Red!

Last week at regular registration storytime, I had a daycare drop-in with eighteen kids. As much as it was horrible to have to turn kids away, I simply don’t have the space (our room is capped at 35 people for fire code), and I definitely didn’t have enough craft supplies prepped for that large of a number. Instead of completely turning them away though, I offered to do a separate storytime for their group each week.

(And because I’m crazy, I can’t possibly repeat themes, partially because a lot of our crafts this session are from Oriental Trading but mostly because I get bored if I have to do the same theme twice a week. I know, feel free to tell me I’m crazy repeatedly — but it probably won’t change a thing.)

So, you now get the bonus of an extra storytime theme per week. For this session, I decided to do colors and we started at the top of the rainbow with red.

First up, “The Red Hen” by Rebecca & Ed Emberley.

I love this folk tale and have since I was a kid, but I especially enjoy the illustrations in this particular retelling. (Actually, I really love every little bit about this retelling. But my favorite part is the bright colors and creative pictures.) This story was a great introduction to the theme of “red” because I got to say “the red hen” all the time in this story and in my questions to the group.

Next, I read “Pizza at Sally’s” by Monica Wellington.

This one is a classic as far as I’m concerned. I love the borders on the text, love the little cat that helps Sally make the pizza, love the accessibility of the text (it’s not too complicated for preschool), it’s awesome. This was a great segue into the flannel that I freehanded:

Flannelboard: “This Is the Pizza That Sally Made”
This is the crust that Sally made.

This is the sauce, so red and so sweet.
That goes on the crust that Sally made.

These are the olives, so black and salty.
That goes on the sauce, so red and so sweet.
That goes on the crust that Sally made.

(Additional Verses)
These are the peppers, so green and crunchy.
This is the pineapple, fresh from Hawaii.
This is the pepperoni, so hot and spicy.
This is the cheese so gooey and chewy.
This is the tummy, so hungry and lively.
And that was the pizza that Sally made.
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

The flannelboard worked really well, except that I had one little girl who kept insisting that she only liked cheese pizza and even though I explained that this was Sally’s pizza — she was still super upset that the pizza had toppings on it. Oh, well.

Next, a book that I discovered while shelf-reading the other day, and immediately pulled for storytime, “Cars” by Patricia Hubbell.

There are thousand of car books out there, but I had a super hard time finding a fire engine book that was appropriate for 2-6. (There are a lot of longer ones, and not any really short text books.) But I love that “Cars” had a great fire engine spread, and that the book begins with a little red car. Fit perfectly into my theme. And I followed it up with a crowd pleaser:

Action Rhyme: “Hurry, Hurry”
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck (pretend to turn wheel back and forth)
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck (pretend to turn wheel back and forth)
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck (pretend to turn wheel back and forth)
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! ring bell
(Turn the corner (lean over to one side, then the other), climb the ladder (pretend to climb), spray the water (pretend to spray a hose).)
Credit: Childhood

And that brought me and the kids to the apple portion of the red theme, beginning with “Apple Farmer Annie” by Monica Wellington.

I try not to use two books by the same author in storytime (my bug theme will not have more than one Eric Carle, I promise!), but I love Wellington’s books, and they were so perfect for the theme and the recognizable items I had chosen. Next up, a quick fingerplay:

Fingerplay: “Way Up High in the Apple Tree”
Way up high in the apple tree (stretch arms up high)
Two red apples smiled at me (hold up two fingers)
I shook that tree as hard as I could (make a shaking motion)
Down came the apples… (make a downward motion)
And mmm, they were good! (smile and rub stomach)
Credit: Childhood

And our last book, “The Apple Pie Tree” by Zoe Hall.

I really enjoyed ending storytime with this book. Especially since we’re in a seasonal shift in Chicago right now, the kids really recognized the wait for the trees to change and that the green buds were next to appear.

Finished up with this apple craft from KidsSoup.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a daycare storytime, and this craft was far too ambitious for everyone to complete without a parent helping them. I spent a lot of time running around, going from kid to kid, until everyone was done. Next week’s craft will be much simpler.