Animals

Last week our theme was Animals, and very lightly touches on the "Every Hero Has a Story" Collaborative Summer Reading theme. Most of the the books, at least for Preschool Storytime, had brave animals featured in them.

Books:

Toddler Books:

Brave Squish Rabbit - Katherine Battersby
Whose Nose and Toes? - John Butler

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? - Eric Carle *Flannel Story Version

Preschool Books:

Brave Squish Rabbit - Katherine Battersby
What the Ladybug Heard - Julia Donaldson
You Can Do It, Bert! - Ole Konnecke
Millie and the Big Rescue - Alexander Steffensmeier

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Slippery Fish Song (and puppet show):

Slippery fish, slippery fish, sliding through the water,

Slippery fish, slippery fish, gulp, Gulp, GULP!

...OH NO! He's been eaten by a....

Hermit crab, hermit crab, crawling through the water,

Hermit crab, hermit crab, gulp, Gulp, GULP!

...OH NO! He's been eaten by a....

Octopus, octopus, squiggling through the water,

Octopus, octopus, gulp, Gulp, GULP!

...OH NO! He's been eaten by a...

Great white shark, great white shark, lurking in the water,

Great white shark, great white shark, gulp, Gulp, GULP!

...OH NO! He's been eaten by a...

Big green turtle, big green turtle, swishing through the water,

Big green turtle, big green turtle, gulp, Gulp, GULP!

..."BUuuuRP!...Pardon me!"

Source: Slippery Fish

*I used the video for the tune, but I substituted whatever ocean-themed animal puppets we have on hand at my library.

Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree:

Five little monkeys, swinging in the tree,

Teasing Mr. Crocodile, "You can't catch me."

Along comes Mr. Crocodile, as quiet as can be,

"SNAP!" But that monkey got away to another tree.

count down till all that is left is a very hungry crocodile and five very safe monkeys

Source: Traditional

*I used five monkey finger puppets and a large crocodile. 

If You're An Animal and You Know It (Tune: "If You're Happy and You Know It"):
If you're a monkey and you know it, jump up and down,
If you're a monkey and you know it, jump up and down,
If you're a monkey and you know it and you really want to show it,
If you're a monkey and you know it, jump up and down.

Other verses:
If you're an elephant and you know it, stomp your feet
If you're a turtle in the ocean, swim like this (make turtle flippers swimming motion)
If you're an alligator and you know it, SNAP, SNAP