Rain Storytime

This storytime was for a preschool-aged group at my library. Conveniently, it rained all last weekend, so this storytime was perfect!

Today's storytime was brought to you by the letter "R." So on the board when the kids walked in was:

Read Aloud Books

FloatIllustrated by Daniel Miyares

A little boy is excited to play in the rain with his paper boat, but what if the boat floats away? This is a wordless picture book—yep, my first wordless picture book in storytime! And it was fantastic! The kids and parents really enjoyed it. I asked some questions and said my observations, but I also just let the kids look at the pictures and make their own observations, too. It was great!

Are You Ready to Play Outside?Written and illustrated by Mo Willems

Piggie can't wait to run and jump and skip but—rats!—it's raining! How can anyone have fun in this rain? And honestly, how can anyone not have a fun storytime when Gerald & Piggie are involved. Another winner for sure; the last page definitely got a lot of "Aww!"s from the parents.

Wow! Said the OwlWritten and illustrated by Tim Hopgood

This little owl, instead of staying up at night, decides to take a long nap and wakes up right at dawn. Soon she seeing a world full of bright colors! I really liked this book for the rain and rainbow aspect, but I think I lost the kids with this one. Perhaps it was too easy for them? Or they were just restless. It wasn't a total winner.

Songs & Rhymes

Hello Song

SONG: THE ANTS GO MARCHING

(I used this version)

The ants go marching one-by-one

Hurrah! Hurrah!

The ants go marching one-by-one

Hurrah! Hurrah!

The ants go marching one-by-one

The little one stops to suck his thumb

And they all go marching down

To the ground to get out of the rain

…two-by-two…tie his shoe

…three-by-three…climb a tree

…four-by-four…shut the door

…five-by-five…take a dive

ACTION RHYME:

Run, run, run in place

As quickly as you can!

Run, run, run in place

As slooooowly as you can…

Roll, roll, roll your hands…

Rub, rub, rub your head…

Reach, reach, reach your hands…

SONG: IF ALL OF THE RAINDROPS

(I used this version, just the first verse)

If all of the raindrops

were lemon drops and gum drops

Oh what a rain that would be!

I'd stand outside

with my mouth open wide

singing, "ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!"

If all of the raindrops

were lemon drops and gum drops

Oh what a rain that would be!

FINGERPLAY: CREATE A RAINSTORM

Rub your hands together—the storm is coming in

Snap your fingers—the rain begins to fall

Lightly clap your hands—the rain is falling harder

Clap as loud as you can—it’s pouring rain!

Stomp your feet—thunder rumbles

Lightly clap your hands—the storm begins to fade

Goodbye Song

Games & Activities

Flannel: What clothes for what weather

I'd pull an item of clothing from my handy-dandy washing machine. We then figured out which clothing would work best with which type of weather. These Arizonian kids might've struggled a bit with the winter clothing (I had to explain what a parka is).

Craft: Rainy Rainbow Mobile

Credit for this idea comes from Miss Meg, though I adapted it to have the rainbow. It's perfect for working on those fine motor skills and I think the kids really enjoyed it. I pre-cut the raindrops and hole-punched them. I also pre-cut the plates and lengths of blue yarn. They colored their rainbows and glued the cottonballs.

Other Book Ideas

Blue on BlueWritten by Dianne White, illustrated by Beth Krommes

The ThingamabobWritten and illustrated by Il Sung Na

CloudetteWritten and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

Raindrop, Plop!Written by Wendy Cheyette Lewison, illustrated by Pam Paparone