Berry Picking Time

 

Time to pick some berries!! 

Picked a Berry 

to the tune of Darling Clementine

Picked a strawberry, picked a strawberry that was growing in the sun.

Then I washed it, and I ate it. and I picked another one.

Change out blueberry, blackberry, raspberry and cherry as you pick them and pretend to eat them!

Here's another rhyme to use with the berries also.

Down in the Market

Down in the market at the end of the street, there are 5 ripe berries, so juicy and sweet.

Along comes a shopper with a nickel to pay. She buys the cherry and takes it away!

4...raspberry; 3...strawberry; 2...blueberry; 1...blackberry.

This theme resonated with the kiddos. They all like berries and around here it's strawberry picking time and the blueberries will soon be ready. We also played 'Which one is missing?' with the berries. That's always a big hit! This is one of my favorite themes for Storytime! Check out my other posts about berries Here and Here.

Yummy berries are so much Fun with Friends at Storytime! 

'Berry' Good Berries!

It's strawberry pickin' time around here! Yummers!  The blueberries will soon be ready too, so I'm thinking it's time for a berry theme.  I have a strawberry rhyme I made up a few years ago that I used when I read, The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood.  I also did a couple of blueberry rhymes and read, Jamberry by Bruce Degen.  I had a craft for the kiddos too. I used the shape of the strawberry and let them paint with strawberry kool-aid paint.  Nobody spilled or drank the paint! LOL!  The whole library (we're a one room branch) smelled wonderful too.  It was a lot of fun.

                               Strawberry Pickin'

by Kathryn Roach

Out in the berry patch in the bright sun,

picking juicy strawberries is so much fun.

Here's a big red berry, I know it will be sweet.

Here's another and one more to make a pie to eat.

I'm looking under the green leaves to find a berry treat.

I'll pick one more, so now there's 5. 

Hooray! Strawberries can't be beat!

The berries are red and green felt and I painted the 'seeds' with shiny yellow fabric paint. They look good enough to eat. I'm so glad it's almost summertime.  Or I should say, "I'm berry glad it's almost summertime!"  Here's some more strawberry ideas from Storytime Katie and I found some really cute ideas at this site too.   Enjoy those juicy berry treats! 

More Berry Goodness!

The blueberries in my yard are almost ready! Yummers! I've kinda got berries on the brain. I'll just mention a few blueberry books; the classic, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey; Blueberry Mouse by Alice Low; Blueberry Shoe by Ann Dixon; One Little Blueberry by Tammi Salzano; and for older preschoolers there's George Shannon's White Is For Blueberry.  

backside of pieces.

I have a blueberry rhyme that I made up that's a twist on the classic, 1 little, 2 little counting rhyme.  To start this rhyme I have a little clear bucket and 10 medium sized blue pom pom 'blueberries' that we count together as I drop them in the pail.  Then, I finish the rhyme with the flannel pieces that I made.

Bucket of Blueberries

by Kathryn Roach  

(drop pom pom's in bucket as you count)

1 berry, 2 berry, 3 berries 4,

5 blueberries...let's count some more!

6 berry, 7 berry, 8 berry, 9

10 blueberries are mighty fine!

Now, I've got a bucket of blueberries

that I want to eat...

It's time to cook up a great berry treat.

I'll mix up some things

and stir with all my might

        Then I'll have a delicious

         Blueberry delight.

      (I pantomime holding a bowl and 

stirring as fast as I can)

Blueberry pancake (place felt pancake)

           blueberry pie (place felt pie)

           blueberry muffin (place felt muffin)

          My, oh my! (rub tummy and smile big smile)

             I hope you can use the patterns here.  I scanned them from my original patterns but reduced them by 78%.  I cut out a blob pancake shape and added the blueberries to it.  Usually when we talk about foods at Storytime, I ask the children to give a 'thumbs up' if they like the food I name.  I'm trying to teach them that everyone doesn't have to talk at the same time! Ha!

I've also added the pattern that I used to cut out 'buckets' for a thumbprint blueberries craft.  I cutout the handle shape so that the kiddos could carry their bucket of blueberries home. We used blue inkpads for printing. You could just as easily use blue paint and a pencil eraser for stamping 'blueberries' in the buckets.  They really liked this craft. It was quick and easy prep and minimal mess so I really liked this craft too!
Blueberries are so much Fun at Storytime!