Valentine's Day is a great time to think about a library storytimeor a preschool unit focused on friendship, kindnessandlove. Why are these themes important to teach to our little ones? Because the average 18 month old to 5 year old is pretty egocentric (actually many of us that are adults could probably benefit from being a little less egocentric as well). Today I will be sharing with you a few stories and some songs that you can incorporate into your next Love andFriendship storytime!
Relationships have lots of challenges sometimes children may just be shy and not want to participate in a group. The book, "Those Pesky Rabbits" by Ciara Flood may help children feeling this way have a greater desire to reach out to others and befriend those who they might think they don't want to be friends with at first. In this story a family of rabbits moves in next door to bear and they are always asking for something; a bit of honey, help chopping wood, to swap books, but when bear demands that they leave him alone, they do and bear learns a lesson about enjoying the company of others.
Another challenge faced in many classes is that one child feels left out of a group. The story, "Strictly No Elephants" by Lisa Mantchev might be the perfect choice to read if this is the issue in your classroom. In the story a young boy and his pet elephant are excluded from a pet club, but eventually he meets up with a young girl who is also excluded and together they start a new pet club where every kind of pet is welcome.
Another super sweet story about friendship is, "Lost and Found" by Oliver Jeffers. A young boy discovers a penguin that is lost and goes to great lengths to get him home to the south pole only to realize that the penguin was just lonely and needed a friend.
Or there is my personal favourite, "A Sick Day for Amos McGee" by Phillip Steed. A very kind zoo keeper has been taking care of the animals at the zoo faithfully for years, but when he gets sick and can't go to work the animals all come take care of him.
In addition to these great stories we want great songs,rhymes and finger plays to use as well. I love this finger play, "5 Little Hearts"
Or this song, "Little Red Valentine" that teaches your students about loving others and being inclusive
Best of luck with your Valentine's story times. I look forward to seeing you here again for more great resources and ideas!
This classic children's song is so fun to sing, but still manages to be educational. Children are learning to spell as they sing. Clap each time you leave out one of the letters of Bingo's name to make the song more interactive and fun for little ones! What other 5 letter words can you pop in to expand your little one's spelling practice? Think of it as wordle for babies 😉 Uke Chords used for this song: C, F, G7, Am Lyrics: There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-o B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his name-o There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-o (clap)-I-N-G-O, (clap)-I-N-G-O, (clap)-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his name-o There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-o (clap)-(clap)-N-G-O, (clap)-(clap)-N-G-O, (clap)-(clap)-N-G-O and Bingo was his name-o There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-o (clap)-(clap)-(clap)-G-O, (clap)-(clap)-(clap)-G-O, (clap)-(clap)-(clap)-G-O and Bingo was his name-...
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