Storytime: Gardening

During summer we combine our age groups so we end up with a group of kids ages 2-5. We offer the same storytime twice each week, and get 20-30 kids each time. Quite the change from storytime during the school year when 7-10 kids was a good week! (I'm trying to figure out the best timeframes to offer storytime in the fall hoping we'll keep up with a larger group!)

I try to make storytime last about a half hour, then the craft at the end takes varying amounts of time based on the kids.

My first storytime of our Dig into Reading Summer Reading Program was about Gardening.


1) These Are My Glasses - Laurie Berkner
My current opening song that we sing acappella every week. I start by asking them to show me their glasses and their book so that they remember the signs. We sing it through twice, then I'll ask them to quietly put their "books" in their lap.

These are my glasses (make the letter o with each hand)
And this is my book (hands together)
I put on my glasses (put "glasses" over eyes)
And open up the book (open book hands)
Now I read read read (hold book up in front of face like reading)
And I look look look (put glasses over eyes and look around room)
I put down my glasses and… (lower glasses)
WHOOP! Close up the book. (clap as if closing a book quickly)


2) One Mole Digging a Hole – Julia Donaldson

A really easy book. Since this age group is learning their numbers, I asked them each time, what comes after one? What comes after two? etc.


3) Song – We are the Dinosaurs - Laurie Berkner
My kids LOVE this song. They ask for it every week.


4) Who's in the Garden? – Phillis Gershator

The kids had fun guessing the next animal (of course they could easily see it through the big hole in the page). This was in board book format that we loaned in from another library, but I've put in an order to add it to our collection too!


5) Yummy Watermelons feltboard
I found this little story in the vast filing cabinet of flannelboard activities that I need to organize someday. We changed the "when I was playing outside" line to "after I went to the library". :)


6) Up, Down, and Around – Katherine Ayres

My kids needed to get up and move, so we acted this one out. When I said "____ grew up!" they jumped, "____ grew down!" they touched the ground, and "_____ grew around and around!" they spun in a circle.


7) Song – Hot Potato - the Wiggles
Potatoes fit with the theme. Spaghetti and bananas not so much... but it was a fun song to introduce.


8) Growing Vegetable Soup – Lois Ehlert

I love the bright colors of Lois Ehlert's books, and this one is no exception. I don't think the story itself interested kids very much, but the flashy and sometimes neon colors held their attention. It's a short book, so it was a good one to end with.


Potato painting

For our craft, I cut potatoes in half and had three colors of washable tempera paint to choose from. Some kids stamped nice little circles, some smeared and "painted" with their potatoes. If I'd had less kids (and therefore less potatoes) I would have cut the potato ends into cool shapes like squares and stars and such. But I think they liked the circles just fine.