middle of our body to perform a task. Crossing the midline is vital to the development of using both sides of the body together, such as putting on shoes and socks, writing and cutting. Practice crossing the midline by: playing with bubbles, cutting or drawing across a page, playing catch, and encouraging children to reach with one hand to touch their opposite foot, arm, ear, etc.

Welcome Song: We Clap and Sing Hello

Discussion: We’re talking about the color green today. What are some things that are green? If you’re in person, you could shuffle the books around based on the answers you get – frogs, trees and grass seem to be common responses. I also mined my flannels for anything that was green!

Lots of green flannel pieces, culled from many sets. Includes dark and light green apples, alien, yarn, snake, turtle, chameleon, truck, rectangle, and two trees.

Bounce Song: Bumping Up and Down
Bumping up and down in my little green wagon
Bumping up and down in my little green wagon
Bumping up and down in my little green wagon
Won’t you be my darling?

Additional verses:
Driving around in my little green car… stroller… bicycle… etc.
Credit: adapted from Raffi

Additional or Alternative Action Rhyme: I Had a Little Turtle
I had a little turtle (make turtle with fist – thumb is the head)
His name was Tiny Tim
I put him in the bathtub
To see if he could swim.
He drank up all the water (glub, glub)
He ate up all the soap (munch, munch)
And when he woke up next morning
He had bubbles in his throat! (bubbly noises)
Credit: Jbrary

Read: One Frog Sang by Shirley Parenteau & Cynthia Jabar

The turtle verse might be my favorite of all the variations!
Song: Mmm-ah Went the Little Green Frog
Mmm-ahh (stick out tongue) went the little green frog one day,
Mmm-ahh went the little green frog
Mmm ahh went the little green frog one day,
And they all went mmm, mmm, ahh
But… We know frogs go (clap) sha-na-na-na-na (wiggle arms)
(clap) Sha-na-na-na-na, (clap) Sha-na-na-na-na
We know frogs go (clap) sha-na-na-na-na
They don’t go mmm, mmm, ahh!

Additional verses:
Hiss, Hiss went the slippery snake one day… (hands snake back and forth)
But… We know snakes go (clap) shoo-be-do-be-do (jazz hands)

Slow, slow went the little green turtle one day… (one hand on other, palms down, like a shell)
But… We know turtles go (clap) cowabunga, dude! (shaka hand sign)
Credit: Jbrary (different videos for frog, snake, and turtle verses)

Action Rhyme: Funny, Funny, Froggy
Funny, funny froggy, Hop, hop hop!
Funny, funny froggy, Stop, stop, stop!
Funny, funny froggy, Don’t run away!
Funny, funny froggy, Sit and play!
Credit: Perry Public Library (OH) via Books and Bibliotheks

I thought the rebus pictures at the back of the book were perfect for a flannel, though I had to add the bug. You can download a PDF of these here. They definitely helped me keep the song straight! (Note that you sing “chick in the egg, and the bird on the egg,” changing the pattern. It took me a few practice tries to get it right)
Read/Sing/Flannel: There Was a Tree by Rachel Isadora
There was a hole (there was a hole)
In the middle of the ground (in the middle of the ground)
The prettiest hole (the prettiest hole)
That you ever did see (that you ever did see)
Oh, the hole in the ground and the green grass grew all around, all around,
And the green grass grew all around!

Add a phrase each verse until you get to:
Oh, the bug on the wing,
and the wing on the chick,
and the chick in the egg,
and the bird on the egg,
and the egg in the nest,
and the nest on the branch,
and the branch on the tree,
and the tree in the hole,
and the hole in the ground,
And the green grass grew all around, all around,
And the green grass grew all around!

Printed and laminated "flannel" pieces showing the rebus symbols from Isadora's book. Includes hole, tree, branch, nest, egg, bird, chick in egg half, wing, and bug.

I really love how meditative and calming this song is.
Song: Standing Like a Tree
Standing like a tree (start with “prayer” hands in front of your heart)
With my roots dug down, (stomp feet)
My branches wide and open; (arms reach up and out)
Come down the rain, (fingers wiggle downward)
Come down the sun, (arms go back up and then go down, hands making a circle)
Come down the fruit to a heart that is open to be… (arms go back up, hands cup and move to heart)
Standing like a tree (repeat)
Credit: Betsy Rose, motions from Fall Creek Elementary’s video

Movement/Yoga: Tree Pose
I explained that the tree pose is a good balance builder and explained how to do it, with variations to make it easier and harder. And that it’s okay to feel unsteady or fall – it’s part of the process to get stronger.

Screenshot from virtual storytime video, showing Ms. Emily in Tree Pose.

Fingerplay: Five Plump Peas
Five plump peas in a peapod pressed (make a fist and cover with the other hand)
One grew, two grew, and so did all the rest (raise all fingers on first hand one by one)
they grew, & they grew, & they grew, & never stopped (hands get wider and wider)
They grew SO BIG that the peapod… POPPED! (hands spread as wide as possible, then clap!)
Credit: Carole Stephens

Read: In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming

You might notice a lot of people wearing green tomorrow. Let’s see what we’re wearing today! (If in person, I would hand out shamrock stickers so everyone was wearing green. For virtual, I just went with it.)
Ukulele Song: I If You’re Wearing Green Today
(tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It)
If you’re wearing green today, dance a jig,
If you’re wearing green today, dance a jig
If you’re wearing green today, dance a jig, smile and wave
If you’re wearing green day dance a jig

Additional verses:
Clap your hands… Spin around… Shout Hooray!… Stomp your feet
Credit: Sunflower Storytime via Storytime with Ms. Kelly

Craft/Activity: Cutting the Grass
I saw this activity from Little Pine Learners and thought it was really clever. Kids get scissor practice, crossing the midline, the fun of discovery, and some coloring, if they wish. I made my own set of items that could be found under the grass (that pill bug was challenging but fun!), and stapled green construction paper over the top. In my take-home instructions, I encouraged parents to tape down the white part to a table or somewhere vertical, like the refrigerator to help make the cutting a little easier. Parents and kids can go on a scavenger hunt for these items in their own yard or in a park to extend the fun and learning. Download a printable PDF of the artwork here!

I also suggested these alternative titles during the permanent YouTube video.
The Croaky Pokey by Ethan Long
Gator, Gator, Gator by Daniel Bernstrom & Frann Preston-Gannon
Where Is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox & Judy Horacek

Closing Rhyme: Tickle the Stars

This storytime was presented virtually on 3/16/21.

Storytime Handout:
I had these already printed out from 2020, so I didn’t update them. (The header is different and there’s no info on our virtual storytimes). The Red Light/Green Light song was something I would have done in person, but not virtually.