Preschool Storytime: Ants

The ants go marching one by one, hurrah! Hurrah!

This week we did an ant storytime and it was so much fun! With warm weather on the rise, it was exciting to talk about picnics in the park and snacks by the swimming pool.

When I was first brainstorming books for this theme, I was sure the selection would be small. Oh, no! It was quite the opposite. There are a ton of great ant books and many of them have a math tie-in, which I love. Any excuse to sneak in some STEM is a big success in my book.

We started by reading/singing the Jeffrey Scherer version of The Ants Go Marching, I was surprised to find that a lot of the kiddos weren't familiar. Once they figured out the repetition, they were all on board. This was my favorite book of the week, I would definitely recommend it!

 The second book we read was the Berenstains' A Book, so much fun! We had a blast brainstorming where those angry ants might be going. It is a perfect book to demonstrate alliteration; a after a after a.

Last but not least, the flannel project that inspired this week's entire storytime... Five Hungry Ants. I first discovered this rhyme through Anne Hicks over at AnnesLibraryLife and it was too cute to pass up:

Five hungry ants, marching in a line,

Came across a picnic and thought they could dine.

They marched into the salad,

They marched into the cake,

They marched into the pepper...

Uh, oh! That was a mistake! Ahhh-ahhhh-ahhhhh-choo!

*Throw one of the ants over your shoulder, the kids squeal with glee*

Continue counting down until all the ants are gone.