Letters & Mail – Preschool Storytime

We got a letter at storytime today!

It was from me, telling everyone in storytime that we were having stories today about letters and mail! We talked about addresses, and stamps a little bit too.

Books We Shared

It Came in the Mail by Ben Clanton
Liam loves mail. But he never gets any! When he decides to write a letter to his mailbox, that all changes.

Millie Waits for the Mail by Alexander Steffensmeier
The favorite part of Millie the cow’s day is scaring the mailman. But the mailman and the farmer have had enough! Is there anyway to change Millie’s ways?

Flannelboard Stories

We got some letters in today’s flannelboard story!

Lovely Little Letter in the Mail
(to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”

Oh, I got a lovely letter in the mail (clap, clap)
Oh, I got a lovely letter in the mail (clap, clap)
Getting mail is so much fun
Let’s see who sent this one
Oh, this lovely little letter in the mail. (clap, clap)

When we opened up each envelope, there was a note inside. The audience had to guess who the letter was from, and then I turned the letter around to show them the picture of who wrote it.

Here’s what each of the letters said:

Mouse
Dear Friend,
If you have any cheese, can you please leave it by my hole? Thank you.
Love, Mouse

Bear
Dear Friend,
I’m looking forward to sleeping all winter.
Love, Bear

Dog
Dear Friend,
Maybe we can play fetch soon?
Love, Dog

Cat
Dear Friend,
Let’s have fish lunch together!
Love, Cat

Fish
Dear Friend,
I’m lonely. Can you please put a friend in my bowl?
Love, Fish

Bird
Dear Friend,
Can you please visit me in my tree? I want you to see my new nest.
Love, Bird

Movements

Time to pretend we’re letter carriers!

Little Letter Carrier
I am a little letter carrier
Who loves to do nothing better
I walk, walk, walk (walk in place)
to your house to deliver your letter

Other verses:
I run, run, run (run in place)
I hop, hop hop (hop in place)

I opened this up to suggestions from the audience, so we also ended up doing:

Skip
Spin
March
Skip to my Lou (this was an interesting one, that I didn’t know how to do, so I had the suggester demonstrate, and then we all followed)
Drive

Repeat refrain.

Music from CDs

Music always adds to storytime. Here is a song we shared today:

“Clap Your Hands” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

“Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs by Raffi

Film We Watched

“A Letter to Amy” from The Ezra Jack Keats Collection, based on the book by Ezra Jack Keats

Peter wants to invite Amy to his birthday party but he wants it to be a surprise. He decides to send her a letter. But when he bumps into her at the mailbox, and she runs off, will she even want to come to Peter’s party?

It’s great to talk about things you watch with your child! This helps them extend their language!

Here are some suggestions for things to talk about after watching “A Letter to Amy”:
– Do you Amy got Peter’s letter? Why?
– At the end of the movie, Peter makes a birthday wish. What do you think he wished for? What would you wish for?