Go Green Week: Storytime-The Color Green

I had two very energetic sessions of toddler storytime yesterday. It was one of the those times it was hard to tell who is more excited about storytime; me or the kids.

This was a new storytime for me I hadn't tried before, talking all about the color green.
I used my "flannel" props from this post here to get the kids talking about what they see in their world. Thankfully, we finally have a hint of spring weather so we could look outside and actually see green grass instead of snow. Plus I get to read some of my favorite books!

Opening Song: Wheels on the Bus

Welcome: Talking about green in our world
Grass and flowers are green; spring is coming. Shamrocks are green. It’s St. Patrick’s day soon. Having a green thumb means you are a good gardener. Lots of animals are green especially frogs, lizards, and snakes, Lots of green food is good for you like lettuce, spinach, avocados and peas!

Book: Bear Sees Colors by Karma Wilson- Be still my heart. Could this be a possible replacement for Brown Bear Brown Bear? I think so!

Song: Five Little Leprechauns 

Book: Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal - I love this book and it always gets me and the grown ups giggling. I always look for an opportunity to read it. Little Pea loves being a pea, except for dinner time. Because when your a pea, you have to eat candy for dinner and Little Pea hates candy!

Song: Freeze Dance Song - Green Light Go by the Not-Its
This works great because the command for stopping is built into the song, so no need to awkwardly reach behind and stop a CD to signal it's time for freeze. I had a sign with Go in Green and Stop in Red that we used to to help the kids. I also gave them a choice. They can get up and dance with me or they can just watch me dance like a fool for the next two minutes. Thankfully they joined with me.

Book: The Wide Mouthed Frog by Keith Faulkner- Another one of my all time favorites. Obviously, the key in reading this out loud is not to just rely on the pop ups. Open your mouth real wide and speak slowly. Be as comical as possible.

Dancing Song: Shake Your Sillies Out

Book: Green by Laura Seeger 

Closing Song: Wheels on the Bus

I gave my kids the assignment to go and find something green this week and tell their grown ups about it.  As an added bonus, lots of the books I pulled to be checked out after storytime went out!