It is essential for this storytime to come with an invitation for your little listeners to come wearing a favorite item of clothing or bearing their best stuffed friend or blanket. Bonus points if you bring or wear yours as well. This is a celebration of those items we adore and the growing pains that are often associated with them.
Note: Make sure to have some extra soft blankets or scarves on hand for kids to use while they listen to storytime today so that no one feels left out!
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Piper and Purpa Forever
by Susan Lendroth
illustrated by Olivia Feng
This one wins for being oh so very relatable. It is about the woes of outgrowing a favorite piece of clothing. My daughter is forever clinging to hole filled, sorely too tight outfits that she can’t seem to part with like Piper. A comforting book full of warmth and gentle humor. It is a great one for reading aloud to a group or to a little one snuggled on your lap.
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Unraveled
by Leanne Hatch
UNRAVELED is a super sweet story about a little boy who loves the blanket his mom made for him when he was a baby. Unfortunately it’s unraveling. It is a simple story with limited text paired with warm illustrations full of gentle humor.
Owen
by Kevin Henkes
A classic. Owen loves his blanket. It goes everywhere with him. But Owen is about to start school and surely he can’t take his beloved blankie with him to school.
Songs & Activities
First, it feels important to let each child share about their important item – unless you’re doing storytime with a very large group, in which case perhaps simply give them a couple of minutes to share with one other person.
Sing: We Wave our Scarves Together
Watch Jbrary sing it on YouTube
For this storytime, I would replace the word scarves with blankies or loveys.
Sing: Wave Your Scarf Up & Down
Watch Jbrary sing it on YouTube
This is similar, but a different tune and different actions. I would again replace “scarf” with blankets or whatever items everyone brought so they’re engaging their item as they sing.
Image from Fantastic Fun and Learning
Extension Activity: Yarn Themed Ideas
- For babies and younger toddlers: Sticky Yarn Collages. I’m a fan of contact paper and all kinds of collage materials for little ones. Here’s a yarn example from Laughing Kids Learn
- For babies through toddlers: Yarn Sensory Bin. There are some fun examples of ways to play in this post on Fantastic Fun and Learning.
- For older toddlers through preschoolers: Invitation to create with yarn, pipe cleaners and things to string. Here’s a fun example on Buggy & Buddy
- For older preschoolers: Learn how to braid with simple Yarn Boards from Happy Hooligans.
- If you have older kids, this post on Happy Hooligans has an awesome round up of yarn related crafts.
