Ocean Storytime

The basis for this storytime came from a lesson plan found in The Very Ready Reading Program which can be purchased through Demco. This is a beautifully, well-structured outline of lesson plans for early literacy story times. There are different age options: birth - 24 months, 2-3 years, 4-5 years, but the one we use is Birth-24 months. 

(I totally encourage you to check these out!!)

Fingerplay: Five Little Fishes

Five little fishes (show 5 fingers)

swimming in the sea (swimming hand) 

teasing Mr. Shark

"You can't catch me!" ( shake finger)

Along comes Mr. Shark

Quiet as can be (hands open like a mouth)

SNAP!! (slap hands closed)

4...

3...

2...

1...

This can also be a flannel story where one fish is removed each time the shark eats a fish.

 Song: Slippery Fish

Slippery fish, slippery fish, sliding through the water, (hands swim like fish)
Slippery fish, slippery fish, 

Gulp, gulp, gulp!
Oh, no! It’s been eaten by an...

Octopus, octopus, squiggling in the water... (wave arms around like tentacles)

Tuna fish, tuna fish, flashing in the water...( hands swim like fish faster)

Great white shark, great white shark, lurking in the water...( hand on top of head like shark fin)

Humongous whale, humongous whale, spouting in the water (arms rounded to look big)
Humongous whale, humongous whale,
Gulp, gulp, gulp! BURP!
Excuse me!

Song: We're Walking On the Beach
*This is from The Very Ready Reading Program*
We're walking on the beach (walk in place)
we're walking on the beach
we wave at everyone we meet (wave)
we're walking on the beach.

We're swimming at the beach, (Pretend to swim)
we're swimming at the beach,
we're splashing everyone we meet, (Pretend to splash)
we're swimming at the beach. 

Fingerplay: Here Is A Beach Ball

*This is from The Very Ready Reading Program*
A little beach ball (form a ball with both hands)

A bigger beach ball (make bigger ball) 

A great big beach ball I see (make bigger ball)
Now lets count the beach balls we've made.

One, two, three ( repeat all three motions)

Song: The Waves At The Beach

*This is from The Very Ready Reading Program*
(Tune: The Wheels On The Bus)
 The waves at the beach go up and down, 
Up and down, up and down
The waves at the beach go up and down, 
All day long.

The lobsters at the beach go snap, snap, snap...
The clams at the beach go open and shut...

(Additional verses not from lesson plan)

The crabs at the beach walk back and forth...
The jellyfish at the beach go wiggle, wiggle, wiggle...
The sharks in the sea go chomp, chomp, chomp...
The boats in the sea go toot, toot, toot...

Beach Craft
After storytime, kids made a beach and ocean scene craft. Our Children's Librarianr found and prepared this craft.

She painted the inside of the plate blue, glued the sand and cut out ocean animals. 

Kids used glue to attach animals, shells and umbrella's to the plate.

💚💛💜