When a child is young, everything is new to them, so it makes sense that in the first five years of their life they need reinforcement for concepts that adults consider common sense. Getting dressed and clothing are an example of this kind of world knowledge that a child has to grow. But even more than that…clothing has implications that go deeper than just adding comfort from the elements. It’s how we show our individuality and creativity. It’s something that preschoolers love to talk about!
Introduction: So we begin our storytime by doing just that! Talking about our clothes! I usually wear one of my favorite pieces of clothing, sometimes a hat or shirt, or even a necklace. I talk about why I love it (maybe the color or pattern, maybe a memory I have with it, or maybe how it makes me feel), and then I ask the kids to describe their favorite piece of clothing before we begin with our Hello Song.
Sign of the Day: As I talked about my wardrobe, I illustrated the signs for the items of clothing I was wearing. But for our official sign of the day, we learned the word for shirt so that we could use it in a later song.
Book: What Riley Wore by Elana K. Arnold
I love this book for its playful celebration of clothes and focus on feelings. It follows a gender non-conforming or nonbinary child as they pick clothes for their week. The child notes their feelings and how that affects the way they choose to dress. It’s a very sweet, affirming story.
Song: Mary Wore Her Red Dress. This is where our ASL sign comes in! I use this song a lot for my infant and toddlers, but I find that the preschoolers love it just as much! They love talking about their clothing choices or showing off their favorite shirt. So, what I do is ask each child their name and let each child pick a color on their shirt (or a pattern) and then everyone sings for them. It’s such a nice, short way to acknowledge each child and we sign the word shirt every time we sing it. 🙂
(Child’s Name) wore a (color or pattern) shirt
(color or pattern) shirt
(color or pattern) shirt
(Child’s Name) wore a (color or pattern) shirt
All day long!
Book: Does a Bear Wear Boots? by Harriet Ziefert
We bring in a bit of nonfiction with this fun little book that introduces different animals and how they protect themselves from the elements. It’s great to use as a talking point for why humans wear certain items of clothing and how they differ during different seasons.
Felt Activity: I like to do a little matching game with this storytime, but there are SO MANY options. You can do pattern matching with socks or mittens, color matching, or…matching underwear to animals (especially if you use the book Polar Bear’s Underwear by Tupera).
Rhyme: Old Shoes, New Shoes. I first came across this action rhyme on Storytime Katie’s site and it’s a wonderfully fun rhyme that can pull in the kids instantly.
Old shoes, new shoes,
Who is wearing red shoes?
One, two, three, four,
Stomp them, stomp them on the floor!
Replace red with other colors
Last verse: Old shoes, new shoes,
Everyone is wearing shoes!
One, two, three, four,
Let’s all stomp them on the floor!
Felt: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin
This is always, always a fun book to use in storytime. It gets the kids and grownups singing and clapping along to the little song and, if you use the story with a felt set, it’s a FANTASTIC surprise at the end when you peel back his shirt a bit to show off his last button — his belly button!
Closing: We review our ASL sign of the day and sing our closing song, Tickle the Clouds!
More Books to Check Out:
Librarian Ginny 