The Plan
Books
At the Supermarket by Anne Rockwell
Gorilla Gorilla by Jeanne Willis
Higher, Higher by Leslie Patricelli
My Garden by Kevin Henkes
Two at the Zoo by Danna Smith
Extension Activities
Flannelboard: “Go Away, Big Green Monster”
Flannelboard Puzzle: “Letter G”
Action Rhyme: “My Garden”
This is my garden
I’ll rake it with care (make raking motion)
And then some flower seeds (pat the ground)
I’ll plant them there
The sun will shine (make circle with hands)
And the rain will fall (let fingers flutter down)
And my garden will blossom
And grow straight and tall (cup hand together, extend upward slowly)
Credit: Step by Step — Garden Theme
Fingerplay: “Grandma’s Glasses”
These are Grandma’s glasses
This is Grandma’s hat
This is the way she folds her hands
And lays them in her lap
Here are Grandpa’s glasses
And here is Grandpa’s hat
And here’s the way he folds his arms
And takes a little nap
Credit: Childhood
Song: “Sticky Bubblegum”
Sticky, sticky, bubblegum, bubblegum, bubblegum
Sticky, sticky, bubblegum, sticking your hands to your head
Un-stick!
Credit: Local Daycare (They taught this to me while they were waiting for the bus to take them back to school. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this song.)
Craft
I came up with this craft on my own forgot I saw this craft on Abby’s, googled the template, and bought some label stickers for the kids to use as gumballs. This was a great idea, and worked very well with my daycare group! [Edited to add: I clearly subconsciously remembered Abby doing this and thought it was my own idea!]
How It Went
Letter G was a hard one to find books that I liked, for whatever reason. I had a lot of good topics brainstormed (grandparents, giraffes, gorillas, grapes, groceries, gardens, girls) and it took me a while to find books that worked. I was super pleased that I put the extra effort into it because I found a lot of storytime gems. “Gorilla Gorilla” was a huge success and the kids also really enjoyed “At the Supermarket.” Kevin Henkes is one of my favorite storytime authors and “My Garden” was again a rousing success. Their favorite activity was definitely “Go Away Big Green Monster” and the “Sticky Bubblegum” song. All in all, another wonderful storytime session.
storytime katie 
Katie – could you tell me more about the Sticky Bubblegum song? Is there a tune, or is it just a little chant? Do you do something special at the ending “un-stick!”? And I guess that the motions are just sticking your hands to your head, and then unsticking?
You have the motions right. I sing it the song to “Did You Ever See a Lassie,” or thereabouts. For “Un-stick,” I just sing-song/speak it. One day, I’ll do a video of it!
You can find the Sticky Bubblegum song via the following link http://nancymusic.com/Stickyplay.htm
Thanks! I sing it to a different tune that I learned from the daycare.
I know Sticky Bubble Gum from the Carole Peterson CD. I think it’s her original song, but either way her version is great! http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/petersonc
Goodnight Gorrilla by Peggy Rathman is an excellent one to share with the kids – find the mouse on each page…..
It is! Our copy was checked out when I did this storytime.