My Friendly Caterpillar

My friendly Caterpillar(Fingers crawl up arm)
Made its cocoon one day.
(close hands together)
It turned into a butterfly
(Open hands with thumbs hooked together)A
nd quickly flew away.
(flap hands)

FELTBOARD: 5 Little Ducks

5 Little ducks went out one day
over the hills and far away
mother duck said "quack, quack, quack, quack"
But only 4 little ducks came back

4 Little ducks went out one dayover the hills and far away
mother duck said "quack, quack, quack, quack"
But only 3 little ducks came back

3 Little ducks went out one dayover the hills and far away
mother duck said "quack, quack, quack, quack"
But only 2 little ducks came back

2 Little ducks went out one dayover the hills and far away
mother duck said "quack, quack, quack, quack"
But only 1 little duck came back

1 Little duck went out one dayover the hills and far away
mother duck said "quack, quack, quack, quack"
But none of the little ducks came back

Sad mother duck went out one day
over the hills and far away
Sad mother duck said"quack, quack, quack, quack"
And all of the 5 little ducks came back

Bringing Home a Baby Dinosaur

(tune of I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee)
Oh, I'm bringing home a baby dinosaur
Won't my mommy fall right through the floor?
Cause I'm bringing home a baby dinosaur.
ROAR!!!
Boy, is he noisy!

FELTBOARD: 5 Enourmous Dinosaurs

Five enormous dinosaurs, letting out a roar, One went away and then there were four. Four enormous dinosaurs, munching on a tree, One went away and then there were three. Three enormous dinosaurs didn't know what to do, One went away and then there were two. Two enormous dinosaurs having lots of fun, One went away and then there was one. One enormous dinosaur afraid to be a hero, She went away and then there were zero.

Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory Dickory Dock
(clap each word)
The mouse ran up the clock
(run fingers up arm)
The clock struck 1
The mouse ran down
(run fingers down arm)
Hickory Dickory Dock.

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck 2
The mouse said “boo”
Hickory dickory dock
(clap each word)

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck 3
The mouse said “Wheeeee!”
Hickory Dickory Dock,
Tick Tock!

5 Little Monkeys

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped his head and
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said "No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

Four little monkeys jumping on the bed

One fell off and bumped his head and
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said "No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

Three little monkeys jumping on the bed

One fell off and bumped his head and
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said "No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed

One fell off and bumped his head and
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said "No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

One little monkey jumping on the bed

He fell off and bumped his head and
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said "No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

STORYTIME: Animals

Books:

I Don't Want a Posh Dog! by Emma Dodd
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger - A wonderful book about the contrast between the animal or plant before/after it hatches/blooms. Has cutouts in the book which add interest.
Gotta Go! Gotta Go! by Sam Swope -  A little caterpillar has to get to Mexico where she will become a Monarch butterfly.
Guess What I'll Be by Anni Axworthy
Little White Dog by Laura Godwin - A great search and find book where animals are depicted in bold flat planes of color which blend with their surroundings.  A fun way to introduce negative space in illustrations.  Children enjoy trying to find the animal on each page.
Pouch by David Ezra Stein
Birds by Kevin Henkes
My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall
The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort

Activities:

The More We Get Together Song
5 Little Monkeys Song and Fingerplay
Open Them Shut Them Fingerplay
My Little Caterpillar Fingerplay

FELTBOARD: The Turnip

Once there was an old man, a very old man. He planted a turnip seed in the ground. He waited and waited and waited for the green leaves to sprout, first a little, then a lot. When the old man saw how large the leaves got he said “This is no ordinary turnip, it’s a great big, huge, enormous…..turnip.” And he grabbed the leaves and he pulled and he pulled and he pulled and he pulled.

Along came his wife and the old man said “fee, fie, fo, fout this turnip will not come out.” The old woman said “let me help” and they pulled and they pulled and they pulled and they pulled. But that turnip would not come out.

Along came their granddaughter and the old woman said “fee, fie, fo, fout this turnip will not come out”. So the old woman held onto the old man and the granddaughter held onto the old woman and they pulled and they pulled and they pulled. But that turnip would not come out.

Along came a dog and the little girl said “fee, fie, fo, fout this turnip will not come out ”
So the old woman held onto the old man and the granddaughter held onto the old woman and the dog held onto the granddaughter and they pulled and they pulled and they pulled. But that turnip would not come out.

Along came a cat and the dog said “fee, fie, fo, fout this turnip will not come out ”
So the old woman held onto the old man and the granddaughter held onto the old woman and the dog held onto the granddaughter and the cat held onto the dog and they pulled and they pulled and they pulled. But that turnip would not come out.

Along came a cat and the dogsaid “fee, fie, fo, fout this turnip will not come out ”
And the mouse said “let me help”, “hahaha” laughed the cat, “what help can a little mouse be?” “You never know” said the mouse. So the old woman held onto the old man and the granddaughter held onto the old woman and the dog held onto the granddaughter and the cat held onto the dog and they pulled and they pulled and they pulled.

AND THE TURNIP CAME OUT AND IT WAS A GREAT BIG ONE TOO

Five little Peas

Five little peas in a pea pod pressed. (hold fists in front of you with your knuckles pressed together)
1 grew, 2 grew and so did all the rest (on one hand pull one finger out of the fist at a time as you count up)
They grew and they grew (begin to pull hands apart)
And they did not stop (hands are as wide apart as possible now)
Until one day, that pod went, Pop! (Clap hands loudly)

This is the Way We Plant the Seeds

(Tune of "Mulberry Branch)

This is the way we plant the seeds

Plant the seeds, plant the seeds

This is the way we plant the seeds so early in the morning.

(Water the seeds, pull up weeds, etc.)

The farmer plants the seeds

The farmer plants the seeds

The farmer plants the seeds

Hi-ho-the-derry-o, the farmer plants the seeds.

The sun comes out to shine...

The rain begins to fall......

The seeds begin to grow...T

he farmer pulls them up...

And now we'll pull them up...

If Your Ready

(sung to "If your happy and you know it")

If your ready for a story, find a seat
If your ready for a story, find a seat
Check your hands and then your feet
If your ready, find a seat

If your ready for a story, find a seat

Bread and Butter

This chant goes in the rhythm of a clap on both knees, then a normal clap. This rhythm continues throughout the rhyme except when “saying” hello or goodbye

Bread and Butter
Marmalade and Jam
Let’s say Hello
As quietly as we can
Hello
Quietly

Bread and Butter
Marmalade and Jam
Let’s say Hello
As loudly as we can
Hello
Loudly

Bread and Butter
Marmalade and Jam
Let’s say Hello
As slowly as we can
Hello
Slowly

Bread and Butter
Marmalade and Jam
Let’s say Hello
As fast as we can
Hello
Fast

Bread and Butter
Marmalade and Jam
Let’s say Hello
As high as we can
Hello
In high voice

Bread and Butter
Marmalade and Jam
Let’s say Hello
As low as we can
Hello
In a very low voice

Shake My Sillies Out by Raffi

I'm gonna shake, shake, shake my sillies out,
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out,
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out,
And wiggle my waggles away!

I'm gonna clap, clap, clap my crazies out.
Clap, clap, clap my crazies out,
Clap, clap, clap my crazies out,
And wiggle my waggles away!

I’m gonna jump, jump, jump my jiggles out.
Jump, jump, jump my jiggles out,
Jump, jump, jump my jiggles out,
And wiggle my waggles away!

I'm gonna yawn, yawn, yawn my sleepies out.
Yawn, yawn, yawn my sleepies out,
Yawn, yawn, yawn my sleepies out,
And wiggle my waggles away,

I'm gonna shake, shake, shake my sillies out,
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out,
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out,
And wiggle my waggles away,
And wiggle my waggles away!
Hooray!

We Are Gardeners

To the tune of Farmer in the Dell

We all plant the seeds
We all plant the seeds
Heigh ho the derry-o
We all plant the seeds
Bend down to plant seeds

The sun comes out to shine
The sun comes out to shine
Heigh ho the derry-o
The sun comes out to shine
Hold hands up in the air to be the sun

The rain starts to fall
The rain starts to fall
Heigh ho the derry-o
The rain starts to fall
Use fingers to simulate rain falling

The seeds start to grow
The seeds start to grow
Heigh ho the derry-o
The seeds start to grow
Put hand through other hand to mimic plant coming out of soil

We all smell the flowers
We all smell the flowers
Heigh ho the derry-o
We all smell the flowers
Sniff flowers extravagently

This Is My Garden

This is my garden
Hold out hand
I rake it with care
Rake with fingers
And plant some flower seeds in there
Plant seeds
The sun will shine
Make other hand sun
The rain will fall
Make other hand rain
And then my garden will blossom
Growing straight and tall
Raise fingers up

I Like To Pretend

I like to pretend that I am a rose
crouch down
That grows and grows and grows.
stand up gradually
My hands are a rosebud closed up tight.
Close hands on head
With not a tiny speck of light.
Then slowly the petals open for me,
Let hands open gradually
And now I am a rose, you see!
Spread hands wide

Welcome Song

The More We Get Together

(Bob McGrath's Sing Along with Bob, Vol. 1 or Eye Winker, Tim Tinker, Chin Chopper by Tom Glazer - as suggested in I'm a Little Teapot by Jane Cobb)

The more we get together, together, together
The more we get together, the happier we'll be
For your friends are my friends
And my friends are your friends,
The more we get together the happier we'll be.
(now change to these additional verses)


The more we read together...
The more we sing together...
The more we play together...
(end by repeating the first verse)

Ice Cream Cones

5 little ice cream cones so good to eat.
The first one said, "I'm a summer time treat,"
The second one said, "It's such a hot day,"
The third one said, "I'm melting away."
The fourth one said, "Don't lose your top!"
The fifth one said, "Oh dear,"
KERPLOP!

Place last one upside down

-From The Big Book of Stories, Songs, and Sing-Alongs: Programs for Babies, Toddlers, and Families by Beth Maddigan, p.174

5 Green and Speckled Frogs

5 green and speckled frogs,
(hold up 5 fingers)
Sat on a speckled log,
eating some most delicious bugs
YUM!YUM!
(rub your tummy)
1 jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Now there are 4 green speckled frogs,
GLUB!GLUB!
4, 3, 2, 1

-From The Big Book of Stories, Songs, and Sing-Alongs: programs for babies, toddlers, and families by Beth Maddigan, p.194

Jack-O-Lantern (tune: I'm a little teapot)

I'm a jack-o-lantern (arms form large circle)
Big and Fat
I have two eyes, a nose, and a hat (point to eyes, nose, put hands on head)
Children come at Halloween (make beckoning motion)
From miles and miles
Put in a candle and (mimic the action)
Watch me smile (fingers to corners of mouth, smile)

-from Storytime for Two-Year-Olds byJudy Nichols, 3rd edition, p. 25

Green Says Go

Green says, "Go" (march in place quickly)
Go! Go! Go!
Yellow says, "Slow!" (march slowly)
Slow...slow....slow
And red says "stop!" (stop suddenly)
Go!Go!Go! (move fast)
Slow...slow....slow (move slowly)
and STOP! (stop)

Repeat and allow children to pretend they are cars driving down the street

Toddler Yoga

I have been doing 5 minutes of yoga with my story time kids for the past 2 years. There are always one or two kids who are too shy to try it out but for the most part everyone participates. I have 5 activities and always end with Lion's Breath or deep breathing. I tell the kids that these stretches will help them grow big and tall if they do them everyday. It is nice to end storytime on a quiet note as we are often loud and moving around for 40 minutes. Below you can find a list of my yoga activities. Before we start our Story Time stretches I put up a little feltboard picture of each of the 5 stretches we will be doing in order. This lets kids remember week to week what stretch we are doing and shows them sequences of events.

Yoga Journal Article on the benefits of yoga with children. “Yoga enhances their flexibility, strength, coordination, and body awareness. In addition, their concentration and sense of calmness and relaxation improves. Doing yoga, children exerci
se, play, connect more deeply with the inner self, and develop an intimate relationship with the natural world that surrounds them.”

The links below are to give you a general idea of the pose but I modify them to suit children who cannot often sit or stand in complicated yoga poses. As time goes on I will mix up the poses by doing a variation of the pose so the audience does not get bored. I do 5 different stretches and we do each one between 3-6 times.

Yoga Poses:
Butterfly: Sit with the bottoms of your feet touching. Flap your butterfly wings by moving legs up and down while still keeping feet together. I then tell the kids to "smell their feet!" as they still keep their feet together and try to touch their nose to their feet.

Dog: More advanced pose

Chair: Raise your arms straight up over your head reaching for the sky then squat pretending you have a comfy chair behind you that your sitting in.

Eagle: Slowly move your wings (arms) from your sides to a T, and then up over your head. At the top slowly bring them down to your sides again.

Airplane: Arms out to a T. Bend over at your belly with a flat back. Slowly lift one foot up and try to balance. Switch sides. It's okay if your plane hits some turbulence but try not to crash into the plane next to you.

Lion Breath: Breath like a lion, but don't roar like one. Sit cross legged. Deep breath in through the nose, and loud out through the mouth. Even really young children like doing this one.

Frog: Start out standing then squat like a frog and spring up to a jump.

Thunder & Lightening: Breath in and bring arms from your sides out and touch them together over your head. Keep arms up and take on leg and do a lunge making sure to slam your foot down yelling BOOM! (that's the thunder). Hold this pose for a few breaths.

Paint the Sky: Can be done sitting or standing. Pretend you have a paint brush in your hand. Start with your arm down by your side and bring it up and over to the other side of your body and pretend you are painting a rainbow in the sky. This stretches out your sides so do both sides.

Starfish: Arms out to a T, legs spread out to the side so you look like a star or an X. Try to balance and lift one foot at a time but keeping your leg straight so no bending your knees.

Falling Star: Get in the starfish pose. Take left hand and bend over at your belly to touch your right foot. Now do the opposite side. I often start out showing my yoga poses facing the kids, but after they try it I have my back to them so the way I do it looks like the way they do.

Ragdoll: Bend over at your belly, arms just hand, legs straight. Grab right elbow with left hand and left elbow with right hands and just hang for a moment then start slowly swaying back and forth.

Snake: Lay face down on your belly. We are slithering along and then we hear a noise so we put our hands on the ground next to us and we pop our head and chest up to find out what it is.

Warrior: See picture. But I also make them flex their muscles too!

Cat: Start on hands and knees. Suck in belly and arch your back like a cat

Cow: Start on hands and knees. Stick butt in the air and your head at the same time to mimic a cow mooing.

Shoulder Shrugs: Pretty self explanitory

Tree: Arms up over head reaching for the sky. Slowly lift one leg and hold pose for 30 seconds. Do other leg. This is a great balance pose for kids. Trees waive in the wind so it is okay to sway a little bit.

Beach Ball: Sit with your knees pulled into your chest. Wrap your arms around them and roll backwards and forwards keeping yourself as tight and round as a beachball.

Monkey: Bend down and tough your toes. Then hands to the front of your shins and keep your back flat.

Kissy Knees: Sitting with legs straight out in front of you try to kiss your knees. Be sure to make kissy noise!

Pretzel: The picture does a better job of explaining it!

Sunrise/Sunset: Same as eagle except I say the sun rises in the morning and sets at night. The motion of our arms going up and down mimics the sunrise and sunset.

Rain Storm: Sunrise pose, then bring stright arms out in front of you wiggling your fingers to simulate rain falling to touch your toes. Then do Monkey pose with a flat back and pretend to smell the flowers that just bloomed from the rain. Slowly stand up. Squat and scoop arms down to pick the flowers and spring up with a jump and throw them in the air.

books:
Little Yoga: a Toddler's First Book of Yoga by Rebecca Whitford
You Are a Lion: and Other Fun Yoga Poses by Taeeun Yoo

STORYTIME: Colors

Lemons Are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle- This book is based on the art of Franz Marc who is known for his stylized form and vivid colors. Like with and Eric Carle book you can do an inventive painting and collage art project afterward based on his style of illustration.

A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis
The Foggy Foggy Forest by Nick Sharratt
Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert
Brown at the Zoo by Christianne Jones
The Red Lemon by Bob Staak

I Dream of An Elephant by Ami Rubinger - I dream of an elephant who's color is.................. This is the question asked throughout the book and the kids can shout out the color if they know eat. Each spread is a composition made mostly of the color in question. Goes through all the colors of the rainbow.

Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin- A great story about colors and going with the flow. There is a great 3 line refrain the cat sings and the kids can sing along. A must read book.

Color Dance by Ann Jonas- A clever look at how mixing colors can create whole new colors. The kids in the book use sheer colored dance scarves to illustrate. Introduces kids to whole new colors like Magents. After reading the book give kids colored squares of tissue paper, or colored celephane to overlap to make new colors. Let the kids take the squares home with them.

Blue Goose by Nancy Tafuri - Such a great book. Fun to look at and read. Bored farm animals (why is it always farm animals?) decide to fill in their white washed world with all the colors of the rainbow.

Black Meets White by Justine Fontes - Modern, bold illustrations adorn this book with some clever cut outs and pull tab interactions. Kids love books like this. Though the story is short and perhaps a little abstract it is still very fun to look at.

Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd - A dog wanders through town picking up all sorts of splotches of color along the way. Funny and a great review of colors and counting til ten.

Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood- An owl wakes up in the daytime and sees all the colors of the world. Story is nothing special but the illustrations are wonderful.

Fingerplays & Activities:
Green Says Go Activity

Books to Use for Story Time

Over the Meadow by Olive Wadsworth
A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis
The Bunnies are Not in Their Beds by Marisabina Russo
The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani
Drat that fat Cat! by Pat Thomson
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Panda Whispers by Mary Beth Owens
Ten in a Bed by Jan Ornmerod

Where are the baby mice?

Where are the baby mice? (make a fist)

"Squeak, squeak, sqeak!"

I cannot see them (peer into fist)

Peek!Peek!Peek!

Here they come from their hole in the wall

1,2,3,4,5....(point to fingers)

And, that's all! (point to empty palm)

Stop, Look, and Listen

Stop! (hands in front, palms out)

Look! (hands shade eyes)

and listen!(hand cups eyes)

Before you cross the street, (look both ways)

Use your eyes (point to eyes)

Use your ears (point to ears)

And then use your feet (point to feet and nod head)

The Wheels on the Bus

The wheels on the bus go
Round and round,
Round and round, Round and round,
Roll hands
The wheels on the bus go
Round and round,
All through the town

The people on the bus go
Up and down,
Up and down, Up and down.
Bounce up and down

The money on the bus goes
Clink, Clink, Clink;
Clink, Clink, Clink; Clink, Clink, Clink.
Tap fingers on each other

The driver on the bus says
“Move on back”
“Move on back”, “Move on back”
point thumb back over shoulder

The babies on the bus go
“Wah, Wah, Wah,;
Wah, Wah, Wah,; Wah, Wah, Wah,
Imitate babies crying

The mother on the bus say
“sh, sh, sh;”
“sh, sh, sh;””sh, sh, sh”
put finger to lips

The windows on the bus go
Up and Down,
Up and Down, up and down.
Raise and lower hands

The wipers on the bus go
Swish, Swish, Swish,;
Swish, Swish, Swish,; Swish, Swish, Swish,
Palms face out and wipe back and forth

The horn on the bus goes
Honk, Honk, Honk,
Honk, Honk, Honk,; Honk, Honk, Honk,
Use palm to honk horn

The wheels on the bus go
Round and round,
Round and round, round and round..
The wheels on the bus go
Round and round
All through the town

Five little Peas

Five little peas in a pea pod pressed. (hold fists in front of you with your knuckles pressed together)
1 grew, 2 grew and so did all the rest (on one hand pull one finger out of the fist at a time as you count up)
They grew and they grew (begin to pull hands apart)
And they did not stop (hands are as wide apart as possible now)
Until one day, that pod went, Pop! (Clap hands loudly)

Get Your Wiggles Out

Wiggle your finger, wiggle your toes

Wiggle your shoulders, wiggle your nose

Now all my wiggles are out of me

I can sit down and be wiggle free!

When I stretch up

When I stretch up, I feel so tall

When I bend down, I feel so small

Tall, tall, tall, small, small, small

Tuck yourself into a ball

Bunny

Here is a bunny, with ears so funny

And this is his hole in the ground

When a noise he hears, he perks up his ears

And hops in his hole in the ground

Apple Tree

Way up high in the apple tree, two red apples smiled at me

I shook that tree as hard as I could

Down came the apples and they were really good!

Popcorn

I am popcorn in a pot don't forget my top

Pretty soon I'll sizzle, sssstttttttttttt

And after that, I'll pop!

The Elephant

An elephant goes like this and like that (stamp and sway back and forth)

He's terribly big and hes terribly fat (make big arm gestures indicating height and weight)

He has no fingers (wiggle fingers)

He has no toes (stomp feet)

But goodness gracious, what a nose! (use arm as elephant trunk, noise optional!)

Itsy Bitsy Spider

The itsy, bitsy spider crawled up the water spout

Down came the rain and washed the spider out

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain

So the itsy, bitsy spider climbed up the spout again

I'm a Little Teapot

I'm a little teapot, short and stout

Here is my handle, here is my spout

When I get all steamed up, hear me shout!

Just tip me over and pour me out.

Open Them, Shut Them

Open them, (hands held in front)
shut them, (close hands)
give a little clap (clap)

Open them,
shut them
put them in your lap (lay hands in lap)

Creep them, creep them (wiggle fingers slowly up the body)
Up to your chin (stop hands at chin)
Open your mouth (open wide, fingers on chin)
But do not let them in!(shut mouth, fling hands forward)

Ten Reason for Fingerplays

1. Appreciation for song, poetry, humor

2. Awareness of concepts like counting, shape, size

3. Skills for listening, following directions, memory

4. Narrative skills, vocabulary, phonological awareness

5. Large and small motor skills

6. Order and sequence

7. Opportunities to move, wiggle, stretch

8. Smooth transitions between stories and books

9.Self expression and self awareness

10. Rhythm, rhyme, music