Let's Play!

I've mentioned football several times on this blog and I do love football season.  Well, I love it for a month, and then I'm over it!  But, during that month, I love to do a sports-themed story time.  What better time to force your sports allegiance on unsuspecting preschoolers!  I tried to teach my kids the I-L-L, I-N-I chat, and it worked okay, but not great.  I'll have to try harder in the future.

I liked to make my sports programs kinda general not only to keep the kids engaged, but also because I feel like there aren't a lot of great storybooks about one particular sport.  For instance, I'd love to do a nothing-but-football story time, but I just couldn't find the books to support it.  If I'm missing something, please let me know!!

Let’s Play!

Preschool Storytime

Opening Song:  Bendable Stretchable by Georgiana Stewart

Opening Rhyme:  Dance your fingers

Dance your fingers up, dance your fingers down.

Dance your fingers to the side, dance them round and round.

Dance them on your shoulders, dance them on your head.

Dance them on your belly and now put them to bed!

Book:  Sergio Saves the Game by Edel Rodriguez

Rhyme:  Balls

(for each size ball, make that shape with your arms)

A great big ball, a medium-sized ball, a teeny-tiny ball I see

Let’s count them, ready!

One, two, three!!

Book:  Let’s Play Football by Jan Mader

Dance:  Sport Pokey

You put your cleets in, you take your cleets out.

You put your cleets in, and you shake it all about.

You do the sports pokey and you turn yourself about.

That's what it's all about!

(glove, helmet, shoulder pads, etc)

Book:  Dino-Baseball by Lisa Wheeler

 

Rhyme:  This is the way you play baseball

(Tune:  Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush)

This is the way you hit the ball

This is the way you catch the ball

This is the way you throw the ball

This is the way your run the bases

When you play baseball!

Book:  Hot Rod Hamster by Cynthia Lord

Rhyme:  10 Speedy Racecars

(Tune:  10 Little Indians-I liked to hand each child a cardstock

car with a number on it and have them stand as we sang.)

One little, two little, three speedy racecars.

Four little, five little, six speedy racecars.

Seven little, eight little, nine speedy racecars

Ten little racecars race!

Craft:  Foam Finger

For this craft, I cut out two foam finger shapes from Fun Foam, as shown in the picture below from www.giverslog.com

 

Then, I punched holes around the foam finger so the kids could lace them up with shoestrings.  Finally, I let the kids color on the foam with markers and add stickers.  Giverslog paints her foam finger and uses craft glue, so that would work great with older kids, but little ones have fun just lacing and coloring.  

My finger was orange with blue laces of course!  Go Illini!  But this makes a great craft for any sport's theme and with a few adjustments, works for any age.

Happy Reading!