Books:

Sheep Blast Off by Nancy Shaw

Here in Space by David Milgrim

I Want to Be an Astronaut by Byron Barton

Find These Books on The Heights Library Catalog

Rhymes & Fingerplays:

Moon Ride (this is a great opener!)

Do you want to go up with me to the moon?

Let’s get in our rocket ship and blast off soon!

Faster and faster we reach the sky

Isn’t it fun to be able to fly?

We’re on the moon, now all take a look

Sit back down, and I’ll read you a book

Five Little Stars

Five little stars

In the sky with even more

One shot off

Then there were four

Four little stars

Winking at me

One shot off

Then there were three

Three little stars

With nothing to do

One shot off

Then there were two

Two little stars

Afraid of the sun

One shot off

Then there was one

One little star

Alone is no fun

It shot off

Then there were none!

Five Astronauts

Five brave astronauts floated into space

The first one disappeared without a trace

The second one somesaulted past the moon

The third one entered the atmosphere too soon

The fourth one took off counting ten to zero

And the fifth one landed safely like a hero

Going to the Moon

Get in the spaceship

We’re going to the moon, going to the moon, going to the moon

Get in the spaceship

We’re going to the moon

Let’s count down right now

5-4-3-2-1 BLAST OFF!!!!

We’re flying to the moon…

We’re walking on the moon…

We’re going back home…

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Zoom, zoom, zoom we’re going to the moon

Zoom, zoom, zoom we’re going to the moon

If you’d like to take a trip

Climb aboard my rocket ship

Zoom, zoom, zoom we’re going to the moon

5-4-3-2-1 BLAST OFF!!!

The Sun is in the Sky (tune: The Farmer in the Dell)

The sun is in the sky, the sun is in the sky

Hot and bright, it gives us light

The sun is in the sky

The moon is in the sky

The moon is in the sky

Around and round the earth is goes

The moon is in the sky

The stars are in the sky

The stars are in the sky

Twinkly bright, they shine at night

The stars are in the sky

Craft:

We made a space scene using black construction paper and different colored chalk.  The kids were able to draw stars, the moon, the sun, rockets, and whatever else they wanted in their space scene.

Books:

Pirates, Ho!  by Sarah L. Thomson

I Love My Pirate Papa by Laura Leuck

Pirate Piggywiggy by Christyan Fox

Find These Books on the Heights Library Catalog

Rhymes and Fingerplays:

If You’re a Pirate and You Know It

If you’re a pirate and you know it, swab the deck (swish, swish)

If you’re a pirate and you know it, swab the deck (swish, swish)

If you’re a pirate and you know it, then you’ll hear the sea winds blowin’

If you’re a pirate and you know it, swab the deck (swish, swish)

If you’re a pirate and you know it, walk the plank (stomp, stomp)….

If you’re a pirate and you know it, say ahoy….

One-Eyed Jake

I’m one-eyed Jack the pirate chief

A terrible, fearsome ocean thief

I have a peg upon my leg

I have a hook and a dirty look

I’m one-eyed Jake the pirate chief

A terrible, fearsome ocean thief

The Day I Went to Sea

When I was one

I sucked my thumb

The day I went to sea

I jumped aboard a pirate ship

And the captain said to me

We’re going this way

And that way

We’re going forward

And backward

It’s a pirate’s life for me!

When I was two, I tied my shoe…

When I was three, I scraped by knee…

When I was four, I shut the door…

When I was five, I danced a jive…

Ten Little Pirates

Ten little pirates stood in a row

They bowed to their captain so

They marched to the left

They marched to the right

They shouted yo ho ho

and gave their captain a fright!

 Activity:

I hid three different “X’s” around the storytime room and showed the children a map with three “X’s” on it.  I told the children that we need to follow the X’s to find a treasure that waited for us at the end.  When it was time, I had the children  find and point to the X in the room with the signified number on it.  Behind each X was a clue to the next activity that we would do during the storytime (for example, the first X had a picture of a boat behind it.  We then sang the song, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”).  The last X had a clue that told the children to search around for the hidden treasure.  They searched and found a gold chest with free stickers inside!  Each child was able to take home stickers, which many of them used to decorate their craft.

Craft:

A pirate isn’t complete without his hat.  This week we made pirate hats that the kids decorated and wore.  I found a nice pirate hat template at Craft Jr.  This template also comes with an eye patch, if you wanted to make that as well.  Parents cut out the hat and the two long strips under the hat.  Then the two strips were taped or stapled to each side of the hat and taped together at the back of the head.  The kids then decorated the hat with sequins, feathers, tissue paper, and markers.  Arrrggh, doesn’t it look swashbuckling?

Books:

Cat Skidoo by Bethany Roberts

I Love Cats by Sue Stainton

Kitty’s Cuddles by Jane Cabrera

Click Here to Find These Books on the Heights Library Catalog

I have a cat

My cat is fat

I have a cat

It wears a hat

I have a cat

It caught a bat

I have a cat

Purrrrrrr!  Meow!

I’m a Little Kitten (Tune: I’m a Little Teapot)

Right up on your lap, I like to hop

I purr, purr, purr and never stop

Five little kittens standing in a row

They nod their heads to the children, so

They stand and stretch in the bright sunlight

Along comes a dog, looking for some fun

Meowww! Meowww!

See those kittens run!

Color Cats (I printed out and used colored cats for this rhyme)

When the cat that is red

Is finally fed

He raises his head

And says, “Meow!”

When the cat that is blue

Has nothing to do

He comes up, too

And whispers, “Meow!”

When the cat that is yellow

Is feeling mellow

He tends to stretch

And bellow, “Meow!”

When the cat that is green

When I say he can really “Meow!”

Okay, little cats

Let’s hear some “Meows”  (encourage the kids to give out their best meows!)

And now it’s time

For curtsies and bows

Craft:

Each child received a paper lunch bag and we created cat puppets.  Children were able to decorate the lunch bag any way they wanted to: they could draw on a face, cut out ears and tails from construction paper and glue them onto the lunch bag, and glue a colorful, sparkly pom pom for the cat’s nose.

The cats turned out very cute and the kids had a blast playing with them!  Meow!!

Books:

Do Like a Duck Does by Judy Hindley

Five Little Ducks by Ivan Bates

Just Ducky by Kathy Mallat

Click Here to Find These Books and more on the Heights Library Catalog

Rhymes and Fingerplays:

Quack, Quack

 Now I’m up

Now I’m down

See me waddle all around

Put my hands behind my back

Like a duck I’ll say “quack quack”

Two Little Ducks

Two little ducks sitting on a hill

One named Jack, one named Jill

Fly away Jack, fly away Jill

Come back Jack, come back Jill

Little Duck

I am a little duck that goes quack, quack, quack

And I’ve got lots of feathers on my back, back, back

And when I go down to the lake

I wiggle and I wobble and I shake, shake, shake

And when I go to sleep at night

I close my eyes so very tight

But in the morning when I wake

I wiggle and I wobble and I shake, shake, shake

Funny Ducks  

This funny duck went waddle, waddle, waddle

This funny duck went paddle, paddle, paddle

This funny duck went quack, quack, quack

This funny duck wiggled its tail in the back

And this funny duck, the very last

Jumped in the water and went splash, splash, splash

Art:

We made simple ducks using yellow, orange, and blue paper.  The blue paper served as our background.  We used the yellow to make our ducks.  The ducks were made of simple shapes: a circle for the head, a half circle for the body, and a smaller half circle for the wing.  I found a template for the shapes at http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/animals/farm/shape-duck.asp, but you can also just create your own shapes.  We used the orange paper to cut out triangles for the ducks’ beaks.

We put our ducks together and glued them onto the blue paper.  Children were encouraged to make as many ducks as they liked, in various sizes.  We then decorated our ducks with google eyes, feathers, and markers.

We completed our project by drawing a peaceful and picturesque scene around our ducks.

Books:

Hurray for Spring! By Patricia Hubbell

Peek-a-Bloom by Marie Torres Cimarusti

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

Click Here to Find these Books and more on the Heights Library Catalog

Rhymes and Fingerplays:

Planting Seeds

First you take the seed and you plant it in the ground (pretend to plant seeds in hand)
Next a rain cloud comes and waters all around (Use one hand to simulate rain)
Next the sun shines brightly, wouthout a sound (use fingers like sun)
And in just a few days, a flower is found (open hand like flower)

Daffodils

One little daffodil had nothing much to do,
Out popped another one, then there were two.
Two little daffodils were smiling at a bee,
Out popped another one, then there were three,
Three little daffodils were growing by the door,
Out popped another one, then there were four, 
Four little daffodils were glad to be alive,
Out popped another one, then there were five,
Five little daffodils were wearing golden crowns,
They danced in the breeze in green satin gowns.

Art:  Children were given various supplies to create their own spring scenes!  They made beautiful gardens and flowers out of paper, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, markers and foam bugs.

Books:

“What Does Bunny See?” by Linda Sue Park

“Bunny and Me” by Adele Aron Greenspun and Joanie Schwarz

“Wee Little Bunny” by Lauren Thompson

Click Here to Check Out These Books on the Heights Library Catalog

Rhymes:

Here Comes a Bunny

Here comes a bunny, hip-hop-hop

See how his long ears, flip-flop-flop

See how his nose goes, twink-twink-twink

See how his eyes go wink-wink-wink

Funny Bunny

Here is a bunny (raise two fingers)

With ears so funny

And here is a hole in the ground (make hole w/ fingers of other hand)

At the first sound she hears

She pricks up her ears (straighten fingers)

And pops right into the ground (put fingers in hole)

The Bunny Pokey

You put your right paw in

You take your right paw out

You put your right paw in

And you shake it all about

You do the Bunny Pokey

And you hop all around

That’s what it’s all about!

Follow with:

You put your left paw in…

You put your pink nose in…

You put your floppy ears in…

You put your cotton tail in…

You put your whole bunny in…

Craft:

We made peeking bunnies using a paper plate, construction paper, glue, and markers.

First we traced and cut out two handprints from green construction paper.  We placed our paper plate “eating side” down and glued the handprints to the bottom of the plate.

Then we cut out two bunny ears from another sheet of construction paper.  I made my bunny’s ears pink, but some of the kids had other ideas and we had bunny ears in blue, yellow, white, black, orange, and so on.

We then glued the ears on the top, back of the plate.  Finally we drew some “peeking” eyes on our bunny, using a black marker.

Voila, we’re done!

Books:

“Farmyard Beat” by Lindsey Craig

“Farmer Nat” by Chris L. Demarest

“Charlie the Chicken” by Nick Denchfield

 Click Here to order these Books on the Heights Library Catalog

Songs:

“Old Macdonald Had a Farm” from Songs for Wiggleworms and Toddler Favorites

“Baa Baa Black Sheep”  from Songs for Wiggleworms and Toddler Favorites

“Five Little Ducks” From 100 Toddler Favorites

“B-I-N-G-O” from 100 Toddler Favorites

“Farmer in the Dell”

“Down on Grandpa’s Farm” from Raffi’s One Light One Sun

“Put a Chicken on your Head” from Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael’s Groovy Green

Rhyme:

Five Little Pigs

Five Little Pigs rolled in the mud,
Squish, squash, squish it sure felt good,
The farmer took a pig out, and cleaned him up nice.

Four Little Pigs rolled in the mud,
Squish, squash, squish it sure felt good,
The farmer took a pig out, and cleaned him up nice.

Three Little Pigs rolled in the mud,
Squish, squash, squish it sure felt good,
The farmer took a pig out, and cleaned him up nice.

Two Little Pigs rolled in the mud,
Squish, squash, squish it sure felt good,
The farmer took a pig out, and cleaned him up nice.

One Little Pig rolled in the mud,
Squish, squash, squish it sure felt good,
The farmer took a pig out, and cleaned him up nice.

No little pigs rolled in the mud,
They all looked nice and clean,
The farmer turned his back and what do you know!
All those little pigs jumped back in the mud!

Art:

We all made a “Pig of Many Pinks” (idea found from everythingpreschool.com)!  Everyone received a print-out of a picture of a pig.  We laid out all the supplies we had lying around that were pink, including yarn, tissue paper, foam shapes, jewels, pipe cleaners, crayons and more.  Children made collages out of their pigs to give him a pink color.  They turned out beautiful!

Books:

“Birds” by Kevin Henkes

“Little Green” by Keith Baker

“Feathers for Lunch” by Lois Ehlert

Click Here to Order These Books on the Heights Library Catalog

Rhymes:

I used two bird puppets to present this rhyme, while the kids followed along using their hands.  The original rhyme is “Two Little Blackbirds,” but since I had brown birds I recited it as “Two Little Birds”

Two Little Birds

Two little birds sitting on a hill

One named Jack, one named Jill

Fly away Jack, fly away Jill

Come back Jack, come back Jill

I Saw a Little Bird   (we stood up and did the actions to this one together)

I saw a little bird go hop, hop, hop

I told that little bird to stop, stop, stop

I went to the window to say “How do you do?”

He just shook his little tail, and far away he flew!

Art:

We made bright, sparkly peacocks.  I gave the kids a peacock body shape (from http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/animals/birds/peacock-craft.asp), which I had cut out from blue construction paper.  We gave our peacocks beaks and feet cut out from orange construction paper and decorated them using feathers and rhinestones.

Have you seen a prettier bird?

Books:

“I’m Your Bus” by Marilyn Singer

“The Wheels on the Bus: A Book with Parts that Move” by Paul Zelinsky

“Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” by Mo Willems

Click Here to Order These Books on the Heights Library Catalog

Rhymes:

One Lonely Bus Driver (We did this great rhyme using a flannel board and finger puppets)

One lonely bus driver all alone and blue
He picked up a passenger and then there were two.
Two people riding, they stopped by a tree
They picked up a passenger, and then there were three.
Three people riding, they stopped by a store
They picked up a passenger, and then there were four.
Four people riding, happy and alive,
They picked up a passenger, and then there were five.
Five people riding open swung the door
Four passengers got off the bus,
The driver’s alone once more.

School Bus

School Bus, School Bus,
Coming Down the Road,
Picking Up the Children,
What a Happy Load

The Bus

There is a painted bus, 
With twenty painted seats, 
It carries painted people 
Along the painted streets. 
They pull the painted bell, 
The painted driver stops, 
And they all get out together 
At the little painted shops.

Songs:

The Wheels on the Bus

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.
(Roll hands over each other)

The wipers on the bus go “Swish, swish, swish,”
(Put arms together in front of you and’swish’ like windshield wipers)

The horn on the bus goes “Beep, beep, beep”
(Pretend to honk horn)

The baby on the bus says, “Wah, wah, way!”
(Fisted hands in front of eyesand rub them like baby crying)

The people on the bus say, “Shh, shh, shh,”
(Put pointer finger to mouth to ‘shhh’)

The mommy on the bus says, “I love you,”
(Point to self on ‘I’,right hand over heart on ‘love’, andpoint to other on ‘you’)

Transportation Song

(to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)

Twinkle twinkle traffic light 
 Standing on the corner bright 
 Red means stop green means go 
orange  means go slow 
 Twinkle twinkle traffic light 
 Standing on the corner bright

Bus Song

(to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel)

I drive the bus around the town 
I stop at every corner 
My blinking lights and breaks go on 
Swish goes the door 
A dollar for a ride around town 
A quarter for a transfer 
Put your money in the slot, 
Swish goes the door

Art:

When we showed the children the flannel board of the bus, we talked about the different shapes on a bus (rectangular windows, circular wheels, etc.).  This helped them make their very own buses out of different shapes cut out of paper.  They glued the shapes together to make the bus and then decorated faces using markers

We saved “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” for last and let the children have their own cut-outs of our special Pigeon for their paper buses if they wanted to include him on the bus (or outside the bus, if they didn’t give in to Pigeon’s pleadings!).

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Books we Read:

“The Very Busy Spider” by Eric Carle

“The Grouchy Ladybug” by Eric Carle

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book” by Eric Carle

Click Here to Order these books and other books by Eric Carle on the Heights Library Catalog

Song:

To go along with “The Very Busy Spider”, we sang the song, “Spider on the Floor” from Raffi’s Singable Songs Collection.  I used a spider puppet to play along with the song and the children used bean bags.

Fingerplay:

Itsy Bitsy Spider

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Went up the water spout

Down came the rain 

and washed the spider out

Out came the sun

and dried up all the rain

and the itsy bitsy spider

Went up the spout again

Rhyme:

To go along with “The Grouchy Ladybug,” we used lady bug cut-outs with this rhyme:

(sung to the tune of “Farmer in the Dell”)

The Ladybug has spots,

The Ladybug has spots,

Can you count the number of this ladybug’s spots?

Fingerplay:

A Ladybug on Me (This is a great opener and can be used with a puppet)

One, two, three, there’s a ladybug on me!

Where did she go?

She’s on my toe

Where did shy fly?

She’s by my eye

Where did she land?

She’s on my hand

Now my hands are in my lap, so quiet and flat

And we’re ready for our stories, just like that!

Art Activity:

with strips of paper and colored tissue paper, we made collages in the style of Eric Carle’s illustrations.  It was a lot of fun to see the colorful artwork that the children came up with all by themselves!

To watch a great video about how Eric Carle makes his artwork, watch here!