Storytime: Opposites

Books

Animal Opposites: A Pop-up Book by Petr Horáček

The Hueys in What’s the Opposite? by Oliver Jeffers

Big Bear, Small Mouse by Karma Wilson

The Opposite Zoo by Il Sung Na

Marta! Big & Small by Jen Arena

What’s Up, Bear? by Frieda Wishinsky

I did this storytime way back in September, September 9th is opposite day, but am only now posting it. See how far behind I am? This was a great theme! In fact, I'm planning on doing it again this coming September. There are so many great books for kids that present opposites so there are a lot of stories to choose from! I taught the children some word pairs in sign language like big and small, fast and slow, and short and tall and we also learned some Spanish words from Marta! Big & Small. I had a boy in this storytime who was a native Spanish speaker and he was only too happy to help me out with some of the Spanish pronunciations when I was unsure.

There are also a wealth of songs and rhymes for kids that present opposites. For the ones I chose for this storytime, click read more.

Songs and Rhymes

Action Song: “This is Big”

This is big, big, big (stretch hands far to sides)
This is small, small, small (cup hands together)
This is short, short, short (hold palms close vertically)
This is tall, tall, tall (hold palms far apart vertically)
This is fast, fast, fast (roll hands quickly)
This is slow, slow, slow (roll hands slowly)
This is yes, yes, yes (nod head)
This is no, no, no (shake head)

Source: Mel's Desk and Jbrary for a video of the motions

Action Song: “The Grand Old Duke of York”

The Grand Old Duke of York

He had ten thousand men.

He marched them up to the top of the hill (lift baby up in the air)

And he marched them down again! (bring baby down to the floor)

And when they're up, they're up. (lift baby up in the air)

And when they're down, they're down. (bring baby down to the floor)

And when they're only half-way up, (hold baby waist high)

They're neither up nor down! (lift baby up in the air and bring baby down again)

Oh he marched them to the left.

And he marched them to the right.

Then he marched them round and round

Oh what a silly sight.

Source: Traditional

Action/Transition Rhyme: “We Can Jump, Jump, Jump”

We can jump, jump, jump.
We can hop, hop, hop.
We can clap, clap, clap.
We can stop, stop, stop.
We can nod our heads for yes.
We can shake our heads for no.
We can bend our knees a little bit.
And we can sit down slow.

Source: 1234 More Storytimes

Action/Transition Rhyme: “I Say Fast”

I say fast and you say…. SLOW!
Fast! Slow! Fast! Slow!

I say up and you say….DOWN!
Up! Down! Up! Down!

I say happy and you say… SAD!
Happy! Sad! Happy! Sad!

I say over and you say… UNDER!
Over! Under! Over! Under!

Source: Miss Meg's Storytime

Flannelboards and Fingerplays

Flannelboard: “Mouse in the House”

Little Mouse, little mouse are you in the (color) house?

I figured this worked for the theme because houses are big and mice are small!

Fingerplay: “Two Little Songbirds”

(Tune: Two Little Blackbirds)

Two little songbirds flying through the night.
One is black and one is white.
Fly away black, fly away white.
Come back black, come back white.

Two little songbirds flying in the sky.
One flying low and one flying high...

Two little songbirds flying through the clouds...
One is quiet and one is loud...

Source: Adapted by me

I took the traditional Two Little Blackbirds song and made it "songbirds" instead so that I could do the opposite colors of black and white along with all the other opposites presented in the song. Of course, I had to make cute little finger puppets to go with it!