Made up this little song / rhyme:
Behind the green grass
You just never know
What you might see
Or what might grow.
The kids and I sang this together, and they guessed what we might find in the grass. You could also name the object (perhaps hiding it in the room) and choose a child to go find it. I had too many kids to do that successfully, but this was still fun. I got a few guesses that I didn't have (mouse, rabbit, leaf), but I just suggested a close alternative or looked in my grass and said "Nope! They're not in here!"
In my grass was a ladybug, baseball, snake, caterpillar, ant, butterfly, frog, turtle, bee, flower and rock. There is definitely room for other creatures or items...I think the surprising ones are particularly fun (like the baseball).
Now, I got super lucky on this because a coworker has the little grass arrangement you see in the photo. I've seen these around, but I've never thought about using it for storytime. I used bamboo skewers (like for veggie kebabs) and they easily poke through the grass. If you don't have a coworker with a box of fake grass, you can easily make one with a small box. Not quite as darling, I agree, but it would still work (if you forgot all about the awesome fake grass!)
