When I started planning for the fall session of infant toddler storytime I thought I would start off with a seasonal choice and do stories about autumn.  After searching for a bit, however, I couldn’t find many that had a good solid story that would be short enough for the first day of the session.  So I then turned to another great aspect of fall – apples!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song

MOVEMENT:“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman.

BOOK:

Ten Red Apples by Virginia Miller
Since ththis works on two levels (it has a story running along the bottom, and a counting aspect along the side), for the most part I just stuck with the story and read that portion, except when it mentions that Bartholomew likes counting the red apples — then the group and I counted together.   

MOVEMENT: “Reach for the Ceiling” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

COUNTING SONG:

Apples – pattern found via Google Image Search

Today we did our counting song, of course, with apples.  I added a few green apples to the mix to brighten things up.

FLANNELBOARD:
“The Apple Tree”

Song and Patterns taken from 2’s Experience Felt Board Fun by Liz & Dick Wilmes

Way up high in the apple tree (lift hands above head)
Four little apples smiled at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could. (shake hands back and forth)
Down came one apple. 
MMMMmmm… was it  good. (rub tummy)

How many apples do we have left? 3!

Way up high in the apple tree (lift hands above head)
Three little apples smiled at me….

Continue until you’ve eaten all the apples.

For my 10am storytime I actually put five red apples on the flannelboard and we counted that many together.  That seemed to be a bit much, so for the 11am storytime I switched to four and that was much better.

MOVEMENT: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:

Pepo and Lolo and the Red Apple by Ana Martin Larranaga

MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” from Fingerplays and Footplays by Rosemary Hallum and Henry “Buzz” Glass

VIDEO:

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Stories.

I actually thought I would show “Chicka Chicka 1,2,3” as my video, but my hold didn’t come in time.  I remembered the cover of this DVD, and sure enough, the first item that our very hungry friend eats is an apple.  It’s fun to hear the ooohhs and ahhhs when he becomes a butterfly.

MOVEMENT:  Storytime’s Over