OPENING: “Hello Friends” (with sign language)
Credit: Jbrary
BOOK: A Unicorn Named Sparkle by Amy Young
This was my favorite book in this session. I love the quirky pet storyline, and the little girl reminds me of Agnes in Despicable Me.
FINGERPLAY: “Up the Hill”
Credit: Storytime Katie (see video for the motions)
Here goes a turtle up a hill, creepy, creepy, creepy, creepy (crawl up arm)
Here goes a rabbit up a hill, boing, boing, boing, boing (bounce up arm)
Here goes an elephant up a hill, thud, thud, thud, thud (clap up arm)
Here goes a snake up the hill, slither, slither, slither, slither (slither up arm)
Here comes a rock down the hill, boom, boom, boom, boom, CRASH!
(bounce down, clap hands for crash)
BOOK: One Big Pair of Underwear by Laura Gehl
This book may have been a bit mathematically complex for my audience, but they listened pretty well. Still, I think that this story would have been more effective in a one-on-one situation.
ACTION SONG: “Grand Old Duke of York”
Credit: childhood
Oh, the grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only half-way up,
They were neither up nor down
This song is fun to do with tempo increases. I like to sing it through once slowly and then repeat two or three more times increasing the tempo each time.
BOOK: Great Day for Up by Dr. Seuss
I pulled this one off of my personal shelf for storytime. I had a hard time finding four Letter U books that I really liked, so this book was a last minute addition. It isn’t one of Dr. Seuss’s more well-known classics, but it isn’t bad in a pinch.
BOOK: You Don’t Want a Unicorn by Ame Dyckman
This book is so 2017. I like it, but I have a feeling that ten years from now the unicorn books are going to feel very dated.
CRAFT: Unicorn Masks
It’s Always Autumn has an adorable unicorn mask free printable. I printed the masks onto cardstock and attached them to large craft sticks. During storytime, the kids decorated the masks with watercolor paints and stickers. They loved them!
Library Joy 