For this storytime, I wanted to focus on all the yummy snacks we get to eat over the summer. Especially, with fourth of July coming up where we get to pig out on all these delicious treats.
Here’s what we did:
I usually start with many of the same warm ups:
Song – Top of the Morning
This is a good song to warm up with because we stretch all the parts we will be using in storytime. Eyes, arms, legs, mouth, nose.
ASL – Hello Friends
I like to use sign language in my story time. We go over the signs for: Hello, Friends, Time and Say. Thanks to Jbrary for this one!
Song – Hokey Pokey
Once we were warmed up we did a little hokey pokey to shake things up.
From here we get into our theme.
ASL – Food/Eat, More, Ice Cream, Summer
I like to teach my my kids a few American Sign Language signs at the start of every storytime. This helps foster communication and with a large deaf community in our town it’s a great tool to have.
Movement Rhyme – Two Green Apples
Way up high in an apple tree
(Raise Arms High)
Two green apples smiled at me.
(Big Exaggerated Smiles)
So I shook that tree as hard as I could,
(Pretend to Shake tree)
And down fell the apples. Mmmm, they were good!
(Rub Tummy)
Story – The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle’
A colleague of mine has this one in lap theater format. I borrowed it for this storytime.
Song – We’re Going on a Picnic by Raffi
This is a fun little song to give my voice a little break. And picnics are fun!
Flannel / Movement Exercise – Ice Cream Scoop
The kids use their fists, one for the cone and one as the ice cream scoop and we count as we add ice cream to the cone.
First we need a cone, Nice and crunchy
Then we need some ice cream, Sweet and yummy,
Scoop ’em on; stack ’em on’ Up to the sky
We love ice cream; my, oh my!
First comes vanilla, Cold and sweet
Then comes chocolate A delicious treat.
Here’s some strawberry; Orange sherbet, too,
One scoop, two scoops,
Three scoops, four
We love ice cream Let’s have some more!
A super-duper scooper cone Just for you!
Story – The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli
I used my Alligator puppet to tell this story. He had a felt watermelon to eat and at the end he “spits” a seed (crumpled ball) into the audience.
Game – Stoplight freeze dance
I created red, yellow and green circles on popsicle sticks.
When I held up the green, they’d drive their cars. Yellow and they would drive in slow motion. Red and they would have to freeze in place.
I showed them in different orders and at different paces to make it more fun. A freeze dance for cars!
Movement Rhyme – Banana’s Unite
This is the silliest, cheerleader-esq, movement rhyme
Bananas unite (place arms over head) Bananas split (open arms and place at sides) Peel banana, peel, peel banana (move to left) Peel banana, peel, peel banana (move to the right) Bananas to the left (circle arms to the left) Bananas to the right (circle arms to the right) Peel it down the middle and (uh) take a bite (grab and pull from out in front of you)
Story – Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems
Ice cream is an iconic summer snack, so of course I had to include it. I also had cut outs of Elephant and Piggy from a display I did a while back, so I thought I could pin them up when I do this story.
Song w/ Shakers – Mr. Sun
We just shake our shakers and dance. By this point in storytime we just need to dance!
Finally, I always end with the same three things:
Movement Exercise – If You’re Happy and You Know It
I tell the kids that I want to know how happy they are.
ASL – Goodbye Friends
We learn to say goodbye in ASL and use the same signs and song as our hello.
Song – Goodbye, So Long, Farewell my Friends by Music Together
I always put this one on as I go to open the door. Its a nice, slow, peaceful song to wind down on.
How’d it go: This one went pretty well. A decent crowd with lots of little, little ones this time. Everyone put up with my use of the lap theater for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which I feel like I need three hands for, and fun was had by all. We got a little fidgity toward then end and could have used another song. Other than that a good storytime.
That’s all for now!
-M-