Storytime: Tools

by | Sep 9, 2021 | Blog, Kid's Corner, Story Time | 0 comments

“T” is for tools! Explore the world of tools and construction with your child using these books and activities. You can also talk with your child about what a tool is… an object that that is used, especially in your hand, to do or make something. Then try making something together with a tool.

Join us Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. or Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room.

Ages 2-5

Sing, Talk, Read, Write, Play

Tip

Singing to your children is very important, and it doesn’t matter if you sing in English or another language. In one scientific study, babies as young as one week could distinguish their mother’s voice from a group of other female voices. Children love being sung to by their parents, and such singing helps to trigger their speech development and continues on with early literacy phonetic awareness. So, sing aloud to your children at home in any language you like.

- Lambert

Activity

Create a “Favorites” or core nursery song list to sing with your child every day, then you can add other songs that match with books you like to read together.

Books Presented

I Love Tools! by Philemon Sturges

Tools can cut things apart . . . . . . or put them back together again. You can use tools to make almost anything! From the clamps that hold down the wood for the very first cut through the paintbrush that adds the finishing touches, this book is full of useful tools! Young readers will love watching a busy family saw, hammer, and chisel as they work together to create a new home for their friend the bluebird.

Old MacDonald had a Woodshop by Lisa Shulman

Together with the other farm animals, Old MacDonald is building a surprise for the babies on the farm. Saw, drill, chisel, file, screwdriver, and paintbrush are operated by cat, goat, chicken, pig, cow, and dog. With a zztt zztt here and a tap tap there, there’s a miniature toy farm being made—just for the baby animals. For any preschooler who likes tools and making things, Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop is sure to be a hit! E-I-E-I-O!

 

Songs, Rhymes, and Fingerplays

Five Little Nails

Five little nails, standing straight and steady (hold up 5 fingers)
Here I come with my hammer ready! (make fist with other hand)
Bam, bam, bam! (tap fist to 1 finger)
That nail goes down (lower 1 finger)
Now there’s just four nails left to pound

(count down)

I’m a Builder
Tune to “Frere Jacques”

I’m a builder, I’m a builder.
Watch me pound, hear my sound.
Tap, a tap, a tap, tap. (tap fists)
Tap, a tap, a tap, tap.
Hear me pound, hear me pound!

Johnny Works With One Hammer

Johnny works with one hammer, one hammer, one hammer (tap fist to leg)
Johnny works with one hammer, then he works with two
Johnny works with two hammers…. (tap both fists to legs)
Johnny works with three hammers… (tap both fists to legs and stomp one foot)
Johnny works with four hammers… (tap both fists to legs and stomp both feet)
Johnny works with five hammers… (tap both fists to legs, stomp both feet and nod head)
And then he goes to sleep (snore)

Crafts and Activities

Coloring Page

Build a tool set with your little ones!

Additional Books

Drew the Screw by Mattia Cerato

The saw cuts, the hammer hits, and the drill makes holes; so Drew needs a job too.

Tools Rule by Aaron Meshon

In a messy yard, a team of tools gets organized, then spends a busy day building a shed.

Workshop by Andrew Clements

The dazzling cut-paper artistry of Caldecott medalist David Wisniewski combines with Andrew Clements’s free-verse celebration of woodworking tools to tell the story of a surprise in the making. The evocative description of each workshop tool-ruler, axe, saw, hammer, and the rest-is accompanied by a vivid, dramatically composed illustration showing how it is used in the step-by-step construction of an ornate, old-fashioned carousel. An eager young apprentice assists one craftsman after another as the project takes shape and is rewarded with a toolbox of his won. Young wood-working enthusiasts will enjoy the affectionate and knowledgeable portraits of familiar tools as well as an acclaimed artist’s vision of the magic simple tools can do.

Big Enough to Help, a Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Book

 Dad Tiger is building a playhouse. Daniel wants to help, but he’s not big enough to use the grown-up tools yet. Daniel learns that there are lots of other things he can do to help. Everyone is big enough to do something. Little ones will love reading the story and then measuring how big they’re growing with the pull-out growth chart inside.

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