H is for Hat: Storytime Plan

Opening Song: "If You're Happy and You Know It" [standing up] with whispered added verse "If it's storytime and you know it, say Shhhh..."

Letter of the Day

Talk/Act Out: Before we go further, let's do some things that start with the letter "H." We can HIDE our faces. We can HEFT something HEAVY. We can HUM [hum first bit of "Twinkle Twinkle"]. We can HISS like a snake. We can HUG ourselves.

Activity/Guessing Game with Magnet Board: "Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Behind the _______Hat? 

Book: Finders Keepers by Keiko Kasza [Tell group in advance that when I say "finders," I want them to throw their arms up gleefully and say keepers!" Say: "What do you do if you find something like a hat at the library? Do you keep it? No, you take it to the Lost and Found. But there’s no Lost and Found in the forest…"]

Action Song: "Silly Hat Song" 
[Tune: "This Old Man". With silly hat prop. Kids stand, wear pretend hats] "Imagine the silliest hat you can think of. It could have feathers sticking out all over it. It could be made entirely out of LEGO. It could be made entirely out of JELLO!. Now put it on your head so we can sing about it!"

On my head, I wear my hat.
It is such a silly hat
that my head goes wiggle waggle to and fro.
Where else can my silly hat go?
[Repeat using foot, elbow, knee, and/or kids' suggestions]

Song: Dance, Freeze, Melt by The Learning Groove from their album Rockin' Red

Talk with Magnet Board: "One of the things I LOVE about the word "HAT" is that so many other words rhyme with it. [Use magnet board with letters, switching out to show quickly HAT can become RAT or BAT, etc]

Book: I Want My Hat Back by Jonathan Klassen (or This Is Not My Hat by same)

Song: [if time. No theme tie-in] "Body Part Song" by Greg and Steve from Shake, Rattle, and Rock or Jim Gill's "Silly Dance Contest," etc

Book: [if time] A Good Day for a Hat by Sean Bryan

Closing Song: Laurie Berkner's "These Are My Glasses" a cappella. "Today, everything we find in our book will begin with "H". Possibles before opening to kids for suggestions: helicopter [whup whup whup whup]; hungry hippopotamus; hug [hug self warmly]

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Alternates to swap in:

Book: Harold Loves His Woolly Hat by Vern Kousky
Book: Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won (a little long if audience skews young) 

Song [a cappella] "Old McDonald Had a Hat"

Old MacDonald had a hat

He wore it on his head

And on his hat he had a cat--

A cat is what I said!

That cat went here, that cat went there,

That silly cat went everywhere!

Old MacDonald had a hat

He wore it on his head

[Repeat with rat and bat.]

Action Rhyme "I'm A Little Snowman"

(tune: I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little snowman
short and fat--
here are my buttons;
here is my hat.
When the sun comes out, then
you will see
I melt...til there's...no...more...of...me. 

[do standing up, melt down to floor at end]

Roll Your Hands (or adapt to other actions)

Roll your hands so slowly,
slowly as can be;
roll your hands so slowly,
and fold your arms like me.

Roll your hands so quickly,
quickly as can be;
roll your hands so quickly,
and fold your arms like me.

Clap your hands so softly,
softly as can be;
clap your hands so softly,
and fold your arms like me.

Clap your hands so loudly,
loudly as can be;
clap your hands so loudly,
and fold your arms like me.

[Stomp your feet/and then stand still like me etc]

"Shake your Hands"--transition action rhyme

Shake your hands
up high
Shake your hands
down low
Shake your hands
real fast
Shake your hands
real slow
Show me your hands--
give a clap!
Show me your hands--
put them in your lap.

[or substitute: Shake your egg: shake your egg over your head; shake your egg, then put it to bed]

Two Superheroes / We're Superheroes

Two Superheroes
(adapted from "Five Superheroes" shown in the video below)

Two superheroes are ready to fly.
Here comes a villain--STOP THAT GUY!
This superhero can save the day.
Off she flies, up, up and away!

One superhero gives his cape a twirl.
Here comes another villain--STOP THAT GIRL!
This superhero can save the day.
Off he flies, up, up, and away!






We're Superheroes [call and echo first time, then try all together]
We raise our arms and we raise them high-- 
--we're superheroes flying across the sky! 
We fly to the left
and fly to the right,
then show you our muscles with all of our might!