Underwear Storytime!

This storytime was for a preschool-aged group at my library.

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

Read Aloud Books

One Big Pair of UnderwearWritten by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

There's one pair of underwear, but two bears. Or only two salty snacks, but three yaks. This counting book has amazing rhymes and teaches all about sharing. This was a great book to start with because it is on the longer side, but I'm glad it teaches more of a lesson instead of just looking at underwear. Of course, the kids just laughed and laughed at the size of underwear...

Polar Bear's UnderwearWritten and illustrated by Tupela Tupela

Polar Bear can't find his underwear. So his friend mouse has decided to help him. They certainly find a lot of other animal's underwear, but Polar Bear's is a mystery. This one definitely incited a LOT of giggles and, of course, Polar Bear was the star of my flannel and craft (see below). So needless to say, I enjoyed this book. And so did the kids and parents.

Vegetables in UnderwearWritten and illustrated by Jared Chapman

Different vegetables in all different kids of underwear. I actually ran out of time before I read this one since I spent so much time on the flannel, but I wasn't heartbroken about it. It would be another giggly one, though, for sure.

Songs & Rhymes

Hello Song

Song: The Grand Old Duke of York

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 halfway up,

They were neither up nor down!

Fingerplay: Opposites

Up and down, round and round

put your fingers on the ground.

Over, under, in between-- Now my fingers can't be seen!

Hands in front, hands behind,

now my hands I cannot find.

Here's my left hand, here's my right,

Hands and fingers back in sight

Song: Head, Shoulders, Knees and UNDERWEAR!

Head, shoulders, knees and UNDERWEAR!

Head, shoulders, knees and UNDERWEAR!

Eyes and ears and mouth and UNDERWEAR!

Head, shoulders, knees and UNDERWEAR!

Goodbye Song

Games & Activities

Flannel: Polar Bear's Underwear

Polar Bear has just done a wash with ALL of his underwear in all its colorful glory. I asked for volunteers and went around to the kids so they could pull out one pair of underwear from my handy-dandy washing machine prop (I built mine from foam core, but you could just use a tissue box or the like). Then we helped Polar Bear by organizing by color. I called out each color and whoever had that color of underwear would put it on the board...

I then asked questions like, "What color does he have the most of?" "What color does he have the least of?" and we counted to make sure.

Then, to be extra helpful (after giving Polar Bear a pair to wear), we planned his week for him. First we did a different color for every day. Then, we practiced patterns. "If Polar Bear where's purple on Sunday, then red on Monday, what will he wear Tuesday to repeat the pattern?" and so forth. Math questions are a great way to get kids ready for school and ready to learn.

Any kids who didn't get a turn pulling out a pair initially helped me during play time at the end. It was a long flannel, and you could certainly just do one or the other (organizing or planning). But we just had so much fun with it!

Craft: Unique Underwear

From Polar Bear's publisher, I found some activity sheets to use for our craft. I had the kids design their own unique pair of underwear for Polar Bear with crayons, stickers, and glitter glue.

There were some pretty cute creations!

Other Book Ideas

Aliens Love UnderpantsWritten by Claire Freedman, illustrated by Ben Cort (Freedman has a whole series of underpants books!)

The Underpants Zoo Written and illustrated by Brian Sendelbach

The Underwear Book Written and illustrated by Todd Parr