DOOR 2 DOOR STORYTIME

EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY SKILL: Vocabulary & Narrative Skill

BOOKS TO DISPLAY

The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin by Margaret Wise Brown
Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman
Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden by George Levenson
The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis
What am I? Halloween by Ann Margaret Lewis
Mousekin’s Golden House by Edna Miller
Pumpkin Day, Pumpkin Night by Anne Rockwell
Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell
The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis
The Ugly Pumpkin by Dave Horowitz
Ready for Pumpkins by Kate Duke
The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons
In a Pumpkin Shell: Over 20 Pumpkin Projects for Kids by Jennifer Store

BASIC TIMELINE

1. Intro
2. Read-a-Loud Book
3. Song
4. Read-a-Loud Book
5. Action Rhyme
6. Finger Puppet Rhyme
7. Read-a-Loud Book
8. Flannelboard
9. Read-a-Loud Book
10. Craft

READ-A-LOUD BOOKS

From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer
Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins by Dianne Ochiltree
Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin by Mary Serfozo
It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse! by Laura Joffe Numeroff 

ACTIVITIES

Song: Picked a Pumpkin (modified)(via Jbrary)
Picked a pumpkin
Picked a pumpkin
That was growing in the sun 
Then I washed it and I carved it
Then I picked another one. 
(tune: Clementine)

Action Rhyme: I am a Pumpkin (via Toronto Public Library)
I am a pumpkin, big and round (hold arms above head in a circle)
Once upon a time I grew on the ground (point to the floor)
Now I have a mouth, two eyes and a nose (point to mouth, eyes, nose)
What are they for, do you suppose? (point to forehead and frown)
When I have a candle inside shining bright (hold up index finger)
I’ll be a jack-o-lantern on Halloween Night (put thumbs in armpits and stand)

Puppet Rhyme: “Two Little Pumpkins” (modified Two Little Blackbirds)
Two little pumpkins sitting on a hill,
One named Jack, one named Jill.
Roll away Jack, roll away Jill,
Come back Jack, come back Jill.

Flannelboard: Five Little Pumpkins (via Abby the Librarian)
Five little pumpkins, sitting on a gate.
The first one says, “Oh my it’s getting late!”
The second one says, “There is frost in the air!”
The third one says, “We don’t care!”
The fourth one says, “Let’s run, run, run!”
The fifth one says, “Are you ready for some fun?”
Then whooooo went the wind and OUT went the lights,
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

CRAFT: Peekaboo Pumpkins!

One of the preschool classes is learning about pumpkins, so I happily created a pumpkin themed storytime as per the instructor’s request. I was inspired by the “What’s Inside a Pumpkin?” craft I found via The All Kids Network. I was a bit short on orange construction paper, so I had to tweak the original design. Instead of attaching two identical, pumpkin shaped pieces of paper together at the top, I opted to create a flap that could be folded under at the left edge and attached to the middle of the pumpkin. I created a quick set of templates for tracing purposes, used them appropriately, and cut everything out. Instead of using real pumpkin seeds, I opted to use a Fiskars squeeze punch (specifically the Large, Petal by Petal one seen here) to create a paper alternative. Orange yarn can be used for the “guts.” To save time and frustration, I attached the flaps prior to storytime. Even so, this pretty and educational craft is difficult and time consuming. I suggest using it when the ratio of children to adults is in your favor.

REVIEW:

Storytime went pretty well. The first group of preschoolers went bonkers when I pulled out this week’s set of read-a-loud stories. It took a few minutes to get everyone settled down because they were so intent on describing their Halloween costumes. Fortunately, the kiddos calmed down after some “shushing” from their teachers and a few rounds of 1, 2, 3…Eyes on Me and Dance Your Fingers.

I did not have time to prepare a “This is How Pumpkins (plants) Grow” flannelboard, so I used From Seeds to Pumpkins as a teaching tool. Instead of reading the story, I used the pictures to illustrate the growing cycle. When it came to the harvest/reaping/picking part of the story we transitioned into the song: Picked a Pumpkin. The munchkins liked the other read-a-loud stories (they tend to invest in stories featuring “friends” of mine). Most of the extension activities went over well. Unfortunately, my munchkins were not into Five Little Pumpkins. In the future, I think this particular extension activity would work better as a finger puppet rhyme instead of a flannelboard activity. Our weekly variation on Two Little is ALWAYS successful, and we generally repeat the rhyme no less than three times…as was the case this week.

Storytime crafts Door 2 Door Storytime early childhood literacy fall Halloween hand puppets harvest home school library narrative skill STEM vocabulary