Storytime: Eclipse (Sun and Moon)

Books

Sun & Moon: A Giant Love Story by Lisa Desimini

Sun and Moon by Lindsey Yankey

What the Sun Sees/What the Moon Sees by Nancy Tafuri

Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle

Sun and Moon Sisters by Kho Lê

Whose Moon is That? by Kim Krans

I have a backlog of other storytime posts to get to, but I wanted to share the eclipse one while it is still relevant! My library is not in the path of totality, but we are getting over 99% coverage with the eclipse coming up on Monday. As such, a lot of the people in the area are very excited about the eclipse. I thought it was only fitting that I do a Sun and Moon themed storytime in celebration. I was even able to find one book that has an eclipse as a central part of the story: Sun & Moon: A Giant Love Story! The rest of the books are simply about the sun and moon. I found a lot of songs about the sun and moon and modified lyrics to some of them to be more eclipse related. For those songs and other extension activities click read more.

Songs and Rhymes

Action Song: "Mrs Moon"

Mrs Moon, Mrs Moon

You're up too soon!

The sun is still in the sky.

Go back to your bed,

And cover up your head,

And wait till the day goes by.

In the morning the sun wakes up,

And marches all the day.

At noon he stands straight overhead,

And at night? He goes away.

Source: slightly modified from Ram Sam Storytime

Action Song: "Mr Golden Sun"

Oh, Mr Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun,

Please shine down on me.

Oh, Mr Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun,

Hiding behind a tree.

These little children are asking you,

Please come out so we can play with you.

Mr Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun,

Please shine down on me.

Oh, Mrs Moon, Moon, Mrs Silver Moon,

Please shine down on me.

Oh, Mrs Moon, Moon, Mrs Silver Moon,

Hiding behind a tree.

These little children are asking you,

Please come out so we can play with you.

Mrs Moon, Moon, Mrs Silver Moon,

Please shine down on me.

Oh, Mr Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun,

Please come out real soon.

Oh, Mr Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun,

Hiding behind the moon.

These little children are asking you,

Please come out so we can play with you.

Mr Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun,

Please come out real soon!

Source: Raffi with second and third verses modified by me

Action Song: The Earth Goes Round the Sun

(Tune: Farmer in the Dell)

The earth turns around, the earth turns around.  

Once a day, every day, the earth turns around.

The moon goes 'round the earth, the moon goes 'round the earth.  

Once a month, every month, the moon goes round the earth.

The earth goes 'round the sun, the earth goes 'round the sun.  

Once a year, every year, the earth goes 'round the sun.

Source: Preschool Education

I got out the scarves for all three of these songs. Mr. Golden Sun was especially fun because everyone already knew the words to the verse by Raffi! I'm going to try and incorporate more of Raffi's music in the future. He has so many great songs that people already know and love.

Ukulele Song: "You are my Sunshine"

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.
You make me happy when skies are gray.
You'll never know dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away!

Source: Traditional

I posted this chord chart previously, but here it is again if you want it!

Action/Transition Rhyme: "Bend and Stretch"

Bend and stretch, reach for the moon!

Sway back and forth to our little tune.

Bend and stretch, reach for the sun!

Sit down slowly now, our song is done.

Source: modified from Singing Games for Children

Flannelboards and Fingerplays

Flannelboard: "Where is Bright Sun?"

Bright sun, bright sun, we’ll find you soon.
Are you behind the (color) moon?

Source: I made this up myself!

I was able to reuse the flannelboard from my space storytime and simply made a small sun to go behind the moons instead of a rocket to make it eclipse themed.

Craft

I looked around Pinterest for ideas for this craft and found these sun catchers made with colored tissue paper and contact paper. I went with a sun and moon theme for ours, of course!