Green (St. Patrick’s Day) – Toddler Storytime

St. Patrick’s Day is almost here, so it’s time to celebrate all things green!  (Also, celebrating green makes it easier to find books to use.)

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Green
by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

MOVEMENT: “Roll Your Hands” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*
10 Shamrocks
Shamrocks

FLANNELBOARD:
Leprechaun’s Lucky Charms
LeprechansLuckyCharmsFlannelboard2
inspired by K at Storytime ABC’s and her Leprechaun, Leprechaun, What Do You See? and Lucky Charms breakfast cereal
Patterns via Google Images search and Microsoft Shapes tool on Word

Leprechaun’s Lucky Charms
Start with the leprechaun on the flannelboard.  Add the other pieces where mentioned in the story.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a red heart here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have an orange star here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a yellow moon here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a green clover here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a blue diamond here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a purple horse shoe here with me.

Let’s see what colors we have – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.
What does that make?
A Rainbow!

And what can you find at the end of the rainbow?
Leprechaun’s pot of gold!

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Good Luck Bear  by Greg Foley

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

VIDEO:
VeryHungryCaterpillarDVD
“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other stories

MOVEMENT:  Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:
This was a pretty good storytime.  I feel like the kids don’t connect as well with Good Luck Bear as much as they do with the other Bear stories by Foley, but it is still such a cute read (while being topical and age-appropriate).

ATTENDANCE:  10 am:  38 people      11 am: 28 people

* For these songs, please see my Storytime Movements & Music page

Green (St. Patrick’s Day) – Infants

There are not a lot of good St. Patrick’s Day stories for infants (at least, not that I have right now), so this one was a Green (heavy on shamrocks) storytime.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock*

BOOK:

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox, illustrated by Judy Horacek

MOVEMENT: “Clap, Tap and Bend” from It’s Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

FLANNELBOARD:
Five Green Shamrocks Two Ways
5 Green Shamrocks Flannelboard
(template from Google images search)

Five Green Shamrocks (counting up)
(rhyme from DLTK Holidays)
One green shamrock, in the morning dew,
Another one sprouted,
and then there were two.

Two green shamrocks, growing beneath a tree;
Another one sprouted,
and then there were three.

Three green shamrocks, by the cottage door;
Another one sprouted,
and then there were four.

Four green shamrocks, near a beehive
Another one sprouted,
and then there were five.

Five little shamrocks, bright and emerald green,
Think of all the luck
these shamrocks will bring.

Five Green Shamrocks (counting down)
(rhyme taken from King County Library Wiki)
5 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked one up and put it on the door
that’s for good luck now there are 4

4 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked it up and and put it on a tree
that’s for good luck now there are 3

3 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked it up and put it on his shoe
that’s for good luck now there are 2

2 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked it up and held it toward the sun
that’s for good luck now there is 1

1 little shamrock lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he left it there so there’d always be 1
that’s for good luck and now my story’s done!

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:

Green
by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet
LittleMissMuffetFlannelboard
Flannelboard from Little Folk Visuals

Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

TICKLE: Catch a Wee Mouse*

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley

HOW IT WENT:
While St. Patrick’s Day doesn’t lend itself very well to stories for young ones, this was still an enjoyable storytime.  Where is the Green Sheep? went over very well with the audience today — even though it can be a little long the parents seemed to stick with it.  I shortened Green a little bit to work with the group, but that one was good too.

ATTENDANCE: 34 people

* For these songs, please see my page Storytime Movements & Music