I’m taking over my supervisor’s Mother Goose storytime for the summer while she is out for maternity leave. I am really excited about the chance to work with the littles! My first storytime of the summer session was Tuesday and I did a Fourth of July theme. I decided to stick pretty close to the format she has been using so that it would be familiar to the children. I added some new songs and fingerplays, but kept the things she said were favorites for her group.

Opening: The More We Get Together and Wave One Hand

Wave one hand.

Now wave the other.

Wave both hands,

And say hello to each other!

Hello! Good morning friends!

Book #1: Happy 4th of July, Jenny Sweeney! by Leslie Kimmelman

This short book with rhyming text shows the ways that people celebrate the Fourth of July. We looked for Jenny’s dog, Rags, as he ran through the scene on each page.

Flannelboard: 5 Little Firecrackers

This flannelboard was really interactive and was my favorite part of this storytime!

Fingerplays: Where is Thumbkin and Itsy Bitsy Spider

Early Lit Tip: Fingerplays like Where is Thumbkin and The Itsy Bitsy Spider are great for developing fine motor skills, which will be important when your child starts to learn to write.

Bounces: Big A, Little A and A-Bouncing We Will Go

Action Song: Open, Shut Them

Book#2: Red, White, and Boom! by Lee Wardlaw

This book has amazing paper collage illustrations!

Action Songs: I’m a Little Teapot and Wheels on the Bus

Closing: Ring Around the Rosie

This storytime went really well! I did clip some pages together in each book to make the length a bit more manageable for this age group. The flannelboard was my favorite part of this and the children and parents were really great about participating in making the sizzle and boom parts happen.