For our third storytime of the winter session we read stories about BIRDS!  Stella, our library “baby bird” helped us flap, tweet and sing our way through toddler storytime this morning! 

AND – we found a nest!  By the time we finished storytime, we had a nest of baby blue birds.  Take a look at the photo below:

What follows are the books, rhymes, songs, finger plays and flannel board we shared.


BOOKS WE SHARED

Bi

Birds by Kevin Henkes and illustrated by Laura Dronzek, is a picture book with beautiful visuals and minimal words.  The story is full of different birds and bird behavior with lots of interesting twists and turns in the text.  It also seamlessly introduces concepts such as counting, colors and shapes.  This is one of my personal favorites.

In Lucy Cousin’s picture book, Hooray for Birds! we see an array of beautifully illustrated birds.  There is a rooster, a woodpecker, a starling, a flamingo, a swan – the list goes on and on!  The simple text and oversized, bold, colorful drawings engage and delight infants and toddlers while bringing these birds to life!  This is a great read aloud or lap sit book.



Flannel Board & Finger Puppets We Shared

Five Little Birds

1 little bird with feathers of blue, flew beside the green one and then there were 2

2 little birds singing in the tree, the red one came to join them and then there were 3

3 little birds wishing there were more, along came the pink bird and then there were 4

4 little birds happy to be alive, found a yellow one and then there were 5

5 little birds happy as can be, singing beautiful songs just for you and me!

CREDIT:  Narrating Tales of Preschool Storytime


Finger Puppet Rhyme

Five Little Blackbirds

(Start by holding up 5 fingers – I happened to have these puppets but fingers work just as well.)

Five little blackbirds sitting in a tree
One flew away! How many do you see?
One, two, three, four.

Four little blackbirds sitting in a tree
One flew away! How many do you see?
One, two, three.

Three little blackbirds…etc.

CREDIT:  Sunflower Storytime (replaced Hoot Owls with Blackbirds)


Action Songs & Fingerplays We Shared

We share a lot of songs, bounces & rhymes during storytime!  You’ll find lyrics/words to those songs & rhymes we shared without CD accompaniment here.

Welcome, Welcome Everyone
(to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle)

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

Open Shut Them – Video:  Open Shut Them

Open, shut them, open, shut them, (open and close hands)
Give a little clap, clap, clap.  (clap three times)
Open shut them, open shut them (open and close hands)
Put them in your lap, lap, lap. (place hands in lap and bounce them 3X)

Creep them, crawl them, creep them crawl them, (crawl fingers up arms)
Right up to your chinny  chin chin. (place fingers on chin)
Open up your little mouth (open mouth and say ahhhhhh)
But do not put them in!! (put hands behind your back)

This is Big

This is big, big, big (stretch hands far to sides)
This is small, small, small (cup hands together)
This is short, short, short (hold palms close vertically)
This is tall, tall, tall (hold palms far apart vertically)
This is fast, fast, fast (roll hands quickly)
This is slow, slow, slow (roll hands slowly)
This is yes, yes, yes (nod head)
This is no, no, no (shake head)
Credit: Mel’s Desk

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star – Video:  Twinkle Twinkle

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle Twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are.

Itsy Bitsy Spider – Video:  Itsy Bitsy

Goodbye Friends (in sign) – Video:  Goodbye Friends

Goodbye friends, goodbye friends,
Goodbye friends, it’s time to say goodbye.


There is also a Mother Goose nursery rhyme involving blackbirds.  Click onto the video below to listen to it in song and see if you can try singing or saying it to your baby at home!  (I’ve included the lyrics but be forewarned – this one is not for the feint of heart).

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing—
Wasn’t that a dainty dish
To set before the king?
The king was in the counting-house
Counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlor
Eating bread and honey,
The maid was in the garden
Hanging out the clothes.
Along came a blackbird
And snipped off her nose.

Music from CDs We Shared

Children love to sing and dance to music.  Here are some of the action songs & rhymes on CD that we used in storytime.  Click onto the CD titles to find these items in our library catalog.

“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

“Roll Your Hands” from Toddlers on Parade by Kathy Reid-Naiman

“I’m a Little Teapot” from Toddler Favorites by Music for Little People

“Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Its Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

“ABC”  from Go Baby Go! Baby Loves Jazz by Baby Loves Jazz Band

Two Little Blackbirds” from  Circle Time: songs and rhymes for the very young by Lisa Monet

“We’re Going to the Market” from I Love to Hear the Sounds by Kathy Reid-Naiman

“Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes” from Its Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel


Here is a different version of  the “Roll Your Hands” song we sing during our storytime.  Try it at home!


Video We Shared

Rosie’s Walk


Continue the Fun

If you want to read more books about birds, make sure to check these out from your local Pasadena Public Library!