Baby Story Time - On the Farm!

Welcome back to Baby Story Time! I did story times all summer, but didn't really have a chance to write about them, so I've got a lot of catching up to do! Let's jump right in with a fun Farm theme!

OPENING SONG: "The Hello Song" *

GREETING SONG: "Hello" (Name Song) *

WAKE-UP RHYME: "Mother and Father and Farmer John"
(traditional lap bounce; it's supposed to be "Uncle John," but I changed it to "Farmer John" to match the theme)
Mother and Father and Farmer John went to town, one by one.
     (bounce baby)
Mother fell off,
     (tip baby to one side)
And Father fell off,
     (tip baby to the other side)
But Farmer John went on and on and on and on...
     (bounce slowly and then get faster and faster!)

1st Book: Giant Pop-Out Farm from Chronicle Books

Simple nonfiction with wonderful, truly giant pop-up images! This book was perfect!

ACTION SONG: "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.

And on that farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O.
With a "moo-moo" here, and a "moo-moo" there,
Here a "moo," there a "moo," everywhere a "moo-moo."
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.

I love using puppets with this song. These are the animals I used this week:

I love that beautiful chicken!

BABY PARADE: "Walkin' Old Joe" (from the cd Songs for Wiggleworms by Old Town School of Folk Music)

Old Joe, the horse, moseys, walks, and gallops! It's fun for parents to dance and bounce with their babies to this quick, energetic little song!

NURSERY RHYME: "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"

(A classic, and one of my favorites! It's so important to pass classic nursery rhymes along to the next generation!)

One, two, buckle my shoe.
Three, four, shut the door.
Five, six, pick up sticks.
Seven, eight, lay them straight.
Nine, ten, a big fat hen!

I found this template in a book. I photocopied it onto card stock, colored it in, and stuck Velcro on the back! Voila!

2nd Book: Where Is My Baby? by Harriet Ziefert

Turn the flaps to find each baby animal. Great for making animal sounds, and Taback's illustrations are so engaging. We are lucky to have a class set of this book, so everyone could read along together.

ACTION RHYME: "Ten Fluffy Chickens" (borrowed from Mel's Desk - thank you!)

Five eggs and five eggs, that makes ten.

     (hold up both hands)
Sitting on top is Mother Hen.
Crack, crack, crack, crack! What do you see?

     (clap hands to "crack" eggs)

Ten fluffy chickens, yellow as can be!

This was 100% stolen from Mel's Desk. Her's are actually much more clever - they are eggs on one side and chicks on the other! I was in a super hurry so I just stuck tape on the backs of mine. I may remake this later in felt, though. It is super cute!

ACTION SONG: "Los Pollitos" (from the cd You Are My Little Bird by Elizabeth Mitchell)

(This is a traditional Spanish children's song. You could play the cd, or just sing it a capella.)

All the little chicks say, "Pio, pio, pio!"

When they are hungry, when they are cold.
Mama Chicken looks for corn and some wheat.
That will give them dinner, that will give them heat.
Under her wing, her chicks she'll keep,
Until the morning, the little chickies sleep.

We waved little chicks on craft sticks during this song. The tune is very simple, so a lot of the parents picked up on it and sang it with me the second time through.

3rd Book: Baby at the Farm by Karen Katz

We had to skip this one on Wednesday, they were a wild group! The Friday group heard it, though. There's not a lot to it, just another good opportunity to reinforce animal sounds.

CLOSING SONG: "If You're Happy and You Know It" *

GOODBYE SONG: "Babies, Bye-Bye" *

CLOSING RHYME: "Thank You" *



*Check out my Baby Story Time page for the words to all of my weekly songs and rhymes.

We had a great time on the farm! See you next time!