Storytime: Opposites

This storytime was a for a combined toddler and preschool-aged group at my library. It is targeted more towards the toddler age group, however.

Read-Aloud Books

Where is the Green Sheep?
Written by Mem Fox, illustrated by Judy Horacek

Where is that green sheep? Probably past the thin sheep and wide sheep, the red sheep and blue sheep, and all the other ones, too. With some really fun opposites, this book is hilarious and, most importantly, you are rewarded with the green sheep at the end. The kids loved it. I love it.

Dinosaur Roar!
Written and illustrated by Paul & Henrietta Stickland

There's all kinds of dinosaurs: big and small, strong and weak, as well as the sweet and grumpy. With simple text and rhymes, it was quick and easy. Plus, the kids LOVED to shout out their loudest roar with the dinosaurs!

Black? White! Day? Night!
Written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

We didn't quite get to this one when I did my storytime, but it was in the plan. It's a really cool book with cutouts to turn images into their opposites. A black bat folds up into a white ghost, day to night, over to under, etc. It's fun, though it does require some dexterity on the reader's part to get all those flaps.

Songs and Rhymes

Hello Song

Action Rhyme: This is big!

This is big, big, big

This is small, small, small

This is short, short, short

This is tall, tall, tall

This is fast, fast, fast

This is slow, slow, slow

This is yes, yes, yes

This is no, no, no

Action Rhyme: Very, very tall

I'm very, very tall!

I'm very, very small.

Tall! Small.

Now I'm a little ball. 

Song: "Open Shut Them"

Wiggles Rhyme: Dinosaur, Dinosaur

(see more wiggle rhymes here)

Dinosaur, dinosaur, turn around

Dinosaur, dinosaur, touch the ground

Dinosaur, dinosaur, give a roar

Dinosaur, dinosaur, stomp the floor

Dinosaur, dinosaur, touch your nose

Dinosaur, dinosaur, touch your toes

Dinosaur, dinosaur, slap your knees

Dinosaur, dinosaur, sit down please

Song: "Grand Ol’ Duke of York"

Goodbye Song

Games and Activities

Flannel Board: Let's Match the Opposites!

I got some opposites flash cards from Home Education Resources and decided to make a little game out of it. I put Velcro on the back and cut them so they were like a puzzle. Then I mixed them all up and let volunteer kids come up and try to pick a match (if they didn't volunteer then I'd just let them call out the answers). They knew they were right when the fit together perfectly. I only used a few at the actual storytime, and then put out a bunch at the end for the kids to play with on their own.

Craft Activity: Weaved Place Mats!

This was a little hard for the toddlers, but their parents helped. I cut strips of black and white paper before hand, and set out full sheets as well. The kids needed to fold the sheet in half and cut some lines from the fold almost to the end, leaving an inch gap. When the opened the sheet, they could then weave the strips--up and down--through the paper. It makes a pretty cool place mat!

Other Book Ideas

Polar Opposites written and illustrated by Erik Brooks
Opposites written and illustrated by Sandra Boynton
Octopus Opposites written by Stella Blackstone, illustrated by Stephanie Baue
A Garden of Opposites by Nancy Davis
You and Me: We're Opposites written by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Ethan Long