A Squadron of Squirrels

It was all about the little furry grey guy with the question mark tail today ...
And man, I felt like I had a room full of squirrels -- the kids were SO crazy restless!
Fortunately, I planned a shorter storytime ...

 We started off with a "guess the theme" poem (adapted from a poem on the Scaredy Squirrel website) :
There is a little furry guy
Who lives outside my door,
I've often seen him try and try
To steal from the birds' seed store.

He has a question mark for a tail
And an overcoat of grey,
He sits up straight to eat a nut
And likes to tease and play.

Scampering around is where you'll see 
Him playing night and day,
But if we run around his tree?
He goes the other way!

We sang a jazzed up version of "Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel" and I incorporated different types of squirrels (grey, black, fox, flying, red) ending with that super-fast red squirrel found in Northern Minnesota. Of course our song went faster and faster as our tails (backsides) went faster and faster -- too cute!

The big hit, however, was the SQUIRREL PUPPET (thank you, Folkmanis!) which I pulled out for my flannel counting rhyme, "Five Little Acorns" (adapted from Katie at Storytime Secrets)

(this could be sung to the tune of "The Fishy Song")
Down around the corner by the big oak tree
Sat five little acorns looking so yummy,
Along came a squirrel with a big bushy tail,
He took one acorn and ran off down the trail.
(continue until there are no acorns left)
last time (slower) :
Down around the corner by the big oak tree
There were no little acorns left to see ...
Along came a squirrel with a big bushy tail,
Took one look, said "Rats! None left!" and ran off down the trail.