Last Wednesday night and today we focused on the letter U for storytime. As usual, I started by asking the kids if they knew any words that started with the letter U, which was a challenge (a lot of them suggested “you.”) With a bit of prompting though, I got them to guess umbrella, unicorn, and up, and then we drew the letter U in the air together.
Here’s a combined list of the songs and books we did for both storytimes.
Books:
The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates and Juniper Bates
This is such a sweet, simple book about an umbrella that welcomes everyone, no matter how tall or different they may appear. I used it a while ago for a Welcoming Week storytime, and it worked perfectly for that theme too. The illustrations are funny, surprising, and adorable.
You Don’t Want a Unicorn by Ame Dyckman; illustrated by Liz Climo
This one got lots of laughs at my Family Storytime. When a little boy tosses a coin into a fountain and wishes for a unicorn, the narrator warns him that it’s not a good idea. Unicorns, it turns out, cannot be housebroken (and poop cupcakes), and worse, they love to throw unicorn parties, which get very messy.
A Unicorn Named Sparkle and the Perfect Valentine by Amy Young
Since Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, I used this unicorn book for Outdoor Musical Storytime today (what are the odds of finding a unicorn book about Valentine’s Day?). It’s a super sweet story about Sparkle the unicorn deciding to make a Valentine for his best friend Lucy. Even though he puts a lot of thought into it, he’s embarrassed by the results, and throws it away, but Lucy finds it in the trash, and absolutely loves it.
Those Are Not My Underpants by Melissa Martin; illustrated by Troy Cummings
The word “underpants” always gets a laugh, even more than “underwear” for some reason. In this story, Little Bear finds a pair of underpants hanging on a branch, and tries to find its owner, but all of the other animals explain why it can’t be their underpants. Finally, to his embarrassment, Little Bear discovers that they are his underpants.
Underwear! by Jenn Harney
This book is a fun bit of word play between a baby bear and a grown-up bear at bedtime, using phrases like “under where?” There’s one scene where the baby bear jumps out of the bathtub, surprising the older bear, and all the kids in Family Storytime shrieked with laughter.
Songs:
If All the Raindrops
We sang this one to go along with The Big Umbrella. I asked the kids to suggest foods they would like to fall out of the sky, and we sang it again with “If all the raindrops were hamburgers and ice cream…” and “apples and oranges.” It’s always been one of my favorite storytime songs, because not only does it give the kids a chance to suggest ideas for the verses, but it’s easy to get them to join in on the “Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah” line.
[C]If all the raindrops were[G7]lemon drops and[C]gum drops,
Oh, what a rain it would[G7]be.
[C]I’d stand out-[G7]side with my[C]mouth open[G7]wide,
[C]“Ah, Ah, Ah,[G7]Ah, Ah, Ah,[C]Ah, Ah, Ah,[G7]Ah!”
[C]If all the raindrops were[G7]lemon drops and[C]gum drops,
Oh, what a[G7]rain it would[C]be!Old MacDonald with Fantasy Animals
Old MacDonald
We sang this to go along with You Don’t Want a Unicorn at Family Storytime, but I asked the kids to suggest magical animals. I thought they would choose things like dragons or even Pokémon, but instead they started making up hilarious animal combinations, like “unicorn-octopus-whale,” which apparently says, “Eeep!” followed by a “unicorn-octopus-whale-crocodile” which says “Skoo!” You really never know what kids are going to come up with:
[C]Old MacDonald[F]had a[C]farm,
E-I-[G7]E-I-[C]O!
And on that farm he[F]had a[C]unicorn-octopus-whale,
E-I-[G7]E-I-[C]O!
With an eep-eep here, and an eep-eep there,
Here a eep, there a eep,
Everywhere a eep-eep.
[C]Old MacDonald[F]had a[C]farm,
E-I-[G7]E-I-[C]O!
The Wishy Washy Washer Woman
We did this one at Family Storytime with play scarves, as shown in the video below, to go along with Those Are Not My Underpants.
Way down in the valley where nobody goes,
There’s a wishy washy washer woman washing her clothes.
She goes “Oooh! Ahhh! Oooh! Ahhh! Oooh! Ahhh!”
And that’s the way she washes her clothes.
Repeat with drying her clothes (blowing on the scarves), folding her clothes, and wearing her clothes.
Under the Umbrella
We did this song with the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime, using the tune to Frère Jacques:
Rain is falling, (wave parachute up and down)
Rain is falling,
From the sky,
From the sky,
I’m under the umbrella, (lift the parachute up so the kids can go underneath)
Under the umbrella,
Nice and dry!
Nice and dry!
Under the Boardwalk by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick
We sang this song as our instrument play-along for Outdoor Musical Storytime. It was fun because so many of the parents already knew it.
Oh, when the [C] sun beats down and burns the tar up on the [G] roof.
And your shoes get so hot, you wish your tired feet were fire-[C]proof. [C7]
Under the [F] boardwalk, down by the [C] sea,
On a blanket with my [G] baby, is where I’ll [C] be.
Under the [Am] boardwalk, out of the sun.
Under the [G] boardwalk, we’ll be having some fun.
Under the [Am] boardwalk, people walking above.
Under the [G] boardwalk, we’ll be falling in love under the [Am] boardwalk, boardwalk.
From the [C] park you hear the happy sounds of the carou-[G]sel,
You can almost taste the hot dogs and french fries they [C] sell. [C7]
Under the [F] boardwalk, down by the [C] sea
On a blanket with my [G] baby, is where I’ll [C] be.
Under the [Am] boardwalk, out of the sun.
Under the [G] boardwalk, we’ll be having some fun.
Under the [Am] boardwalk, people walking above.
Under the [G] boardwalk, we’ll be falling in love under the [Am] boardwalk, boardwalk.
Under a Shady Tree by Laurie Berkner
I always end with this song for Outdoor Musical Storytime, and give the kids egg shakers to shake in time to the beat. This week, since it fit with our letter U theme, I also sang it at the end of Family Storytime (I also used it for the letter T the week before.)
[C]Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a[G7]shady tree you and[C]me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a[G7]shady tree you and[C]me.
Can you[G7]feel the breeze blow by?
Can you[C]feel it on your face?
This is our[F]special[G7]place.
[C]Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a[G7]shady tree you and[C]me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a[G7]shady tree you and[C]me.
Can you[G7]feel the soft cool grass?
Can you[C]feel it with your toes?
We can[F]sit here while it[G7]grows.
[C]Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a[G7]shady tree you and[C]me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a[G7]shady tree you and[C]me.
If you want to[G7]close your eyes,
And[C]sleep beneath the tree,
You can[F]rest your head on[G7]me.
[C]Under a shady tree, you and me.
Under a[G7]shady tree you and[C]me.
Under a shady tree you and me.
Lying under a[G7]shady tree you and[C]me.
Stay & Play: Coffee Filter Umbrellas
This was a cute and easy craft that I adapted from GluedtoMyCraftsBlog.com. Before storytime, I cut coffee filters in half (I cut little half circles along the flat edge, but it works just fine to just cut them in half). For the Stay & Play, I put out the coffee filter halves, along with dot markers, glue sticks, white cardstock, pipe cleaners, scissors (for trimming the pipe cleaners), and Scotch tape for taping the pipe cleaner handles onto the paper.
The kids had a good time assembling their umbrellas on the cardstock, and decorating them with the dot markers. One little girl hilariously offered hers to her Mom to keep the rain off, and the Mom made a big show of holding it over her head.
Do you have any favorite books or songs featuring the letter U? Please share them in the comments below.
