Bathtime!

Another catch-up — a few weeks ago, I did bathtime storytime!

Started off storytime with “Squeaky Clean” by Simon Puttock.

This is a fabulous story about a Mama Pig who gets her three piglets clean, only to have them want to mess themselves up again — to take another bath! There’s also a cute twist where Mama Pig gets her own bath that had plenty of my adult attendees chuckling.

Next up, the book that inspired bathtime storytime — “Who’s In the Tub?” by Sylvie Jones.

I found book while shelf-reading one day, and was immediately in love with the concept. As it happens in many tub stories — the child’s imagination gets away from him and his bathtub toys are bought to life. But what makes this one extra special is the tiny pages/flaps that move the story along. The kids really liked this one, there were a lot of gigglers. Next up, our flannel:

Flannelboard: “Elephants in the Bathtub”
One elephant in the bathtub
Going for a swim
Knock, knock (clap twice)
Splash, splash (slap knees twice)
Come on in! (motion with both hands to come in)
Five elephants in the bathtub
Going for a swim
Knock, knock (clap twice)
Splash, splash (slap knees twice)
It all fell in! (knock the felt pieces down)
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

I think that I had to repeat this flannelboard four or five times before the kids were ready to move on. Utter hysterics, and pure anticipation. They LOVED this one. (I did another clip-art flannel for this one; I will make a post about it soon!) The next book was a favorite of mine: “Dog’s Colorful Day” by Emma Dodd.

My kids know this one, but love counting Dog’s messy spots and shouting out colors — this is one book that they never tire of. Dog’s messy actions led in perfectly to this action rhyme:

Action Rhyme: “After My Bath”
After my bath…I try, try, try
To rub myself till I’m dry, dry, dry (pretend to rub body with a towel)
Hands to dry and fingers and toes (point to body parts)
Two wet legs and one shiny nose (point to body parts)
Just think how much less time it would take
If I were a dog and could shake, shake, shake! (shake whole body)
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

Afterwards, I led the kids in our session stretcher after this, “I’m a Little Teapot” before reading the next book “Scrubba Dub” by Nancy Van Laan.

This book has a lot of adorable sounds to make as you read aloud this story about a momma bunny washing her baby bunny. The only sad thing is that it is kind of small, which means a lot of panning during storytime. Next up, a favorite song from childhood:

Song: “Rubber Duckie” (Yep, you know where this one is from, but I’m not printing the lyrics due to copyright.)

Followed by the last book, “Big Red Tub” by Julia Jarman.

I love this book, and it was a great way to end storytime for the week. A quick action rhyme:

Action Rhyme: “Rub-A-Dub-Dub”
Rub-a-dub-dub, one child in the tub (hold up one finger)
Tell me what you see. (point to eyes)
One foot with toes, (point to body parts)
A hand, a nose,
As clean as they can be. (rub hands together)
Rub-a-dub-dub, one child in the tub (hold up one finger)
Tell me what you see. (point to eyes)
Leg, and arms (shake legs and arms)
So clean and warm,
Do they have a hug for me? (hug yourself)
Credit: Perry Public Library — Bathtime Storytime

And storytime was over! Our craft was a simple paper craft, gluing things on the page. My teen volunteers cut everything out, and punched a million bubble circles using a craft punch for the kids to really go crazy with. I had some kids who didn’t glue any bubbles, and I had some cover their page in nothing but bubbles.

(I’m proud to say that I came up with this one on my own! And that the kids REALLY enjoyed it!)