Baby Lapsit 6-8-17: Monsters

As always, I started this session with my usual introduction, which you can view here (as well as the goodbye at the end).

Today's theme was monsters! Like last week, the theme was mostly chosen for my preschoolers and tailored to fit babies as well.

Our first story was Go to Bed, Monster! by Natasha Wing. It's a super cute story about a little girl who draws herself a monster friend when she's avoiding going to sleep. It's great, until she gets tired and the monster refuses to settle down!

After the story it was time for our lap bounce, so I began with my non-musical chant, "Bumpy Road." Grownups are instructed to seat their baby facing forward on their laps and bounce along with me as I demonstrate with a roughly baby-sized teddy bear. Here is the chant:

Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Smooth road, smooth road. (Move baby smoothly back and forth)
Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Smooth road, smooth road. (Move baby smoothly back and forth)
Rough road, rough road! (Bounce baby higher than before)
Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Rough road, rough road! (Bounce baby higher than before)
Hole! (Hold baby under armpits and let them fall between your legs)

The lap bounce songs for today were "Ten Little Monsters," a kids Halloween song where we practiced our counting, and "Walkin' Ol' Joe." This one was not in the monster theme, but it is one of my lap bounce standbys that the babies always like. When demonstrating this one, I like to show the different speeds you can bounce your baby.

The second story was Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems. Usually Mo is a slam dunk, but with slightly older kids. I recognize now that this story went way over the babies' heads and I'm better off to stick with board books for this storytime. However, spoiler alert: the preschoolers loved it.

Our movement song for the day was "Games Monsters Play" from Sesame Street. I encouraged grownups to help their babies do the movements with me as motor skill development exercise. 

Finally, it was time for "Peek-a-Boo," "Skidamarink," and bubbles, followed by community play time. Scroll up for more info about my regular Baby Lapsit conclusion.