Sometimes I look back through themes I did at my old library. Sometimes they make me hungry! Here’s another in-person redo of a theme I only ever did virtually before.
Our program happened to land on Pi Day (and the day before and after) entirely accidentally. What a perfect tie-in!
Early Literacy Tip: Play gives you and your children lots of opportunities to pretend. As you are playing with your children, make a point of adding in a word or two they may not know, like “kneading” dough or “ladling” sauce. Children will find it easier to remember these words because they are hearing them and using them while being involved in imaginative play.
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 shoulders and fingers.
Lifting Rhyme: Toast in the Toaster* (TT) (FT)
Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big* (FT)
Intro: There’s a really important holiday in March, does anyone know what it is? It’s Pi Day! You’ll learn more about Pi the number someday, but today we’re celebrating the very best pie of all, the pizza pie! [this got laughs from the grownups]
I adapted this one to be a little more specific to pizza.
Action Song: I Am Hungry
(tune of Frère Jacques)
I am hungry, I am hungry
Grumble, rumble, Grumble rumble (rub tummy)
I think I’ll eat some pizza, I think I’ll eat some pizza
Yum, yum, yum! Yum, yum, yum! (mime eating)
Source: librionyian
Fingerplay: Pat A Cake Pizza Man
Pat a cake, pat a cake, pizza man
Make me a pizza as fast as you can
Roll it, Toss it, and sprinkle it with cheese
Put in the oven And bake it fast please!
Source: Mansfield/Richland County Public Library (OH)
Transition: If You’re Ready for a Story* (TT) (TB) (FT)
Not everyone acted out everything, but there was lots of kneading the dough and sprinkling of pretend cheese!
Read: Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig (TT) (FT)
This one didn’t go over as well, perhaps the group was too distracted to really connect the pictures with the very simple text.
Read: Pizza Party! by Grace Maccarone & Emily Arnold McCully (TB)
Tickle: Pizza Pickle Pumpernickel (TT)
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
I get that the writer of this rhyme didn’t want to repeat colors, but that means we leave out the most popular topping (red pepperoni) and the cheese is orange, which looks a little odd. I think next time I might redo the cheese as white, and make a couple more blobs of it. At first I was kind of dreading making tons and tons of little topping pieces, but realized that I really only need 3 or 4 of each to make the pizza look full, even if that would be terrible coverage on an actual pizza!
Rhyme: Pizza, Pizza, What Do You See? (TT) (FT)
Pizza dough, Pizza dough what do you see?
I see red sauce covering me
Red sauce, Red sauce, what do you see?
I see white mushrooms being added to me
continue with different colored ingredients, such as black olives, brown sausage, green peppers, purple onions, yellow pineapple, red pepperoni, and end with orange white cheese, then:
Orange cheese, orange cheese, what do you see?
I see a yummy pizza that looks good to me.
Yummy pizza, yummy pizza what do you see?
I see hungry children THAT ARE GOING TO EAT ME!
Source: King County (WA) Library System
Action Rhyme: Pizza Maker, Pizza Maker Turn Around (TT) (TB) (FT)
Pizza maker, pizza maker turn around
Pizza maker, pizza maker touch the ground
Pizza maker, pizza maker give the dough a toss
Pizza maker, pizza maker ladle on the sauce
Pizza maker, pizza maker sprinkle on the cheese
Pizza maker, pizza maker touch your knees
Pizza maker, pizza maker put it in the oven
Pizza maker, pizza maker press the oven button
Pizza maker, pizza maker rub your tummy
Pizza maker, pizza maker eat some pizza! Yummy!
Source: Jen in the Library
Rhythm Sticks Intro: Let’s practice our rhythm sticks. Rest them on our shoulders, tap fast and loud, soft and quiet, rub them together, roll them in a circle (TB)
This is a good warmup for rhythm sticks and gets everyone involved.
Rhythm Stick Song: Count the Beat (TB)
(tune of Wheels on the Bus)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10
8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8… 9… 10!
Source: Sarah French
There are lots of versions of this on YouTube. I especially liked how she went on a walk and saw a cat, dog, bee, and alligator!
Rhythm Sticks Song: The Pizza Song (TB) (FT)
(tune of Skip to My Lou)
Roll, roll, roll the dough,
Roll, roll, roll the dough
Roll, roll, roll the dough,
Roll the dough together! (put both sticks on the ground and roll)
Stir, stir, stir the sauce… (use sticks to stir in a circle)
Spread, spread, spread the sauce… (roll one stick on the ground using 2nd)
Grate, grate, grate the cheese (rub 1 stick down the other)
[Chop some veggies/pepperoni, anything you like]
Chop, chop, chop-chop-chop (tap 1 stick on horizontal 2nd)
[Put it in the oven, set timer, let’s go for a walk!]
Lou, lou, skip to my lou… (swing arms with sticks in them)
[Ding, the timer went off! Our pizza is ready, take it out of the oven. Cut a slice, in a triangle, then eat it]
Source: Harbor Preschool Music YouTube
Flannel/Clapping Song: P-I-Z-Z-A (FT)
(tune of B-I-N-G-O)
There is a treat that’s good to eat and pizza it its name-a
P-I-Z-Z-A! P-I-Z-Z-A! P-I-Z-Z-A!
And pizza is its name-a
(spoken) Oh yum! I’m gonna eat one!
There is a treat that’s good to eat and pizza it its name-a
(clap)-I-Z-Z-A! (clap)-I-Z-Z-A! (clap)-I-Z-Z-A!
And pizza is its name-a
(Continue until you are clapping all the letters.)
Credit: Jen in the Library
I used Jen in the Library’s post as a template, but decided to make my pizza slices double-sided, based on the background color of my felt board. The opposite side of the full slice looked like just the pizza crust that was gnawed on, effectively becoming a placeholder for our claps. I like the way it turned out!
We’ve eaten some pizza, now my body is asking for a little movement.
Action Song: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes (TT) (TB) (FT)
(start slow and repeat, speeding up)
Head, shoulders, knees, and toes (knees and toes!)
Head, shoulders, knees, and toes (knees and toes!)
Eyes and ears and a mouth and nose!
Head, shoulders, knees, and toes (knees and toes!)
Source: traditional
Action Song: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!* (TT) (TB) (FT)
Craft: Pizza Pretend Play Kit
I gave everyone the option to either glue down their pieces to make an actual craft, or to pick out pieces to put in a little baggie to “make” pizzas at home for their families. The toppings were just foam shapes we had – I cut down much larger pieces into smaller pieces that were either square or triangular or thin strips based on what ingredient they represented. The sauce is a wavy shape of construction paper, and the cheese is short pieces of yarn. Craft idea adapted from Storytime Katie..
Play Time
The toddlers have two laundry baskets of baby toys – rattles and cars, sorters and stackers, toy phones and spinners. For the older kids, I have foam blocks, soft food toys, puzzles, and a few other items that are a little more sophisticated than the baby toys. For Family Time, I gauge the overall age of the group and put out what seems right for them. We play for 5-10 minutes at the most, then I ring the bell and ask the kids to help me clean up. I think the clean up bit is good practice for them!
Goodbye Song: See You Later Alligator* (TT) (TB) (FT)
Goodbye Rhyme: Tickle the Stars* (TT) (TB) (FT)
Other books I had available for families to browse (and may work for you on this theme)
Secret Pizza Party – Adam Rubin & Daniel Salmieri
How to Eat Pizza – Jon Burgerman
Pizza Day – Melissa Iwai
Every Night Is Pizza Night – J. Kenji López-Alt & Gianna Ruggiero
Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza) – Philemon Sturges & Amy Walrod
The Pizza That We Made – Joan Holub & Lynne Cravath
Pizza Pig – Diana Murray & Maria Karipidou
Little Nino’s Pizzeria – Karen Barbour
The Princess and the Pizza – Mary Jane Auch & Herm Auch
Pete the Cat & the Perfect Pizza Party – Kimberly & James Dean
This storytime was presented in-person on 3/13, 3/14, & 3/15/23.
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 with Ms. Emily Library 