Sing a Story Storytime for Families

Our kiddos are movers and shakers. It doesn't matter the weather or moon phase, THEY WILL BE BOUNCY. Sometimes it's hard to find interesting books that will keep their attention long enough and other times, well... we find that throwing the books out the proverbial window makes for the best storytimes.

Since we are still a library and we still need to introduce books and literacy I created a sing a story storytime perfect for those kiddos who just want to move.

What does that involve? I'm sure you've guessed it: books that were adapted from a song. Think Raffi and Bob Marley. Here is my go-to plan for a Sing a Story Storytime:

Opening Song: These Are My Glasses Before introductions and guidelines, this song is played to kick off the storytime hour.

(Spoken): Hello! I see you through my glasses Can you put on a pair of glasses? Let’s put them down

Oh! I’ve got a book! Put your hands together, You can make a book too! And then you can open it – oooop! Oh my goodness! There’s a pink snake in there! Shut that book!

Let’s look inside again – open it up – oooop! Oh my goodness, there’s a purple dinosaur Close the book!

(Sung x3): These are my glasses, this is my book I put on my glasses and open up the book Now I read, read, read And I look, look, look I put down my glasses and Whoop! Close up the book!

These are my glasses, this is my book

Opening Rhyme: Little Mouse, Little Mouse There are so many different renditions out there but the rhyme is simple and easy to use:

Little Mouse,

are you in the

[have children raise a hand or shout out a color]

house?

I like to keep the houses off the felt board once they've been called. It reinforces subtraction as well as allowing the mouse to stay on the board until we're ready to move to the next felt.

Listening Body Song: Stop and Go

We always have a talk about our listening bodies. I ask what they think a listening body is and have them demonstrate a nonlistening body. Then, I ask the children (and their adults) to put on their listening ears (make sure they screw them on and tune them to frequency).

From there I say, "Let's put those listening ears to the test" and play the Stop and Go song. This song has them tapping their hands on their lap and waiting to freeze before taking a deep breathe in and out.

Listening Hands Song: Open, Shut Them

You can always do Open, Shut Them on your own. If you do it this way I suggest making them do it LOUD first then follow it as a whisper. The whisper usually sets the tone for the rest of the story. This song I have trimmed down for time's sake and have it end at the first verse. I would love to do the whole song though.

Open shut them, open shut them. Give a little clap, clap, clap. Open shut them, open shut them. Put them in your lap, lap, lap. Creep them, crawl them Creep them, crawl them Right up to your chin, chin, chin Open wide your little mouth. . . Ahhhhhhh! But do not let them in.

LOUD and quiet LOUD and quiet Louder, LOUDER Shh… Quiet. LOUD and quiet LOUD and quiet LOUD!!!!! Shh… Quiet.

Open, shut them, open shut them Give a little clap clap clap Open, shut them, open shut them Put them in your lap lap lap Creep them, crawl them, creep them, crawl them Right up to your nose, nose nose Creep them, crawl them, creep them, crawl them Right down to your toes, toes, toes!

Shake them, shake them, roll them, roll them Make them into fists, fists, fists Shake them, shake them, roll them, roll them Then you blow a kiss kiss kiss. (Muah!)

Book: Pete the Cat and the Itsy Bitsy Spider

A super fun book that introduces Itsy Bitsy as a spider who can't make it to the roof because of the rain. Pete and his friends cheer her on as she continues to try. It's a quick read and if you have a storytime room you can get the children to cheer along with them.

Book: Old MacDonald Had a Farm Gris Grimly books are so much fun and Old MacDonald Had a Farm is so much fun. It can be long for little ones so I suggest keeping the book rolling. Before starting the story I like to see how well the children know their animal noises. Tell them this book will have some surprises as well. When the bear is revealed watch the children's faces. It's priceless.

Song: Slippery Fish (Octopus by Charlotte Diamond)

An amazing coworker made us a felt version of this song so it's used right along with the song. On each final gulp, the animal is taken off the board and replaced by its preditor. This is a great Jbrary video on the motions of the song. The children love this song.

Slippery fish, slippery fish sliding through the water Slippery fish, slippery fish Gulp, gulp, gulp oh no, its been eaten by a...

octopus, octopus squiggling in the water octopus, octopus gulp, gulp, gulp oh no, its been eaten by a...

tuna fish, tuna fish flashing through the water tuna fish, tuna fish gulp, gulp, gulp oh no its been eaten by a...

Great White Shark, Great White Shark lurking in the water Great White Shark, Great White Shark gulp, gulp, gulp oh no, its been eaten by a...

Humongous whale, humongous whale spouting in the water Humongous whale, humongous whale gulp, gulp, gulp (burps)

Song: Singing in the Rain Okay, Ms. Allison always does this dance and it's so funny and the children laugh so hard while dancing I knew I had to incorporate it. It's so fun.