Books
Pickin’ Peas by Margaret Read MacDonald
~Little Green Peas by Keith Baker
Arlo Rolled by Susan Pearson
The Princess and the Pea by Rachel Isadora
*Three Little Peas by Marine Rivoal
*Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Books marked with ~ were used during my toddler storytime and books with * were used during the all ages storytime. Unfortunately, I didn't end up using either Pickin' Peas or The Princess and the Pea both of which feature black girls as the main character. I really wanted to use Pickin' Peas to compliment the pea eating rabbit with my flannelboard, but the group skewed very young today so I wanted to keep the books as simple as possible. With the young group I also ended up abandoning some of my pea themed song ideas and just did the old favorite Seals on the Bus because everyone had a lot of energy today and we really needed to do something familiar to get all that out! I'll save the ideas for another pea or garden themed storytime in the future!
Click read more for song and rhyme ideas related to peas!
Books marked with ~ were used during my toddler storytime and books with * were used during the all ages storytime. Unfortunately, I didn't end up using either Pickin' Peas or The Princess and the Pea both of which feature black girls as the main character. I really wanted to use Pickin' Peas to compliment the pea eating rabbit with my flannelboard, but the group skewed very young today so I wanted to keep the books as simple as possible. With the young group I also ended up abandoning some of my pea themed song ideas and just did the old favorite Seals on the Bus because everyone had a lot of energy today and we really needed to do something familiar to get all that out! I'll save the ideas for another pea or garden themed storytime in the future!
Click read more for song and rhyme ideas related to peas!
Songs and Rhymes
Action Song: “Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow”
Chorus:
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?
First the farmer sows his seed,
Then he stands and takes his ease,
He stamps his feet and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.
Chorus
Next the farmer waters the seed,
Then he stands and takes his ease,
He stamps his feet and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.
Chorus
Next the farmer hoes the weeds,
Then he stands and takes his ease,
He stamps his feet and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.
Chorus
Last the farmer harvests his seed,
Then he stands and takes his ease,
He stamps his feet and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.
Chorus
Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow,
Can you or I or anyone know
How oats, peas, beans, and barley grow?
First the farmer sows his seed,
Then he stands and takes his ease,
He stamps his feet and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.
Chorus
Next the farmer waters the seed,
Then he stands and takes his ease,
He stamps his feet and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.
Chorus
Next the farmer hoes the weeds,
Then he stands and takes his ease,
He stamps his feet and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.
Chorus
Last the farmer harvests his seed,
Then he stands and takes his ease,
He stamps his feet and claps his hands,
And turns around to view his lands.
Chorus
Source: Modified from Raffi
The gardener plants the seeds,
Source: Found in the collection left by the previous children's librarian
Action Song: “The Gardener Plants the Seeds”
(Tune: The Farmer in The Dell)
The gardener plants the seeds,
The gardener plants the seeds,
High ho the derry oh,
The gardener plants the seeds.
Verses: The rain falls on the ground, the sun shines warm and bright, the seeds begin to grow, peas (or plants, flowers, or whatever you'd like) grow everywhere
Verses: The rain falls on the ground, the sun shines warm and bright, the seeds begin to grow, peas (or plants, flowers, or whatever you'd like) grow everywhere
Source: Found in the collection left by the previous children's librarian
Action Rhyme: “Peas Porridge Hot”
Pease porridge hot (clap hands twice)
Pease porridge cold (tap knees twice)
Pease porridge in the pot
Nine days old (clap hands twice)
Some like ‘em hot (tap knees twice)
Some like ‘em cold
Some like ‘em in the pot (clap hands twice)
Nine days old (tap knees twice)
Source: Childhood
*Transition Stretch: “I’m a little seed”
(Tune: I’m a Little Teapot)
I'm a little seed in the dark, dark ground
Out comes the sun, yellow and round
Down comes the cool rain, soft and slow
Up! The seed begins to grow!
Spoken: What kind of plant did you grow into?
Source: Tiny Tunes
Flannelboards and Fingerplays
*Flannelboard: “Down in the Garden”
(Tune: "Down Around the Corner at the Bakery Shop)
Down around the corner in my garden so fine,
There are five little pea pods all on a vine.
Along comes a rabbit who wants something to munch.
He takes one pea pod and eats it for lunch!
Verses: Count down to one.
Source: I made this one up myself!
I combined this with a rabbit puppet we have and had the puppet take the peas off the board. This was a lot of fun and also meant I didn't have to make a rabbit felt piece to go with the song. It also helped discourage the kids from "helping" me take the felt pieces off the board since the rabbit needed to do it during the song. Sometimes helpers are great, but when the group is big and not everyone can help move a piece, it makes things difficult.
I combined this with a rabbit puppet we have and had the puppet take the peas off the board. This was a lot of fun and also meant I didn't have to make a rabbit felt piece to go with the song. It also helped discourage the kids from "helping" me take the felt pieces off the board since the rabbit needed to do it during the song. Sometimes helpers are great, but when the group is big and not everyone can help move a piece, it makes things difficult.
 |
| That darn rabbit stole all my peas! |
Fingerplay: “Ten Fat Peas”
Ten fat peas in a peapod, pressed (make two fists)
One grew, two grew (raise one finger from each fist)
And so did all the rest (raise both hands and wiggle fingers)
They grew and grew and did not stop (stretch fingers wide)
‘Till one day those peapods just had to go……
POP! (clap hands)
Source: Told to me by a coworker.
Craft
Paper plate shaker with beans or split peas. Have the kids decorate a plate however they want and then fold it in half and staple around most of the edge, adding dried beans or peas to the middle before you staple the last bit. Super easy and lots of fun to shake!
Today wasn't quite as crowded as last time, but there were still a decent number of kids. The group skewed pretty young and there was a lot of energy so I abandoned some of my plans and just sang "Seals on the Bus" instead of one of my pea-themed songs to help them get some of that energy out. I want to make some song cubes to use in situations like that. I do love having themed songs, but sometimes old favorites are the way to go.
How it Went
Today wasn't quite as crowded as last time, but there were still a decent number of kids. The group skewed pretty young and there was a lot of energy so I abandoned some of my plans and just sang "Seals on the Bus" instead of one of my pea-themed songs to help them get some of that energy out. I want to make some song cubes to use in situations like that. I do love having themed songs, but sometimes old favorites are the way to go.
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