Circus Story Time

Last week we focused on the circus because who doesn’t love a good show? We started, as usual, with my opening song–“If You Want to Hear a Story.”

Then, we sang “Circus Animals” (found at Story Time Secrets).

(Sung to the tune of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”)
Let’s all go to the circus,
let’s all go to the circus,
Let’s all go to the circus
and have a lot of fun.

We’ll see the elephant wave his trunk,
we’ll see the elephant wave his trunk,
We’ll see the elephant wave his trunk,
and then he’ll say a-roo!

We’ll see the monkeys jump up and down,
we’ll see the monkeys jump up and down,
We’ll see the monkeys jump up and down,
and then they’ll say eee-eee.

We’ll see the horses gallop and trot,
we’ll see the horses gallop and trot,
We’ll see the horses gallop and trot,
and then they’ll say neigh.

We’ll see the lion roar,

we’ll see the lion roar,
We’ll see the lion roar,

and then he’ll say grrrrrr.

Our first book was Miss Bindergarten Plans a Circus With Kindergarten by Joseph Slate

This was a pretty cute book, and the kids seemed to like the pictures. It’s more of an ABC book than a story, but it seemed to work well.

Then, we sang “The Animals at the Circus” (originally found at King County Library System):
(Sung to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus)

The monkeys at the circus go oo-oo-oo, (scratch and pose like a monkey)
Oo-oo-oo,
Oo-oo-oo,
The monkeys at the circus go oo-oo-oo,
All night long.

The clowns at the circus go honk, honk, honk, (“honk” nose by touching it)
Honk, honk, honk,
Honk, honk, honk,
The clowns at the circus go honk, honk, honk,
All night long.

The lions at the circus go rooooooar! (act fierce!)
Rooooooar!
Rooooooar!
The lions at the circus go rooooooar!
All night long.

TOO LOUD! (cover ears)

The ringmaster at the circus goes shh, shh, shh,
Shh, shh, shh,
Shh, shh, shh,
The ringmaster at the circus goes shh, shh, shh,
All night long.

This week, I did another draw and tell since they’ve been so popular, and we just happened to have three in a row that fit my themes! This week’s story was “Uncle Bob” from the same book I used last week–Draw and Tell: Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, Viewing, Shaping by Richard Thompson.

It went over very well, and since the resulting picture of the clown is completed upside down, it was more difficult for the kids to yell out the answer early. Be prepared for some ice cream-related tangents, though!

Then, it was time for our second book–A Small Surprise by Louise Yates

This is a really cute book about all the cool things about being little. The kids also loved searching for the rabbit when he would “disappear.”

After that, we sang “We Are Clowns Today” from Preschool Education.
(to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell”)
We are clowns today, we are clowns today,
High-ho the derry-oh,
We are clowns today.

Other Verses Include: We do tricks today, we make faces today, we fall down today, etc.

The kids loved being able to make silly faces at me with this song, and it was a big hit. After we got over our giggle fits, I asked what kinds of snacks they have at the circus. The kids almost always informed me that popcorn is the snack to get at the circus which was a nice transition into our next action rhyme: “Five Little Kernels” found at Storytime Katie. Most people do this as a flannel, and there was one already made when I started, but I thought it would be more fun for us all to act out our sizzling and popping and get more involved, so that’s what we did!

Five little kernels sizzling in a pot.
All of a sudden, one went POP!
Four little kernels…etc.

The kids loved being able to jump around a bit and yell “pop!” Then again, being able to shout in the library is always a big hit for them!

Before we sat back down to read our last book, we played out the “Funny Clown” rhyme from Preschool Education, except I changed a few words:

Funny clown, funny clown
Turn around.
Funny clown, funny clown,
Jump up and down.
Funny clown, funny clown,
Honk your nose.
Funny clown, funny clown,
Touch your touches.
Funny clown, funny clown,
Touch your knees.
Funny clown, funny clown,
Sit down, please.

Then, it was time for our last book: Who Has the Biggest Bottom by Marijke ten Cate

This is more of a seek and find book than a story, but my kids loved being able to guess which critter had the longest ears, biggest mouth, and, yes, the biggest bottom. There was a lot of giggling and yelling out answers. It was pretty fun if you can keep the kids on track.

Then, we sang “Goodbye, Goodbye” and went our merry way!

Our craft this week was really easy to prep. We made clown ties. My kids love anything they can wear home, so they were a hit! I just cut a tie out of cardstock, punched two holes to thread the yarn through, and set out fun sparklies and pom-poms for them to glue on to decorate their very own tie.