Numbers!

The Plan

Books

Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
Fish Swish Splash Dash by Suse MacDonald
Little Quack by Lauren Thompson
Ones and Twos by Marthe and Nell Jocelyn
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Jane Cabrera

Extension Activities

Fingerplay: “Five Fat Peas”
Five fat peas in a pea pod pressed (make a fist)
One grew, two grew, so did all the rest (pop out fingers, one by bone)
They grew and they grew and they did not stop, (raise hand in air)
Until one day the pop went POP! (clap)
Credit: Harris County Library

Song & Puppets: “Five Little Monkeys Swinging From the Tree”
Five little monkeys, swinging from the tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile, “You can’t catch me! No, you can’t catch me!”
Along comes Mr. Crocodile, as quiet as can be
And snatched that monkey out of that tree
Credit: Childhood

Flannelboard: “Pretty Ladybug” (Tune: Muffin Man)
The ladybug has one black spot, one black spot, one black spot
The ladybug has one black spot, pretty ladybug
Credit: What Happens In Storytime

Action Song: “Ten In the Bed”
There were ten in the bed and the little one said, “Roll over, roll over”
So they all rolled over and one fell out!
(countdown)
Credit: Childhood

Craft

From an Oriental Trading kit — but this could easily be made without the kit! Both groups were thrilled with this craft; my parents were excited to explain how a clock worked to their kids.

How It Went

Thursday morning
This storytime was a pretty awesome one. I had a great bunch of kids who were ready to count with me! Their favorite book, by far, was “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe.” (I personally love all the Jane Cabrera books — great way to use a book, but also encourage interaction — I sing them aloud and get a lot of parents to join in.) I also used my new finger puppets for “Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree” and the kids just freaked out with joy.

Friday morning
I got a similar reaction from my Friday morning group about the finger puppets! After storytime was all over, I let them come up for some puppet pats and kisses (puppets kissing them, not them kissing puppets!). Most of the kids poked their fingers directly into crocodile’s mouth and snatched them away before he could catch them. This group had a great time with “Dog’s Colorful Day” and I think it might have been the first time I’ve used an Emma Dodd Dog book with them.