Toddler Storytime: The Color Orange

To celebrate the season, I decided to a storytime on the color orange.  The inspiration came from Storytime Katie's blog.  I took her advice and matched rhymes with the stories I read, rather than trying to come up with activities about the color orange.  I think it worked well.  Here is what I did:

BOOK:  Where is Tippy Toes? by Betsy Lewin
Tippy Toes is a cat who spends his day doing fun things, but what does he do at night?  This is a great book to share with toddlers, because of the flaps hiding the cat.  Children had fun telling me what Tippy Toes was doing.  I included this book because Tippy Toes is bright orange.


FINGERPLAY:  Kitten Was Hiding
Kitten was hiding under a chair
I looked and I looked for her everywhere
I looked under the table
I looked under the bed
I looked in the corner
And then I said,
"Here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty.  Here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty.
I have a bowl of milk for you."
And then the kitten came running, saying "mew, mew, mew, mew."
(Source: King County Library System)

BOOK:  How Big Could Your Pumpkin Grow? by Wendell Minor
You can't have an orange storytime without a book about a pumpkin!  This is a new picture book we have at the library, and I wanted to share it with the kids.  I love the illustrations and that it's about the concept of "big."  Children get to see how the pumpkins get bigger and bigger on each page.

ACTION RHYME:  Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Pumpkin, pumpkin on the ground     (crouch down)
How'd you get so big and round?     (stretch arms to make a big circle)
Once you were a seed so small        (pretend to hold a seed)
Now you are a great big ball            (make a big circle with hands)
Pumpkin, pumpkin on the ground     (crouch down)
How'd you get so big and round?     (stretch arms to make a big circle)
(Source: King County Library System)

BOOK:  Little Owl's Orange Scarf by Tatyana Feeney
This is another new picture book, and when I read it I knew it would be perfect for an orange storytime.  Little Owl dislikes his orange scarf for many reasons, but mainly because orange is not his favorite color.  This is a really cute story, and would also be perfect for an owl-themed storytime.

FLANNEL RHYME:  Five Hoot Owls
Five hoot owls sitting in a tree
One flew away.  How many do you see?
Four hoot owls sitting in a tree
One flew away.  How many do you see?
Three hoot owls, etc.
(Source:  Sunflower Storytime)

For a craft, we made pumpkin collages, which is an easy craft to do with 2 year olds.  I printed out a pumpkin shape onto cardstock paper (or you can use construction paper).  I gave them crayons, Halloween stickers, and orange tissue paper squares which they could glue onto their picture with a glue stick.  Easy-peasy!