I planned this storytime for my colleagues to do while I was on maternity leave, so I don’t know how it went, but I hope that it was fun for the kids. National kids take over the kitchen day was September 13, 2022, and that is why I planned a cooking themed storytime for that week.
Books they read
Little Chef by Matt Stine
Growing vegetable soup by Lois Ehlert
I also left an option for Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin if there was time at the end.
Songs they sang
Hot Potato by the Wiggles – we have a bluetooth speaker that we can use to play music during programs
Vegetable Soup Song
The soup is boiling up
The soup is boiling up
Stir slow-around we go
The soup is boiling up.
First we add the broth
First we add the broth
Stir slow-around we go
The soup is boiling up.
Now we add some carrots
Now we add some carrots
Stir slow-around we go
The soup is boiling up.
(repeat with other foods)
Credit: Jbrary
Do as I’m doing
Do as I’m doing, follow, follow me,
Do as I’m doing, follow, follow me.
If I do it high or low,
If I do it fast or s-l-o-w…
(Start with clapping, repeat with marching motions, then go back to clapping to end song.)
Credit: Also Jbrary
Flannel Activity
I made some fruit and vegetables out of felt and wrote some rhymes so the kids could guess which fruit or vegetable I was talking about. After this, we sang the vegetable soup song using what I had on the flannel board.
I’m red and round,
I also have seeds.
Sliced up in salads is where you’ll see me!
I’m a root vegetable,
I can be red, white or green.
I can make you cry when you cut into me!
I grow underground,
But I have skin and eyes.
I can be roasted or mashed or made into fries!
Rabbits like to eat me when I grow in a field.
I’m an orange vegetable.
I taste best when I’m peeled!
I’m yellow and yummy,
I grow on a stalk.
You can eat me on the cob or cook me in a pot!
Early literacy tip
Some of the words in the song we just sang (the vegetable soup song) are tricky for young children to say and so this song is great to improve phonological awareness or the ability to work with sounds in the spoken language. Phonological awareness supports early literacy and leads to improves reading skills.
Spanish words and baby signs
Cook in Spanish is cocinar and the sign can be found here.
Fruit in Spanish is fruta and the sign can be found here.
Vegetable in Spanish is verdura and the sign can be found here.
Craft
I saw a vegetable basket made out of a paper plate and normal printer paper on Pinterest somewhere and thought it would be the perfect craft to go with cooking week.
I put out my craft trays with the precut paper plate, a sheet of printed fall veggies, colored pencils, scissors, and glue and let them be creative. I love watching them do crafts because some kids want the vegetables to look real and some kids made rainbow pumpkins.
Cutting the plates was a little tricky, but I probably only spent an hour or two prepping this craft in total. The parents and kids loved it, so it was worth it.
