Baby Storytime: Dr Seuss

It’s Dr. Seuss’s birthday this week! He’s 106! He is a great way to kick off our “Phonological Awareness” month here at storytime, because listening to rhymes and songs builds the skills kids will need to sound words out when they read.

OPENING SONG: Hello Song*

OPENING FINGERPLAY: Open Them Shut Them*

FINGERPLAY: One Little Cat
This is from the Seuss page on Hummingbird Educational Resources!

One little cat on a sunny day
Put on his hat and went out to play
Two little cats when the sky turned dark
Put on their hats and went to the park
Three little cats when the sky turned blue
Put on their hats and went to the zoo
Four little cats by the kitchen door
Put on their hats and went to the store
Five little cats on a sunny day
Put on their hats and they all ran away.

Here’s the finger puppet hats I made to go with. The second photo shows how they went together.

BOOK: Green Eggs and Ham by DR SEUSS
I just read the beginning and the end of this book to these little guys. I go as far as “Would you eat them with a fox?” and then skip to where they are all in the ocean and Sam says, “You do not like them–so you say…” Whenever I skip parts of books I make sure to let the parents know it’s okay to do that when they are reading to babies.

SONG: Ham and Eggs
I learned this from Wee Sing In the Car by Pam Neall and Susan Nip.

Ham and eggs, ham and eggs
I like mine fried good and brown
I like mine fried upside down
Ham and eggs, ham and eggs
Flip ’em flop ’em flip ’em flop ’em
Ham and eggs!

FLANNEL SONG: A Hunting We Will Go*
Seussian rhyme pairs today: cat/hat, mouse/house, fox/box, fish/dish.

FLANNELBOARD: One Fish Two Fish
A colleague made this flannel from photocopies of Dr Seuss’ One Fish Two Fish. I put them up one at a time, talking about them (“Hey, this is a new fish! It’s a baby fish!”), then when they are all up on the board, we go back and do it again–the parents always join in and recite it with me.

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish
Black fish, blue fish, old fish, new fish
This one has a little star
This one has a little car
Say! What a lot of fish there are!

SONG: Dr Seuss Is On the Loose
ALso from the Seuss page on Hummingbird Educational Resources!. I sing it to B-I-N-G-O instead of Old Macdonald and changed the last line.

Dr Seuss is on the loose
And this is how we know it
Cats, hats, eggs and ham
Cats, hats, eggs and ham
Cats, hats, eggs and ham
And this is how we know it!

LITERACY TIP: Phonological Awareness
Reading Dr Seuss books is a great way to introduce lots of rhyming words to your child! Rhyming words are great for kids because they help them learn how to hear if beginning sounds and ending sounds of words are the same or different. They will need to be able to hear the smaller sounds of words when they start sounding words out as they read!

BOOK: Dr Seuss’ ABC by DR SEUSS
I read the A, B, and C pages today.

ACTION RHYME: This is Big Big Big*

CLOSING SONG: Sneeze Game*

*Check out the My Baby Storytime page for the words and/or citations for these weekly activities!