Storytime: Count With Me

I had a lot of fun planning this story time, and depending on the books you choose, it's easily adaptable for toddlers or preschoolers.  And let me tell you, there are a lot of books out there on numbers and counting.  I had to scale myself back from reading all the things.  Here is what I did.

BOOKS:



One is a Drummer: a Book of Numbers by Roseanne Thong
One Two That's My Shoe! by Alison Murray
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin
The Long, Long Line by Tomoko Ohmura
Soup for One by Ethan Long

RHYMES & SONGS:

"This Old Man"
I have a sing-along kit from Lakeshore Learning.  I love to have kids participate in this song, so I hand out the pieces.  As we're singing, each one puts their piece up on the flannel board when we get to that part in the song.

This old man, he played one.
     (hold up one finger)
He played nick nack on my drum.
CHORUS:
With a nick nack paddy whack,
     (pat one knee and then the other)
Give a dog a bone.
     (mimic throwing bone to dog)
This old man came rolling home.
     (make rolling motion using both hands)

Repeat with these verses followed by the chorus:

This old man, he played two.
He played nick nack on my shoe.

This old man, he played three.
He played nick nack on my tree.

This old man, he played four.
He played nick nack on my door.

This old man, he played five.
He played nick nack on my hive.

This old man, he played six.
He played nick nack on my sticks.

This old man, he played seven.
He played nick nack up to heaven.

This old man, he played eight.
He played nick nack on my gate.

This old man, he played nine.
He played nick nack on my line.

This old man, he played ten.
He played nick nack on my hen.

"Jumping and Counting"
This song is from the album Jim Gill's Irrational Anthem and More Salutes to Nonsense by Jim Gill.  This is a great song to get the wiggles out because it involves jumping and then stopping to count up to ten.  This is a favorite in my toddler group.

"Five Little Speckled Frogs"
Slowly, but surely, I've been integrating technology into my story times. For this childhood favorite, I used my iPad and an app called Felt Board.  It is just as interactive as a physical felt rhyme.  I had a small group, so each child was able to come up and "jump" a frog into the pool.

Five little speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs,
Yum, yum!
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Then there were four speckled frogs,
Glug, glug!

Continue with four, three, two, one.

Five Elephants in a Bathtub
I have a felt board from Artfelt for this rhyme, and I love to do this with the kids.  This would also work for an elephant theme or bathtub theme story time.

One elephant in a bathtub going for a swim.
Knock, knock - Splash, splash - Come on in!
     (Clap twice with "knock, knock," slap knees twice with "splash, splash," and motion with both hands to come in with "come on in.")

Continue with two, three, four...

Five elephants in a bathtub going for a swim.
Knock, knock - Splash, splash and it all fell in!
     (knock elephants and tub off the felt board)

CRAFT:
The craft I did for this story time had nothing to do with numbers or counting.  I call it "Let's help Miss Jenny clean out the craft closet."  I had some leftover mask shapes and butterfly shapes that I had purchased at Michael's.  I brought out glitter glue, sequins, feathers, stickers and markers and let the kids decorate either shape.  Sometimes, the craft doesn't always match the theme and that is okay.  Kids don't care as long as they can create something.