I don’t know about you, but I tend to eat most of my year’s worth of cookies in December, which makes it a perfect time to do a cookie theme!
See another version of this theme from 2022.
Early Literacy Tip: Groups of items like our cookie feltboard (where there is a mix of colors, sizes, and shapes of the same kind of item) give a great opportunity to practice some early math skills. We can count, compare, practice recognizing shapes and colors, build descriptive vocabulary, and more. Try asking about differences and similarities, sizes, and what ifs like how many cookies should cow buy if she wants to get a cookie for herself and a cookie for her friend? adapted from Storytime in the Stacks
Welcome Song: Hello, Friends*
Warm Up Song: Wake Up, Feet*
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*
Intro: Today we’re going on a sweet adventure, because we’re celebrating cookies! It’s the time of year when people like to bake sweet treats for each other. Who here likes cookies? Who’s made their own cookies before?
Let’s pretend we’re in a big kitchen today, and all of us are the bakers. Can we put our chef’s hats on for this first rhyme?
Action Rhyme: Pat-A-Cake (Cookie Edition)
Pat a cake, pat a cake, Baker’s man
Bake me a cookie as fast as you can
Roll it, And pat it, and mark it with a “C”
And put it in the oven for you and me!
Source: adapted from the traditional
Transition: If You’re Ready for a Story*
Fun rhyming, with opportunities to make farm animal noises and a repeated phrase to encourage interaction.
Read: The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson & Marcellus Hall
A book about all the people who are involved in the making of cookies, from the farming of the wheat to sewing the oven mitts. I didn’t end up using it, but a good backup.
Read: Who Put the Cookies in the Cookie Jar by George Shannon & Julie Paschkis
There are a lot of steps to making cookies. Do you still have your baker’s hat on? Let’s get out a big mixing bowl (curve arm to the side). We’ll start by pouring out some flour.
I tried to imitate actual cookie making while still having a different motion for each verse.
Action Song: This Is the Way We Make Cookies
(tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush)
This is the way we pour the flour, (shaking motion into the “bowl”)
Pour the flour, Pour the flour
This is the way we pour the flour
To make our cookie treats
additional verses:
Mix butter & sugar… (stir)
Spoon the dough… (scoop)
Bake the dough… (two hands forward into an “oven”)
Cool the cookies… (wave hand or blow)
Eat the cookies… (ASL for eat)
Source: original piggyback
We made some delicious looking cookies! Should we put them in our bakery and see who might want to buy one?
I have six felt cookies (template from Storytime Shorts!), and we started there (even though the rhyme sheet says five). When we got to the last cookie, I asked the cow if she was still hungry, and she shook her head no. “There’s one cookie left – let’s save it for later in our cookie jar.” So I “put” the cookie in a toy picnic basket we have and walked behind the easel, then stuck the cookie in the mouth of my alligator puppet, as a set up for “Who Took The Cookie” later.
Counting Rhyme: Down Around the Corner
Down around the corner at the bakery store
Were six sugar cookies with frosting galore!
Along came a cow looking for a treat…
She saw those cookies and she took one to eat!
Source: Storytime Shorts
Should we make some special cookies? How about gingerbread people?
Action Rhyme: Mix and Stir
Mix and stir and pat in the pan
I’m going to make a gingerbread man
With a nose so neat and a smile so sweet
And gingerbread shoes on his gingerbread feet
Source: Jbrary
Let’s check on our last cookie. OH NO, it’s GONE!
So much drama! The adults all knew this and chanted along. I used puppets I had: Kitty, Frog, Bear, and last, Alligator. Alligator came out with the cookie in his mouth, and when he said “not me” it fell on the floor to great hilarity. I asked if we should let Alligator eat the cookie, and both of my groups said no! So I took the cookie and told him he should find something else to snack on.
Puppet Rhyme/Game: Who Took the Cookie?
Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?
Kitty took the cookie from the cookie jar
Meow, me? Yes, you! Not me! Then who?
Repeat with any animal puppets you may have.
Source: adapted from the traditional
Let’s clean up!
I actually mimed this as cleaning the bowl and our faces, but gave the belly option for littles.
Tickle Rhyme: Round The Batter Bowl
Round & round the batter bowl (circle on baby’s belly)
One, two, three! (gentle poke on each number)
A little here, a little there (touch both cheeks)
As tasty as can be! (tickle or nibble baby’s belly!)
Source: Storytime in the Stacks
At this point I handed out our cookie props – laminated cardstock cookies with various colored frosting. I asked everyone to take a look at their cookie and talk with their grownup about how it looks, including what color it is.
Prop Activity: Cookie Colors
Who has a red cookie? Green? (all the colors) Who has a ROUND cookie? (everyone!)
Download a template of the cookies here!
A good action rhyme for any props – I’ve used it for penguins, bunnies, and more!
Action/Prop Rhyme: Cookies Up!
Cookies up! Cookies down!
Hold your cookie & turn around
Cookies up! Cookies down!
Wave your cookies all around
Source: adapted from One Little Librarian (no longer published)
Raise your cookies when you repeat a phrase!
So this is a fun song to sing and play, but it does require a little set up. I let the group know that the song sounds best if they repeat the end phrase (“cookie crumb” in the first verse) in a high pitched voice, and they could raise and wave their cookies when they did that. We practiced a time or two and the song went perfectly! I wanted to make the song a little longer, so made up the second and third verses. I’m particularly proud of the “mustachy” couplet!
Ukulele/Prop Song: I Wish I Were a Little Cookie Crumb
(tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It)
Oh, I wish I were a little cookie crumb (cookie crumb!)
Oh, I wish I were a little cookie crumb (cookie crumb!)
I’d go crumby, crumby, crumby over everybody’s tummy
Oh, I wish I were a little cookie crumb (cookie crumb!)
additional verses:
Oh, I wish I were a little chocolate chip (chocolate chip!)…
I’d be melty and sweet and leave chocolate in your teeth…
Oh, I wish I were a cold glass of milk (glass of milk!)…
I’d go splishy, splishy, splashy and leave you a cute mustachy…
Source: vs 1, North Mankato Taylor Library (MN), vs 2 & 3, Ms. Emily
Get a downloadable ukulele songsheet here!
You know who else loves to eat cookies? Cookie monster!
This was made with a fairly high resolution picture of Cookie Monster, printed on cardstock and laminated, then attached to an empty tissue box covered in blue paper. We sang the song to Cookie Monster first, then I asked if anyone wanted to feed their cookie to him, since he was VERY hungry! A good way to collect the props – just be sure to make lots of growly “nom nom nom” noises when he’s eating!
Prop Song: C is For Cookie
C is for cookie, That’s good enough for me
Yes, C is for cookie, That’s good enough for me
C is for cookie, That’s good enough for me
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie – Starts with C!
Source: Sesame Street, From the Album “Sesame Street Platinum All-Time Favorites”
Action Song: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!*
Craft/Activity: Homemade Play Dough
Not exactly a craft, but my colleague made some homemade play dough (undyed so it looked like cookie dough) and we set out a bunch of cookie cutters and let the kids play with it. There was a little quarter-sheet handout with the recipe on it (from Jessica Etcetera) they could take home and make. It’s a cooked recipe so we couldn’t do it in the library. It stayed nice and soft for the four days we used it, and on the last day I offered it to anyone who wanted to take some home.
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*
Other books I had available for families to browse (and may work for you on this theme)
A Big Mooncake For Little Star – Grace Lin
The Smart Cookie – Jory John & Pete Oswald
Cookies For Elmo – Erin Guendelsberger & Ernie Kwiat
Cookie Time – Jessie Sima
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie – Laura Numeroff & Felicia Bond
Stop And Smell The Cookies – Gibson Frazier & Micah Player
The Cookie Vote – Margaret McNamara, Daniel Bernstrom, & G. Brian Karas
The Cookie Fiasco – Dan Santat
Who Took the Cookies from the Cookie Jar? – Bonnie Lass, Philemon Sturges, & Ashley Wolff
The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School – Laura Murray & Mike Lowery
This storytime was presented in-person on 12/17 & 12/18/25.
Storytime Handout:
*Lyrics to these songs can be found on the Repeated Songs & Rhymes page.
† Click the image of rhyme/song sheets to download a non-branded PDF
Storytime with Ms. Emily Library 