Springtime and Garden Fun

Up's a Daisy it's a Spring Time, Garden Time, Fun Time Laptime


Wow, it’s that wonderful time of year when it's impossible to stay indoors! Let's head out to the garden! I want to plant a rainbow...




Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
 OPL Link

~I like to add the ASL signs for each color as I go


What is your favorite color?

Have you seen if there is a flower that blooms in your color? 




Oh, shall we work in our garden? Let's go out and plant some seeds!


My Garden

Here is my garden
~your hand is out and open, palm up
I’ll rake it with care
~rake with other hand
And then some seeds we’ll plant in there
~drop seeds
The sun will shine
~arms up to make a sun
And then my garden will grow big and tall
~stretch up, arms overhead way up and out



I’m a little Black Seed
(sung to I’m a Little Teapot rhyme)

I’m a little black seed
~pretend to hold a little seed

Plant me in a row
~pretend to drop seeds in a row

Water me, feed me.
~suit actions to words

Watch me grow,
~hand up to brow, watching

From little seedling, to flower and fruit
~how small seed , to sprout -fingers show height, flower -hands frame face like a flower, to fruit -hold round fruit in hands

I’m a happy little plant
~smile 

From tip to root.
~point from head to feet



Now our seeds need some very important things, the first one is water...
(Follow me, do as I am doing)



Tap fingers together

Do I hear the pitter patter of some raindrops? Listen closely

Clap softly

Oh, I do think it is going to rain

Clap loudly

It IS raining!

Slap thighs

Wow, it's really getting wet out there

Stomp feet

My, oh my, I'm glad I'm not outside right now!

~now reverse, add a commentary as you go:

until...
Tapping fingertips together, and stop


What a beautiful rainstorm that was! You know, sometimes rainstorms turn into thunderstorms! Let's make a THUNDERSTORM!


Thunderstorm

Boom Bang Boom Bang
~clap hands
Rumpety, lumpety bump!
~roll hands
Zoom Zam Zoom Zam!
~stomp feet
Rustles and bustles
~swish hands together
And swishes and zings!
~rub thighs and slap

What wonderful noises
A thunderstorm brings!


Is the thunderstorm is over? It is still raining though. A nice soft rain, why don't we go outside!


 
Rain Song by Lezlie Evans
OPL Link









The Rain
(Pitter Patter Raindrops)

Pitter Patter raindrops,
falling from the sky;
~fingers flutter down like rain 

Here is my umbrella,
~cup one hand over pointer finger

To keep me nice and dry
~hold ‘umbrella’ over head

When rain is over
And the sun begins to glow
~make sun circle over head

Little flowers start to bud
~cup hands together 

And grow, grow, grow
~spreads hand apart, slowly rising


Enough rain! Now our little seeds need some sun!


Mr. Sun
(Raffi sings this one too)

Mr. Sun, sun, Mr. Golden sun,
~arms up, rock in time to the rhythm 

Please shine down on me.
~fingers tap shoulders

Oh Mr. Sun, sun, Mr. Golden sun,
~arms up again

Hiding behind a tree
~ASL sign for 'tree'
 

These little children are asking you,
~gesture towards children 

To please come down
~motion coming down

so they can play with you,
~sign ASL sign for ‘Play’
 

Oh, Mr. Sun, sun, Mr. Golden sun, 
~arms up again 

Please shine down on me.
~arms cross in front of self, ASL for ‘Love’



Guess what comes out with the sun after all that rain? Snails and worms!


Slowly Slowly

Slowly, Slowly, very slowly creeps the garden snail
~start s-l-o-w-l-y creeping fingers up from ankles of your child

Slowly, Slowly, very slowly up the wooden rail
~fingers slowly up to head, light and tickly at the neck

(take a deep slow anticipatory breath, arms up, fingers ready... let your body language tell the kids something is up!)

Quickly, quickly, very quickly runs the little mouse
~quickly tickle child all over

Quickly, quickly, very quickly all around the house
keep tickling like a mouse running around


What do you think comes out looking for those snails and worms? ... BIRDS!


Five Little Robins

Five Little Robins up in a tree
~hold up all five fingers

Father,
~touch your thumb, or do this with your baby’s hand

Mother,
~touch pointer

And babies three~touch other 3 fingers, 1, 2 , 3

Father caught a bug 
~hold up thumb

Mother caught a worm 
~hold up pointer

Well, this one got a bug
~point to middle finger

And this one got a worm
~point to ring finger 

But, this one said, “Now it’s my turn”
~hold up pinkie



There Were Five in the Nest

There were five in the nest,
At the little one's request,

Move over! Move over!
They all moved over and one fell out.

Four little...
Three little...
Two little...
One little...

...then, I'm lonely, come back here ;)


It's a good thing they all just fell down to the tree branch!



Little Green by Keith Baker
OPL Link - great to use Ribbon Streamers to 'paint' pictures in the air


oh, LOOK! With all this sunshine our flowers are coming up...





The Flower

Here's a green leaf
~interweave fingers of both hands, fold fingers in, knuckles up 

And here's a green leaf
~pinky fingers come up to make a tent/leaf

That you see makes two
~thumbs come up 

Here is a bud that makes a flower,
~loosen fingers so they bulge up

Watch it bloom for you.
~flip hand over to show all fingers, 'blossoming'



There are some daffodils! Do you see them?
(it would be very good to have a picture of some daffodils, if not a few of the real thing here)



Over in the Garden by Jennifer Ward
OPL Link
Sing this and 'play' with it. These littles are usually done by now and will probably zone out if you try to read this in a traditional manner. Or, just save this title for a storytime and move along to the following fingerplay!

What a LOT of bugs there are in our Garden!


Down in the Garden
(sung to ‘Down by the Station’)

Down in the garden, early in the morning
See the yellow daffodils all in a row
~1,2,3

See them all lift their heads and give their horns a blow
~hands up for a horn 

Toot toot, toot toot, there they go.


Do you think if you used a daffodil flower for a horn it would really make a sound? No? I think you are right ;)

Now parents, do you have your child in your lap? Are you all cozy, warmed by the sun and having a good time?

Can you feel your heart beating softly, gently?
(tap, tap tap - in a slow regular 'heart' beat)

Now I want you to rock, back and forth, back and forth
(stay in a slow rythm in time to your heart beat)


May there Always be Sunshine 
(Hold child in your lap. Find the beat of your heart. Rock back and forth in time to your heartbeat as you sing)

May there always be sunshine,
May there always be blue skies,
May there always be momma,
May there always be me.

May there always be sunshine,
May there always be blue skies,
May there always be daddy,
May there always be me.


Now go out, enjoy some of that sunshine, be safe and I’ll see you next time! Love ya!

_____________________________________

More rain, bugs and gardening  . . . 
just in case you want to convert this to a storytime length program ;)


Rain

Rain is raining all around
~fingers show rain coming down
It rains on field and tree
It rains on umbrellas here
And on the ships at sea


 And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano
 OPL Link
Okay -- so a deceptively simple and quiet book --but, if you tell it right, with a lot of suspense alternating with some snatches of playfulness--you will knock this one out of the park!



Similarly, a great book to alternate with the above is, 
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
OPL Link

 
Big Bug Surprise by Julia Gran
OPL Link

 




Outrageous 3-D Big Bugs by Boyd



Can't Bug Me!
(a slightly altered version from Let's Play Music. Seriously, if you have preschool-age kids you should look into these classes, There is SO MUCH MORE to this song. It's one of the best things I ever did for my daughter. p.s. No, I do not teach LPM, I have no affiliation with them, we've just taken the classes and have loved it.)


I like bugs.
~hands on hips

Every kind of bug I see!
I like the big ones
~hands out to show 'big'

and the bad ones
~scary fingers and a scary face

and the fuzzy purple flat ones!
~rub hands together for 'fuzzy'

People think they're yucky.
~hands to hips again

But I just don't agree!
~one finger up, shake it in a 'no-no'

No you can't bug me!
~ arms up and out 'yeah!'



Baby Bumblebee


I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee, 
Won't my mommy be so proud of me,

I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee
Ouch, he stung me! 

repeat with . . .
 . . . I'm squishing up baby bumblebee
 . . . I'm wiping off a baby bumblebee
 . . . I'm licking off a baby bumblebee

My mommy won't be proud of me!
(with a wink and a smile)



Baby Butterfly
(from Let's Play Music)

I'm bringing home a baby butterfly now, 
that bumblebee didn't like me somehow,
(shake finger in a no-no)


So I'm bringing home a baby butterfly now, 
Won't my daddy be so very proud of me now!
 


Spring Bees 
~Classical Music Puppet Show from Let's Play Music classes



Oats and Beans and Barley Grow 
~ here is the whole original song from Kididdles

First the Gardner sows the seeds
Then he stands around and takes his ease
Stamps his feet and claps his hands
Then turns around to view his lands


Need even more rain??




If All the Raindrops 
NEIHS midi music

If all the raindrops
were lemondrops and gum drops
oh what a rain that would be.

I'd stand outside with my mouth open wide
ah, ah ah ah ah ah ah ah
~head back, mouth open wide, sing 'ah, ah, ah..' to the tune

If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops
oh what a rain that would be.


..and for snow/winter days

If all the snowflakes
were candy bars and milk shakes
Oh what a world this would be

I'd stand outside with my mouth open wide
ah, ah ah ah ah ah ah ah
~head back, mouth open wide, sing 'ah, ah, ah..' to the tune

If all the snowflakes were
candy bars and milk shakes
oh what a world this would be.

If all the sunbeams
were bubblegum and ice cream
oh what a rain that would be
~head back, mouth open wide, sing 'ah, ah, ah..' to the tune

If all the sunbeams
were bubblegum and ice cream
oh what a world it would be


Okay, all that rain needs a RAINBOW!!!

 
Rainbow Song 
 ~ song from www.Signingtime.com 's Rachel Coleman, this CD

 ...Do you know the colors of our rainbow