Enjoy this DIY Storytime on the theme of Growing Things whenever is convenient for your family.
Do-It-Yourself Storytime
Growing Things
BOOKS:
How a Seed Grows
• Written by Helene Jordan
• Illustrated by Loretta Krupinski
• Published by HarperCollins
• Presented by Bobby’s backyard
This story includes a simple experiment about growing bean seeds.
https://video.link/w/2LFtc
Kids Do Gardening has An Easy Way to Show Plant Growth to Children:
https://www.kidsdogardening.com/an-easy-way-to-show-plant-growth-to-children/
Plants Can’t Sit Still
• Written by Rebecca E. Hirsch
• Illustrated by Mia Posada
• Published by Millbrook Press
• Presented by Reading Rhino
Find out about the different ways plants move.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7W8-UHV3mA
Kids Gardening has directions for growing a chia pet, and links to more gardening activities:
https://kidsgardening.org/garden-activities-plant-people/
Tops and Bottoms
• Written and illustrated by Janice Stevens
• Published by Houghton Mifflin
• Presented by AnneMiranda Books
Hare finds a way to trick a lazy Bear and grows vegetables for his family.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNeBXB_U05U
Premeditated Leftovers shows how to make felt garden markers. You can also use them as stick puppets:
https://premeditatedleftovers.com/naturally-frugal-mom/felt-garden-markers/#_a5y_p=6336674
SONGS:
The Plant Needs Song by GenerationGenius
https://video.link/w/gQFtc
The Parts of a Plant by Harry Kindergarten Music
https://video.link/w/1SFtc
Gardening Song by Cocomelon
https://video.link/w/LTFtc
RHYMES AND FINGERPLAYS:
The Farmers Plants a Vegetable Garden
(tune: The Farmer in the Dell)
The farmer plants the seeds (pretend to dig in the soil)
The farmer plants the seed s (pretend to drop in seeds)
Hi, ho, and watch them grow
The farmer plants the seeds. (pretend to pack down the spoil)
The sun comes out to shine (make a circle over your head for the sun)
The sun comes out to shine
Hi, ho, and watch them grow
The sun comes out to shine.
The rain begins to fall (wiggle your fingers like rain coming down)
The rain begins to fall
Hi, ho, and watch them grow
The rain begins to fall.
The seeds begin to sprout (make hands into a fist, then stretch out fingers)
The seeds begin to sprout
Hi, ho, and watch them grow
The seeds begin to sprout.
The vegetables come up (raise arms straight up)
The vegetables come up
Hi, ho, and watch them grow
The vegetables come up.
The farmer picks the crop (pretend to pick plants)
The farmer picks the crop
Hi, ho, we saw them grow
The farmer picks the crop.
And now it’s time to eat (rub tummy like you are hungry)
And now it’s time to eat
Hi, ho, we saw them grow
And now it’s time to eat.
Grow, Grow, Grow a Garden
(tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
Grow, grow, grow a garden
Grow it nice and tall
The sun shines bright to give it light
And it will grow ‘till fall.
Grow, grow, grow a garden
Grow it nice and green
The rain will help the plants to grow
The best you’ve ever seen.
I Am a Seed
I am just a seed, and I can’t wait to grow
To snuggle in the garden, outside your window.
I am just a baby seed, floating on a breeze
I go where the wind takes me, it lifts me up with ease.
Soon I’m going to land safely on the ground
And that’s where I will stay, to grow up safe and sound.
I am just a seed, one day I’ll be a plant
My roots will stretch down deep, into this plot of land
So I can grow up straight, lifting toward the sky
My stem will hold my leaves that reach out from my sides.
My leaves will make my food, catching sunlight in the day
And when it rains, they’ll gather drops of water on the way.
Will I be a flower, a daisy or a rose?
Will I have a lovely scent you can smell with your nose?
Will I be a vegetable, tomato or sweet pea?
And when the food is ripe, you will pick it from me?
Or will I be a tree, taking a long time to grow
I could be here for many years, you may never know.
But first, I’m just a seed, and I can’t wait to grow
Look for me in your garden, outside your window.
