Letter D Storytime

This is my storytime that I put together which introduces children to the letter D! 

1. Book:  Lazy Dave by Jarvis

This is SUCH a cute book that we recently got at work. A review on School Library Journal said that the phrasing is awkward but I completely disagree. The review also said that the the dog and human inhabitants of the story fall flat and inexpressive but I disagree with that also! I found this book to be a really great read aloud and the preschoolers absolutely loved it! The kids enjoyed the retro style illustrations and laughed at many of the pages (especially when Lazy Dave trips and stops the diamond thief!). They were entranced by it as I read it and I definitely don't understand how this could have received a poor review at all!

2. Fingerplay:

Dancing Fingers

We’re going to dance our fingers up
And dance our fingers down
We’ll dance them to the side
Let’s dance them all around
And we’ll dance them on our
shoulders
And we’ll dance them on our head
Let’s dance them on our tummy
And we’ll put them all to bed!

I usually extend this and also dance fingers on our knees, ankles, etc. I also go quickly from knees to toes and back to knees because it makes it more fun for children. Preschoolers are easily amused by these simple action rhymes. 

3. Song: Ducks Like Rain by Raffi

Kids of all ages get a huge kick out of this song. There is also a Carol Peterson version which is great. For the action part, I have the kids use their hands to make a duck mouth sing as the song goes "Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack." I also have the kids stomp around as if they're a duck that is splishin' and splashin' in the rain. This song also greatly amuses any parents in the room!

4. Book: Dog Loves Drawing by Louise Yates

5. Flannel Board: Five Donuts

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Were five yummy donuts with sprinkles on top

Along comes a dog with a dollar to pay

She buys a donut and takes it away

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Were four yummy donuts with sprinkles on top

Along comes a dog with a dollar to pay

She buys a donut and takes it away

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Were three yummy donuts with sprinkles on top

Along comes a dog with a dollar to pay

She buys a donut and takes it away

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Were two yummy donut with sprinkles on top

Along comes a dog with a dollar to pay

She buys a donut and takes it away

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Was one yummy donut with sprinkles on top

Along comes a dog with a dollar to pay

She buys a donut and takes it away

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Were zero yummy donuts with sprinkles on top

Along comes a dog with a dollar to pay

But she so stuffed that she passes out along the way!

Adapted words to fit the D concept from a flannel board story found on Storytime Katie. For a hilarious element, use a dog puppet to "eat" the donuts. I also had the dog let out a little burp after eating each  donut and the kids were dying of laughter. At the end, I show the dog slumped over the flannel board snoring! Kids commented that the dog must be "really fat" after eating all those donuts! 

6. Book: A Dog Wearing Shoes bu Sangmi Ko

This book is absolutely endearing as well! :) I love that it talks about a lost dog and what happens when you find a dog without an owner. It teaches a good moral to children and also discusses where a dog should be adopted (at a shelter rather than a pet store). One preschooler commented in a disappointing sounding voice that the "pictures were black and white."However, as soon as I started reading, he had no trouble paying attention! The kids also got a huge kick out of the fact that the dog wore shoes and that the dog that girl adopted at the end wore a yellow tutu, just like the little girl. This is the type of book that you will need to have the children look closely at the illustrations. Definitely a great read-a-loud and perfect for any dog storytime. 

7. Song: Dinosaur Dinosaur Move Your Body (from YouTube)

How could I have a Letter D storytime and not mention dinosaurs?!  Kids enjoyed acting out all the motions in this song! I also like that it's short enough to get some wiggles out but not too long where it takes away from the main purpose of storytime (reading great stories)!  

8. Book: Dog Loves Drawing

This is another spectacular dog book. I think this is my new favorite book in fact! The way the drawn animals move through the illustrations are very humorous. The kids laughed so hard. This book was also great for getting the children to make predictions about where the story was going to go. For example, on one page it says "Then the dog decided to draw a..." and then on the next page it shows what the duck drew (a monster).  I also love that it shows children that they too could create their own stories with a pencil and let their imaginations go wild through illustrations. 

9. Song: Jim Gill - Silly Dance Contest 

Kids are obsessed with this song and it is the perfect song to get shy preschoolers out of their comfort zone! 

Preschool Pals: Cupcakes, Cats, Chickens & Cows - Letter C Storytime

1. I open my Preschool Pals program by introducing the letter of the week. For this week I chose the letter C! I usually type of a list of words that begin with C and I'll have pictures of the items to reinforce what the letter C starts with. Here is a Google doc that I have for you to see what I do!

2. Book: If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff

Classic spin-off of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. Love this book so much! Doesn't mention as many c words as I wish but it's too cute to pass up. Plus it was the perfect segue into the flannel board story that I shared next. 

2. Flannel Board Story: Five Cupcakes

Adapted words to fit the C concept from a flannel board story found on Storytime Katie. For this flannel board story I used my cat puppet (named Chloe, of course) and had her pretend to eat the cupcakes. Then after all the cupcakes were gone I said she bought candy instead. Then I said the cat had gotten very fat and needed to take a nap. The kids REALLY loved this and thought it was hilarious. I also told them we were subtracting! Yay math! Here are the verses:

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Were five yummy cupcakes with sprinkles on top

Along comes cat with some change to pay
She buys a cupcake and takes it away

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Were four yummy cupcakes with sprinkles on top

Along comes cat with some change to pay
She buys a cupcake and takes it away

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Were three yummy cupcakes with sprinkles on top

Along comes cat with some change to pay
She buys a cupcake and takes it away

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Were two yummy cupcakes with sprinkles on top

Along comes cat with some change to pay
She buys a cupcake and takes it away

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Was one yummy cupcake with sprinkles on top

Along comes cat with some change to pay
She buys the last cupcake and takes it away

Down around the corner in the bakery shop

Were zero yummy cupcake with sprinkles on top

Along comes cat with some change to pay
She buys candy instead and takes it away!

3. Ralph's World : Driving in my Car --- KIDS LOVE THIS SONG! The preschoolers got super into it. The perfect song to let out some wiggles and also say another "c" word: car! :D 

4. Scat the Cat File Folder Story

Seriously obsessed with this story that I found in our flannel board story inventory. A previous employee where I work made it and I looked it up and it appears to have been adapted from a common story about a cat who didn't want to be black anymore. I can only assume that the person who typed this up had adapted it from the original story. Anyways, the kids were very engaged with this adapted story and absolutely loved it. I personally love it because it teaches a message that is so important. The message is that we should accept who we are and not try to be something we are not. I am so happy I discovered this story! You can learn how to recreate this story at drjean.org but I seriously recommend you follow the words I have adapted here rather than the original:

Once upon a time there was a little orange cat & his name was Scat. One day he looked around & saw that all his brothers & sisters & friends were orange too. Scat decided he would like to be a different color so he said,

I’m Scat the Cat. I’m sassy and fat.

And I can change my colors just like that! (snap fingers)

As quick as a wink, he  changed colors. He wasn’t an orange cat anymore. Now he was YELLOW. Yellow like a lemon—yellow like butter—yellow like a lion.

He went outside t show off his new color to his brothers and sisters, but… as soon as they saw him, they all screamed and ran away. “Eke!” they said. “A lion! Run for your lives!” And Scat was left all alone. So he said,

I’m Scat the Cat. I’m sassy and fat.
And I can change my colors just like that! (snap fingers)

And just like that, he changed colors. This time he was GREEN. What else is green like Scat? He went out to play with his friends, but they couldn’t find him because he was the color of the trees & grass. Well, this color just wasn’t fun at all. You couldn’t have fun playing if no one could see you. So, he decided to try a different color. He said:

I’m Scat the Cat. I’m sassy and fat.
And I can change my colors just like that! (snap fingers)

Scat turned BLUE, like water, the sky, and what else? He rushed to show everyone his new color, but they all went out to play. Scat was in such a hurry to find them, he forgot to wach where he was going and suddenly SPLASH! He fell in the water. He called out for help, but he was the same color as the water. No one could see him!

Scat was getting really scared, but luckily, his friend Timmy Turtle swam nearby and Scat was able to jump on Timmy’s back and ride safely to shore.

“Whew!” said Scat. I don’t want to be blue anymore. That was too scary! So Scat said:

I’m Scat the Cat. I’m sassy and fat.
And I can change my colors just like that! (snap fingers)

Scat turned bright RED, like an apple! Wow! They could surely see him now! Scat was excited about his bright new color. He went to play with everyone, but they all laughed at him. “Whoever heard of a red cat?! No one played with him & he felt so sad. 

(At this point I asked the children if it was nice to not play with someone because of their color and they all agreed that no, it was not nice at all!)

“I don’t want to be red anymore. I don’t want to be blue like the water, I don’t want to be green like the grass, and I don’t want to be yellow like a lion. I want to be orange again, just like my brother’s and sisters and friends. I’d like to have a lot of cats to play with so he said:

I’m Scat the Cat. I’m sassy and fat.
And I can change my colors just like that! (snap fingers)

Scat changed back to ORANGE and after that he was very happy just being himself.

(Then I talk again about the message – We should just be happy being ourselves and not try to be someone we’re not. Scat was happiest just being who he was: an orange cat.)

4. Book: Cupcakes by Charise Mericle Harper

This is SUCH a fun book. Perfect for teaching the letter C for it talks about cheese, candles, cupcakes, and colors. Love love love it.  It's also hilarious and the children LOVE IT! 

5. Letter C Say & Touch Poem 

(Written by me. Please credit by linking to my blog if you use this! Thank you!)

View Google Doc here.

Say "cheddar" and touch your head.
Say "cry" and touch your eye.

Say "care" and touch your hair. Say "couch" and touch your mouth. Say "crows" and touch your nose. Say "chin" and touch your chin. Say "crest" and touch your chest. Say "charm" and touch your arm. Say "crummy" and touch your tummy. Say "cheese" and touch your knees. Say "cleat" and touch your feet.

6. Book: Big Chickens by Leslie Helakosky

This is another perfect book to read which teaches the letter C! This one is extra special because it teaches the "ch" sound that c makes when you pair it with h. The book also has a lot of repetition which makes it really great for preschoolers. It's just a hilarious, fun, and colorful book overall. The book even features cows, another c word animal!

7. Ending Song: I Know a Chicken by the Laurie Berkner Band, from the Cd Whaddaya Think of That?

Oh, I know a chicken (I know a chicken)
And she laid an egg (And she laid an egg)
Oh I know a chicken (I know a chicken)
And she laid an egg (And she laid an egg)
Oh my goodness (Oh my goodness)
It’s a shaky egg! (It’s a shaky egg!)
Shake your eggs!
Other Verses:
-Shake em fast 
– Shake em slow- you know how it goes 
– Shake em in a circle don’t let touch the ground cause you shake them round n round.

After the song I gave children a cow stamp on their hand and then I passed out a camel letter puppet that children can color and make at home. These little puppets are really popular! I had a kid this week who came to me with his peacock letter p popsicle stick puppet that he had made at home. It was so adorable because he thought he had to give me the puppet but I told him he could keep it and he was super thrilled!

You can download and print the PDF of the letter c puppet here from quality-kids-crafts.com

View more letter puppets here. 

Hope you enjoyed this colorful storytime focusing on the letter C!