Sunflower Surprise!

It occurred to me yesterday that I hadn't posted a story time in a couple weeks, and since I'm not prepared to review anything today, or have anything particularly witty to say, it seemed like a great time to dig through the archives and find a story time.  Since I'm not your typical librarian (i.e. I'm strange and sorta lazy) I don't like doing the normal themes.  I find that doing a story time on apples or leaves or normal fall stuff means that all the books I want to use are checked out and everyone else is making a leaf man too.  Instead, I got creative and hung out on the fringe of themes.  For fall, I did a sunflower themed story time for preschoolers.  This is just something a little different than the usual fall flare, so give it a try!

Sunflower Surprise!

Opening Song:  Roll Your Hands

Roll, roll, roll your hands, fast as fast can be!

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, roll your hands like me.

Mix it up:  Clap your hands, wiggle your hands, make them go slow

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:  What’s This by Caroline Mockford

Rhyme:  Sunshine

The sun makes the outside a warm place to play

It makes the flowers grow each day

The sun hides its face during the night

But during the day it shines so bright!

Book:  To Be Like the Sun by Susan Marie Swanson

Rhyme:  Farmer and the Seeds

The farmer plants the seeds, the farmer plants the seeds.

Hi, Ho and Cheery O, the farmer plants the seeds

Sun begins to shine, rain begins to fall

Plants begin to grow, flowers smile at us

Book:  Sunflower House by Eve Bunting

Rhyme:  Different Homes

A sparrow’s home is a nest in a tree

An octopus home is a cave beneath the sea

In a hole in the ground, a little rabbit hides

A sunflower is where a gnome resides.

A hollowed-out log is for the porcupine

But the best home of all is the one that’s mine.

Book:  Sunflower by Miela Ford

Rhyme:  Lonely Sunflower

One lonely sunflower growing in the sun

Wants to play and have some fun

Then whoosh went the wind and scattered all the seeds

And now there’s lots of sunflowers playing in the breeze

Book:  Riki’s Birdhouse by Monica Wellington

Rhyme:  Autumn

The trees are gently dropping leaves onto the ground

The flowers are all nodding, down and all around

The wind is blowing a chilly breeze

The birds are flying into the trees.

Closing Song:  Thank You Clap

My hands say thank you with a clap, clap, clap.

My feet say thank you with a tap, tap, tap.

Clap, clap, clap.

Tap, tap, tap.

And now we say goodbye!

Craft:  Coffee Filter Sunflowers 

Visit familycorner.com to find instructions for your very own coffee filter sunflower.

BTW: Book covers courtesy of Goodreads, coffee filter sunflower courtesy of www.familycorner.com