The absolute comedy of our branch’s situation is hitting us in full this past month. A construction project that is supposed to connect a couple of our city’s major roadways started very early and unexpectedly and is essentially 10ft from our front door. Which is loud, muddy, and inconvenient for our patrons. This comes just a few months after we reopened our doors after finally fixing everything from a flood that had us closed for 6 months. >_<
So! We’re spinning it and doing some nice displays on “Things That Go” both in our children’s and adult collections. In addition, we’re doing a Construction themed storytime. Sometimes, you just have to lean into the chaos around you, right?
Here’s what we did:
Opening Song: We sang our opening song, and then got started!
Opening Question: Who has been enjoying the construction outside our door? What kinds of things have you noticed?
Transition: Our first book is going to tell us all about some construction machines and what they do! Let’s see what these big machines are all about!
Book: Construction by Sally Sutton
While this one is a little long, it has great sound effect opportunities and big, colorful pictures that make it super engaging. If the kids are getting a little wiggly, there’s ample chances to have the kids do movements with the machines (digging, whooshing the cement, hoisting, sawing, hammering, painting, etc)
Transition: That was absolutely great! That book showed us all kinds of construction from big diggers to building the frame of a building all the way to painting the building and using it! Do you remember what the building they built was? A library, that’s right! Our next song is about one piece of construction – hammering!
Song: Johnny Had One Hammer. See the video for this here!
Johnny had 1 hammer, 1 hammer, 1 hammer. Johnny had 1 hammer. Then he had 2!
Johnny had 2 hammers, 2 hammers, 2 hammers. Johnny had 2 hammers. Then he had 3!
Johnny had 3 hammers, 3 hammers, 3 hammers. Johnny had 3 hammers. Then he had 4!
Johnny had 4 hammers, 4 hammers, 4 hammers. Johnny had 4 hammers. Then he had 5!
Johnny had 5 hammers, 5 hammers, 5 hammers. Johnny had 5 hammers. Then he went to bed!
Transition: Whew! Poor Johnny had to use too many hammers! You know, sometimes we can play and act like we’re in construction without having any tools. We can do that by building with blocks and other things. Our next book is about some friends who like to build things and one friend who likes to wreck things.
Book: Rex Wrecks It! By Ben Clanton
This is such a fun book to do in storytime! With the repetition of “Rex wrecks it!” the kids can get really into chanting it with you. Plus, it has that heartwarming twist at the end that is perfect for a social-emotional moment of learning.
Transition: What did you think about Rex wrecking the things that his friends built? Right, it wasn’t nice at all! What did you think about the ending? I like that Rex and all his friends found a way to play that worked for all of them! Now, we’re going to do a short rhyme about nails, which help things like pieces of wood stay together more sturdily so that it can’t be knocked over.
Rhyme: 5 Little Nails (inspired by Mel’s Desk)
Five little nails, standing straight and steady.
Here I come, with my hammer ready…
Bam, bam, bam – that nail goes down
Now there are four nails hanging around.
Repeat with 4, 3, 2, & 1
Transition: You know, we read about a lot of big machines, and also about smaller ways you get to use your hands to help you make things. Our next song is just about that! We’re going to help Construction Bear get ready for work!
Song: Construction Worker Bear w/ Felt
This is the way we put on our vest
Put on our vest, put on our vest
This is the way we put on our vest
When we’re ready to work!
Other verses:
This is the way we put on our hat
This is the way we protect our eyes
This is the way our boots stomp
This the way we measure things
This is the way we level our work
This the way we hammer the nails
Transition: Thank you for helping Construction Bear use his tools and get ready to make things! I think the characters in our next story probably used some of the same tools as Construction Bear. So let’s read this classic all about 3 siblings who make their own houses only to be visited by an unwelcome friend!
Story: Three Little Pigs w/ Puppets
It’s great when classics can fit into your storytime in slightly unexpected ways! I used felt/puppets similar to this to retell the story orally and emphasized how the pigs might have built their houses. Of course, we practiced the repetitive lines of “Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin!” so that the kids could really participate. It’s always fun to tell stories that the kids already know and love!
Transition: Who knew that story already? You did?! Well, I love revisiting old favorites and that’s what we’re going to do with our shaker eggs right now!
Shaker Eggs: The Shaker Song and a Circle Dance (Nancy Kopman’s Walk Around)
Transition: Thanks so much for spending a little time of your day with me! Now we’re ready to sing goodbye and move on to our craft!
Closing: We closed out with our goodbye song and then went on to craft time!
More Books to Check Out:
Librarian Ginny 