Gardening

With the summer and "Dig Into Reading" themes in mind, I went with a Gardening-themed Family Storytime. What's better than digging in the dirt and learning about planting seeds!

Dig a Little Hole
Dig a little hole  (dig)
Plant a little seed  (drop seed)
Pour a little water  (pour)
Pull a little weed  (pull up and throw away)
Chase a little bug  (chasing motion)
Heigh-ho, there he goes!  (shade eyes)
Give a little sunshine (make sun)
Grow a little rose (smell flower, eyes closed)
source: Miss Meg's Storytime

We Are Gardeners
We all plant the seeds
We all plant the seeds
Heigh ho the derry-o
We all plant the seeds
(Bend down to plant seeds)

Other verses:
The sun comes out to shine (Hold hands up in the air to be the sun)
The rain starts to fall (Use fingers to simulate rain falling)
The seeds start to grow (Put hand through other hand to mimic plant coming out of soil)
We all smell the flowers (Sniff flowers extravagantly)
source: Preschool Storytime Outlines

Book: "And Then It's Spring" by Julie Fogliano

I loved the illustrations in this book and the color palette. It's very brown, emphasizing the brown-ness of the landscape in the spring, with simple pops of color here-and-there. Until, suddenly, it is spring and green after the seeds in the garden grow.


I'll Plant a Little Seed (tune: "I'm a Little Teapot")
I'll plant a little seed in the dark, dark ground.
Out comes the yellow sun, big and round.
Down comes the cool rain, soft and slow.
Up comes the little seed, grow, grow, grow!
source: Preschool Education

Flower, Flower, Turn Around
Flower, Flower, turn around
Flower, Flower, touch the ground
Flower, Flower, reach up high
Flower, Flower, wink one eye
Flower, Flower, touch your nose
Flower, Flower, touch your toes
Flower, Flower, slap your knees
Flower, Flower, sit down please
*my version but the original source: Storytime Katie

Book: "Plant A Little Seed" by Bonnie Christensen 

Two friends help plant and tend their garden as it grows, until it is time to harvest and eat the fruits of their labor. The colors are bright and vibrant, and it is a fun way to teach children about the long wait period for the garden to grow--but in the end it is worth it.



And then we ended with a couple songs, including a personal favorite--"Itsy, Bitsy Spider" by Hap Palmer.