Tag: scarves

Preschool Storytime: Bathtime

Posted on by msemilylibrary

What a fun theme! You get to combine bubbles, body parts, and bath toys into one!

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

Early Literacy Tip: Bath time is a wonderful opportunity to encourage play and imagination! You can be pirates or sea turtles, or you can use bubbles to practice fine motor skills and finger dexterity. Learn more ways bubbles can be beneficial here: http://mamaot.com/11-benefits-of-playing-with-bubbles/

Welcome Song: We Clap and Sing Hello

Fingerplay: Bubbles
A small bubble (make a circle with your fingers)
A medium sized bubble (make a large circle with your hands)
A great big bubble I see (make a large circle with your arms)
Now let’s count them, are you ready?
1 –2 – 3 (make 3 circles again)
POP! (clap hands loudly once)
Credit: Sunflower Storytime

Read: Time for a Bath by Phillis Gershator & David Walker

Scarf Warmup:
Wave your scarves high, then low
Wave them fast, then slow
Count to three and throw them in the air, then CATCH!

Scarf Song: This Is the Way We Wash Our Head
(tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush)
This is the way we wash our head
Wash our head, wash our head
This is the way we wash our head
So early in the morning
(repeat and “wash” different body parts with scarf – as Abby says in her original post, this is a great opportunity to introduce or reinforce less common body part language – “thigh,” “ankle,” “elbow,” “shoulder,” “jaw,” etc.)
Credit: Abby the Librarian

Scarf Song: Washing
(tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes)
Wash your head, shoulders, knees and toes (knees and toes)
Wash your head, shoulders, knees and toes (knees and toes)
Wash your eyes and ears and mouth and nose –
Wash your head, shoulders, knees and toes (knees and toes)
(repeat and speed up)
Credit: adapted from the traditional

Read: How Do You Take a Bath? by Kate McMullan & Sydney Hanson

Flannel Song: Five Elephants in the Bathtub
One elephant in the bathtub, going for a swim
Knock, Knock (clap, clap)
Splash, Splash (pat knees twice)
Come on in! (motion with both hands to come in)
(repeat up to five)

Five elephants in the bathtub, going for a swim
Knock, Knock (clap, clap)
Splash, Splash (pat knees twice)
They all fell in! (wave arms wildly)
Credit: traditional, flannel pattern from Sunflower Storytime

Flannel for Five Elephants in the Bathtub. Includes bathtub and 5 elephants: green, yellow, orange, purple, and blue.

Do you have any toys you like to play with in the tub?
Read with Flannel: Who’s In the Tub? by Sylvie Jones & Pascale Constantin

Flannel Game: Memory – What’s Missing?
Once again, I was inspired by the awesome Sunflower Storytime. I used her template but made a couple of adjustments to make the pieces look a little more like the ones in the book. The biggest change was the seal and the octopus. I HAVE to have an eight-armed octopus. 🙂 For the game after reading the book, I ask the kids to look closely at the pieces, then everyone closes their eyes and one piece is removed for them to guess/remember.

Flannel for "Who's in the Tub" book. Includes bathtub, little boy, striped ball, yellow seal, green turtle, pink octopus, yellow duck, and blue whale.

Bubble Song: Bubble, Bubble, Pop!
(if you have bubbles, this is a great song to use them with)
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; you can change to different bath toys like “one little blue boat floating on the water” or change the number and/or color of fish)
Credit: Jbrary

Ukulele or Recorded Song: Rubber Ducky
Credit: Sesame Street
As a ukulele song, Rubber Ducky is certainly not easy. It’s a jazzy tune with lots of interesting chords: the dreaded E natural, 7ths, augmented, diminished, etc. I took an “easy” version (15 chords!) and stripped it down even further. There are still 10 chords, and very few of them are common, though most are not hard shapes to make with gCEA tuning. And thankfully, they mostly flow from one to another fairly naturally with some practice. (I had most trouble with G#7 to C#m). Give it a try, it’s fun!

Get a downloadable ukulele songsheet for “Rubber Ducky” here!

thumbnail of Rubber Ducky Ukulele songsheet

Craft: Bubble Wrap Painting
Borrowing once again from Sunflower Storytime! For the take and make packets, I included a small amount of blue paint in a little 2 oz cup, a paper plate to spread the paint on, a strip of bubble wrap taped end to end to make a “cuff” that kids could put over their hand, the bathtub print out from Sunflower Storytime, and a yellow duck cut out. I encouraged kids to also draw other details like themselves or their other favorite bath toys in the scene. I didn’t make a sample for this, just borrowed the photo from Sunflower Storytime’s page.

Bubble wrap craft - bathtub with blue painted bubbles and a yellow duck. Image from Sunflower Storytime.

I also suggested these alternative titles during the permanent YouTube video.
Bath! Bath! Bath! by Douglas Florian & Christiane Engel
Get Out of My Bath! by Britta Teckentrup
Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure by Derek Anderson

Closing Rhyme: Tickle the Stars

This storytime was presented virtually on 1/12/21.

Storytime Handout:

Rhyme sheet with book suggestions

Preschool Storytime: Autumn

Posted on by msemilylibrary

Storytime fell on the official first day of autumn, so it seemed natural to make that our theme today. This is a very basic theme, but I actually struggled planning it because it seemed like so many of the songs and rhymes were so alike. I planned to do individual sessions on apples and pumpkins, so I saved those, and everything else seemed to be variations on the falling leaf motif! I tried to mix it up a little bit, even though three activities were about leaves. Making two of them scarf songs kept it more interesting in my view. I borrowed heavily from Sunflower Storytime’s plan – even though I had pulled from many sources in my planning stage, hers just worked well for me and the flow of the stories! In my mind, our arc went from nonfiction, to a fictional title about nature, to a fictional title about human traditions.

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

See other versions of this theme from 2023 and 2025.

Early Literacy Tip: Factual books are a great way to expand children’s knowledge about the world. You can read the whole book or choose certain pages your child might be interested in. In fact, it’s perfectly okay to read only parts of a book, or to just focus on the pictures. You can adapt the experience to your child’s interest and attention span.

Welcome Song: We Clap and Sing Hello

Read: selections from Awesome Autumn by Bruce Goldstone
I paper-clipped some pages together, and read just the larger font sentences after talking about the early literacy tip. We did include the information about birds migrating, which helped transition to our first rhyme.

Each bird is one who migrates for the winter.
Fingerplay: Two Little Bluebirds
Two little bluebirds sitting on a hill
One named Jack and one named Jill
Fly away Jack, fly away Jill
Come back Jack, come back Jill

Two little blackbirds in the corn crop
One named Bottom and the other named Top
Fly away Bottom, fly away Top
Come back Bottom, come back Top

Two little geese sitting on a stick
One named slow and one named quick
Fly away slow, fly away quick
Come back slow, come back quick
Credit: traditional, adapted

Fingerplay: Autumn Leaves
Leaves are falling from the trees (Flutter fingers down)
Yellow, brown and red.
Falling, falling from above.
One landed on my head! (Hands on head)
Credit: Sunflower Storytime

What happens in nature during fall?
Read: In the Middle of Fall by Kevin Henkes & Laura Dronzek

Scarf Song: Autumn Leaves are Falling Down
(tune of London Bridge)
Autumn leaves are falling down (flutter scarf down)
Falling down, falling down
Autumn leaves are falling down
All around the town

Additional verses:
The wind will blow them round and round… (twirl in a circle)
Take a rake and rake them up… (use scarf as a scoop)
Now let’s jump into the pile… (jump and throw scarf)
Credit: Sunflower Storytime

Scarf Song: Leaves Are Twirling
(tune of Frère Jacques)
Leaves are twirling, leaves are twirling
All around, all around
They are falling softly, very, very softly
To the ground, to the ground
Credit: Sunflower Storytime

The next book talks more about the traditions that one family has during autumn – look to see which ones you recognize and which are new to you. Perhaps you’ll want to start some new traditions inspired by this book!
Read: I Know it’s Autumn by Eileen Spinelli & Nancy Hayashi

Action Song: Scarecrow, Scarecrow
(tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)
Scarecrow, scarecrow, turn around
Scarecrow, scarecrow, touch the ground
Stand up tall and blink your eyes
Raise your hands up to the sky
Clap your hands, then tap your knees
Turn around and stomp your feet

Scarecrow, scarecrow, touch your toes
Scarecrow, scarecrow, tap your nose
Swing your arms so very slow
Now really fast to scare the crows!
Touch your head, jump up and down
Now sit down without a sound
Credit: Adventures in Storytime

Flannel Rhyme: Blue is the Sky
Blue is the sky, Yellow is the sun
Silver are the stars, When the day is done
Orange is the leaf, Brown is the tree
Red is the apple, For you and me
Credit: Mel’s Desk

flannel of Blue is the Sky: a light blue blob, yellow sun, two silver stars, an orange leaf, a brown tree with no leaves (mounted on a tan blob), and a red apple.

Craft: Tissue Paper Autumn Tree
A simple but pretty craft that allows kids to work their grip muscles by crunching up pieces of tissue paper. Liquid glue seems to work best for this. I printed a bare tree on blue construction paper. If you aren’t sure how to print on construction paper, I highly recommend learning! Makes a lot of crafts much easier!

I also booktalked these alternative titles during the permanent YouTube video.
Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall & Shari Halpern
When Autumn Falls by Kelli Nidey & Susan Swan
Fall Mixed Up by Bob Raczka & Chad Cameron

Closing Rhyme: Tickle the Stars

This storytime was presented virtually on 9/22/20.

Storytime Handout:

Preschool Storytime: Country Life

Posted on by msemilylibrary

When I first thought about doing a City Life/Country Life duo for storytime, I thought that it would be really easy to find books about country life. But as I was clarifying in my mind what I really wanted to present, I realized that the books I wanted were much harder to identify. Of course, books about “farm life,” especially from the perspective of farm animals, are everywhere. That’s the bread and butter of children’s picture books, it seems. However, I really wanted to show a realistic view of living in the country from a child’s or family’s perspective. I eventually found a few books that worked well for me, and a couple as backup.

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

Early Literacy Tip: Learning shapes and practicing manipulating them as we do in our tractor craft this week is an important early literacy skill. A child who is able to distinguish between shapes is better equipped to notice the differences in shapes of letters. This helps not only with reading but also with writing.

Welcome Song: We Clap and Sing Hello

Lifting Song: The Country Song
Oh, the country is great and the country is grand!
There are not a lot of buildings on a whole lot of land.
And we live way out by the forest and the trees.
We grow a lot of vegetables and maybe keep some bees.

We put the seeds in the earth, we take the vegetables out
(repeat 3 times)
And we dance and shout!
Credit: Jbrary

Tickle Rhyme: Here Is the Beehive
Here is the the beehive (show fist)
But where are the bees?
Hidden away where nobody sees
Watch and you’ll see them come out of the hive
1, 2, 3, 4, 5… (show fingers) They’re alive!
Buzz buzz buzz! (tickle)
Credit: Jbrary

Read: Green On Green by Dianne White & Felicita Sala
A beautiful book that shows a family through the seasons in different settings of their country home – a pond, the seashore, by trees, picnicking in a field with friends. Some may notice that the mother’s belly grows through the seasons until a new baby is subtly included in the last pictures.

Scarf Song: Picked a Strawberry
(tune of Clementine)
Picked a strawberry, picked a strawberry (“pick” your scarf)
That was growing in the sun. (raise arms with scarf to make a round sun)
Then I washed it, and I ate it, (“scrub” with scarf and pretend to take a bite)
And I picked another one. (pick again)
Repeat with other foods: apple, grape, tomato, blueberry, etc
Credit: Jbrary

Scarf Rhyme: Way Up High in the Apple Tree
Way up high in the apple tree, (pull scarf up through hand)
I saw two apples looking at me (make fists with scarf in one hand)
I shook that tree as hard as I could (shaking motion)
Down came the apples, and mmmm, they were good! (drop scarf, rub tummy)
Credit: traditional

Read: Hey, Hey, Hay! by Christy Mihaly & Joe Cepeda
This simple rhyming text shows a modern farm with modern equipment, a mom and daughter who work it, and explains why and how hay is made. I love that it mentions the traditional haymaker’s punch, or switchel, and includes a recipe as well as glossary of terms.

Lap Bounce: Bumpin’ Up and Down in My Little Red Tractor
(bounce child, then lift, hug, or lean on the last line)
Bumpin’ up and down in my little red tractor (repeat 3 times)
Won’t you be my darlin’?

Additional verses:
Mowin’ down the grass in my little red tractor… (bounce or “steer” tractor)
Takin’ a break for cake and switchel… (bounce or pretend to eat & drink)
Baling up the hay in my little red tractor… (bounce or roll arms)
Credit: adapted by Ms. Emily from the traditional “Bumpin’ Up and Down in my Little Red Wagon”

A lot of people in the country drive a pickup truck. It’s useful for hauling things like supplies for the farm. Here’s a story about Farmer MacDonald and his wife – they want to buy a new truck.

Folder Story: Farmer MacDonald’s Truck
Farmer McDonald and his wife go to town to buy a new truck. But each time the truck sales person offers a different color truck, it is never right. First he shows them a red truck and Farmer McDonald says:
“Oh no, that won’t do, please bring me a truck that is BLUE”
“No no, you are being mean, please bring me a truck that is GREEN”
“No no,” said Old McDonald with a gurgle, “Please bring me a truck that is PURPLE”
“No, no, I think….- I’d like to see a truck that is PINK”
“I can’t drive that bright truck around town! Please show me a truck that is BROWN”
“No, that’s just not the truck I have pictured in my head. Let’s try a truck that is RED”
“Yes, yes! That one wins the race! Why didn’t you show me that in the first place?!”
and The McDonalds drive back to the farm in their new truck.
Credit: The LibraryAnn

Picture of manila folder with a truck outline cut out, with black tires. Paper inside the folder changes the color of the truck.
Farmer MacDonald’s Truck

Read: The Old Truck by Jerome Pumphrey & Jarrett Pumphrey
Story of a truck owned by a family of farmers, that worked hard but grew old. The young girl who begins the story grows older and eventually restores the truck to be used again with her own family. Great simple story of an African-American farming family.

Action Rhyme: Open the Truck Door
(act out rhyme)
Open the truck door, climb inside
I get to help my mommy drive!
Fasten the seat belt and shut the door
Start the engine, hear it roar
Turn the corner and step on the gas
If the road is clear, we may pass.
Credit: Librarian Lisa

Craft: Shape Tractors
Assemble a tractor and cart with simple shapes, then add cotton balls to represent hay bales.

I also booktalked these alternative titles during the permanent YouTube video.
Birdsong by Julie Flett
Why Are You Doing That? by Elisa Amado & Manuel Monroy
Pond by Jim LaMarche

Closing Rhyme: Tickle the Stars

This storytime was presented virtually on 9/8/20.

Storytime Handout:

Handout with booklist, rhymes, and songs.