Storytime Spotlight: It Started with a Snow Plow and Ended with a Duck

Wondering how we got from trucks to ducks? Here’s a recent go with the flow mixed-age family storytime!

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Welcome & Set Expectations

*Sing: Clap Everybody and Say Hello

Flannel: Saw a Snowflake…

This is a fun counting up OR down song I like to sing in winter! It’s a very versatile tune. This time we started with 6 snowflakes. We added 2 each time the wind blew until we got to 12. WHOAH! That’s such a big number we can’t even show it with our fingers!

I have different colors because I like to ask the kids if we have more white, blue, or gray snowflakes. This time I just used 2 colors for comparison. If I have preschoolers in attendance, I ask which color snowflake we have the most of and then I follow up by asking, how do you know?

Here’s how the song goes if you start from one:

Saw a Snowflake

Tune of “Clementine”

Saw a snowflake, saw a snowflake,

Saw a snowflake in the sky!

Then the wind blew – WHOOSH!

And some more flew.

Now how many do you spy?

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Credit: original

Read: Supertruck by Stephen Savage

This is my first year reading this book and I’m sorry I waited so long! So far I’ve read it three times this month, and the kiddos have been sharing so many connections without even prompting – what noise a fire truck makes, when they’ve seen a garbage truck before, etc. They also love finding Supertruck at the end when he’s out of costume. Best moment was when one kid shouted “HOW DID HE DO THAT?!” when Supertruck transformed in the garage!

Flannel: My Friend Duck

After reading Supertruck, we cleared the board of snow. I asked the kiddos if they remembered the different kinds of trucks we saw in the story. We chatted as I put the trucks on the board – what each truck was for, which colors the trucks were, etc. The grown-ups giggled when I mentioned the likelihood of seeing LOTS of tow trucks on the road tomorrow because no one knows how to drive when it snows. (Or knows how to drive any day, for that matter…)

After some math talk (how are these trucks all the same, which truck is the longest), we played a Little Mouse-esque game where I hid Duck behind a truck.

Lit Tip: Talking & Building Background Knowledge

“Grown-ups, knowing letters and sounds is one skill, but actually understanding what you read is something else. Just imagine trying to read a book about how to do brain surgery if you’re not a doctor! When you talk about the world around you and how things work, you help your child build the background knowledge they need to be good readers.”

*Sing: If You’re Ready for a Story…

Read: Duck on a Bike by David Shannon

Before reading, I always tell the kids I will need their help to read the story, and we practice a few farm animal noises. During reading, I draw out when Duck says, “Hellooooooooo” to the various animals with a long wave. I also pause to let the kids fill in the animal names and noises. Catches the crowd every time!

I totally forgot how this ends with duck looking longingly at a tractor. Perfect connection to our duck/truck flannel earlier!

Sing: Green, Yellow, Red by Music with Mar

Aren’t these steering wheels the coolest? A talented soul made these at my library and I LOVE using them with this song! Before they could actually get behind the wheel, we practiced going fast, slow, and coming to a complete stop.

Learning Through Play

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*Please visit this page to learn more about my regular storytime songs and routines.