Looking for “royalty” songs and rhymes for the Royal Tea Party theme, I came across Miss Sarah’s Storytime Blog, where she used Elsa from Frozen to talk about colors and days of the week. I loved this concept, but I tend to shy away from licensed characters. I played around in Canva to create my own royal family. I love that you can customize SOME of the clipart by changing colors, but I seriously wish that was an option for more of their image library. Especially people – I want to be able to show diversity in my printed materials and it’s a sad fact that there are far more options for white people than BIPOC and much of the art cannot be customized. In any case, after a long time searching for similar art styles that could be customized to my liking, I had my own royal family and set of multi-colored crowns.
In storytime, I introduce this song by saying hello to the royal family and explaining who they were. I explained that the (adult) princess married a Duke and their children were the royal twins and a royal baby. Very twee, but I didn’t want to subject the King and Queen to adult children as well as an infant! We then said they don’t look very royal without their crowns, so proceeded with the song. For each verse we talked about the colors of the crowns and gemstones in them – some verses were more awkward (three-syllable amethyst was a mouthful) but I liked the extra vocabulary. Everything could easily be simplified (even to one royal who changes crowns each day).
Flannel Song: Royal Crowns (tune of Mary Wore Her Red Dress) The king wore his purple crown, purple crown, purple crown The king wore his purple crown every Monday!
The queen wore her red crown, red crown, red crown The queen wore her red crown every Tuesday!
The princess wore her emerald crown, emerald crown, emerald crown The princess wore her emerald crown every Wednesday!
The duke wore his sapphire crown, sapphire crown, sapphire crown The duke wore his sapphire crown every Thursday!
The prince wore his silver crown, silver crown, silver crown The prince wore his silver crown every Friday!
The princess wore her amethyst crown, amethyst crown, amethyst crown The princess wore her amethyst crown every Saturday!
The royal baby wore their diamond crown, diamond crown, diamond crown The royal baby wore their diamond crown every Sunday! Credit: adapted from Miss Sarah’s Storytime blog
I printed mine in color on cardstock, laminated, and put velcro on the back to work on my flannelboard. Download the template here.
This summer our library used the CSLP theme Imagine Your Story, so each week had some kind of fairy tale/fantasy theme (except for the first week, Family History). My colleague had chosen a Royal Tea Party as her theme for the family program, so I followed along with the storytime theme. This was a chance to talk about Kings, Queens, Princes, and Princesses, as well as tea. Since I’m stuck on the couch for virtual programming, I’ve been using a scarf for movement and dancing songs, but encouraging the kids to use the space they have around them.
Early Literacy Tip: When we read or sing cumulative books or songs (ones that repeat and add a growing list of items like “In the Middle of the Moat”), children start to learn how to put ideas in order. This helps them become good readers because sequencing events is one part of reading comprehension skills.
Welcome song: Clap and Sing Hello
Read: La Princesa and the Pea by Susan Middleton Elya & Juana Martinez-Neal
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
Action Rhyme: Castle Capers I am the king of running, I run and run and run. My subjects all run with me, and we have so much fun! I am the prince of turning, I turn and turn and turn. My subjects all turn with me, it’s an easy thing to learn! I am the princess of dancing, I dance and dance and dance My subjects all dance with me, and dance when they get the chance! I am the Queen of jumping, I jump and jump and jump. My subjects all jump with me, and sit down with a bump. Credit: Delta Township District Library Storytimes blog
Read: Prince Peter and the Teddy Bear by David McKee
Flannel: In the Middle of the Moat
Flannel Song: In the Middle of the Moat (tune of There’s a Hole in the Middle of the Sea) There’s a castle in the middle of the moat (clap, clap) There’s a castle in the middle of the moat (clap, clap) There’s a castle, there’s a castle, There’s a castle in the middle of the moat. (clap, clap)
Additional Verses: There’s a throne in the castle in the middle of the moat… There’s a king on the throne in the castle… There’s a crown on the king on the throne… There’s a jewel in the crown on the king… Credit: Literary Hoots
Action Rhyme: Here’s a Cup Here’s a cup and here’s a cup and here’s a pot of tea. Pour a cup, and pour a cup and drink some tea with me. Credit: Jbrary
Read: Tea Rex by Molly Idle
Flannel: Royal Crowns
I first introduced this song by saying hello to the royal family and explaining who they were. I explained that the (adult) princess married a Duke and their children were the royal twins and a royal baby. Very twee, but I didn’t want to subject the King and Queen to adult children as well as an infant! We then said they don’t look very royal without their crowns, so proceeded with the song. For each verse we talked about the colors of the crowns and gemstones in them – some verses were more awkward (three-syllable amethyst was a mouthful) but I liked the extra vocabulary. Everything could easily be simplified (even to one royal who changes crowns each day). All of the images came from Canva.
Flannel Song: Royal Crowns (tune of Mary Wore Her Red Dress) The king wore his purple crown, purple crown, purple crown The king wore his purple crown every Monday!
The queen wore her red crown, red crown, red crown The queen wore her red crown every Tuesday!
The princess wore her emerald crown, emerald crown, emerald crown The princess wore her emerald crown every Wednesday!
The duke wore his sapphire crown, sapphire crown, sapphire crown The duke wore his sapphire crown every Thursday!
The prince wore his silver crown, silver crown, silver crown The prince wore his silver crown every Friday!
The princess wore her amethyst crown, amethyst crown, amethyst crown The princess wore her amethyst crown every Saturday!
The royal baby wore their diamond crown, diamond crown, diamond crown The royal baby wore their diamond crown every Sunday! Credit: adapted from Miss Sarah’s Storytime blog
Song: Clapping in the Castle There is clapping in the castle, there is clapping all around There is clapping in the castle, mirth and merriment abound There is jumping with the jesters, there is jumping all around There is jumping with the jesters, mirth and merriment abound There is twirling in the towers, there is twirling all around There is twirling in the towers, mirth and merriment abound There is dancing on the drawbridge, there is dancing all around There is dancing on the drawbridge, mirth and merriment abound Light the candles, start the music, lords and ladies one and all With our song and dance and laughter we will fill the castle walls Credit: Nancy Stewart
Craft: Royal Crown From Oriental Trading. I usually try to present crafts that can be easily recreated with common materials, but we had a bit of a budget this summer so I opted for these glittery pre-printed crowns. Adding all of those glitter stickers works those fine motor skills, right?
Closing Rhyme: Tickle the Stars
This storytime was presented virtually on 6/23/20.
Storytime with Ms. Emily Library 