In Tuesday’s storytime we went under the sea to meet lots of fish and other undersea creatures.


Books We Shared

Lucy Cousin’s big book Hooray for Fish was a great introduction to the variety of life underwater. It’s also a rhyming book somewhat reminiscent of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss.

Papa Seahorse’s Search is a wonderful lift-the-flap exploration of ocean life. It incorporates a lot of math and counting too.


Flannel Boards We Shared

Five Little Seashells

Five little seashells, lying on the shore.
Swish went the waves. Then there were four.

Four little seashells, pretty as can be.
Swish went the waves. Then there were three.

Three little seashells, all pearly new.
Swish went the waves. Then there were two.

Two little seashells, lying in the sun.
Swish went the waves. Then there was one.

One little seashell, lying all alone.
I said Shhhh as I took it home.

(Credit: http://www.songsforteaching.com/hughhanley/5littleseashells.htm)


Action Songs & Bounces We Shared

These next few rhymes were first introduced with puppets, which I brought out of my “I Spy” Box:

Little Blue Whale

Little blue whale
in a big blue sea
Splish, splash, splish, splash
Swim with me!
Dip a little, dive a little,
Dunk a little whale,
Then come back up and flip your tail!

(Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRDPO2hiZWY)

Octopus Riddle

He doesn’t have fingers,
He doesn’t have fins,
My friend uses tentacles to help him swim.
He can’t give you five,
But he can give you eight!
Would you like to meet him? He can hardly wait!

Orange Octopus

(Tune: If You’re Happy And You Know It)

Oh, I wish I was an orange octopus.
Oh, I wish I was an orange octopus.
Oh I’d wave my lovely legs,
And I’d splash in all the waves.
Oh, I wish I was an orange octopus.

(Credit: https://www.dltk-teach.com/alphabuddies/songs/o/orangeoctopus.htm)

Open Shut Them

Open shut them, open shut them.
Give a little clap, clap, clap.
Open shut them, open shut them.
Place them on your lap, lap, lap.
Creep them, crawl them
Creep them, crawl them
Right up to your chin, chin, chin
Open up your little mouth… Buuuuuuuuuuut…
Do not let them in!

Peekaboo

Peekaboo, where are you
hiding in your… PLACE! PEEKABOO!
Peekaboo, I see you
and your smiling… FACE! PEEKABOO!

Two Little Boats

Two little boats are on the sea
All is calm as calm can be
Gently the wind begins to blow
Two little boats rock to and fro
Loudly the wind begins to shout
Two little boats are tossed about
Gone is the wind, the storm, the rain
Two little boats sail on again

(Credit: Under-Fives Alive! by Jane Farley, Eileen Goddard and Judy Jarvis)

Goodbye Friends (song in sign)

Click here for video:  Goodbye Babies (Friends) 

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


Music from CDs We Shared

Children love to sing and dance to music.  Here are some of the songs/bounces on CD that we used in storytime.

“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman

“Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs for Wiggleworms by Old Town School of Folk Music

“Dancing Scarf Blues” from Dancing Feet by Carole Peterson


Video We Shared

We saw an oldie but a goodie–sometimes I like showing these older classic storytime films and seeing how they used to do the animations in the 1970s. We watched Fish is Fish from our Swimmy DVD, based on the book Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni. In this story, a fish is told all kinds of wonderful stories about life above water by his friend the frog, and tries to imagine seeing those creatures with wings and legs. Would they look like fish? Each time I showed this, everyone laughed when the fish tried to imagine a cow–it’s pretty ridiculous!


Continue the Fun

Here are some more books about the ocean to check out at your Pasadena Public Library Branch: