We started out with my usual introduction (this post also contains my usual conclusion).
Our first story was No Nap! Yes Nap! by Margie Palatini. I think I hit the sweet spot in terms of the amount of words on a page for a baby storytime (very few). This book is adorable, short, and relatable for anyone who has ever tried to get a toddler to take a nap. The moms in the group especially got a chuckle out of it.
Our lap bounce portion began, as always, with "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)
For the lap bounce music today, I repeated last week's "Walkin' Ol' Joe," which is always fun because the babies get to pretend they're riding an unpredictable pony.
Our second lap bounce song was "Hurry, Hurry, Drive That Firetruck." It doesn't have anything to do with sleep, but it's one of my favorite songs to do with all ages of storytimers. They can tailor the movements to their ability level, and it is a really fun lap bounce song as well.
Our second story was Llama, Llama, Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney. I love the Llama, Llama books in general, but this one might be my favorite.
And I obviously didn't include it in storytime, but if you haven't seen this video of Ludacris rapping this book, you need to.
For our song with gestures, we learned some signs for "Hush Little Baby." I advised the grownups that while their babies might not be at the point where they can do these signs perfectly yet, it's always helpful to sign to their babies to encourage earlier communication and understanding. This will solidify the concept that words have a meaning, and later on, that marks on a page mean words too. Signing as babies and toddlers encourages early literacy and makes kids better readers later in life!
I like this video even though I don't use this exact version. She signs slowly and clearly, which is what I try to do also when demonstrating.
This is the version I use. It's very short, so I usually do it twice through: once as more of a demonstration, then again so the grownups and kiddos can follow along.
Then it was time to say goodbye and sing "Peek-a-Boo" and "Skidamarink," then have bubbles and community play time (scroll up for my Baby Lapsit conclusion link).
Finally, here is a list of the books I had displayed for sleep storytimes:
- Creak! Said the Bed—Root
- Ten Sleepy Sheep—Root
- No Nap! Yes Nap!—Palatini
- How Does Sleep Come?—Blackmore
- The Sleep Sheep—McQuinn
- Where to Sleep—Radzinski
- Naptime—Mouy
- Sleep Tight, Anna Banana—Roques
- Sleepyheads—Howatt
- Slepy Places—Hindley
- No Go Sleep!—Feiffer
- Very Little Sleeping Beauty—Heapy
- Little Bunny’s Sleepless Night—Roth
- Click, Clack, Peep—Cronin
- Feet, Go to Sleep—Bottner
- Back to Bed, Ed—Braun
- The Princess and the Giant—Hart
- Time Now to Dream—Knapman
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