The More We Get Together (And Read Together): Storytime Welcome Song by Jbrary
The more we get together, together, together The more we get together The happier we'll be For your friends are my friends and my friends are your friends The more we get together The happier we'll be
The more we read together, together, together the more we read together the happier we'll be. Read big books and small books Read short books and tall books The more we read together the happier we'll be.
Book Share, Big Bear, Share by Maureen Wright Groovy Joe Dance Party Countdown by Eric Litwin The Very Greedy Bee by Steve Smallman
Music Wiggle Your lah-De-Da by Ralph's World for All Around Ralph's World Dance Freeze Melt by Mr. Eric and Mr. Micheal from Rockin' Red
Howdy This is an update to my first Parachute Play post. That post was a full program based around the parachute; it also included some stories. This post will be songs and rhymes that I have been using lately at the end of a traditional preschool storytime for children ages 3-5 years old and their grownup. I usually do parachute play for one class during a 6-8 week block of storytimes and we will play for about 15 minutes. All of these activities work best with grownups helping at the chute so that no one gets knocked to the ground. I usually pick a few of the songs each time. I don't do everything listed below because I think that would be a very, very long storytime.
Opening Bread and Butter Bread and butter, marmalade and jam Let's shake the chute as high as we can Bread and butter, marmalade and jam Let's shake the chute as low as we can fast/slow soft/loud Songs Let's Go Riding on an Elevator from Jbrary Let's go riding on an elevator Elevator, elevator, Let's go riding on an elevator, Come along with me! First floor, Second floor, Third floor, Fourth floor, Fifth floor, And.... down-down-down-down-down.
Inspired by Jen in the Library's program Bikes - Preschool Storytime I did make a folder story for this program but we started to run out of time and no one wants to cut parachute play short. I think I'll use the story in the summer with a sports theme. Opening Hello Everybody, Yes Indeed – Carole Peterson HUM Hello to your toes yes indeed yes indeed yes indeed Hello to your toes yes indeed my darling
Knees – shoulders - friends Books Duck On a Bike by David Shannon Off We Go! a Bear and Mole Story by Will Hillenbrand Everyone can learn to ride a bicycle by Chris Raschka Music Goldfish by Laurie Berkner fromThe Best of the Laurie Berkner Band Can't Wait to Celebrate by Jim Gill from Jim Gill's Irrational Anthem
Opening Hello Everybody, Yes Indeed by Carole Peterson HUM Hello to your toes yes indeed yes indeed yes indeed Hello to your toes yes indeed my darling Knees – shoulders - friends Books Blue Chameleon by Emily Gravett The Splendid Spotted Snake by Betty Ann Schwartz The Snake Who Said Shhh by Jodie Parachini
Opening Hello Everybody, Yes Indeed by Carole Peterson from H.U.M.
Hello to your toes yes indeed yes indeed yes indeed Hello to your toes yes indeed my darling
Knees – shoulders - friends Books Little Rabbit Who Liked to Moo by Jonathan Allen Have You Got My Purr by Judy West Do Cows Meow? by Salina Yoon Songs Goin' To Kentucky by Carole Peterson from Baloney I Feel Crazy So I Jump in the Soup by Laurie Berkner from Victor Vito
We clap our hands like this We clap out hands like this We clap our hands with all of our friends We clap our hands like this.
We blow a kiss like this We blow a kiss like this We blow a kiss with all of our friends We blow a kiss like this.
We wave goodbye like this. We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye with all our friends. We wave goodbye like this.
Parachute
All Around the Circle by Peter and Ellen Allard for Sing It! Say It! Sway It! Vol 1
Can You Leap Like a Frog by Greg and Steve for Kids In Action
I just changed out the word to parachute and had the kids do opposites, plus right and left.
Bread and butter Marmalade and Jam Let's tap our sticks as quiet as we can
...loud as we can ...slow as we can ...fast as we can ...high as we can ...low as we can ...nice as we can
Popcorn Song (tune of Frere Jacques, so sing each line twice) from Jbrary Popcorn Kernels (wave scarves overhead) In the pot (make their scarves 'disappear' by bunching them up in their fists) Shake them shake them shake them (shake) 'til they POP (Toss scarves up into the air)
Craft Today's craft was a animal sound spinner. You print a PDF of the top circle with the animal sounds and the bottom circle with the animals. After you color both circles however you like, just pin the two together with a brad or brass fastener. Click the link to download this craft printable.
Opening Sit Down, Stand Up Song by Rick Goldin Everybody stand up Everybody sit down Now stand up again And turn around Keep standing up But not for long Cause this is the sit down stand up sit down stand up sit down song
Books Warning: Do Not Open This Book! by Adam Lehrhaupt Tickle Monster by Édouard Manceau
Songs Dance Freeze Melt by Mr. Eric and Mr. Micheal from Rockin' Red Shake My Sillies Out by Raffi from More Singable Songs Silly Dance Contest by Jim Gill from The Sneezing Song and Other Contiguous Tunes
Ravioli, ravioli, Ravioli, that’s the stuff for me.
Do you have it on your sleeve? Yes, I have it on my sleeve.
On your sleeve? On my sleeve.
Ra-vi-o-li…
(repeat with other body parts or articles of clothing, e.g. Do you have it on your chin? Do you have it in your shoes? etc.)
Felt Board
Stop, Slow, Go and Jump.
I call this Stop, Slow, Go and Jump Around. I explain what red, yellow and green mean. Then we try not clapping, soft clapping and loud clapping. Next I add the blue circle. In the picture it looks green too but in real life its true blue. Blue means jump or whatever silliness you choose. We played this with toe tapping, need slapping and head patting. Scarves Borrowed from Scarf Songs and Rhymes for Storytime on Jbrary. One Bright scarf - (adapted from 10 Little Fingers at Storytime Rocks) One bright scarf waiting for the wind to blow (hold in hand) Wiggle it high (wiggle scarf above head) Wiggle it low (wiggle scarf by knees) Shake it fast (wiggle scarf quickly) Shake it slow (wiggle scarf slowly) Put it behind your back Where did it go? (bring out empty hands)
Jack in the box sits so still Will he come out Yes he will
Closing We Clap Our Hands Like This - tune farmer in the dell. Borrowed from Opening/Closing Songson Storytime Katie who borrowed it from Rhymes for Toddlers on Sunflower Storytime. We clap our hands like this, We clap our hands like this We clap our hands with all of our friends, We clap our hands like this.
We blow a kiss like this, We blow a kiss like this We blow a kiss with all of our friends. We blow a kiss like this. We wave goodbye like this.We wave goodbye like this. We wave goodbye with all our friends. We wave goodbye like this Parachute Noble Duke of York by John English from 3, 2,1 Let's Have Some Fun
I'm Being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor by Shel Silverstein
I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor And I don't like it very much! Oh no, oh no, he swallowed my toe, he swallowed my toe Oh gee, oh gee, he's up to my knee, he's up to my knee Oh fiddle, oh fiddle, he's reached my middle, he's reached my middle Oh bleck, oh bleck, he's up to my neck, he's up to my neck Oh dread, oh dread, he swallowed my.... schlirppp!
Cause this is the sit down stand up sit down stand up sit down song
Books Press Here by Hervé Tullet Mix It Up by Hervé Tullet Ain't gonna paint no more! by Karen Beaumont - I've seen people present this book with paint brushes so I decided we could pretend to paint on ourselves with the scarves. Songs Put Your Fingers In the Air by Carole Peterson from Baloney Dance Freeze Melt by Mr. Eric and Mr. Micheal from Rockin' Red Shake With You by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael from Bouncy Blue Felt Board From The Education Center, Inc. www.themailboxcompanion.comAug/Sept 2004
Red is the color of apples in trees.
Yellow is the color of bumblebees.
Orange is the color of carrots in a line.
Purple is the color of grapes on a vine.
Blue is the color of a great big lake.
Green is the color of a garden snake.
Pink is the color of a little flower.
Brown is the color of a sand castle tower.
Black is the color of the sky at night.
White is the color of the moon so bright.
Take a moment to look around,
There are so many colors to be found. Scarves Wind, Oh Wind - King County Library System
We clap our hands like this We clap out hands like this We clap our hands with all of our friends We clap our hands like this.
We blow a kiss like this We blow a kiss like this We blow a kiss with all of our friends We blow a kiss like this.
We wave goodbye like this. We wave goodbye like this. We wave goodbye with all our friends. We wave goodbye like this. Filmstrip of Don Freeman's A Rainbow of My Own. Parachute The parachute makes my kids really wild,;there is a lot of shrieking and shaking, but not a lot of listening. I don't play any music like I do with my older kids. Today we did opposites like Up/Down, Fast/Slow, Loud/Soft. Then we put all the scarves in the parachute, shook them out and repeated over and over. At the end we sat on the floor, raised the chute over our heads and waved goodbye to everyone followed by us staying seated to sing the goodbye song listed above. I really liked doing the chute at the end of the program and I think if I don't over plan we can definitely do this again.
*Look for my more recent post Parachute Play Songs* You will need a 10' parachute (a bigger parachute or several little parachutes would also work), scarves, bean bags or egg shakers. The concepts are presented by topic. You can share each element in whatever order works best for you and your patrons.
Books Tap to Play by Salina Yoon
Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great by Bob Shea The Book With No Pictures by BJ Novak Scarves Scarves Up Down and Around by Johnette Downing from The Second Line - Scarf Activity Songs Scarves On Your Lap Johnette Downing from The Second Line - Scarf Activity Songs
Story Song - Big Plop by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael from Rockin' Red. I had never heard this song before but it is a really fun alternative to Going On a Bear Hunt. We used the scarves to make the experience more vibrant but its a lot of fun without the scarves too. Parachute Song – Fast and Slow by Laurie Berkner from The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band - The song has an alternating rhythm that will encourage the kids go change their speed but it only works if they pay attention. Popcorn Game with Scarves - Place the scarves in the middle of the parachute. The parachute should be laying on the floor. Pretend the scarves are popcorn. Have the child crouch and hold the parachute edge. Count 1, 2 ,3 and yell popcorn. Jump up to throw the scarves in the air. This works with other soft toys or under-inflated balls. Song - The Freeze by Greg and Steve from Kids in Motion - This works well as a free dance or you can use the scarves or beanbags. It's a pretty flexible song. Sleeping Bag Song by Carole Peterson Stephenson from H.U.M. - Highly Usable Music - Here the tune so you can sing it yourself and see lyrics on Macaroni Soup. You can use with a large enough parachute by sitting with your legs under the fabric like it is your sleeping bag. Rhyme - Ring Around the Rosie - Because who doesn't like falling down over and over? For some reason they always think this is hilarious and most of the adults in attendance know the words and tune. Rhyme - All Around the Mulberry Bush - When you say 'Pop goes the weasel' you can pop up the parachute. Think about using a plush toy to play the part of the weasel. Criss-Cross Game - This game depends a lot how your group does at following directions. With everyone standing and the parachute in hand, have the kids lift the parachute off the floor. When the parachute is overhead call out a color and have those children change places by running under the parachute. If your kids are squirrelly use a partner adult, then the parachute is lifted tap two children only to participate each time. Beanbags
Kids in Motion
by Greg and Steve
Bean Bag Boogie 1 by Greg and Steve from Kids in Motion - The same cd has a Bean Bag Boogie 2 if you need more content. Then you say goodbye to the kids and you nap on the parachute. Laura
We Are Here Together - based on I Am Here & You Are Here by Peter & Ellen Allard from Sing it! Say it! Stamp it! Sway it! Vol. 3 I am here and you are here and we are here together. I am here and you are here and we’re gonna clap our hands. I am here and you are here and we’re gonna stomp our feet. I am here and you are here and we’re gonna jump up and down. I am here and you are here and we are here together. I am here and you are here and we’re gonna have some fun.
To warm up after our song I had prepared a yellow bag with Free Printable Rhyming Sorting Game (thank you Pinterest) inside. Its a set a of 8 rhymes with 16 cards all together. Its great to have so many pieces because I have a lot of little helpers. Hiding at the bottom of my bog was large resin frog. This way we could talk about which pairs rhyme, which pairs don't and which ones lead us back to our froggy friend.
Books
Frog Thing by Eric Drachman Croaky Pokey by Ethan Long Ribbit by Rodrigo Folgueira Frog in a Bog by Karma Wilson
Songs Spaghetti Legs by Jim Gill - The Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes Can You Leap Like a Frog by Greg and Steve - Kids in Action Wiggle Your Fingers by Peter and Ellen Allard - Sing It! Say It! Stamp It! Sway It! Vol. 2 I decided to use our 12" parachute to act as a lily pad in storytime. I have used parachutes before but not with this group. I loved that the kids wanted to sit on the lily pad instead of wandering around as much. I didn't like that some of my kids got really fixated on the handles. We didn't do any activities that would lift the parachute off the floor but it still took a lot of work to keep them focused on the floor games I had for us to do. I will definitely use the parachute again but I think I will need more ground rules or a better why to regain everyone's attention. I admit I let things get a little wild and wooly. Rhyme Five Green Speckled Frogs – with felt set. I like the Raffi version of this song but sometimes it just goes too fast. We just sang along today and it worked fine.
Five green and speckled frogs Sitting on a speckled log eating the most delicious grub, YUM YUM one jumped into the pool where it was nice and cool now there are 4 green speckled frogs Ribbit ribbit!
Five Green and Speckled Frogs | Mother Goose Club Playhouse Kids Video
Two Little Frogs - borrowed from Frog Storytime - Miss Meg's Storytime , her version is adapted from Two Little Blackbirds. I added two verses at the end because the kids really got into the rhyme after the second verse. Two little froggies sitting in the lake One named Jane, and one named Jake Swim away Jane, swim away Jake Come back Jane, come back Jake! Two little froggies sitting on the bay One named Greg, and one named May Jump away Greg, jump away May Come back Greg, come back May Two little froggies sitting on a cloud One croaked soft and one croaked loud croak aways soft, croak away loud come back soft, come back loud. Two little froggies sitting by the gate one came early and one came late go away early, go away late come back early, come back late This works best when you really ham it up and have the frogs appear but or after they are supposed to as if the frogs are just too silly to the right thing.
One bright scarf waiting for the wind to blow (hold in hand) Wiggle it high (wiggle scarf above head) Wiggle it low (wiggle scarf by knees) Shake it fast (wiggle scarf quickly) Shake it slow (wiggle scarf slowly) Put it behind your back (bring out empty hands) Where did it go?
Jack in the box, sits so still Will he come out, yes he will.
We clap our hands like this We clap our hands like this We clap our hands with all of our friends We clap our hands like this.
We blow a kiss like this We blow a kiss like this We blow a kiss with all of our friends We blow a kiss like this.
We wave goodbye like this. We wave goodbye like this. We wave goodbye with all our friends. We wave goodbye like this.
Craft For our craft a staff member used the printable template for our frog and lily pad to precut the basic shapes. I braided paper for the springs, here after called boingers because I thought that was really funny. While the website suggests some kids can make their own boingers I found my kids excelled at taking the boingers apart and then insisting their boinger broke. Laura
