Welcome to the Storytime at Home series! Every other week, we share a list of book options tied to a kid-approved theme, a craft you can set up to go along with the theme, songs/rhymes you can do during storytime, and additional enrichment activities. All books are available at Richmond Public Library, and crafts will involve items you likely have at home already! Our hope is that we can make it easy for you to share stories with your little ones and create a little bit of library magic at home.
P.S. Love library storytimes? Take a look at all in-library storytime options here. There is a storytime for your child every morning at our various branches!
Okay, now to the fun stuff…
Today’s storytime theme is LETTER A!
We love picking a storytime theme, but sometimes it’s hard for us to pick just one. This is where one of our favorite storytime tricks comes in: selecting a letter as our theme so we can explore many different topics at once – all while having some phonetic fun! If your child is starting to recognize letters and learn letter sounds, this will be a great storytime option for supporting that learning and development. If your kiddo is a little too young for letters, this is still a great way to share fun stories and practice motor and cognitive skill development. The library has many wonderful books about things that start with “A”, and we’ve included some of our favorites below. When you visit, you can also search for specific keywords in our catalog or ask a librarian to help you find the perfect book for you and your child.
Books
Reading to your kiddos turns them into confident thinkers. Making books a regular part of your daily routine is a great way to build children’s love of reading and learning. Storytimes also help build excitement around reading to support their literacy development.
Here are a few book options you can choose from for your A-themed storytime.
Preschool
- The Artist by Alison Binks
- Oona in the Arctic by Kelly DiPucchio
- It’s An Orange Aardvark! by Michael Hall
- The Animal Song by Jonty Howley
- All Aboard The Dinotrain by Deb Lund
- Ant and Honey Bee by Megan McDonald
- Art by Patrick McDonnell
- Another by Christian Robinson
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
- Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington
- Bear’s Adventure by Brian Wildsmith
- Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator! by Mo Willems
Toddler/Baby
- I Want To Be An Astronaut by Byron Barton
- Snip Snap What’s That? by Mara Bergman
- The Animal Song by Jonty Howley
- The Little Airplane by Lois Lenski
- All Aboard! by Mary Lyn Ray
- Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington
- Animal Babies Series
There are many ways to make reading fun and engaging for your little one! Click the arrow below to see some of our favorite tips for bringing stories to life at home.
Click here to see some of our favorite reading tips
- Point at the pictures and ask your child what they see. Help build their vocabulary by pointing to pictures and saying the word aloud.
- Ask your child questions about the story: What do you think will happen next? How do you think this character is feeling? This character is wearing a bathing suit; do you remember when we wore ours?
- Read with expression and enthusiasm, and use different voices for different characters.
- Act out what’s happening in the story.
- As your child gets older, count objects in a book, discuss the different colors they see, point out shapes in the story, etc.
- Snuggle up and be patient. Reading is great bonding time for you and your child. Take your time walking them through the story. If your child wants to turn the page or be finished with reading, that’s OK too. You don’t have to read every word or even every page for reading with your little one to be beneficial for their development.
Songs and Rhymes
We love adding songs and rhymes to our storytimes. This is a great way to practice language with your child and support their physical (motor) development through movement.
Here are two songs and rhymes you can use for this themed storytime. These help your child practice the “A” sound.
Sing: Little Green Frog
Tune: Listen here
Mmm-ahh, went the little green frog one day.
Mmm-ahh, went the little green frog.
Mmm-ahh, went the little green frog one day.
And they all went mmm, mmm, ahhh!!
But, we all know frogs go la-di-da-di-da.
La-di-da-di-da. La-di-da-di-da.
We all know frogs go la-di-da-di-da.
They don’t go mmm, mmm, ahh
Sing: If All The Raindrops
Tune: Listen here
If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops Oh, what a rain that would be!
Standing outside with my mouth open wide
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops Oh, what a rain that would be!
If all the snowflakes were candy bars and milkshakes Oh, what a snow that would be
Standing outside with my mouth open wide
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
If all the snowflakes were candy bars and milkshakes
Oh, what a snow that would be
If all the sun beams were bubble gum and ice cream
Oh what a sun that would be
Standing outside with my mouth open wide
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
If all the sun beams were bubble gum and ice cream
Oh what a sun that would be!
Arts and Crafts
Adding a craft along with a book is a great way to continue allowing your child to learn, explore, and grow. Crafts are a nice supplement as they encourage motor development, creativity, self-confidence, and more.
In fact, art and craft activities:
- Build fine motor skills. Actions such as painting, coloring, gluing, and cutting develop small muscles in small hands and improve coordination skills as children learn to use both hands at the same time.
- Support early literacy. When children make art, they learn vocabulary and how to follow directions when getting verbal instructions from parents and caregivers. They also boost their communication skills via talking about their work!
- Teach early math concepts. Math skills are used frequently in arts and crafts. Kids learn about and recognize different shapes, count and sort art supplies, and even measure out materials.
- Encourage creativity. Art helps develop creativity, self-expression, problem-solving, and curiosity.
- Boost self-esteem. Doing arts and crafts can give children a sense of achievement and allow them to take pride in their work, which builds confidence.
- Offer bonding time. Kids love spending quality time with parents and caregivers, and arts and crafts are a great opportunity for this.
Here is a craft activity you can do along with the A theme.
Letter A Alligator Craft
Materials Needed
- Colored construction paper or cardstock
- White construction paper or cardstock cut into small triangles and small squares
- 2 white circles
- green construction paper squares
- black marker
- scissors
- glue stick or bottle
Optional: A’s cut out of magazines or foam letters
Source: Crystal and Comp
Directions
- Draw a block letter A on a sheet of paper.
- Apply glue to the inside of letter A.
- Add green squares on top of the glue to create the alligator scales.
- Glue the white triangles inside the alligator’s mouth to create teeth.
- Draw circles on each white circle to create the eyes. Glue them on top of the alligator’s head.
- Write the letter A on a couple of the small white squares. Glue them inside the alligator’s mouth to “feed” the letters to the alligator. You can also use A foam stickers, cut them out of magazines, etc.
Additional Enrichment Ideas
The fun doesn’t have to end at books, songs, and a craft. There are many ways to enrich a storytime with additional activities and lessons. Here are a few ideas for you and your child:
- Visit Maymont Farm to see the alpacas, bison and elk with antlers, and other animals.
- Pretend to be astronauts and explore fizzy moon rocks.
- Visit an apple orchard! Not the right season? Grab some apples from the grocery store and make an apple snack for your child. Have them help you cut the apples and make it for extra fun and motor skill practice.
- Look for ants on an outdoor walk!
- Take a trip the Richmond International Airport to see the airplanes coming in and out of the terminals. There is a great window for airplane viewing before the security gates. You can also visit King’s Korner Restaurant at the Chesterfield County Airport. They have a direct view of the runway and offer a buffet lunch.
- Make an activity walk for your child by drawing arrows for them to follow.
We share these Storytime at Home posts twice a month, so be sure to check back soon for more. You can also search “#storytimeathome” to see all past posts.
Have a suggestion for the next theme we cover? Email Sarah at sarah.fenninger@rva.gov and let us know!
