Helping – revised
The topic of “helping” is a common one for Transitional Kindergarten as well as for preschool groups. It is an essential concept for young children in group situations and is a great theme for storytime. For a project, you can make a “chore chart,” showing each family member’s household chore. Even young children can help make their beds, fill the dog’s water bowl, match up clean socks from the laundry, etc. Or, make a “helping hands” wreath, where children trace their handprint, cut it out and attach it to a paper plate to make a wreath for the door.
Barton, Byron. THE LITTLE RED HEN. In this classic story that invites audience participation, the Little Red Hen asks for help but doesn’t receive it.
Bracken, Beth. HENRY HELPS WITH THE BABY. Big brother Henry helps his parents by taking care of his baby sister. Also see Henry Helps with the Dog and other books in the series.
Brown, Marc. ARTHUR HELPS OUT. Arthur helps around the house before going out to play.
Cadena, Beth. SUPERSISTER. A little girl helps around the house in anticipation of the birth of her baby sister.
Clement, Andrew. THE HANDIEST THINGS IN THE WORLD. Photos and a brief text show the various things that hands can do.
Costello, David. I CAN HELP. A monkey helps a lost duck, who in turn helps another animal, and so on in a chain reaction of helpfulness.
Hughes, Shirley. ALFIE GIVES A HAND. Alfie wants to help out at a friend’s birthday party but must first learn to do without his blanket.
Mayer, Mercer. I AM HELPING. In this board book, Little Critter helps around the house, sometimes with disastrous results.
Morris, Ann. TEAMWORK. With striking color photos and a very brief text, Morris demonstrates the idea of teamwork and helping each other, in countries around the world.
Muth, Jon. ZEN TIES. A panda encourages others to help their neighbors.
Panzieri, Lucia. THE KINDHEARTED CROCODILE. Wanting to be a pet, a crocodile demonstrates how helpful he can be to a family.
Paratore, Coleen. 26 BIG THINGS SMALL HANDS CAN DO. From A to Z, this book demonstrates things young children can do to be helpful.
Wells, Rosemary. HANDS OFF HARRY. Part of the “Kindergator” series, Harry needs to learn about others’ personal space.
Also see the previous Helping storytime ideas page from October 2003.