Storytime Plan
Baby Bunnies (Bilingual)
Ages: Lapsit programs (up to about 24 months)
Featured Literacy Skill: Letter Knowledge
Preparation: You may wish to enlarge some rhymes so that the caregivers
can join in. Nametags are a good way to enhance “Print Awareness” at all
storytimes.
With this storytime, we have included some Spanish-language rhymes for
those who have Spanish-speaking caregivers in your community.
Program Plan
Opening Rhyme or Song
Start with a simple song, sung to the tune of “Happy Birthday.”
Good morning to you
Good morning to you
Good morning, dear Tommy,
Good morning, to you.
Buenos
Buenos
Buenos
Buenos
días a ti
días a ti
días, querido Tommy,
días a ti
(Alternate English and Spanish. Repeat with all of the children’s names if
possible – if your group is too large, just substitute “children”/”niňos” and
sing 3 or 4 times. The Spanish version would change to “Buenos dίas a todos
. . . Buenos dίas, queridos niňos . . .”). Invite everyone to sing along as they
join the group. You might use a puppet “helper” to sing “Good morning” to
you to remind everyone of your name.)
Welcoming Statement:
“¡Bienvenidos! Welcome to storytime! Today we are going to have some fun
with books and rhymes about bunnies and learn about the letter B. [To the
parents or caregivers] Today we are just beginning to introduce the skill of
Letter Knowledge to the older children in our group. [Point to your early
literacy skills poster if you have one, or put up the Letter Knowledge crayon
printed from the website.] Watch for ideas that you can use at home to
make learning the alphabet fun. The younger babies will enjoy the rhymes
and actions, so be sure to help them with the movements.
Rhyme:
Let’s begin by hopping like bunnies.
[To the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”]
Hop, hop, hop along
Or bounce on someone’s knee
Higher and higher and higher and higher
Bunny-hop with me!
[Repeat at least 3 times.]
Counting Rhyme:
To the toddlers: Now, let’s spin around two times, reach for the sky, and sit
down in our places to try a counting rhyme . . .
[You might use 10 flannelboard bunnies and point to the pieces as you count.
Or, you might show the children how to make bunnies with their hands by
making a fist with 2 fingers extended, and point to those “bunnies” as you
count.]
One little, two little, three little bunnies
Four little, five little, six little bunnies
Seven little, eight little, nine little bunnies
Ten little bunnies hopping.
Uno y dos y tres conejitos
Cuatro y cinco y seis conejitos
Siete y Ocho y nueve conejitos
Diez conejitos todos.
-2-
Book:
Read any of the Rosemary Wells books about Max and Ruby or the Bunny
Planet; I am a Bunny by Ole Risom; Guess How Much I Love You by Sam
McBratney.
Activity with flannelboard:
“Bunny begins with the letter B which makes the “buh” sound. Let’s look for
some other things that start with the same ‘buh’ sound . . .”
Put up a large letter B. Spend some time playing “Do you see what I see? I
see something that begins with the letter B.” You might make some
flannelboard pieces of some B-words and ask, “What is this? Yes, it’s a belt.
Do you see one of these here today?” and so on. Point to the items around
the room. You can make it a bit silly by having some B-words that aren’t
found around the library – such as a bear, a buffalo, a boat, etc. Have fun
pretending to look all around for those things.
Action Rhyme:
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake,
Baker's man,
Bake me a cake
As fast as you can,
Roll it and pat it,
And mark it with a "B",
And put it in the oven
For baby and me.
Book:
Read another selection from the list above – or substitute your own favorite
book about bunnies. You could also use a favorite alphabet book here.
Extra Story Rhyme (if time permits):
[Patterned after the traditional “Little Bunny Foo Foo,” this rhyme allows
the children to join in and do some actions at specific times. Show the
children how to make a bunny with their hand by holding up two fingers and
making a hopping motion. You might want to make stick puppets of a bunny, a
farmer, a carrot and a head of lettuce.]
[All sing together]
Little Bunny Boo Boo
was hoppin' through the garden,
lookin’ for a carrot
or a lovely lettuce head.
[Spoken by presenter]
Out came the farmer, and he said: (scolding!)
Little Bunny Boo Boo
I don't want to see you
hopping through my garden and eating up my food.
And if you keep it up,
I’m going to chase you away with my big hoe.
But the very next day . . .
[All sing together]
Little Bunny Boo Boo
was hoppin' through the garden,
lookin’ for a carrot
or a lovely lettuce head.
[Spoken by presenter]
And out came the farmer and he said:
Little Bunny Boo Boo
I don't want to see you
hopping through my garden and eating up my food.
And if you keep it up,
I’m going to chase you away with my big hoe.
But the very next day . . .
[All sing together]
Little Bunny Boo Boo
was hoppin' through the garden,
lookin’ for a carrot
or a lovely lettuce head.
[Spoken by presenter]
And once again the farmer came out and he said:
Little Bunny Boo Boo
I don't want to see you
hopping through my garden and eating up my food.
I’ll give you one more chance
And if you keep it up,
I’m going to chase you away with my big hoe.
But the very next day . . .
[All sing together]
Little Bunny Boo Boo
was hoppin' through the garden,
lookin’ for a carrot
or a lovely lettuce head.
[Spoken by presenter]
And once more the farmer came out and he said:
Little Bunny Boo Boo
I don't want to see you
hopping through my garden and eating up my food.
So he picked up his big hoe and chased Little Bunny Boo Boo
All the way back into the woods.
Closing Rhyme:
Baby bunny bounces high; (Older children jump; babies bounce on caregiver’s
knee.)
Baby bunny bounces low; (jump low.)
Baby bunny blinks his eyes; (Blink eyes as you point to them.)
Baby Bunny waves good-bye. (Wave good-bye.)
(Repeat 2 or 3 times.)
-5-
Suggestions for props, crafts, etc.
You will find Max and Ruby coloring pages at www.rosemarywells.com.
Bean Bag Toss: If you sew, make bean bags from various fabrics printed
with things that start with B – like bees, bears, babies, bunnies, etc. Help
the children say the B-words as they toss the bean bags.
Take Home Sheet
Create a take-home sheet with some of the rhymes used at storytime (noncopyrighted ones only, of course – you may use the ones included here).
Include a brief explanation of “Letter Knowledge” and a few tips for building
the skill at home:
Something like . . .
Learning the alphabet should be fun for your child. It is best not to drill him
or her on the letters, but to make a game of it. You may wish to purchase an
alphabet board book for your baby. Blocks with letters are good, too. As
soon as your child is old enough to stop putting things in his mouth, you might
buy some letter magnets for the refrigerator.
Begin by introducing the first letter of your child’s name. Point out other
things that begin with the same sound.
Put your child’s name on the door of her room, on the refrigerator, or on a
book bag – somewhere that she will see it often.
Activities that teach “same” and “different” help build skills needed to tell
letters of the alphabet apart.
Working with shapes also builds skills for identifying letters. So, introduce
your child to squares, triangles, circles, and so on. Point out these shapes in
pictures and around your home. [“Look, the front door is a rectangle.” “This
book is a square.” “A ball is round like a circle.”]
Be sure to include information about other programs going on at your library
– especially any family literacy events or storyhours for older siblings.