Here’s an incomplete & ever-expanding blogroll of our favorite programming songs from across the web! Miss. Sam’s videos below were recorded during the pandemic for Randolph County Public Library Storytimes; songs used are time stamped and linked to their original artists. Songs are not our property, unless otherwise indicated.
Has Spring sprung at your local library? If it has, I’m sure there’s an endless rotation of gardening story times to go around, but I love a good Peter Cottontail sing-along in Springtime.
To preview the songs we sing at the intro and outro of our Storytimes, visit our “Favorite Programming Songs” post under the Children’s Services tab, or under Themes.
Talking Points:
For those who celebrate Easter, they are often visited by the Easter Bunny! Has anyone seen a bunny before? Can you tell me what a bunny looks like?
How does a bunny move, can you show me?
Can you make your hand look like a bunny, now can you make it hop?
Why does the Easter Bunny hide eggs for us to find? (Kids can come up with some amazing answers to this one.)
Read: The Easter Bunny’s Assistant by Jan Thomas
Video by Storytime at Awnie’s House
Fingerplay: Here Is A Bunny
Here is a bunny with ears so funny (two fingers in a peace sign to make ears)
And here is his hole in the ground (other hand makes a circle)
At the first sound he hears, he pricks up his ears (peace sign fingers wiggle and perk up)
And hops in the hole in the ground (bunny hand jumps into the circle of your other hand to hide)
Read:The Easter Egg by Jan Brett
Video by Reading Rhino
Sing: Little Bunny Foo Foo (Nursery Rhyme)
Little bunny Foo Foo, Hopping through the forest, Scooping up the field mice, And bopping them on the head.
Down came the good fairy, And the good fairy said, “Little bunny Foo Foo, I don’t wanna see you, Scooping up the field mice, And bopping them on the head.”
“I’m gonna give you 3 chances, Then I’m gonna turn you into a goon!”
(I’ll give you 2 chances, 1 more chance…)
What do you think happened to Little Bunny Foo Foo?
Read: Chester’s Colorful Easter Eggs by Teresa Smythe
Video by Ishan’s Story House
Felt Activity: Chester’s Eggs Matching Game! I copied the eggs from Chester’s Colorful Easter Eggs and made my own felt pieces to coincide with the book. As Chester’s eggs are revealed, I add the matching egg to the felt board. When the book is done, I have 6 eggs! Make sure the eggs are numbered for the extension activity below.
The activity below helps children work on predictions and context. Explain to the children–“Listen to a story about a child, then pick the egg you think the child in the story would like best!”
First story: Pepper loves the color Purple! She wears purple pants, purple print shirts, and only eats purple things. Eggplants and Grapes! (P for Purple) Pepper’s egg is egg number…?
Second story: Owen loves to play with flowers and he grows a garden of daisies all year round. (O for Orange) Owen’s egg is egg number…?
Third Story: Robin just loves Easter, it’s his favorite time of year. He loves listening to the birds chirping outside his window at all hours of the day. Sometimes he takes binoculars and watches them chirp in their nests. (R for Red)
Fourth Story: Gina takes loves to play soccer! She comes home with grass stains all over her pants and shirt from sliding to kick the ball. She loves playing outside. (G is for Green)
Fifth Story: Yasmine loves to write letters for the holidays to her friends and family. All of her greeting cards have big, huge letters that say “HAPPY HOLIDAYS” on them, with swirly, pretty handwriting. (Y for Yellow)
Sixth Story: Bobby fishes with his grandfather every Tuesday. They go out on the boat when it’s really, really early, and the sun isn’t quite up yet. Then they put their lines in the water and wait for fish to bite. It’s Bobby’s favorite time of the week. (B for Blue)
Imagination Play:
Hide eggs around the room for children to find on an Easter Egg Hunt.
If you have a large group, give recommendations for the children: “find three eggs and bring them back to the storytime corner!” That way all the children have an equal chance of finding eggs.
Count the eggs all together.
Sort the eggs by color.
Craft: Craft a basket using strips of pre-cut construction paper! RedTedArt has a great tutorial on this. The children can use the basket they make to use on the Easter Egg Hunt, mentioned in the Imagination Play portion of the storytime.
Learning Outcomes:
Children will work on inference and prediction making.
Children will use chants and cadences to improve phonological awareness.
Children will work on fine motor skills, visual cues and counting up.
And that’s the End: I really enjoy a good “hunt” in the library, whether that’s an egg hunt, a treasure hunt, or a bear hunt! Watching the children go totally wild over a group mission is simply bliss. Parents love seeing their kids get so excited, and the nature of a hunt means that children are running, playing, seeking, and associating–the highlights of a good storytime, in my opinion.
Xīn nián kuài lè! 新 年 快 乐 Happy New Year! Chinese New Year is one of the most important celebrations in Chinese culture, and has influenced the Lunar New Year celebrations of many East and Southeast Asian cultures. It’s a great way to introduce the concept of children being citizens of the world.
Talking Points:
What are some ways you celebrate New Years with your family?
Chinese New Year celebrations have many interesting traditions. Some families gift each other money in red envelopes to bring luck and good fortune for the year. Often you’ll see the color red during Chinese New Year celebrations, because it’s a lucky color–in traditional stories, it scares away the bad dragon Nian and welcomes a good year.
Chinese New Year celebration usually begins during the new moon between Jan 21 and Feb 20th, and lunar festivals last for fifteen days.
Dragon dance is a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture. The dance is performed during big festive celebrations, like the lunar new year! It is performed by a team of experienced dancers who manipulate a long flexible giant puppet of a dragon using poles positioned at regular intervals along the length of the dragon. We’re going to make our own Dragon puppet as a craft later in Storytime!
Read: Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim
Video by Children’s Books Read Aloud
Sing: If you’re A Dragon and you Know it! (to the tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It)
If you’re a dragon and you know it, Show your claws. If you’re a dragon and you know it, Show your claws. If you’re a dragon and you know it, And you really want to show it, If you’re a dragon and you know it, Show your claws. (Have the kids tell you what other traits dragons have and make up new verses with these traits. Examples: swish your tail, say “rooooar”, stomp your talons.)
Play: Throw a coin into the lion’s mouth for good luck! This is a great game for kids of all ages, especially for the toddlers (if you can prevent them from trying to eat the coins right away). We purchased these coins on Amazon, printed a lion head and used a bucket for the mouth. Image below for inspiration!
Read: Chinese New Year Colors by Rich Lo
Video by Mrs. Kim’s Building Blocks
Scarf Activities: As you read Chinese New Year Colors, pair colorful scarves with the colors depicted in the book. Raise the red scarf, yellow scarf, blue scarf, etc.
Sing: Wave Your Scarf Up and Down (to the tune of London Bridge, as seen on Jbrary)
Wave your scarf up and down, up and down, up and down
wave your scarf up and down, wave your scarf!
Wave your scarf back and forth, side to side, in a circle, etc.
Read: Bringing In The New Year by Grace Lin
Video created by Happy Cultivated
Craft: We crafted dancing dragons from Red Ted Art! Red Ted Art includes a free print out for crafting a dancing dragon puppet. All you need is the template, construction paper, scissors, tape or glue, and some popsicle sticks.
Learning Outcomes:
Children will learn about a Chinese celebration, increasing their knowledge of global communities. Families will have the opportunity to participate in cultural traditions, opening dialogue and comparisons of New Years celebrations around the world.
Children will practice kindergarten readiness such as color work, critical thinking, fine motor skills and gross motor skills.
Our Chinese New Year Celebration program: We hosted an all-ages family friendly Chinese New Years event at our library this year. We were so grateful to have a Chinese American volunteer who brought significant knowledge to our event and helped us plan and deliver programming. In consideration of COVID regulations, we created activity stations throughout an open room and allowed children and families to walk-through our displays and participate in activities at their leisure. The program lasted and hour and was attended by over 65 adults and children. We were so excited and grateful for this opportunity.
Our activity stations included:
Toss a Coin in the Lion’s Mouth, as described in the storytime above.
Red Envelopes given to every participant, packed with gold coins wrapped in red string
Lucky Red Art, where children learned about the impact of the color red and created their own red talisman (free create)
Red Lantern Craft. Children crafted a simple red lantern and learned about the significance of lanterns in Chinese culture.
Learn to write Chinese characters. Our volunteer taught children how to write the word “spring” with brushes and scrolls she brought to the event.
The Zodiac Race. We played a slideshow on a smart screen which told the story of the zodiac animals. Children could then try to put the zodiac animals in order of how they won the race.
Zodiac Fortunes for Teens/Adults. The teen department created zodiac bookmarks which provided fortunes to patrons based on the year they were born.
Traditional Clothing. Our volunteer provided traditional formal clothing from China.
Book displays. We provided a children, teen and adult book display around our activity stations to support literacy initiatives and extend the experience for patrons.
And that’s the End: I can’t believe how amazing our Chinese New Years programs turned out to be this year. It’s all thanks to our amazing volunteer and our totally enthusiastic staff at the library. Every department pitched in, from Circulation to Youth Services to Reference. Not only did we bring a program we could feel proud of, but the community really enjoyed it and saw value in what we were doing. Hope you’re all having a new year full of luck, good fortune, and good health.
I’m not sure I can give this book enough praise. It’s nothing like anything else I’d read in 2021, and if it’s being compared to other post-pandemic novels of the apocalyptic variety, it’s because readers are weary of the dreaded. derivative COVID-diaries. This incredibly prolific collection of short stories is anything but derivative. It’ll take up space in my mind forever and remains firmly lodged into my top ten.
In 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work of his recently deceased daughter at the Batagaika Crater, where researchers are studying long-buried secrets now revealed in melting permafrost, including the perfectly preserved remains of a girl who appears to have died of an ancient virus.
Once unleashed, the Arctic plague will reshape life on Earth for generations to come, quickly traversing the globe, forcing humanity to devise a myriad of moving and inventive ways to embrace possibility in the face of tragedy. In a theme park designed for terminally ill children, a cynical employee falls in love with a mother desperate to hold on to her infected son. A heartbroken scientist searching for a cure finds a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects—a pig—develops the capacity for human speech. A widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter embark on a cosmic quest to locate a new home planet.
From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead to interstellar starships, Sequoia Nagamatsu takes readers on a wildly original and compassionate journey, spanning continents, centuries, and even celestial bodies to tell a story about the resilience of the human spirit, our infinite capacity to dream, and the connective threads that tie us all together in the universe.
-taken from Harper Collins Publishers
A collection of short stories within the same world, featuring interconnected characters, sometimes thousands of years apart —these touching, riveting sci-fi stories of normal people overcoming peril, brings out the best of what humanity has to offer and puts it on display with pinpoint precision and stunning beauty.
I listened to the audiobook as I did dishes, tidied up the kitchen, divided the laundry into lights and darks. I can still see the repetitive motions my hands made as I conducted small labors of love while listening to the stories of unfathomable loss, admirable strength, epic feats of human compassion, through an apocalyptic disease that seemed exaggerated and yet horribly real. I felt it all so deeply as I listened that I lost track of time, and my house was so clean.
Thanks and recognition to NetGalley for the prepublication. This novel releases on January 18, 2022.
Many children’s books focus on nutritional aspects of food. We’ve got books about dancing veggies, rainbow fruit, growing sustainable gardens and so on. I’ve had a hard time finding story time resources for foods like pizza. Sure, pizza isn’t the “healthiest” food to glorify, but when we categorize foods as “good” or “bad” we create an unnecessary and harmful stigma. Like in all things, strive for balance–and story times should reflect what kids (and adults) love. Early literacy, meet pizza!
To preview the songs we sing at the intro and outro of our Storytimes, visit our “Favorite Programming Songs” post under the Children’s Services tab, or under Themes.
Talking Points:
What is your favorite type of pizza to eat? Cheese, pepperoni, veggie lover’s? Would you ever eat a pizza made entirely of broccoli? How about a pizza made with fish?
Have you ever had a pizza delivered to your house?
How many slices of pizza can you eat?
Sensory display: If you’ve got a local pizza joint that will lend you empty pizza boxes, it’s the absolute best prop to have on hand for a pizza story time. You can set them around, have the children draw pizza inside them, put plastic or felt pizza slices inside, or simply have children use their imagination and pretend to deliver pizzas.
Read: Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin
Video created by Mrs. Amanda’s Read Alouds
Motion Rhyme: It’s Pizza Time
It’s pizza time, it’s pizza time,
sell a slice and earn a dime, (pretend to hand out slices)
mix the dough, roll the dough, toss the dough HOORAY! (model stirring, rolling, and tossing)
it’s pizza time, it’s pizza time,
sell a slice and earn a dime,
add the sauce, extra cheese please, bake until it’s done—
slice the pizza, now it’s time for pizza party fun! (slice the pizza over your palm)
(Pantomime eating your pizza, making loud “yums!”)
Read:Pizza at Sally’s by Monica Wellington
Video created by Kim’s Kindergarten Storytime
Read: The Little Red Hen Makes A Pizza by Philemon Sturges
Video created by Dramatic StoryTime Theater
I created a felt pizza with five slices for these next few songs. For P*I*Z*Z*A, flip a slice of pizza over to hide the letter ‘P’ and instruct children to clap on the slices. Do this until the whole word is turned, and all you’re left with is claps! This is a great early literacy technique for helping children with memory and cadence.
Felt Song: P*I*Z*Z*A (to the tune of BINGO)
There is a food I love to eat, and Pizza is its name-o,
P I Z Z A * P I Z Z A * P I Z Z A and pizza is its name-o.
Felt Song: (to the Oscar Meyer song)
Oh I wish I was a pepperoni pizza,
that is what I’d truly like to be.
For if I was a pepperoni pizza,
everyone would be in love with me.
(Start the song again, unveiling which flavor of pizza you’d truly like to be: veggie lovers, cheese, and weird flavors like blueberry and cotton candy. Have the children try to guess the flavors as you go, they’ll get such a kick out of it. In an updated version, I even made a “cobweb” pizza and the kids rioted.)
Imagination Play Prompts/Simple Fractions: Ask the children how many pieces are in the felt pizza. Pretend to eat a slice and throw it over your shoulder. Ask how many pieces remain, and count all together. With a dry erase board, indicate they have 4 out of 5 pieces of pizza left (4/5). Carry on until you have zero!
Use the pizza boxes to pretend you’re running your very own Pizza Parlor.
Make pretend pizza from start to finish. Try to remember how Sally made a pizza from Pizza at Sally’s, or Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza.
Invite more simple math into the story time by providing fake money and asking the children to buy slices form the Pizza Parlor.
Craft: Paper plate pizza. Cut up different shapes and colors for children to color and glue onto a paper plate, making their own pizza prop for imaginative play.
Learning Outcomes:
Children will practice shape recognition, gluing, coloring, and writing.
Children will use chants and cadences to improve phonological awareness.
Children will conduct investigative play inspired by their favorite foods, while practicing story recall and and print awareness.
Children may utilize simple math skills appropriate for Kindergarten readiness.
And that’s the End: This story time theme rocks every time I use it. Not only do kids undeniably love pizza across the board, but parents and caregivers are always excited by the simplicity of pizza. No complexity, just pepperoni. There’s also something about pizza that provides a sense of togetherness, whether you’re making it as a family or ordering in. Food can be an important avenue towards early literacy development, which ends my formal rant about pizza. As if I have to convince anyone that it’s good. This isn’t a hot take.
If you’re a big fan of true crime, the paranormal, or anything in the world of eerie tales, then you know the name Elisa Lam. And if you are at all fascinated by the mysterious case of Elisa Lam… You. Need. To. Read. This. Book.
When the YouTube-famous Ghost Gang—Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki—visit a haunted LA hotel notorious for tragedy to secretly film after dark, they expect it to be just like their previous paranormal hauntings. Spooky enough to attract subscribers—and ultimately harmless. But when they stumble upon something unexpected in the former room of a gruesome serial killer, they quickly realize that they’re in over their heads. Sometimes, it’s the dead who need our help—and the living we should fear.
GoodReads.com
When I first read the description for this book I knew immediately that it was taking influence from the Elisa Lam case. So I grabbed a copy from Netgalley and was set to defend Elisa Lam’s memory… but I didn’t have to do that because the dedication page of this book reads: “For Elisa Lam and for anyone who feels like just a flicker in the universe.” And with that… I didn’t set this book down until I was done. The cover alone is thrilling and really, really cool.
Horror Hotel, following a group of young YouTubers, is a perfect blend of new aged tech references without being annoying. This book succeeds at a blend of technology where others have drastically failed.
One character is of the paranormal realm meaning she can see ghosts which is of course a huge draw to their YouTube channel. I was worried this would be blown out in the storyline but it was also well done and presented in a way that didn’t dominate the entire character.
This book is spooky, creepy, chilling and a little romantic. Okay okay. A lot of romance. Call it romantic horror based on true crime… I’m IN.
Thanks and recognition to NetGalley for the prepublication. This novel releases on February 1, 2022.
Valentine’s Day is a great way to introduce emotions vocabulary with children. Identifying emotions is an important aspect of being able to regulate emotions. Starting early by giving children the appropriate vocabulary, or the ability to recognize what they’re feeling and put words to it, can also help children develop empathy for their friends and family. The world could always use more empathy!
To preview the songs we sing at the intro and outro of our Storytimes, visit our “Favorite Programming Songs” post under the Children’s Services tab, or under Themes.
Talking Points:
Valentine’s Day is a holiday we celebrate with loved ones. It takes place on February 14th every year. Sometimes we write Valentine’s Day cards to friends and family, or give special treats like chocolates and candies.
Valentine’s Day is all about love. Who do you love?
What does it feel like to love someone? How do we show love?
Sensory Display: I passed out felt cut-out hearts to children in various colors. They held their heart aloft as we played a game. Raise your heart if you feel happy, raise your heart if you feel sad, raise your heart if you feel loving, etc. We made sure to recognize that there are no “good” or “bad” emotions. Then I called the children forward by the color of the heart they received so they could return them to the felt board.
Read: Best Frints in the Whole Universe by Antoinette Portis
Video created by Mr. Wil Turner
Sing: “I love you, You love me” (a la Barnie)
I love you, you love me
We’re best friends as friends should be
With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you
Won’t you say you love me too?
Action Rhyme: My Valentine (Identifying emotions rhyme)
My Valentine has feelings, my Valentine with lace, My Valentine has feelings, he makes an angry/happy/sad/surprised/excited face.
Below is an example of the felt Valentine faces I used, inherited at my library. I would put a Valentine on the board and the children would decide what emotion it was expressing.
I put my hands together, This is how I start (put palms together, as if in prayer) I curve my fingers right around, (curve the tips of your fingers, rolling inward) And I can make a heart!
Read: There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Rose by Lucille Colandro.
Video by The Teacher’s Library
Imagination Play Prompts:
Let’s try on some emotions today. Let’s pretend to be: happy, sad, angry, excited, funny, tired, etc.
Let’s pretend to be someone or something that makes you very happy. I’m going to pretend to make pancakes, because I love eating pancakes!
If one of your friends was sad, what would you do to make them feel better?
Craft: I had the children create Valentines for their families using textiles, textured paper, scissors, crayons and markers, tape and various other art supplies. We also have a “lace” crimping cutter that we brought out for the children to crimp the edges of their Valentines.
Learning Outcomes:
Children may be able to express their feelings using emotions vocabulary.
Children will practice writing their names, cutting with scissors, and identifying shapes.
Children will have the opportunity to act out empathy in their imaginative play.
And that’s the End: I love a good holiday Story time, it always feels like the kids are ready to dive into the theme. The free-create craft is a great addition to weeks in-between more “complex” crafts. Kids rarely get the opportunity to create without scripts or instructions, so this one is easy on librarians PLUS best practice for kids, everyone wins. Spreading the love can be a great mission for littles, as well–if you have access to assisted living facilities in your community, the children can decorate Valentines for seniors and their families.
Our “Cookies & Counting” Storytime is an easy counting-up program, with a sweet twist. Counting up to twenty is an important pre-kindergarten skill, while the concept of “excavating” chocolate chip cookies introduces the scientific method.
To preview the songs we sing at the intro and outro of our Storytimes, visit our “Favorite Programming Songs” post under the Children’s Services tab, or under Themes.
Talking Points:
Does anyone here like cookies? Can you name a few of your favorite kinds of cookies?
How many cookies do you think you can eat?
I can eat 20 cookies! Can you count to 20 with me?
Sensory display: I created sprinkle cookies using felt and added them to a felt board. Each cookie is a different pastel color. We counted the cookies up to five, then backwards from five to zero. We use these felt cookies later on in the Storytime, but I introduce them here so that the children could have a visual display before we settled into reading.
Read: The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
Video created by Division Children’s Books Read Aloud
Sing: “Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?” (Song from various sources, I modified this rendition for pre-k appropriate audience)
Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar? (slap hands on knees to the beat of the chant)
Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?
Who, they? Yes, they! No way! Then heeeeey, whoooo….
(Invite a child to the front to “steal” a felt cookie, or a printed cut-out cookie or cookie prop. They take the cookie back with them to sit down. Countdown how many cookies remain. The song continues:
(Child’s name) stole the cookies from the cookie jar! (Child’s name) stole the cookies from the cookie jar! Who, they? Yes, they! No way! Then hey!!! Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?
(Bring up the next child, until prop cookies are no more. Then finish the chant and ask the children to return the cookies to the jar.)
Who returned the cookies to the cookie jar? Who returned the cookies to the cookie jar? Which kid? They all did? Well yay, Hooray!!
Felt Rhyme: “Down Around the Corner” (countdown cookies as they disappear, then count them back up as they return)
Down around the corner at the bakery shop
were five yummy cookies with sprinkles on top
Along comes (name) with a dollar to pay
They buy a cookie and takes it away!
Read: Who Ate All The Cookie Dough? by Karen Beaumont
Video created by Hearts & Heroes Read Aloud
Action Rhyme: “Making Cookie Dough” (originally used on Jen in the Library)
I am making cookie dough
round and round the beaters go
add some flour from a cup
stir and stir the batter up
roll them, cut them, nice and neat
put them on a cookie sheet
Bake them count them 1 2 3
Serve them to my friends for tea!
Imagination Play Prompts:
Let’s pretend you’re at the grocery store walking down the cookie aisle. What do you see?
Let’s play Bakery! Let’s make some cookies together. What should our ingredients be for our first batch of cookies?
Activity: Hunt the Cookies. Print and laminate images of chocolate chip cookies, and a large cookie jar. Use blue tacky to stick the cookies around your story time area. Ask the children to find one cookie and bring it back to the cookie jar. Once all (20+) cookies are found, count them together.
Craft: Excavate for Chocolate Chips. Pass out baggies with two Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies and toothpicks. Have the children “excavate” their chocolate chips. As they extract the chocolate chips, have them use the activity sheet to count their chips. They can also “decorate” cookies on their sheet when they’re finished counting. Oh, and eat the cookies.
Activity Sheets are my creation and may be replicated for story time use.
Learning Outcomes:
Children may be able to count up to twenty, count backwards and forwards up to five.
Children will practice early literacy concepts and pre-kindergarten skills, such as counting
Children will be introduced to the concept of “excavating”
A rich imaginative play exercise will assist in recollection of these lessons
And that’s the End: This is always a really fun story time because genuinely, who doesn’t love cookies? Even the parents get a kick out of seeing their kids run around collecting cookies from the walls, or watching them shout out bizarre ingredients for cookies, such as the infamous “spider-webs” fiasco of ’19.
Here is my love letter to the color yellow. To marigolds, mustards, and medallions; to honey, flaxen, and canary; to bumblebees, butterscotch, and butter; to lemons, custards, and all shades of sun.
I watched my father paint the trim of our first home a daffodil yellow when I was very, very little.
On sticky summer days, my girlfriends and I would squeeze yellow lemon in our hair and spend hours in the sun waiting for the blonde to come, while dipping our legs in the backyard pool and watching blind beetles dive into the water.
My brother, who is seven years older than me and always acted like it, planted sunflowers outside my window as a surprise. I woke up one spring to a burst of yellow through the window, and their heads moved with the wind, bowing softly.
My first boyfriend bought me a prayer shawl from India the exact shade of saffron rice. When he presented it to me, he wrapped it around my shoulders like a blanket and pretended to take my picture with his fingers: click.
I read Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wall-paper when I was in college.
I found a yellow chair in a thrift store the exact shade of aged paper and put it in my first apartment. It matched the lampshade on the lamp in the corner, the one that never had a light bulb in it.
I drove my little lemonade-colored car across the country to start my life over again in North Carolina.
The man I love built me a bench so I could sit outside and watch my plants grow. Together we painted it egg-cream yellow.
When he became my husband, we bought our first home together and painted a corner of our bedroom that same egg-cream yellow.
I’m accumulating yellow things all the time. Moments dyed in sepia, paperback pages aged to bronze. This is my ode to the color yellow, and all my yellow rooms.
Our “Tools are Cool” Storytime is a great introduction to identifying tools and power tools for kids. Introducing this concept early on can be a strong S.T.E.A.M concept for little creators who hope to build and utilize tools to problem solve.
To preview the songs we sing at the intro and outro of our Storytimes, visit our “Favorite Programming Songs” post under the Children’s Services tab, or under Themes.
Talking Points:
Do you know what a tool is? A tool is anything we use to fix, mend or create something. Tools help us build buildings, fix leaks, or repair bikes.
Sometimes we build things using instructions, and sometimes we build things using our imagination.
Have you ever seen your parents, grandparents or caregivers using tools in your home?
Have you ever used a tool to help build, fix, or create something?
Sensory display: Present wooden or plastic tools for the child to pass around. List the names of the tools as you go and mimic the motions of using them. Bop the hammer on your palm as if hitting in a nail, twist the screwdriver with your fingers, etc. You can also print out images of the tools and pair them with their names.
Read: Tap Tap Bang Bang by Emma Garcia.
Sing: “Construction Worker Song” (to the tune of This is the Way we Brush Our Teeth)
This is the way we pound our nails, pound our nails, pound our nails
This is the way we pound our nails, so early in the morning
(Saw the wood, turn the screwdriver, drill a hole, stack the bricks, stir the paint, paint the walls)
Action Rhyme: Five Little Fasteners (Use your fingers and put one finger down after each line to count down with the rhyme)
I’ve got one nail to hammer,
one screw to screw,
one hook to bend,
one peg to glue,
and the last little bolt gets tightened all the way through.
Read: Tools Rule by Aaron Meshon
Sing: “Johnny/Joannie Works With One Hammer” (Nursery Rhyme)
Johnny works with one hammer, one hammer, one hammer Johnny works with one hammer, and then he works with two (Two hammers – both fists on legs; Three hammers – both fists on legs and one foot on the floor; Four hammers – both fists on legs and both feet on the floor; Five hammers – both fists on legs, both feet on floor and nod head up and down; “And then he goes to sleep!”)
Imagination PlayPrompts:
Let’s build a house together. What should we build first, and what tools will we use?
Let’s play Hardware Store. Using play tools make of wood, plastic, or printed images of tools, have children pretend to buy items from you by naming the tool they want.
Our boat has sprung a leak! Only special tools can fix these leaks! Name out tools the children purchased in the previous prompt and have them assist you in fixing the boat.
Craft: Paper Tool Belt. We folded a piece of construction paper lengthwise and stapled the sides to create a long pocket. Extra construction paper strips created the “belt” portion, which we taped/glued to the pocket. The children colored the tools below, cut them out, and added them to their construction paper tool belt.
LearningOutcomes:
Children may be able to name some basic household tools
Children will be using critical thinking in their imaginative play
We will have introduced children to engineering concepts, in the most basic sense
Children will be practicing early literacy concepts and kindergarten preparedness, such as using scissors appropriately
And that’s the End: I was bereft to learn that the reference to Tim the Tool Man Taylor is officially too old to make. Nothing like a bunch of pre-k’s to make you feel like you’re aging right off into oblivion. Bob the Builder is still a timely reference, though, believe it or not! Let us know in the comments if you have any questions or additional ideas for a Tools-themed Storytime.
hello yellow room 