Storytime - Flowers

When I am planning my storytimes, I love looking at other librarian blogs to see what they use for theirs. So I thought I would return the favor and post what I use.

This week's theme for preschool and toddlers is flowers to celebrate spring and Earth Day.

My Plan:

Books: 

Huck Runs Amuck by Sean Taylor (Preschool)
Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan Shea (Preschool)
Fran's Flower by Lisa Bruce (Preschool/Toddler)
Big Yellow Sunflower by France Barry (Toddler)

Rhymes/Songs:

"There's Something In My Garden"

There’s something in my garden,

Now what can it be?
There’s something in my garden
That I can’t really see.
Hear its funny sound....
RIBBIT - RIBBIT - RIBBIT.
A FROG is what I found!
RIBBIT - RIBBIT - RIBBIT.

There’s something in my garden,
Now what can it be?
There’s something in my garden,
That I can’t really see.
Hear its funny sound....
THUMP - THUMP - THUMP.
A RABBIT is what I found!
THUMP - THUMP - THUMP

There’s something in my garden,
Now what can it be?
There’s something in my garden,
That I can’t really see.
Hear its funny sound....
SQUEAK - SQUEAK - SQUEAK.
A MOUSE is what I found!
SQUEAK - SQUEAK - SQUEAK.

There’s something in my garden,
Now what can it be?
There’s something in my garden,
That I can’t really see.
Hear its funny sound....
CAW - CAW - CAW.
A CROW is what I found!
CAW - CAW - CAW.

You can use puppets or flannels with this rhyme. And you can switch out or add any animals you like. I chose to use a flannel:

"Five Little Flowers" (sing to the tune of "Itsy Bitsy Spider")

Five little flowers (hold up five fingers)
Standing in the sun
See their heads nodding (make fingers nod)
One by one. (make fingers bow)
Out comes the sun (make sun with arms above head)
Down falls the rain, (flutter fingers downward)
And the five little flowers
Lift their heads again! (hold up five fingers)

Craft:

Paper Plate Flowers

I bought a pack of store-brand small paper plates. For the flower part, I just cut around the plate to create "petals". For the leaves, I cut the plates into 4 sections. I used green cardstock for the stems. Since I am alone with 20 preschoolers, I punched holes in the stems and flowers ahead of time so that we could just add the brads after they finished coloring their flower. Ideally they will spin in the wind!