Apples and Pumpkins

In the spirit of autumn, changing leaves, and a quickly approaching Halloween, we did a storytime about apples and pumpkins!

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

1. Pumpkin, Pumpkin, on the ground:
Pumpkin, pumpkin on the ground (touch the ground)
How’d you get so big and round? (make a big circle)
Once you were a seed so small (pinch fingers together)
Now you are a great big ball (make a big circle overhead)
Pumpkin, pumpkin on the ground (touch the ground)
How’d you get so big and round? (make a big circle)
Source: Step by Step Child Care



2. The Apple Tree:
Way up high in the apple tree (hold hands above head)
Two little apples smiled at me (make circles with thumb and forefinger of each hand, smile)
I shook that tree as hard as I could (pretend to shake tree)
Down came the apples (lower hand to the ground and wiggle fingers)
Mmmmmmmm! They were good! (take bite, rub tummy and smile)
Source: Storytime Katie


3. Five Little Pumpkins:
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,
First one said "Oh my, it's getting late!"
Second one said "There are witches in the air,"
Third one said "but we don't care!"
Fourth one said "Let's run and run and run."
Fifth one said "I'm ready for some fun!"
Ooo ooo went the wind, and out went the lights,
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
Source: Raffi

 

Books:

1. "Apples and Pumpkins" by Anne Rockwell

2. "Pumpkin, Pumpkin" by Jeanne Titherington

3. "Five Little Pumpkins" illustrated by Ben Mantle

I actually used this board book in conjunction with the "Five Little Pumpkins" song by Raffi. There are minor variations between the lyrics and the words in the book, so I went with Raffi's version, especially since we were singing the song instead of reading it.

Animal Sounds

I apologize for the delay (I will be playing catch-up in these next posts!).

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

1. Jungle noises:

chorus: 

Walking through the jungle, (make motions of walking)  

What do you see? (put hand above eyes, looking)
Can you hear a noise? (cup hand over ear)
What could it be? (shrug shoulders)

Ah well, I think it is a ________ (tiger)

animal noises (roar, roar, roar)

2X repeat: “I think…animal noises”

Looking for his tea (put hand above eyes, looking)

sing chorus and then move on to the next animal

Snake = Sss! Sss! Sss! (make hands slither like a snake)

Elephant = Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! (stomp feet)

Crocodile = Snap! Snap! Snap! (make snapping jaws with arms)

Last line: Hope it isn't me (cover head with arms)

Source: Harris County Public Library

2. Five Little Monkeys (with flannels!):

Five little monkeys swinging from a tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile, “you can’t catch me!”
Here comes Mr. Crocodile, as quiet as can be
SNAP! (monkey jumps to different tree)

(countdown to none)

Phew! They all made it safely (clap for the monkeys)
Source: Kids Play and Create


3.  If You're a ____ and you know it (Jungle Version)
If you’re an elephant and you know it, STOMP your feet
If you’re a monkey and you know it, JUMP up and down (ooh ooh aah aah)
If you’re a crocodile and you know it, SNAP your jaws (motion with arms)
If you’re a lion and you know it, give a ROAR!
Source: Sunflower Storytime

Books:

1. "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" by Bill Martin Jr. 

 

Obviously, a classic choice. But it was also fun to have the kids decide what noises to make for the different animals. Some of the animals, like a flamingo or a peacock, most of us had never heard before so it was fun for the kids to make up their own bird and animal noises for the different animals.

And, of course, it was fun for the older kids to roar loudly as lions or hissssss like slithering snakes. It was a fun book to add some interactiveness to storytime for the kids.

2. "Hoot, Howl, Hiss" by Michelle Koch

Much simpler than "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?", it was a good animal sounds book to end storytime with. It is geared toward younger kids but still adds the element of fun for young children to make the animal noises when we talk about each animal.