A bit o’ wind, a bit o’ sun & a bit of a rainbow…our family storytime centered on aspects of the weather. We read a classic by Pat Hutchins – The Wind Blew. The wind is greedy as it carries a kite, a balloon, a shirt…even a judge’s wig into the air. Eventually the wind gets bored and shakes all of the items one last time before letting them fall to the ground. The children were mesmerized by the rhyming cadence of the story.
Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood covers information about owls, weather, seasons and rainbows after the rain! This is a beautifully illustrated book that can be used to teach children about various concepts in nature. The rich colors even kept the attention of the wee babies.
We also explored a flannel board version of the book Windblown by Edouard Manceau. The wind blew around some scraps of paper…but who did they belong to? A clever tale that builds as 7 scraps of paper transform into 5 different animals/insects, only to find that the wind has had the upper hand the entire time!
It’s hard for me to resist a good rainbow activity when I’m reading books about the weather. So we made Rainbow Stew! This is a great flannel activity that involves a black cauldron, a stirring spoon or stick and some colorful fruit! At the end, VOILA! We have a beautiful rainbow! [Credit goes to Storytime ABCs –http://librarystorytimesabc.blogspot/2012/02/flannel-Friday…]
Take a red strawberry (or apple)
Put it in the pot
Stir it and stir it and stir it a lot
Take it out now. What will it be? The prettiest red you ever did see!
(Repeat with yellow banana, green pear, “orange” orange, “blue”berry, purple grapes…)
You drop in the fruit and pull out a flannel strip matching it’s color.
Our VIDEO – The title selection (and yes there was some rain…)
OUR SONGS & FINGERPLAYS:
Welcome Everyone!
Welcome, welcome everyone,
Now we’re here, let’s have some fun!
First we clap our hands just so,
Then we bend and touch our toes,
Welcome, welcome everyone.
Now we’re here, let’s have some fun!
Clap Everybody and Say Hello!
Clap everybody and say hello,
Clap everybody and say hello,
Clap everybody and say hello,
No matter what the weather…. Stamp everybody and say hello,
Stamp everybody and say hello,
Stamp everybody and say hello,
No matter what the weather….
Repeat chorus with
(Wiggle, Jump, Sing…)
(Kathy Reid-Naiman – Sally Go Round the Sun CD)
ACTION RHYME:
Open Shut Them
Open shut them, open shut them (hands open and close)
Give a little clap clap clap (hands clap)
Open shut them, open shut them (hands open and close)
Place them in your lap, lap, lap. (place hands in lap)
Creep them crawl them, creep them crawl them (crawl fingers up both arms)
Right up to your chinny, chin, chin (tap fingers onto chin)
Open up your little mouth BUT (keep tapping and open mouth)
DO NOT LET THEM IN!!! (quickly place both hands behind back)
CLOSING SONGS:
You Are My Sunshine
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You’ll never know dear, how much I love you
And I love you more every day!
(Wiggleworms – Songs for Wiggleworms)
Goodbye!
Well we had some fun and now we’re done,
Goodbye, goodbye
We had some fun and now we’re done
Goodbye to all the girls..
REPEAT chorus with boys, wiggleworms…goodbye to everyone!
(Wiggleworms – Songs for Wiggleworms)
EXTENDING THE STORYTIME EXPERIENCE AT HOME:
