I made up this fun “I’m a Winter Snowman” rhyme for my preschool storytime group. We have so much fun acting it out to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot.” The parents giggle at it too! Action rhymes are tons of fun. They get children up and moving, and engaging with the rhyme, while getting those early literacy sounds.
“I’m a Winter Snowman” rhyme
“I’m a Winter Snowman“
(tune of I’m a Little Teapot)
I’m a winter snowman round and fat. (Form arms into a circle) Here is my scarf. (Touch neck) Here is my hat. (Touch head) When I get all warmed up, I will droop. (Bend knees and slump shoulders) Then you’ll be left with snowman soup. (Use one hand to be soup bowl and pretend to spoon out soup).
Dot the Numbers: Snowflake Number Coloring (#1-10): find all of the snowflakes with the same number and color them with their matching color. Use your dot pens or color them in with crayons (2 pages).
Snowman Stick Puppet: print off this free template to make your own craft stick snowman puppet. Supplies needed are the template, crayons, a craft stick, scissors, and glue.
These 10 books are great for teaching children where our food comes from. Each of these farm to table stories will help preschoolers understand our connection to the natural world, the work that goes into providing food, and the art of cooking.
Jack wants a big pancake for breakfast. But before he can eat, he has to go through all of the steps involved in making pancakes from scratch. Preschoolers are introduced to the process of making flour, fetching eggs, milking cows, churning butter, and mixing ingredients.
Lois Ehlert teaches young gardeners the steps to growing their own vegetable soup! With bright illustrations, and not a lot of words, this books shows the necessary tools to tend a garden, planting seeds, caring for your garden, and then harvesting your vegetables and preparing the soup! Ehlert’s art style will keep your preschooler enthralled with the garden process and pique their interest in growing their own vegetables. The book also includes a recipe for vegetable soup.
Learn all about the honey-making process in this story! The amazing collage style pictures and the sweet story about the love a beekeeper has for his bees makes this a fantastic addition to your read aloud time with your little one. This is a beautiful way to learn about the importance of bees and where honey comes from.
This book gives a great overview of the different parts of plants that we eat. Preschoolers will learn about edibles leaves, roots, bulbs, seeds, and fruit. Simple text and detailed illustrations show where these edible things grow–underground, trees, bushes, on vines, etc. My favorite part is when seeds from wheat are used to make flour, and that flour is used to make bread.
Duck, Cat, and Squirrel and three good friends who like to make pumpkin soup together. Everyone has a specific job to do. One day, Duck decides he wants to switch jobs, which leads to a fight among the friends. Duck leaves in a huff. Soon Cat and Squirrel go in search of their friend. Will Duck want to come back and make soup with them? Kids will love Cooper’s illustrations and enjoy going on the fall journey with these characters. The book also includes a recipe for pumpkin soup that you and your kiddo can make together! (non-holiday story)
In this classic tale of a hardworking red hen and her lazy animal friends, readers learn all of the hard work that goes into the creation of bread. Follow the steps from wheat seed to oven, and finally to table. The humorous ending provides an important lesson about the importance of teamwork and helping out.
7. Grandma’s Garden by Mercer Mayer —
Little Critter is a preschool favorite! In this story, Little Critter and Little Sister help Grandma grow a vegetable garden. They pick their seeds and carefully plant them. Little Critter learns that plants need water to grow and that he has to keep the weeds away so that the little veggies have room to grow. Wow, gardens take a lot of work! In the end, all of their hard work pays off and they get to enjoy a yummy meal made from their garden!
This book gives a great look at how food gets to grocery stores. It has short, rhyming sentences and detailed illustrations that are perfect for young children. This book is a loving tribute to all of the work that goes into providing the food that we eat. It shows the effort farmers put into growing food and tending livestock, the hard work of fishermen, and all of behind the scenes work of packing and transporting the food.
In this story, a rabbit family must all work together to make dinner. The 10 rabbit children each go outside to collect yummy foods and seasonings that can be used for vegetable soup. Daddy rabbit chops up all of the food, and then mommy rabbit puts all of the ingredients together to make a delicious soup. Bonus, this book is also great for color recognition in identifying the color of each thing the rabbits find, and a terrific counting story too.
In this whimsical story, a boy and bear show readers where berries grow. Can you spot the strawberries, black berries, and blue berries they are collecting? Take a look at all of foods, like jam and jelly, that are made from berries. Bright, fun illustrations accompany this story full of rhymes and silliness that preschoolers love.
Check your library for these and other farm to table stories. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I may get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂
Is your preschooler curious about plants? Learn about the fascinating life cycle of plants in these great stories about how plants grow. Each plant starts as a tiny seed, and over times, grows into the flowers, trees, and plants with yummy foods for us to eat. Let’s learn more together in these 6 interesting plant books!
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see the disclaimer at the end of the post.
Carle provides an interesting look at a plant’s life cycle. Seeds are blown off of a plant and they scatter in the wind. Preschoolers will enjoy the journey of the tiniest seed and be delighted when at last the seed sprouts and grows into a flowering plant with seeds of its own.
Lola stories are perfect for preschoolers because they are not too wordy, super cute stories, and great illustrations. In this Lola book, Lola and her mommy read garden poems, which inspires them to plant their own garden! They go to the store and get everything they need. Lola demonstrates what is involved with planting seeds and helping them grow.
We love Lois Ehlert’s books! They always have great pictures. In this book and child helps mom plant a flower garden in a rainbow of colors. The book shows a great step-by-step guide to the planting process for children. Once the flowers bloom, each color is highlighted in its own spread and the names of the flowers are given.
Easy to understand, short text and enlarged pictures make this book a great choice for young children who want to learn about how plants grow. Great science words are sprinkled in the text, accompanied by preschool level explanations. In the story, the children plant beans and watch they grow step-step, along the way learning what plants require to grow.
5. Grandma’s Garden by Mercer Mayer —
Little Critter is a preschool favorite! In this story, Little Critter and Little Sister help Grandma grow a vegetable garden. They pick their seeds and carefully plant them. Little Critter learns that plants need water to grow and that he has to keep the weeds away so that the little veggies have room to grow. Wow, gardens take a lot of work! In the end, all of their hard work pays off and they get to enjoy a yummy meal made from their garden!
This book is a beautiful look at the wonders to found in nature. Simple text, plus things to find on every page make this a great pick for preschool stories about trees and nature. In the story 3 children set out into the woods where they discover different kinds of trees, discover the purpose of bark and leaves, and learn about how trees produce seeds. It is interesting to see how some trees use pine cones, others hide seeds in fruit, and others have nuts. At the end of a tree’s life cycle, the dead wood is used as food for bugs and fallen logs used for animal homes.
Disclaimer
Check your library for these and other garden and plant stories. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I may get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂
Incorporate alphabet and phonetic sounds into your daily routine with this letter of the day activity! This will help children make connections with letters and phonetic sounds.
How It Works
Put letters into a bag and ask your child to pull one out. This will be your letter of the day. Incorporate that letter into your daily activities. Ask your child if they know what letter they got. If not, same the letter and ask them to repeat it back to you.
Let’s pretend you grabbed letter A:
Ask your child if they can think of any words that start with letter A (offer suggestions if they cannot think of anything).
Find a toy that starts with letter A. Say the name of the toy and stress the A sound.
Tell your child that for snack today, you will be eating foods that start with letter A. Eat a yummy apple together.
Call a family member or a friend who has a name that starts with letter A.
Look around for things that start with letter A and ask your child to repeat the word to you. Maybe you can find some ants outside.
Together, think of other letter A activities that you can do.
Tips
To begin with, choose letters that will be easy for you to incorporate into your daily routine. Just place a few in the bag and leave the harder ones for when you have more time to prepare.
You can write the letters on pieces of paper and put them in the bag. If you have alphabet fridge magnets, alphabet blocks, or some other tactile alphabet toy (like these sand molds), put those in the bag. Once your child grabs a letter, ask them to trace the shape of the letter and say the name of the letter.
Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22. This is a great time to help children think about the planet and how they can help the Earth. Children of all ages can celebrate Earth Day! Whether they read about Earth Day with a family member, pick up garbage, recycle, or make Earth Day crafts, Earth Day is all about loving our planet. I have created a list of some fun Earth Day activities for you to do with your preschooler!
–Recycled Crafts–make crafts from reusable materials found around your house such as toilet paper rolls, scraps of paper for mosaic art projects, or egg cartons.
-Attend an Earth Day at your local library. Libraries love to do Earth Day storytimes and crafts made from recyclable materials.
This owl headband craft is a perfect way to have some crafting fun together and get in the autumn spirit. I love how cute these headbands turn out! This fun activity is great for preschoolers, kindergarten, and early elementary aged children. The free craft template includes the adorable owl and two bands for making the headband.
Print out the free owl headband template and color the owl. We colored the bands too!
Cut out all of your pieces.
Glue or tape the bands to the sides of the owl. If using glue, let your project dry. Then wrap the bands around your child’s head and then glue or tape the bands together at the back of your child’s head (forming a circle).
I was looking at Halloween images on Canva and I came across these cute pictures of children dressed up for Halloween (and the cat too!). They were too adorable to ignore so I turned them into a Halloween stick puppets craft! Stick puppets are one of my go-to kids’ crafts. They lend themselves well to imaginative play. I love seeing children act out adventures with the there stick puppets! Are you ready to make your own stick puppets?
I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. I may get a small percentage of the sale if you purchase something through the Amazon link I provided. Best part, there is no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support! Happy crafting 🙂
More Crafts:
Do you like puppets? My son and I think puppets are a lot of fun! We’ve made quite a few together. Check out some more of our puppet ideas:
Get ready for some adorable and fun reading! We’ve rounded up a list of 12 fintastic mermaid stories for preschoolers! There’s rhymes, underwater adventures, cute animals, and plenty of adorable mermaids.
Jan Brett has created a beautiful under-the-sea retelling of Goldilocks featuring Kiniro, a young mermaid. Uh-oh, the octopus family is coming home and Kiniro is still asleep in their home! The octopuses are not happy to have a stranger in their home. Kiniro awakens, quickly gives them a gift, and dashes safely off for her own home. Phew! We love Jan Brett’s trademark visual storytelling in borders on every page. The illustrations throughout this book are fantastic! The story takes place off the coast of Japan and showcases beautiful shells, sea creatures, and ocean plants.
This book is great for preschoolers. It has a mermaid, awesome pictures, silliness, and a rhyming story! A couple of kids and dog try and catch a mermaid. They have shiny bait and lots of traps, but the mermaid is quite clever and escapes. Oh no, one of their plans backfires and the kids and the dog find that they are the ones trapped. Yikes, a bunch of sharks are coming! What are they going to do? Mermaid to the rescue! Whoo-hoo, everyone is safely returned to shore.
On a trip to the beach with her family, Maya, a shy girl, wants to play with some of the other children. She falls asleep and dreams she is mermaid! Maya goes on a fantastical underwater adventure in search of a friend. She discovers lots of fun sea creatures before coming across another mermaid! The new mermaid wants to play with her. Maya awakens, but finds that the fun doesn’t have to end because here is a little girl who wants to play! A cute, imaginative story 🙂
4. Mermaid Schoolby Joanne Stewart Wetzel and Julianna Swaney–
Finally, a book with boy mermaids (mer-boy?)! My son was so happy to see that boys could be mermaids too. Join Molly on her first day of mermaid school in this sweet book about starting school. This story shows what little mermaids can expect on their first day of school, including some jitters and making new friends. The rhyming text and cute illustrations will entertain your mermaid-loving child.
My son loves the “Ten Minutes to Bed” series! We have read every single one published so far. The stories are adorable and Chris Chatterton’s illustrations are magical! In this story, a little mermaid named Splash just can’t fall asleep. She swims out to explore the under water world around her. Your child will love looking at all of the cute sea creatures and will enjoy Splash’s curiosity. While adventuring, her father’s voice rings out, counting down how many minutes left until bedtime. Will she make it to back home to bed on time? Check this one from your library to find out!
My son loves counting books and has so much fun looking for all of the objects on the page! In this adorable counting book, little Umi the mermaid explores her underwater world, counting shells and sea creatures. Each page has something new count as the reader makes their way from one to ten. Preschoolers will like the cute pictures and the rhyming text in this book.
7. I’m a Mermaid (Little Golden Books) by Mallory Loehr–
This book has really cute illustrations and short rhymes that teach young readers all about mermaids. Your preschooler will love seeing the mermaids ride seahorses and settle into bed in a seashell. I like that there are both boy and girl mermaids with various skin tones.
You are going to love this treasure hunting duo, Oona the mermaid and her best friend Otto the otter. They go on adventures and search for treasures! There is one treasure that they just can’t reach — the golden crown. The golden crown is stuck in the deep, dark, scary rift. But when the grandest treasure yet is stuck in a deep, dark rift. Oona comes up with all sorts of clever ideas to get this crown, however, each time she falls short. Preschoolers will sympathize with Oona’s frustration at not achieving her goal and the feeling of despair that follows. However, this little mermaid is not going to give up! Read this book and find out how Oona and Otto finally capture the golden crown. There are 2 more books in the Oona series to read too!
Kai, a little mer-boy, loves to give hugs, which he and mama call a squish! He hugs all of his ocean friends with exuberance. But one friend, a puffer fish, doesn’t want to be squished! Kai learns that everyone shows affection in different ways. Turns out puffer fish likes to give fin-bumps! This is a sweet story that helps little ones understand that we have to respect our friends’ boundaries.
This an adorable book featuring mermaids and furfins, a cute little animal with a mermaid tail. Today the mermaid princess is getting married and furfins are so excited! When distaster strikes and the cake goes missing, the furfins have to find it! On the way they learn a valuable lesson about making sure everyone feels included.
In this beautifully illustrated story, mermaids are the guardians of the ocean. Some watch over the coral reefs, others the kelp forests, and the ocean animals. Young Pearl wants a job too so her mother gives her a grain of sand and instructs her to care for it. one tiny grain of sand? Pearl is so disappointed. However, Pearl soon learns that even something that’s starts out small and seemingly insignificant can grow to make a huge impact!
While enjoying a fun family trip to the beach, Pinkalicious and her brother, Peter, find a mini mermaid ( a “merminnie’) named Aqua. Pinkalicious and Peter show Aqua how much fun there is to be had on the shore. But when a seagull snatches Aqua, Pinkalicious and Peter must help her get back home.
Thank you for reading mermaid stories with us! Check your local library for these and great books to read together. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program and I provided affiliate links to the books I listed. If you buy an item through one of my links, I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for support. Happy reading!
My son and I love flamingos! I recently posted a list of our favorite flamingo books for preschoolers — 8 Great Flamingo Stories — and we made this fun flamingo tissue paper craft to go with our stories. I had all of the supplies on hand, so this was a quick for me to pull together and lots of fun to make!
I cut pink tissue paper into 30 1-inch x 1-inch squares for this project. You may need less if your child does not scrunch them up as tightly as we did. If you want, you can cut out 20 and see if you need more as your child glues them on.
Print out the free flamingo coloring sheet. Grab your markers or crayons and color in the flamingo. Color in the whole body just in case you there are gaps in the tissue paper that you can see through.
Once everything is colored, begin scrunching up your tissue paper squares and gluing them onto the flamingo’s body. The tissue paper gives the project a fun feathers effect!
The flamingo looked pretty cute with its tissue paper feathers, but it needed some sparkle. We had left over jewel stickers so we added a few around the flamingo. The stickers were just what we needed are we are so happy with how the flamingo tissue paper craft turned out!
We got a pack of jewel stickers that came in lots of different shapes and sizes, and these stickers were so pretty that I couldn’t wait to use them. Some of the stickers looked like pearl earnings and I knew that I wanted to use them on something elegant. Originally I was thinking about using them on a mermaid craft, but decided to decorate a ballerina dancer instead! While “craft” might be stretching it a bit, this picture was fun to color and even more fun to cover with stickers. I think this ballerina dancer sticker craft turned out pretty cute!
This ballerina dancer sticker craft is pretty easy: just print, color, and add stickers!
Print out the free ballerina dancer PDF. I used regular printer paper because I was out of cardstock and it held up just fine so don’t worry about what paper you use. Now grab something to color your picture with. We used skinny markers to color ours because some of the confetti was pretty small and I thought crayons would be hard to use. However, use which ever coloring materials you like best!
After you have your picture colored, it is time for stickers! Honestly, adding the pretty, shiny stickers is the best part! We gave our ballerina some earrings (I had to use those cute little pearl stickers) and added a flower to her bun. Then we decorated her tutu and added some sparkles to the middle of the roses. We still had plenty of stickers left, so we added some more stickers around the picture for some extra sparkle.
