The Wielded Pen - Children's Corner: Poetry & Rhyme II

For the second year in the row I've done a storytime that celebrates poetry and rhyming books for the kids. I truly wish there were more poem picture books out there in the world! The children from both programs did enjoy this theme!

By the way, you'll see the pattern of me using a lot of David Elliot books. He does such nice ones that are poem picture books that I could not help myself!

BOOKS

One Little Chicken: A Counting Book written by David Elliot and illus. by Ethan Long (T)
This was a cute book, but only some of the older toddler-level ones were able to help find out which chicken was not dancing.

Fiddle-I-Fee written and illus. by Will Hillenbrand (T)
I liked this book, but I was getting tongue tied after awhile doing the "fiddle-i-fee" refrain a lot. The children liked seeing all of the different animals.

Leap Back Home to Me written by Lauren Thompson and illus. by Matthew Cordell (T)
The Toddlers really liked this book. The older ones in the group that it was amazing that the frog could leap so high!

Sing a Song of Piglets: A Calendar in Verse written by Eve Bunting and illus. by Emily Arnold McCully(P)
The piglets in this book are a-d-o-r-a-b-l-! I had to read the whole thing because of the cuteness factor. The girls in the group agreed with me.

And Here's To You! written by David Elliot and illus. by Randy Cecil (P)
This poem picture book is like a celebration and appreciation of the world around you. I wish the Preschoolers appreciated it more than they did. Oh well, perhaps another day.

In the Sea written by David Elliot and illus. by Holly Meade (P)
This is one of my favorite poetry picture books and one by David Elliott. The illustrations are just lovely and I enjoy a good amount of the little poems.

SONGS & RHYMES

Open, Shut Them (T, P)

follow actions

Open, shut them

Give a little clap

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap

Creep them, creep them up to your chin

Open your mouth wide, but don't put your fingers in!

Open, shut them

Give a big clap

Open, shut them

Lay them in your lap.

Five Little Starfish (P)

Five little starfish by the shore,

The yellow one got lost and that left four

Four little starfish in the sea,

The blue one swam far, far away and that left three.

Three little starfish in the ocean so blue,

The red one took a seahorse ride and that left two.

Two little starfish in the sun,

The orange one took a dive and that left one.

One little starfish swimming along,

It was time for him to go home and that left none.

Inspiration Source: Narrating Tales of Preschool Storytime

Touch Your Nose (T, P)

follow actions

Touch your nose

Touch your chin

That's the way this game begins

Touch your eyes

Touch your knees

Now pretend you're going to sneeze!

Aaachooooo!

Touch your hair

Touch one ear

Touch your two red lips right here

Touch your elbow where it bends

And that's the way this touch game ends.

ACTIVITIES

Egg Shakers (T)
Shake, shake, shake!

FLANNEL BOARDS

A Dozen Chickens (T)
Needing some sort of flannel board to get some wiggles out I made twelve chickens with a die cut shape. To give the birds a little more dimension I used the die cutter to make their beaks and combs. I had the Toddlers put them on board before we read the book One Little Chicken: A Counting Book.

Five Little Starfish (P)
This is one of my favorite flannel boards I've made. The Starfish are so dang cute and happy looking that I actually made more than five back when I made them for a Visit Magical Places storytime!

CRAFTS

Leaping Frog Pictures (T)
I'm so happy that the Toddlers really liked the book Leap Back Home to Me because the craft I did was inspired it. All they had to do was paste the a die cut frog onto a coloring page. Some frogs were leaping while others were relaxing their home. Mine was chilling at home.

Seashell Pictures (P)
The Preschool group got to make a picture out of construction paper of a seashell either under the water on the ocean floor or on the beach. Using construction paper crayons to recreate the Holly Meade's illustrations in the book In the Sea was awesome! Love!

PICTURES