Books
“Harold and the Purple Crayon” by Crockett Johnson
“The Crayon Box that Talked” by Shane DeRolf
“Go to Bed, Monster!” by Natasha Wing
How a Crayon is Made
We started the storytime by talking about our favorite colors and how crayons are made. I didn’t read “What Happens at a Crayon Factory?” verbatim but it is a great book to introduce how crayons are made.
Five Little Crayons
Five little crayons standing in a row (hold up 5 fingers)
The first one said, “I’m red, you know!” (wiggle the fingers as you talk about them)
The second one said, “I’m green like a tree”
The third one said, “I’m blue like the sea”
The fourth one said, “I’m yellow as the sun”
The fifth one said, “Being purple is fun!”
Five little crayons, happy as can be (hold up 5 fingers)
Coloring pictures with you and me (point to person and then self)
Source: Storytime Katie
10 Little Crayons
1 little, 2 little, 3 little crayons
4 little, 5 little, 6 little crayons
7 little, 8 little, 9 little crayons
10 little crayons to take to school
Crayons
For the next few songs/activities I handed each child a crayon to act out the motions. When handing out items of different colors I always remind children (and parents) that “You get what you get and you don’t get upset.”
Put Your Crayons
Put your crayons up (raise hands)
Put your crayons down (lower hands)
Hold your crayons up and turn around (turn in a circle)
Put your crayons up
Put your crayons down
Put your crayons on the ground (touch floor)
I Have a Crayon
Children brought their crayon to me when I held up the corresponding color.
I have a crayon, I’ll give it to you
Here is my crayon, my crayon of blue.
I have a crayon, a lovely little fellow
Here is my crayon, my crayon of yellow.
I have a crayon, it’s here on my head
Here is my crayon, my crayon of red.
I have a crayon, we can draw a circle
Here is my crayon, my crayon of purple.
I have a crayon, what do I see?
Here is my crayon, an orange one for me.
I have a crayon, the best ever seen
Here is my crayon, my crayon of green.
Harold’s Other Crayons (Tune: Mary Wore a Red Dress)
Harold was working on a picture, he used his purple crayon
Harold used his purple crayon, purple crayon, purple crayon
Harold used his purple crayon all day long
Then Harold decided to use blue!
Harold used his blue crayon, blue crayon, blue crayon
Harold used his blue crayon all day long
(repeat with other colors)
Wow! Look at all of Harold’s Crayons.
Let’s say the colors one more time.
Do you know why Harold used these colors?
Because he was drawing a rainbow!
Source: Story Time Secrets
How it Went: For this week’s storytime I dressed up as a purple crayon (an old Halloween costume!). Children had a lot of fun pointing out colors and learning more about crayons. I asked the children what they thought Harold was drawing and several children guessed correctly and were so proud of themselves.