Preschool Storytime February 18, 2021: Letter 'T'

Singing the Alphabet

Today we sang the alphabet forwards and backwards to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb".

We like to practice our letters in all different ways! Kids tend to learn the alphabet by rote…they memorize it quickly. Switching up the tune or singing the alphabet backwards really challenges them to connect each letter's shape with it’s name and/or sound. We also slow down (especially spots like LMNOP which to many young learners sounds like it’s meant to be a single name or sound)

There Was a Little Turtle

There was a little turtle (make a fist with one hand, thumb sticking out as the turtle's head. Use other hand to make the turtle's shell)

who lived in a box. (draw a square in the air)

He swam in the puddles, (pretend to swim)

he climbed on the rocks. (pretend to climb)

He snapped at a mosquito, (snap thumb and fingers together to imitate turtle's mouth snapping)

he snapped at a flea, (snap thumb and fingers together)

he snapped at a minnow, (snap thumb and fingers together)

and he snapped at me! (snap thumb and fingers together)

He caught the mosquito, (clap hands together to "catch")

he caught that flea, (clap hands together to "catch")

he caught that minnow, (clap hands together to "catch")

but he didn't catch me! (shake finger and shake head)

Toast in the Toaster

Pretend to step into a toaster, and push the lever down and crouch.

I'm toast in the toaster, (crouching)

and I'm getting very hot! (fan yourself like you're hot)

Tick, tock, tick, tock, (tap wrist where watch would be)

up I pop! (Jump up as high as you can!)

Breathing/Calming Exercise

Our emotions can be SO big and overwhelming when we're little. We love to share tools for calming and self-regulation with kids and caregivers.

One of our favorites is the Daniel Tiger hug where we cross our midline by giving ourselves a hug and take a deep, calming breath. The words to the song are:

Give a squeeze, nice and slow. Take a deep breath...then let it go.

Tooty Ta

A tooty ta, a tooty ta, A tooty ta ta...

Repeat the verse adding an action each time until on the last verse, you're doing all 8 in a row!

Thumbs up . . . Elbows back . . . Feet apart . . . Knees together . . . Bottoms up . . . Tongue out . . . Eyes shut . . . Turn around . . .

The “What Is It?” Game

The "What Is It?" Song:

What is it? What is it? What is it, do you know?

What is it? What is it? Can you tell me so?

I told everyone that I had something in my "What Is It?" bag that started with our letter of the day (letter T). The hints I gave were that: it's something that a lot of people grow in their gardens, many people think they're tasty, and the ones I had with me were small, red, and oval shaped.

I had tomatoes in my bag today! Specifically grape tomatoes. We knew that tomatoes come in other colors including stripes, purple, yellow, orange, and even green. Some of us eat tomatoes in salads. We also talked about the fact we eat tomatoes a lot, even if we don't realize it! Like in ketchup and pizza sauce.

This game can so easily be played anywhere! Kids LOVE to talk about all of the things they know! You don't even need a bag...you can just have something in mind, and give them a few clues and see if they can figure out what the object is. Once they guess, let them tell you all the things they know about it, and give them a little more information to help expand their knowledge.

Wave High, Wave Low

Wave high, wave low. I think it's time, we've got to go!

Wave your elbows, wave your toes, wave your tongue, and wave your nose!

Wave your knees, wave your lips, blow a kiss with fingertips!

Wave your ears, wave your hair, wave your belly, and your derriere!

Wave your chin, and wave your eyes, wave your hand, and say "goodbye"!