If you read my blog, you know I don’t like to make my storytime themes too narrow. Cats and dogs go together, right?? Putting them in the same category expands my choices!
Books
Puppy Pool Party by Seth Casteel
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin
Puppy, Puppy, Puppy by Julia Sternberg
One Pup’s Up by Marsha Wilson Chall
Disclaimer: Okay. I know. That’s a lot of puppy books to my one cat book, and it’s Pete the Cat for goodness’ sake. Look, I’m biased okay? I’ll make up for it in the activities…
Activities
“Five Little Kittens”
I’m not a huge fan of fingerplays, because, frankly, I think they are boring. But this one is pretty sweet!
“Five Little Kittens”
Five little kittens standing in a row. (Hold up five fingers)
They nod their heads to the children so (Bend fingers)
They run to the left; they run to the right. (Run fingers to the left and then to the right.)
They stand up and stretch in the bright sunlight. (Stretch fingers out tall)
Along comes a dog who’s in for some fun. (Hold up one finger from opposite hand.)
ME-OW! See those little kittens run! (Run fingers all around and end behind your back.)
“Ten Little Puppies”
There are many different ways to do “1 little, 2 little, 3 little…” One of my favorite ways is to make 10 small flannels and count them as I stick them up. It’s fun to do this a few times while trying to go faster and faster and it gives you a reason to cut and laminate 10 adorable puppy pictures!
“Ten Little Puppies”
One little, two little, three little puppies,
Four little, five little, six little puppies,
Seven little, eight little, nine little puppies,
Ten puppies bark like this – “Woof, Woof!
“Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat”
Grab your puppets (and a ball of yarn) and act out this little rhyme!
“Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat”
Kitty cat, kitty cat, sneaks out of the house.
Kitty cat, kitty cat, creeps up to a mouse,
And … POUNCE!
Kitty cat, kitty cat, creeps up to a bird.
Kitty cat, kitty cat, is not even heard
And … POUNCE!
But the mouse ran, and the bird flew away,
So kitty cat found a ball of yarn to play
And … POUNCE!
“Soft Kitty”
Honestly, I had this little rhyme ready as a back-up, but it ended up being a huge hit! In fact, I have done it several more times since this storytime. I used a little cat puppet and walked around the room reciting the rhyme and letting the tots “pet” the kitty. They loved it!! Never fails to shock me what the toddlers like most!
“Soft Kitty”
Soft kitty, warm kitty
Little ball of fur.
Happy kitty, sleepy kitty
Purr, purr, purr
Conclusion
One Pup’s Up is my favorite book for this theme. “Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat” went very well and was a great opportunity to act out a short puppet “show” with this young crowd. Oh, and, keep “Soft Kitty” on stand-by for all future storytimes. Noted!
