Preschool Storytime: Fall

Happy October!  It is officially my favorite month of the year, which means that we will be doing my favorite storytime theme this month - FALL!  I haven't reached the point where I have come up with a PSL inspired flannel board story or fingerplay, but there is still time!

The Plan...

Welcome

Hello Song:  We Clap and Sing Hello
To the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell"
Credit: Storytime Katie

We clap and sing hello,
We clap and sing hello,
With our friends at storytime,
We clap and sing hello!

Big Movement Song (ETM):  Clap Your Hands

Action Rhyme:  Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Credit: Storytime Katie

Pumpkin, pumpkin, big and round, (Make big circle with hands)
Sitting on the cold, hard ground. (Touch the ground)
Soon I’ll pick you off the vine, (Pretend to pick a pumpkin)
Give you a name, and make you mine (Hug pumpkin tightly)
Carve a face for all to see, (Point to face)
Add a candle for Halloween glee! (Clap your hands)

Letter of the Week: P
Introduce the Letter of the Week with the magic bag.  Wondering what it is - read about it here
Magic Bag items: Pumpkin, pig puppet, pen, pear, and letter P

"Magic Bag Song"
To the tune of "Do You Know the Muffin Man?"
Credit: N. Lawton

Let's all look in the magic bag,
The magic bag, the magic bag.
Let's all look in the magic bag
to find out what's inside.

​Caregiver Handout

Action Rhyme:  Way Up High in the Apple Tree
Credit: Storytime Katie

Way up high in the apple tree (stretch arms up high)
Two red apples smiled at me (hold up two fingers)
I shook that tree as hard as I could (make a shaking motion)
Down came the apples… (make a downward motion)
And mmm, they were good! (smile and rub stomach)

Book:  Fall is Not Easy by Marty Kelley

Big Movement Song (ETM): High Stepping Horses

Action Rhyme:  Hoot Hoot Went the Little Brown Owl
Credit: Jbrary

Hoot, hoot went the little brown owl one day
Hoot, hoot went the little brown owl
Hoot, hoot went the little brown owl one day
And they all went hoot, hoot, hoot
But...
We know owl goes (clap) la de la de la
La de la de la, la de la de la,
We know owl goes (clap) la de la de la
They don't go hoot, hoot, hoot.

Jump, jump went the little red squirrel one day
Jump, jump went the little red squirrel.
Jump, jump went the little red squirrel one day
And they all went jump, jump, jump.
But...
We know squirrels go rub a dub a dub
Rub a dub a dub, rub a dub a dub
We know squirrels go rub a dub a dub
They don't go jump, jump, jump.

Flannel Board Story: "Leaves are Falling"
from The Mailbox Songs and Rhymes on Parade (PreK), page 6

Leaves are falling,
leaves are falling,
All around
all around.

I can see a (color of leaf),
I can see a (color of leaf)
Falling to the ground.

Big Movement Song (ETM): Hop Old Squirrel

Action Rhyme:  Apple Roll
Credit: Storytime Katie

Five little apples in the bowl
One fell out and started to roll
It bumped the table and hit my feet
How many apples left to eat?
 (keep counting down until you reach 0 apples)

Book:  Nuts to You! by Lois Ehlert

Movement Prop Activity: Parachute

Grand Old Duke of York
Credit: Jbrary
Adapted by N. Lawton for parachute

The Grand Old Duke of York
He had ten thousand men.
He marched them up to the top of the hill (lift the parachute up in the air)
And he marched them down again! (bring the parachute back down to the floor)
And when they're up, they're up. (lift the parachute up in the air)
And when they're down, they're down. (bring the parachute back down to the floor)
And when they're only half-way up, (hold the parachute waist high)
They're neither up nor down! (lift the parachute up in the air and bring  the parachute down again)

Oh he marched them to the left. (bounce parachute up and down)
And he marched them to the right.
Then he marched them round and round
And marched them out of sight. 

Itsy Bitsy Spider

We Wiggle & Wiggle & Stop
Credit: Jbrary
Adapted by N. Lawton for parachute

We wiggle and wiggle and stop
We wiggle and wiggle and stop
We wiggle and wiggle and wiggle and wiggle
and wiggle and wiggle and stop

We go up and down and stop
We go up and down and stop
We go up and down and up and down
​and up and down and stop

Goodbye Song:  We Wave Goodbye Like This
To the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell"
Credit: Storytime Katie

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.