Making messes and being messy are just part of life for a baby or toddler! This week we celebrated the mess and the ability to be creative while being messy, while still reiterating that after making a mess we clean up. (Though we’re going more in depth for getting clean next week.)
We don’t get our parachute out for indoor storytime often, but I thought of a few ways to tie it in. It’s always a treat, especially when we add some objects to the ‘chute to bounce around. I also went all in for our messy craft, and everyone enjoyed playing with shaving cream (and the whole room smelled like a barbershop!)
Early Literacy Tip: Messes are a fact of life for little ones. Give your child opportunities to be “messy” and play creatively, then reinforce the idea that all messes eventually get cleaned up.
Welcome Song: Hello, Friends* (TT) (TB) (FT)** †
Warm Up Song: Wake Up, Feet* (TT) (TB) (FT)
This is a repeated song that everyone seems to enjoy. I always begin and end with feet and tummies, but find two other body parts to wiggle in the middle. I rotate between elbows, cheeks, hips, noses, arms, chins, thighs, heads, shoulders, ears, knees, and fingers.
Lifting Rhyme: Toast in the Toaster* (TT) (TB) (FT)
Intro: Today we are making a mess! Do you ever make a mess? Maybe when you’re eating? Or when you go outside and play? Sometimes making messes can be fun, but it’s always good to clean up after we make a mess.
Let’s pretend to make a big mess outside – let’s make Mud Pies!
This doesn’t actually rhyme, and I struggled a bit when planning how exactly to present it. I finally settled on slowing the middle part down and making exaggerated motions, and it worked! Everyone seemed to be into it. I also changed from “mud cake” in the original to “mud pie,” which is what I always called them. Maybe a regional difference?
Action Chant: Make a Mud Pie (TT) (TB) (FT)
Make a mud pie in the mud, mud, mud (pat lap)
Digging… (digging motion downward)
Scooping… (scoop hands upward)
Patting (pat hands in air)
It’s so much fun! (hands out, emphasizing)
[Where else should we make a mud pie? How about our head!? Scoop together some mud…]
Make a mud pie on your head, head, head… (pat head)
Digging… Scooping… Patting…
It’s so much fun!
(repeat: toes, tum)
Source: Tacoma Public Library
Transition: If You’re Ready for a Story* (TT) (TB) (FT)
This is such a fun book. We tickled and mimed all the different body parts as they were mentioned, which kept everyone engaged.
Read: Applesauce Is Fun to Wear by Nancy Raines Day & Jane Massy (TT) (FT)
We added spots to Dog’s coat on the flannelboard as we read the story.
Read: Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd (TB)
Those babies got food all over them! [Dog got so messy!] A food that is especially messy for me is spaghetti! Let’s do a rhyme about spaghetti.
I mentioned that we could say “daddy” or “auntie” or “grammy” or any other appropriate word in place of “mommy.”
Action Rhyme: Spaghetti (TT) (TB) (FT)
Spaghetti on my tummy
Spaghetti on my nose
Spaghetti on my elbows
Spaghetti on my toes
Wipe it off my elbows
Wipe it off my toes
Oops, here comes mommy
I forgot to wipe my nose!
Source: Tacoma Public Library
Can you think of an animal who loves to make a mess?
For these groups I did only three pigs, which was the perfect length. This flannel is from the now-defunct (and sorely missed) Sunflower Storytime. You can download my copy of their printable below.
Counting Song: Five Pigs So Squeaky Clean (TT) (TB) (FT)
(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.
What else is pink and can make a big mess if you’re not careful?
Song: Sticky Bubble Gum (TT) (TB) (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 bubble gum 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)
Let’s get out our parachute! Can we practice a little bit with this song?
My sheet has shaker eggs on it, I just didn’t feel like making a new one. It works.
Parachute Song: Shake and Shake and STOP (TT) (TB) (FT)
We shake and we shake and we STOP
We shake and we shake and we STOP
We shake and we shake and we shake and we shake
and we shake and we shake and we STOP!
(try other motions – wave, wiggle, reach, etc)
Source: Jbrary
Let’s take a trip down the road. It’s a dirt road, so hopefully we don’t get messy!
But of course, we did!
Parachute or Bounce: A Smooth Road (TT) (TB) (FT)
A smooth road! (repeat x4) (slowly, and wave gently)
A bumpy road! (x4) (a little faster, shaking gently up and down)
A rough road! (x4) (even faster and rougher)
Oh, no! A hole! (lift parachute up and then down)
Source: Jbrary
I put in these “indoor snowballs” that we had in storage, and they LOVED seeing them bounce and pop up.
I’m hungry! Let’s make some popcorn! I’m going to put some popcorn kernels in the parachute!
Parachute or Scarf Song: Popcorn Kernels (TT) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Frère Jacques, sing each line 2x)
Popcorn kernels (wave chute)
In the pot (add pompoms)
Shake them, shake them, shake them (shake)
’til they POP! (pop pompoms up into the air)
Source: Jbrary
This is a great way to put the parachute away. I left the “popcorn” in so it would go everywhere when the parachute flew, and asked everyone to help clean up the mess when we were done.
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
Action Song: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!* (TT) (TB) (FT)
Craft: Marbled Paper with Shaving Cream (TB) (FT)
We made marbled paper, but the product was really not the point. It was a messy craft! Each kid got a tray, a smock, a half sheet of cardstock, and a craft stick. Their grownup put shaving cream in their tray and dripped a couple of drops of liquid watercolor paint in it, which they could then swirl around. I reminded them to swirl, not mix, since you want the colors to stay separate and not blend. Then they put their cardstock on top and tapped it down to make contact with the paint and cream, lifted it up and scraped off the excess cream using old empty gift cards. Then they could play in the cream! I had a couple buckets of water around the room and each table had a moistened towel to help with clean up. They put their dirty smocks in a bin and I took care of the rest. It took a lot of time to clean up after, but it was worth it! Putting plastic tablecloths on that I could just ball up and throw away helped a lot.
The finished product and the setup:
The aftermath (or “craftermath”)
Play Time
We didn’t have time for toys today after the craft!
Goodbye Song: See You Later Alligator* (TT) (TB) (FT)
Other books I had available for families to browse (and may work for you on this theme)
Splat! – Jon Burgerman
Tyrannosaurus Wrecks! – Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen & Zachariah OHora
Off-Limits – Helen Yoon
A Perfectly Messed-Up Story – Patrick McDonnell
Uh-Oh! – Rachel Isadora
Hogwash! – Karma Wilson & Jim McMullan
I’m Dirty!- Kate & Jim McMullan
Roy Digs Dirt – David Shannon
What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night – Refe & Susan Tuma
Trashy Town – Andrea Zimmerman, David Clemesha, & Dan Yaccarino
This storytime was presented in-person on 9/16, 9/17, & 9/18/24.
Storytime Handout:
*Lyrics to these songs can be found on the Repeated Songs & Rhymes page.
**These symbols indicate the program sessions I used the activities for:
(TT) Toddler Time, ages 1-2
(TB) Teddy Bears, ages 2-3.5
(FT) Family Time, ages 0-3.5
† Click the image of rhyme/song sheets to download a non-branded PDF
Storytime with Ms. Emily Library 