Ocean and beach related storytimes are some of my favorite since there is such a rich variety of materiel to select from. I got the verse for “Five Pretty Sandcastles” from Katie at Storytime Katie. I did alter the words slightly from “the tide came in” to “the wave came crashing” since I though it would be a bit more accurate and understandable for preschoolers. I took my cue for the sandcastles from Stephanie at Imagine Our Life. She had designed a quiet book page about sandcastles. The seashells are all buttons.
Kids can wave their arms for each whoosh to simulate the sandcastles being washed away.
Five pretty sandcastles standing on the shore,
The wave came crashing (whoosh!) and then there were four.
Four pretty sandcastles standing by the sea,
The wave came crashing (whoosh!) and then there were three.
Three pretty sandcastles standing by the ocean blue,
The wave came crashing (whoosh!) and then there were two.
Two pretty sandcastles standing in the sun,
The wave came crashing (whoosh!) and then there was one.
One pretty sandcastle just out of reach,
The wave came crashing (whoosh!) but it stayed on the beach!
Storytime Shenanigans 