Props: rainstick, dry ice, umbrella
Plays
Move Over, Rover by Karen Beaumont. I do this as a puppet show, Substitute if you don't have all the animals. All the big animal puppets ended up lined up on the puppet theater until the last (skunk? mouse?) shoved them off with a great show of strength.
Cauldron: We're gonna taaaake an apple, what color do you see? etc.
Cauldron: We're gonna taaaake an apple, what color do you see? etc.
Books:
Where Does Kitty Go in the Rain by Harriet Ziefert. There's a nice rhymy text on each page, but it's balanced with some excellent info. I don't just read it right through though. I had the puppets and asked the kids (there were older ones) who would like the rain, starting with the kitty.
Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems. Gerald in operatic voice, Piggy's a squeaker. Encourage the kids to do the movements. Big hit!
Rain by Stoljic. Always a good book.
Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems. Gerald in operatic voice, Piggy's a squeaker. Encourage the kids to do the movements. Big hit!
Rain by Stoljic. Always a good book.
Duckie's Rainbow by Barry. I intro'ed it by telling them how smart they were, I bet they already knew their colors. As I turned each page, I paused for them to shout out the color of the page. And they obliged.
Chalk by Bill Thomson, because they're saved from the dino by the rain. A nice switch up.
Chalk by Bill Thomson, because they're saved from the dino by the rain. A nice switch up.
Ducks Like to Swim by Agnes Verboven. Mother Duck quacks for rain and all the barnyard animals helpfully join in. All that neighing and mooing is great for storytime.
Puddle by Hyewon Yum. Short, fun.
Elmer to the Rescue! The rainbow has turned gray! Elmer has to fix it by lending it some of his beautiful patches.
Puddle by Hyewon Yum. Short, fun.
Elmer to the Rescue! The rainbow has turned gray! Elmer has to fix it by lending it some of his beautiful patches.
The Rain is a Pain by Rob Scotton. ER. Lot's of rhyme as well as Splat the Cat disaster. OK.
Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer. Nonsense verse. Request.
Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer. Nonsense verse. Request.
Songs
Songs
Rain on the green grass, rain on the trees.
Rain on the rooftop BUT NOT ON ME!
Eensie Weensie Spider
The Rain (to Frere Jacques)
I hear thunder, (stomp floor)
I hear thunder,
Hear it CRASH. Hear it CRASH.
But I don't fear the thunder
I know it's only thunder
CRASH CRASH CRASH CRASH CRASH CRASH
(Flutter with fingers)
I hear raindrops, I hear raindrops.
Pitter pat, Pitter pat
Will it rain for hours?
I know it's good for flowers
But I'd like to play, not stay in all day
Ah, I think it just stopped!
Rainbow Stew trick revisited
(The old version never worked for me and my prop set and I couldn't figure out why. But when I did it BACKWARDS, it worked great! 1. Show the kids the cauldron (that you've put the paper rainbow in and hold it upside to show that it's empty. It's not empty -- you're holding the rainbow in place with your magic wand. 2) Pick up the 1st piece of fruit, an apple, and start chanting in a hip-hop rhythm. Hold it up and ask the kids what color do they see? for audience participation. Plop it right in -- it makes a nice noise. 3) When you've finished all the fruit, stir it around, and ask if anyone knows a magic word. Get them to shout it out, use your magic wand and pull out that rainbow downloaded from Google image!
We’re gonna taaaake an apple, what color do you see?
You see the prettiest RED there ever could be!
We’re gonna put it in the pot
And stir it, stir it, stir it a lot!
We’re gonna taaaake an orange, what color do you see?
You see the prettiest orange there ever could be!
We’re gonna put it in the pot
And stir it, stir it, stir it a lot!
We’re gonna taaaake a lemon, what color do you see?
You see the prettiest yellow there ever could be!
We’re gonna put it in the pot
And stir it, stir it, stir it a lot!
We’re gonna taaaake a pear, what color do you see?
You see the prettiest green there ever could be!
We’re gonna put it in the pot
And stir it, stir it, stir it a lot!
We’re gonna taaaake some grapes, what color do you see?
You see the prettiest purple there ever could be!
We’re gonna put them in the pot
And stir them, stir them, stir them a lot!
Red and orange, yellow and green
Blue and purple colors are seen!
Put them together; what will they be?
(Ask for a magic word and wave your wand!)
The prettiest RAINBOW you ever did see!
Craft 
Windsock
Decorate piece of paper (this was plain white paper) with vivid drawings and shapes added to the top. Catherine added streamers at the end. Or colored paper with stickers.
Fans: Prepare: Paper plates folded in half. 1. Children decorate one side of plate: stickers, crayons, etc. 2. Attach crepe paper strips with gluesticks. 3. Fold up and add handle, just a spring clothespin with a big sticker decorating it. You don’t really need to staple them shut — in fact, if the kids were older, I would have told them they could put their secret documents there. Then they had to learn how to work a fan — I didn’t realize there’s a wrist motion to it that takes a little practice. So there’s a lot to learn from this simple little craft.
Next year: same paper plate, no stickers. We haven’t used crayons in ages, so we decorated with them and added a lot of crepe paper fringe. Instead of clothespins, I cut a small hole at center, and after the kids finished decorating and gluing crepe paper, they added (the moms added) the craft sticks and taped them down. Then they were stapled shut.
Elmer: Book tie -in. Give the kids a black and white Elmer and have them fill in with colored squares.
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