Story Time - The Otter Who Loved to Hold Hands

This summer, we have been focusing our curriculum around a "water" theme, which works well since water is one of our basic materials.  In addition to having water available in multiple areas of the classroom, we have also chosen keybooks and songs that incorporate the water theme into our group story time.

I chose to read The Otter Who Loved to Hold Hands by Heidi and Daniel Howarth, a sweet book about a young otter who is afraid to let go of his parents.  This is a great book for children adapting to the new situation of being in school and separating from their parents, maybe for the first time.

With this book, I chose three songs to complete our story time.  The gathering song was "Everybody Have a Seat."  I then taught a song that incorporates rhythm and counting with several well-known nursery rhymes:  "Oleanna."  My final song was "Five Little Otters Went Out to Play," a modification of the popular "Five Little Ducks Went Out to Play."