TODDLER STORYTIME
OPENING SONG: Mister Sun
We practiced singing this song with sign language again this week.
You can print my handout, with instructions and pictures, here.
OPENING RHYMES:
SONG: If You’re Hoppy and You Know It
A bunny version of “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” This can be found on the Fisher-Price Easter Sing-Along Album.
If you’re hoppy and you know it, hop around
If you’re hoppy and you know it, hop around
If you’re hoppy and you know it
And you really want to show it
If you’re hoppy and you know it, hop around.
…hop around
…shake your tail
…stomp your feet
…wiggle your nose
FINGERPLAY: Here is a Nest
Here is a nest for robin (cup hands)
Here is a hive for a bee (close fists)
Here is a hole for a bunny (make circle with both hands)
And here is a house for me (make roof with hands)
BOOK 1: A Boy and His Bunny by Sean Bryan
A boy wakes up one morning with a bunny on his head. His mother is a bit perturbed, but the bunny explains that “you can do anything with a bunny on your head – books can be read, peanut butter and jelly can be spread….” This is a silly book with short sentences, lots of repetition and adorable pictures.
FINGERPLAY: Here is a bunny
Here is a bunny (hold up two fingers slightly bent)
And here is his home in the ground (make circle with other hand)
When a noise he hears, he pricks up his ears (straighten fingers)
And he jumps to his home in the ground (two fingers dive into circle)
Book 2: Bunny Fun by Sarah Weeks
A bunny and his friend mouse find lots of mischievous ways to have “bunny fun,” when they are stuck inside on a rainy day. Bright pictures and easy, rhyming text make this a great read-aloud.
SONG: Mister Rabbit from Caspar Babypants’ album This is Fun!
I used shaker eggs with this song. Start out by just keeping time with the shakers, then add in more actions with each verse.
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit (Start shaking shaker eggs)
Your coat is mighty gray
Yes my friend, I like it that way
Every little soul must shine
Every little soul must shine
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit
Your tail is mighty white….. (shake tails)
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit
Your ears are mighty fluffy….. (shake eggs next to ears)
Interlude: Shake eggs high over heads, shake eggs low on the ground, turn around in a circle
Mister Rabbit, Mister Rabbit
Your hopping legs are long….. (hop in place for the rest of the song while shaking shaker eggs)
ACTIVITY: Easter Egg Hunt!
I filled plastic easter eggs with goodies (bite size 3 Musketeers or Milky Ways and stickers….but you could use anything else that is not a choking hazard) and then we had an Easter egg hunt in the children’s room! Eggs were hiding on shelves, next to books, under chairs etc.
BOOK 3: Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Is it a duck? Or is it a rabbit? …you decide!
CRAFT: Duck! Rabbit!
After reading Duck! Rabbit! we made our own version to take home.
You can print my Duck-Rabbit template here.
You can print the Duck Rabbit saying here.
Credit: Preschool Storytime Crafts
ADDITIONAL RHYMES
Hop With Me
To the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”
Hop, hop, hop along
Or bounce on someone’s knee
Higher and higher and higher and higher
Bunny-hop with me!
Repeat at least 3 times.
Let Me Here You
Let me here you peep like a chick
Let me see you hop like a bunny
Let me hear you cock-a-doodle-doo
Now be quiet as an egg, thank you.
Closing Rhyme
Baby bunny bounces high; (Older children jump; babies bounce on caregiver’s knee.)
Baby bunny bounces low; (Jump low)
Baby bunny blinks his eyes; (Blink eyes as you point to them)
Baby Bunny waves good-bye. (Wave good-bye)
