Storytime: Construction

Books

“Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site” by Sherri Duskey Rinker
“Construction Kitties” by Judy Sue Goodwin Sturges
“One Big Building” by Michael Dahl

Five Little Nails
(you can just say this rhyme or sing it to the tune of “This Old Man”)

Five little nails, standing straight and steady (hold up 5 fingers)
Here I come with my hammer ready (make fist with other hand)
With a bam, bam, bam (tap fist to a finger)
That nail goes down (lower finger)
Now there’s just four little nails to pound

(count down)

Johnny Works with One Hammer
Johnny works with one hammer, one hammer, one hammer (tap fist on thigh or floor)
Johnny works with one hammer
Now he works with two (hold up both fists)
Johnny works with two hammers, two hammers, two hammers (tap both fists)
Johnny works with two hammers
Now he works with three (hold up both fists and kick out leg)
Johnny works with three hammers, three hammers, three hammers (tap fists and foot)
Johnny works with three hammers
Now he works with four (hold up both fists and kick out both legs)
Johnny works with four hammers, four hammers, four hammers (tap fists and feet)
Johnny works with four hammers
Now he works with five (hold up both fists, kick out both legs and nod head)
Johnny works with five hammers, five hammers, five hammers (tap fists, feet and nod head)
Johnny works with five hammers
And now he takes a rest!

Old MacDonald Has Some tools

Old MacDonald has some tools, e-i-e-i-o
And with those tools he has a hammer, e-i-e-i-o
With a bang, bang here and a bang, bang there
Here a bang, there a bang, everywhere a bang, bang
Old MacDonald has some tools, e-i-e-i-o

(repeat with)
Saw – see saw
Wrench – turn turn
Screwdriver – twist twist
Pliers – pinch pinch
Drill – zzz zzz

Craft

For this craft children colored pre-cut out construction vehicles and glued them to a piece of construction paper. Next they put glue where they wanted their dirt/sand to go. Then we put their paper into a tin, poured a cup of dirt/sand over it and shook out the extra. Some of the children went back and forth adding glue and more dirt/sand because they enjoyed it so much!

How It Went:

I have done a construction theme in the past and wasn’t the biggest fan of it. This time the storytime was a hit! Their favorite song was definitely “Johnny Works with One Hammer,” even the parents got into it and the favorite book was “Construction Kitties.” I thought the families would enjoy the Old MacDonald song but that didn’t go over well (maybe because it was the last song I sang and they were starting to get antsy), I ended up cutting the song short. This was also the favorite craft we have done so far, it’s very simple to set up and the kids loved! I even had parents tell me that they plan on recreating it at home.

Storytime: Construction

Books :
Construction by Sally Sutton
One Big Building by Michael Dahl
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherry Duskey Rinker

  

 

 

 

 

 

Bumpety-Bumpety
Bumpety-bumpety goes the dump truck (bounce up and down)
Bumpety-bumpety goes the dump truck
Bumpety-bumpety goes the dump truck
Duuuuump out the load (lean to the side)

Five Little Nails
Five little nails standing straight and steady (hold up 5 fingers)
Here I come with my hammer ready (hold up fist)
Bam, bam, bam (bounce fist on top of finger)
That nail goes down (lower finger)
Now there are just four nails to pound
(count down)

Johnny Works with One Hammer
Have children spread out and sit with their feet out in front of them
Johnny works with one hammer,
One hammer, one hammer (bounce fist on leg)
Johnny works with one hammer,
Now he works with two
Johnny works with two hammers,
Two hammers, two hammers (bounce both fists on legs)
Johnny works with two hammers,
Now he works with three
Johnny works with three hammers,
Three hammers, three hammers (bounce fists and one leg)
Johnny works with three hammers,
Now he works with four
Johnny works with four hammers,
Four hammers, four hammers (bounce fists and both legs)
Johnny works with four hammers,
Now he works with five
Johnny works with five hammers,
Five hammers, five hammers (bounce fists, legs and head)
Johnny works with five hammers,
Now he goes to sleep

Storytime: Tools

Toolbox Twins by Lola M. Schaefer

Whose Tools Are These? by Sharon Katz Cooper

Tap Tap Bang Bang by Emma Garcia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five Little Nails

This was a crowd favorite, they loved yelling bam and thought it was so much fun!

Five little nails, standing straight and steady (hold up 5 fingers)

Here I come with my hammer ready! (make fist with other hand)

Bam, bam, bam! (tap fist to 1 finger)

That nail goes down (lower 1 finger)

Now there’s just four nails left to pound

(count down)

Construction Machines (Flannel Board)

First we went over the name of different construction vehicles, I’ve done this with two different groups. One group had a father who works in construction so he knew all the vehicles names but  the other group needed some help. Next I passed out the vehicles in different colors and we went over the colors. I told them that the board was our construction site and that when I called their vehicle and said their color their machine was needed and they had to come bring it up. I had a white copy of all the machines to show as an example.

Johnny Works with One Hammer

The actions can be adjusted depending on how the child is sitting, I’ve seen it done in a chair tapping fists to legs and I’ve seen it done on the floor tapping fists to the ground.

Johnny works with one hammer, one hammer, one hammer (tap fist to leg)

Johnny works with one hammer, then he works with two

Johnny works with two hammers…. (tap both fists to legs)

Johnny works with three hammers… (tap both fists to legs and stomp one foot)

Johnny works with four hammers… (tap both fists to legs and stomp both feet)

Johnny works with five hammers… (tap both fists to legs, stomp both feet and nod head)

And then he goes to sleep (snore)

Craft

We each made our very own toolboxes! First I had the children write their name on the outside (with the threes I wrote their name in pencil and had them trace it in crayon) and then we decorated the outside with stickers. Next we glued tools to the inside of our toolboxes and the kids colored them! They were so excited that they could actually carry them.