Blue!

Week five in my daycare storytime color themes — blue! (Previous themes: Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green.)

I opened up storytime with one of my absolute favorites: “Grumpy Bird” by Jeremy Tankard.

The kids were very quick to point out that Grumpy Bird is a crank! I love doing voices for this book. I use a light voice for all of the animals except for Grumpy Bird. For Grumpy, I put a hand on my hip and huff a sigh before saying his lines in a deep, cranky voice. My kids were very happy when Grumpy Bird mellowed out and “got happy” at the end of the book.

An easily modified fingerplay for our theme:

Fingerplay: “Two Little Bluebirds”
Two little bluebirds sat on a hill,
One named Jack and one named Jill.
Fly away, Jack; fly away, Jill,
Come back, Jack; come back, Jill.
Credit: Childhood

And then it was on to “Hooray for Fish” by Lucy Cousin.

Of course, we talked about the ocean being blue, but my kids let me know when other blue fish popped up in the book. This is such a successful storytime book.

Then, I got to use my “I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean” flannelboard for the first time since making it! Some of the kids were familiar with this book, and I’m always really happen when they get to experience a familiar story in a new way.

Then, I led the kids in an action rhyme to introduce our next blue object — a bunny!

Action Rhyme: “Little Bunny”
I saw a little bunny go hop, hop, hop
I told that little bunny to stop, stop, stop
He wiggled his ears and crinkled his nose
And wiggled, wiggled, wiggled right down to his toes.
Credit: Modified from Preschool Education Music & Songs

And then, I read “What’s the Matter, Bunny Blue?” by Nicola Smee.

The rhymes in this book make it a great read-aloud. I especially liked using this book for blue storytime because the rhymes are all based off the word “blue.” A great emphasis for the theme! Then, we did a fingerplay:

Fingerplay: “Here is a Bunny”
Here is a bunny with ears so funny (hold up two fingers for ears)
And here is his hole in the ground (make a circle with the other hand)
At the first sound he hears, he pricks up his ears (extend two fingers)
And hops in the hole in the ground (fingers jump into the hole)
Credit: Early Literature

And then it was on to “Little Blue Truck” by Alice Schertle.

When my library had started its in-house storytime collection, we purchased this title and I am sad to say that it sat on the shelf for a full year before I grabbed it for blue storytime. This is a wonderful book with trucks, animals, and a good lesson for preschoolers. I’m so glad that I re-discovered it on our shelf.

Then, I used some prop sticks to sing this song:

Fingerplay: “Where Are Trucks?” (Thumbkin)
Where is pick-up truck? Where is pick-up truck?
Here I am. Here I am.
How are you today, sir? Very well, I thank you.
Drive away. Drive away.
(Tow truck, dump truck, moving truck, firetruck)

This kids really loved this activity! Never underestimate the allure of a familiar tune with new words!

Our last book for this week was “It Looked Like Spilt Milk” by Charles G. Shaw.

The refrain of this book was easily picked up by my kids, and as I turned the pages on our big book they eagerly guessed what shape the cloud was. And when we finished the book with the reveal that it had been a cloud the whole time, the kids and I talked about different cloud shapes.

We played our flannelboard, “Can We Find?” with blue objects hidden under the houses, and then I sang one last song to tie into our craft project for the day:

“One, Two, Three, Four, Five”
One, two, three, four, five, (hold up fingers one by one)
Once I caught a fish alive. (put hands together and wiggle like a fish)
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, (hold up fingers one by one)
Then I threw it back again. (make throwing motion)
Why did you let it go? (hold hands out asking why)
Because it bit my finger so. (shake hand, as if hurt)
Which finger did it bite? (hold hands out asking why)
This little finger on my right. (wiggle pinky finger)
Credit: Childhood

For craft this week, each child received a blue fish and was able to paste on different colored scales to their fish. A great hit!