100 Storytimes : Pre-K Construction Storytime, Friday, March 17

Construction Storyhour

Books:

With Any Luck I'll Drive a Truck by David Friend. Great description of what trucks do AND fun readaloud. This is the perfect book to lead off this storytime.
Stanley the Builder by Bee. OK. Very simple for this group, but an OK filler.
Extremely Cute Animals Operating Heavy Machinery by David Gordon. Too cute for words! I heightened the drama on this one by saying "You're not going to like what you see on the next page!" before I turned and read about the sand castle bashing. EVERYONE was listening by the end.
Digger to the Rescue by Mandy Archer. Kids appreciated the cat rescue. I shortened a bit.
Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop by Lisa Shulman. Shorten a bit. This made a great ending to the storytime. The kids all sang along.
Roadwork by Sally Sutton. I asked the kids to do the actions with me, hammer the pegs, move the earth, load the dirt, etc. I repeated the chorus, like Ping! Bang! Tap! 3 x. Next time, I'd go even slower to get the job done! I read to the page about "Roll the tar" and then skipped to the end, "Shout hooray!"
The Three Little Gators by Helen Ketteman or The Three Little Rigs by David Gordon. Any favorite 3 little piggie thing; Gators is nice and short and I love doing the Texas accent.
Building with Dad by Carol Nevius
Graders by Mary Lindeen. This is a Mighty Machines book by Blastoff Readers, and it really is a great series for beginning readers -- clear photos and a little info.
Didn't get to: Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Rinker.
Bling Blang by Woody Guthrie.
Let's Go to the Hardware Store by Anne Rockwell. Excellent, informative.
I'm a Truck Driver by Jonathan London.
Mighty, Mighty Construction Site by Sherri Rinker
Good Night Owl by Greg Pizzoli. Owl demolishes his house in the course of the book.

Old MacDonald Had a Truck by Steve Goetz. Nice change.

Songs:

Motor boat (and pick-up truck, steam engine and rocket ship)
Bumping up and down in my little red wagon (bring in a wagon!)
To the "Bakery Shop"

Down around the corner at the used car lot

There were 8 big trucks all ready to be bought.

Along came (child in audience), all alone,

She hopped in the backhoe and she drove home.

(Backhoe, 'dozer, loader, skid steer, digger, dump truck, grader, excavator)
This year I used a simple set of colored trucks. I counted them first, explained the set up to the kids, and they all sat in a nice semi-circle. I called on them according to where they were sitting, looking to their parents for help with names, and that worked better than asking for raised hands, etc.

To "Where is Thumbkin"

Where is racing car? Where is racing car? Here I am, here I am, etc.

Where is dump truck, big van, helicopter (twirl finger!), freight train.

Go over the words first. Fun.

Windshield Wiper (From Best Kids Booksite)

I"m a windshield wiper, This is how I go. Back and forth in the rain and snow. Slowly! There's just a drizzle. Fast now! It's pouring! Ah, just a nice steady rain now.

BE the windshield wiper! This is an exercise in fast and slow, and the kids love its POURING AND YOU HAVE TO GO SO FAST!

Five Big Trucks

Five big trucks went out one day

Over the road and far away.

FIRE TRUCK, GARBAGE TRUCK, TOW TRUCK, DUMP TRUCK & BACKHOE

The dispatcher said, “Come on back!”

But only four big trucks came rolling back.

The HOOK & LADDER FIRE truck is needed at a fire!

(Picture: The hook and ladder has stopped to put out a fire.)

Four big trucks went out one day

Over the road and far away.

GARBAGE TRUCK, TOW TRUCK, DUMP TRUCK & BACKHOE

The dispatcher said, “Come on back!”

But only three big trucks came rolling back.

The garbage truck needs to drop off a stinky load!

(Picture: The garbage truck has stopped to pick up garbage.)

Three big trucks went out one day

Over the road and far away.

TOW TRUCK, DUMP TRUCK & BACKHOE

The dispatcher said, “Come on back!”

But only two big trucks came rolling back.

The tow truck has stopped to tow a car!

(Picture: The backhoe has stopped at a construction site.)

Two big trucks went out one day

Over the road and far away.

DUMP TRUCK & BACKHOE

The dispatcher said, “Come on back!”

But only one big truck came rolling back.

The dump truck needs to drop off some dirt!

(Picture: The dump truck has stopped to make a drop.)

One big trucks went out one day

Over the road and far away.

BACKHOE

The dispatcher said, “Come on back!”

But no big trucks came rolling back.

The back hoe is needed at a construction site!

(Picture: The tow truck has stopped to tow a car.)

No big trucks went out one day

Over the road and far away.

The dispatcher said, “Let’s go to the race!”

And the trucks came back from all over the place.

FIRE TRUCK, GARBAGE TRUCK, TOW TRUCK, DUMP TRUCK & BACKHOE!

Sounds: Mixer. Warning bell & then errr errr errr.

Crane. Warning bells. motor sounds high and motor sounds low.

Plays:

I made a cardboard box tower, from enormous to tiny, with everyone counting as we went.

We built a flannelboard house. I lined up the square (house) triangle (roof) etc., and called on the children by turns to add a piece. We ended up with the tree trunk as a chimney, the fluffy green leaves as a green cloud, and a side door that was very sideways. A lot more fun!

Game:
Just get out the blocks, Duplos, and Legos and let them build.

Craft:

Didn't get to try this, but sounds great. https://leftbraincraftbrain.com/buildable-rock-slime/

Paint with trucks: Paints, sand, construction (ha ha!) paper.

I think the kids liked this, but what they REALLY enjoyed was the carwash we had afterward! I put a plastic tub with warm soapy water on a collapsed card table on the floor (didn't put up the legs). When they were nearing the end of their art work, I announced that we'd have a car wash, and they rushed that tub.

And I didn't have any clean up! Ha ha ha ha ha!