4 Story Time Themes for St. Patrick's Day

Having trouble finding books to suit a St. Patrick's Day themed story time? Think outside the box and try one of these related themes instead.

Rainbows

Many Irish legends talk about looking for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, so rainbows are a perfect St. Patrick's Day topic! A rainbow theme can incorporate almost anything having to do with colors, so every children's librarian can use this theme, regardless of location or collection size.

Suggested Books:

• A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman
• Rain by Robert Kalan and Donald Crews
• Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert 

Extension Activities:

• Song: I Can Sing a Rainbow 
• Action Song/Rhyme: Rainbow Over the Waterfall
• Flannel Board Song: Harold's Other Crayons 

Orange, White, & Green 

Orange, white, and green are the colors on the Irish flag. Using this theme, you can add a little Irish flavor to what is essentially just a color-themed story time with a specific focus.

Suggested Books: 

• Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger 
• It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw 
• Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett
   

Extension Activities: 

• Flannel Board Sorting Song: Orange, White, and Green 
• Flannel Board: King of Green 
• Flannel Board/Fingerplay: Five Little Pumpkins Round
• Song with Puppet: I'm a Little Green Frog
• Nursery Rhyme: Mary Had a Little Lamb 

Magical Creatures 

Irish folklore is filled with leprechauns, fairies, unicorns, and other mythical beings. Connect your story time to Ireland by focusing on these fantastical creatures.

Suggested Books: 

• Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great by Bob Shea
• Where the Giant Sleeps by Mem Fox
• Alice the Fairy by David Shannon 

Extension Activities: 

• Action Song/Rhyme: Flap Little Fairies 
• Fingerplay: This Little Leprechaun 
• Flannel Board Song: Five Little Fairies
• Flannel Board Rhyme: I Saw Five Little Unicorns

Luck

Enjoy the luck of the Irish at story time with a focus on good luck!

Suggested Books:  

• My Lucky Little Dragon by Joyce Wan
• Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley 
• A Good Day by Kevin Henkes
• Lucky Tucker by Leslie McGuirk

Extension Activities: 

• Action Song: If You're Lucky and You Know It 
• Flannel Board Rhyme: One Green Shamrock 

Flannel Friday: The Little Bird (Song by Elizabeth Mitchell)

I have always loved Elizabeth Mitchell, but somehow only recently discovered her song, "The Little Bird." In three verses, it describes how a little bird hops in the bright green grass, sits in a strawy nest, and flies in the big blue sky. It would be a great action song, but because of its simplicity, it also makes a great flannel board, especially for babies and toddlers. Here is my clipart interpretation. (The song can be heard here on Spotify and on Elizabeth Mitchell's Blue Clouds album.) 

The little bird hops through the bright, green, grass 

and the bright, green, grass grows high.

The little bird hops through the bright, green, grass 

and the little bird sings oh my.

Oh my, oh my, the little bird sings oh my.

The little bird sits in a strawy nest 

and the strawy nest sits still.

The little bird sits in a strawy nest
and the little bird sings oh well.

Oh well, oh well, the little bird sings oh well.

The little bird flies through the bright, blue sky 

and the bright, blue sky floats by.

The little bird flies through the bright blue sky 

and the little bird says bye-bye.

Bye-bye, bye-bye, the little bird sings bye-bye.

Because the bird says something in each verse, another option is to add speech bubbles to your flannel board like this: 

Having the speech bubbles can help the adults at your story time know what to sing when, and it also provides an opportunity to teach kids - especially preschoolers - to recognize some simple sight words and letter sounds.

I am hosting Flannel Friday this week. The round-up can be found here.

Flannel Friday Round-Up for February 20, 2015

Happy Flannel Friday! We have a little bit of everything this week.

Three of us have birds on the brain!

Emily of Literary Hoots shares a treeful of noisy creatures who keep Owl from sleeping in her flannel board based on Pat Hutchin's picture book, Good-night Owl!  

Inspired by previous Flannel Friday posts by Sunflower Storytime and Falling Flannelboards, Rachel from Rachel's Reading Room made a set of bird houses for the magnet board which can be used to teach both colors and shapes.

Here at Story Time Secrets, I have flannelized a new-to-me Elizabeth Mitchell song, "The Little Bird".

Two of our resident Lisas have adapted favorite picture books.

Lisa from Libraryland has made a flannel board set based on Cookie's Week by Cindy Ward to be included in a literacy kit about days of the week, and Lisa from Thrive After Three shares her flannel set based on Douglas Florian's I Love My Hat, complete with a video demonstration.

We also have three contributions that can be used to teach various concepts.

At Storytime Extras, Jennifer presents a fruit-themed guessing game which can be used to discuss patterns, shapes, and same and different.

Melody from Storytime Bandit focuses on colors and sorting with Five Pairs of Dirty Socks.

Kathryn's contribution at Fun with Friends at Storytime also deals with colors, as she shares a story time about art, including a flannel board for Harold's Other Crayons (which was inspired by a post I made back in 2012!) 

Finally, Jane at Piper Loves the Library shares her thoughts on incorporating diversity into her use of story time props, along with some bonus tween programming ideas.

Thank you, everyone, for participating this week. I hope you will join the Flannel Friday fun again next week, when your host will be Nikki at Hey There Library.

For more information on Flannel Friday, check out the official website, Pinterest account, Facebook group and Twitter hashtag.

15 Guessing Game Picture Books

Preschoolers and school-aged kids love to play guessing games. These picture books provide lots of fun opportunities to make guesses and find out if they're right.

Eggs 1 2 3: Who will the Babies Be? by Janet Halfmann, illustrated by Betsy ThompsonThis lift-the-flap book shows readers various birds' eggs, inviting them to guess who the babies will be when the eggs hatch.

Guess What I’ll Be by Ann Axworthy
On each spread, four clues and a peephole suggest to the reader what each creature will become when it grows up.

What’s Going on in There? by Geoffrey Grahn
In a strange neighborhood, nothing is as it appears. Silhouettes in the windows of the building indicate mundane goings-on, but the view from inside tells a totally different story.

Night Light by Nicholas Blechman
Lights of various colors and sizes appear as tiny holes in a field of black, then a page turn reveals the vehicle to which they belong.

Who was Here? by Mia Posada
Animal tracks left behind in mud, snow, and sand and rhyming text help the reader figure out who was here.

Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan Shea, illustrated by Tom Slaughter
Fold-out flaps pose such questions as whether cubs grow to become bears or stools grow to become chairs. A great first lesson in living and non-living things.

Whose Shoes? by Stephen R. Swinburne
This book presents a series of photos of shoes and invites the reader to imagine what type of job the wearer might do.

Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do by Kathryn Heling
By looking at clotheslines around the neighborhood, the reader figures out the job of each resident.

Spots, Feathers, and Curly Tails by Nancy Tafuri
Key features of farm animals appear on each page, and the child must guess each animal's identity.

The Foggy, Foggy Forest by Nick Sharratt
Who are these fairy tale friends in the foggy, foggy forest? Their shadows provide the clues.

Dancing Feet by Lindsay Craig, illustrated by Marc Brown
Listen to some fun beats and figure out which animal dances to each particular rhythm.

Guess Again? by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Adam Rex
This book provides silly rhyming riddles that lead readers to make logical guesses only to surprise them seconds later with totally ridiculous answers. This book never fails to make kindergartners laugh hysterically.

Spot the Plot by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
Rhyming poems provide clever clues to help the reader guess the names of favorite children's books. This book is most appropriate for kids in grades 3 to 5 who have read a lot of the titles mentioned.

Look What I See! Where Can I Be? In the Neighborhood by Dia L. Michels
A baby falls asleep in various modes of transportation, and each time he wakes up, he has to figure out where he is now based on what he can see around him.

Who Has These Feet? by Laura Hulbert, illustrated by Erik Brooks
Animals are shown from the ankles down and readers must guess who they belong to.