Storytime - Summer

Last week's theme was Summer, and it's probably my favorite lesson plan yet this season.

Books

Maisy Makes Lemonade by Lucy Cousins 

Toddler

One Magical Day by Claire Freedman

Toddler

Froggy Learns to Swin by Jonathan London

Preschool

The Happy Hippopotami

Preschool

Special Songs/Rhymes

"Mr. Sun"

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun,

Mr. Golden Sun

Won’t you please shine down on me?

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun,

Mr. Golden Sun

Hiding behind a tree.

These little children are asking you

To please come out so they can

Play with you.

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun,

Mr. Golden Sun

Won’t you please shine down on me?

"The Waves at the Beach"

Sung to: “The Wheels on the Bus”

The waves on the beach

Go up and down

Up and down, up and down

The waves on the beach

Go up and down

All day long

*Use crabs, clams, and lobsters, too.

--from The Big Book of Stories, Songs, and Sing-Alongs by Beth Maddigan and Stefanie Drennan. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2003.

Felt Boards 

"If You're Going to the Pool"

*This song can be found on Mel's Desk. For the toddler group, I just put the picture of the item on the board and we sang the song. I asked the preschoolers to name something they would take with them to the pool, and as they guessed the items in my hand, I placed them on the board, then we sang the song.

Craft

Toddler - Each toddler received a die cut of an orange and yellow sun and a piece of sky blue construction paper. They glued the pieces together and colored them to make their own summer scenes.

Preschool - Since my preschool groups have been so big, I've scaled back on the crafts a little bit. I handed each child a summer themed worksheet from First School.ws that can be found here.