Here Comes the Sun...Flower

I know that sunflowers normally bloom mid to late summer but I'm so tired of winter I just needed to play with these happy flowers!  I have done several sunflower storytimes and I just LOVE the books and rhymes that go with this theme!  I used Sunflower by Miela Ford, Sunflower House by Eve Bunting and This Is The Sunflower by Lola Schaefer.  I also used the flannelboard rhyme, 'Five Little Sunflowers' with a Sunshine/Daytime theme I did 2 years ago with two wonderful books;  Hello Day by Anita Lobel and All In a Day by Cynthia Rylant.

I used Dr. Jean's sweet song, 'The African Village Song' from her CD, Dr. Jean Sings Silly Songs.  Another fun song is When I'm Feeling Up by Rick Hubbard from his CD, Rick Hubbard And His All Kid Kazoo Band.
I used a sweet fingerplay. Sorry, but I can't remember where I found it.
Sunflowers In My Garden
Here is my garden                                   (extend one hand forward, palm up)
I'll rake it with care                 (raking motion on palm with 3 fingers of other hand)
And plant some sunflower seeds in there      (planting motion)
The sun will shine                                      (make circle with hands up above head)
The rain will fall                                        (fingers flutter down to lap)
My sunflowers will blossom                (cup hands together; extend upward slowly)
And grow straight and tall                      (arms up high with hands and fingers                                                                         spread out)

Here's another rhyme I can't remember where I found it or if I adapted from another similar rhyme because  I've had it such a long time.

Five Little Sunflowers
Five little sunflowers growing by my door,
I picked one for Grandma, now there are four.
Four little sunflowers, the prettiest I've seen,
I picked one for Grandpa, now there are three.
Three little sunflowers, just a lovely few,
I picked one for Mommy, now there are two.
Two little sunflowers reaching for the sun,
I picked one for Daddy, now there is one.
One little sunflower, a colorful little hero,
I picked it just for you! Now there is zero!




And of course there's the simple counting to 10 song:
One little, two little, three little sunflowers,
Four little, five little, six little sunflowers,
Seven little, eight little, nine little sunflowers,
Ten sunflowers growing tall!

You can see the craft above that I did with this theme too.  My craft with my Sunshine/Daytime theme was very simple. I cut the edge of paper plates into points.The caregivers put a blob each of yellow and red paint in the middle of the plate and the children painted the plates to be the sun.  They enjoyed seeing the colors blend and become a bright orange as they paint.  All in all, the Sunflower theme has to be one of my favorites!!  The bright, happy yellow flower brings a lot of fun to Storytime!

  I'm sharing this post as a celebration of collaboration with other generous storytime presenters that love books and little children and fun and bigger kids and singing and grandparents and games and sharing with one another!  I so appreciate the community of Flannel Friday! It's always Fun with Friends at Storytime!