Some of my favorite fingerplays and songs

A grandmother asked me the other day for the words to some of the songs and fingerplays I use a lot in my storytimes and I thought it would be a good idea to post them somewhere in case you wanted to try them at home. I always use the same opening and closing stuff, and I try to adjust the fingerplays and songs I use based on the season of storytime I'm in, winter, spring, etc., or whatever storytime theme I'm using.

Fingerplays are a great way to teach rhyming and body awareness and are a way for kids to practice both their gross and fine motor skills. And they get the wiggles out between stories! One of my favorite sources for fingerplays and songs is I'm a Little Teapot! by Jane Cobb.

Wiggle Fingers
Wiggle fingers, wiggle so, (wiggle fingers in front)
Wiggle high, wiggle low, (stretch arms up high, then low to ground)
Wiggle left, wiggle right, (wiggle fingers toward left of body, then to right)
Wiggle fingers out of sight. (hide fingers behind back)

Rain on the Green Grass
Rain on the green grass, (flutter fingers down)
Rain on the trees, (stretch arms up high and spread fingers out like a tree)
Rain on the rooftop, (touch fingertips together above head like the top of a triangle or house)
But not on me. (point thumbs toward self and shake head, 'no')

Tommy Thumbs
Tommy Thumbs up, Tommy Thumbs down,
Tommy Thumbs dancing all around the town.
Dance them on your shoulders,
Dance them on your head,
Dance them on your knees,
And tuck them into bed. (tuck thumbs into fists)
Repeat with Polly Pinkies

Now It's Time to Say Goodbye to All Our Friends
(tune: "She'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain")
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends, "Goodbye!" (clap hands to beat and wave during 'goodbye')
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends, "Goodbye!"
Now it's time to say goodbye,
Wave your hands,
Wink your eye,
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends, "Goodbye!"

Winter 09 Storytime - January 20 - COOKIES & CUPCAKES

Books:

Maisy Makes Gingerbread by Lucy Cousins

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff

Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? by Karen Beaumont

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Fingerplay:

Rain on the Green Grass

Flannelboard Rhymes:

Five Little Cookies

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Flannelboard Story:

The Gingerbread Man

Craft:

paper chain caterpillar

My recent reads

Here are a few books from our fabulous children’s collection that I read recently and really enjoyed:




The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett (Fairytale, Grades Preschool-2)
Set in the Arctic, this retelling of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” replaces Goldilocks with a parka-wrapped Inuit girl named Aloo-ki and brown bears with polar bears that live in an igloo rather than a house in the woods. Aloo-ki samples the bears’ bowls of soup, tries on their boots, and naps in their fur cover blankets, all to the polar bear family’s surprise. Vividly illustrated in Jan Brett’s characteristic style, this beautifully re-imagined fairytale is sure to delight those familiar with the traditional story and new readers alike.




The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (Fiction, Grades 4-6)
Are you brave? Reynie Muldoon hopes he is. Gifted (he’s currently learning to speak Tamil) and kindhearted, Reynie is not your typical abandoned orphan. He knows he’s meant for something bigger and is drawn one day to a strange newspaper ad calling for gifted children “looking for special opportunities.” The ad leads to a mind-bending series of logic and character tests, all in the effort to assemble a team of intelligent and daring children to assist Mr. Benedict in a project of vital importance. Filled with tongue-in-cheek and dark humor, the Society finds itself in real peril and must overcome physically and intellectually demanding obstacles in order to prevail.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (Fiction, Grades 7-9)
16-year-old Leo Borlock thinks he’s in for another run-of-the-mill school year at Mica Area High School—that is, until Stargirl Caraway comes along. Stargirl is as unique as unique can get, wearing prairie dresses and kimonos and serenading her classmates in the cafeteria while strumming a ukulele. At first, Stargirl stuns her fellow students into silence as they are caught off guard with her novelty and pure-spirited friendliness. But then, as always in the sometimes vicious high school world, individuality and conformity collide and Leo is forced to decide whose friendship he values more—that of Stargirl, or that of the rest of the school.

Fall 08 Storytime - Oct. 28 - HALLOWEEN

Books:
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams
Bats at the Library by Brian Lies
Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell
This is the Pumpkin by Abby Levine
Boo, Bunny! by Kathryn Galbraith
What a Scare, Jesse Bear by Nancy Carlstrom
Space Case by Edward Marshall

Action Rhymes:
Scarecrow, Scarecrow Turn Around
The Great Big Spider
5 Little Pumpkins (Sitting on a Gate)
Way Up High in the Apple Tree

Puppet Story:
Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley

Craft:
Halloween shape necklaces

Fall 08 Storytime - Oct. 21 - MICE

Books:
Mouse Paint by Ellen Walsh
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
Frederick by Leo Lionni
Does a Mouse Have a House? by Anne Miranda

Nursery Rhyme:
Hickory Dickory Dock

Flannel Song:
A' Hunting We Will Go

Flannel Story:
The Turnip

Craft:
watercolor mice

Fall 08 Storytime - Oct. 15 - POPCORN

Books:
Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
Popcorn by Frank Asch
The Popcorn Shop by Alice Low
Popcorn by Alex Moran
Clara Ann Cookie, Go to Bed! by Harriet Ziefert

Action Songs:
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around
Autumn Leaves are Falling Down

Flannelboard Songs & Story:
Teddy Wore His Red Shirt
The Three Little Pigs

Craft:
popcorn bowl

Fall 08 Storytime - Oct. 7 - PRINCES & PRINCESSES

Books:
The Fairytale Cake by Mark Sperring
Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood
Princess Aasta by Stina Ordal
The End by David LaRochelle
The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Paul Galdone

Action Songs & Rhymes:
The Grand Old Duke of York
Where's the Prince? (tune: Where is Thumbkin?)
Here's a Cup

Flannel Rhyme:
Humpty Dumpty

Craft:
paper glitter crowns