Baby Lapsit September 2018

My Baby Lapsit formula is:

Intro and hello
Board Book #1
Lap Bounce Journey ("Bumpy Road/Smooth Road" and two recorded songs)
Board Book #2
Movement song or another lap bounce song (optional, depends on time)
Peek-a-Boo
Goodbye
Bubbles and Community Playtime

September 18th

Board Book #1

I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont

Lap Bounce Journey

"Bumpy Road/Smooth 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)

"Noble Duke of York"

"Milkshake"

Board Book #2

Whose Toes Are Those? by Jabari Asim

Movement Song

"Shake My Sillies Out"

September 25th

Board Book #1

Love is Everywhere by Jim Benton

Lap Bounce Journey

"Bumpy Road/Smooth Road"

"This is the Way the Ladies Ride"

"Popcorn"

Board Book #2

Playing by Liesbet Slegers

Movement Song

"Happy and You Know It"

Celebrate Self-Improvement Month

This program came to me on a whim while I was browsing the internet looking for local or national holidays to base programs on. Turns out, September is National Self-Improvement Month. Who knew? It ended up being a drop-in program with three stations: mind, body, and creativity.

Mind
This station had wooden puzzles from our Children's Room, brain teasers, Sudoku sheets, color-by-numbers, and word searches. I also made up a set of two-sided riddle cards for people to challenge themselves and their friends to answer. My goal was to have something at this station for all ages, and I think I succeeded in that.

Working on brain teasers

Mom and son trying to figure out riddles

Creativity
At this station, I set out a bunch of random art supplies and encouraged people to make whatever they felt like! A lot of the kids had fun with a non-guided art activity, and went to town with the foam stickers. There were also coloring sheets for those who didn't quite feel ready to create without boundaries.

Burgeoning artists at work

The time the foam shapes exploded

Finished art

Finished art

Body
The final station, which took up half the room, was an exercise obstacle course designed by a couple of teen volunteers. They did an amazing job using what we already had in the library to create something challenging and fun for all ages!

Teen volunteers being silly in the obstacle course

When I started planning this program I wasn't sure what it was going to be, but I'm happy with the direction it took. We had several large families attend the program, and it seemed like each family member from toddlers to adults found something to do. I noticed tweens challenging their parents with the riddle cards, and kiddos under 5 repeatedly going through the obstacle course. Overall, it was a successful program that I'd repeat next year.

Kids Decorate the Library

I wasn't sure what I was getting into with this program, but by the end it turned out to be one of my favorites! The concept was simple: Set out a bunch of random craft supplies and large pieces of butcher paper, and let the kids make whatever they wanted with the intention of beautifying our library.

I had some pre-cut paper pieces in the shape of butterfly wings, rectangles, circles, flower stems (the rectangles and circles can be strategically placed to look like a flower), and triangles. I was delighted to find the kids took these and ran with them! Some copied my sample flowers and butterflies, and others went off the map completely, turning the circles into caterpillars and other incredibly creative things I would never have thought of. This is proof of what I have been saying since last October's Mad Science: children are more creative than I could ever hope to be. That's why I've started structuring my programs a lot less, and just letting them run with the supplies I put out to see what they'll come up with.

I also printed a large banner in 11x17 pieces and set it out on the table for anyone to color. After the program I put the banner together and laminated it to hang up with some of the art. Here are the creative and colorful results:

Some of our first attendees starting their projects

Busy artists at work

Batman made a caterpillar!

A teen volunteer coloring the banner

Finished decorations!

Finished decorations!

Finished decorations!

Finished decorations!

Banner after I attached and laminated it

Sign Language Storytime: Bed Time

My Sign Language Storytime format is:
Intro and hello
Felt story
Movement song or video
Book
Movement song
Goodbye

This storytime is special for a couple of reasons. First, it's the only one that I give a handout with pictures of the signs on it, so that the kids and grownups can refer to it during storytime and then practice at home. Second, I'm experimenting with adding an AV component to storytime by showing videos to follow along with instead of just listening to songs.


Handout:

Intro and hello:
Hello: "Hello Friends"
Before turning on the music, I teach the kids (and grownups) the American Sign Language sign for "friends." Then we boogie, wave, and sing hello to all our friends!

Warming Up Motor Skills: "Open, Shut Them"
On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.

Stretch: "Tall/Small"
This is a short, easy stretch the kids get a kick out of. While we're stretching, I like to encourage them to reach for the ceiling, touch their toes, then make themselves into a tiny ball.

Felt Story
"The Moon Up Above"
To the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus"
Bolded words correspond to signs from the handout

The moon up above is big and bright (put moon on board)

Big and bright, big and bright

The moon up above is big and bright

In the sky

The moon up above is near the stars (put stars on board)

Near the stars, near the stars

The moon up above is near the stars

In the sky

The moon up above helps me to sleep (put bed on board)

Me to sleep, me to sleep

The moon up above helps me to sleep

In my bed

Video
"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" by My Smart Hands
During the video, I encouraged everyone to practice along. Using videos in storytime is still something I'm trying out, but it's going well so far.

Book
It's Not Time for Sleeping (A Bedtime Story) by Lisa Graff
This book repeats the line "It's not time for sleeping," which I encouraged the kids and their grownups to repeat with me every time, along with practicing the sign for "sleep."

Movement Song
"Hush Little Baby"

A short and simple sign song. I usually play it twice through so everyone has a couple chances to learn the signs.

Goodbye
"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box
When we sing this song, I help them recall the sign for friends from the hello song, and teach them a couple others as we sing: meet, time, and say.

Friends

Meet

Goodbye

This is the only storytime that I don't close with bubbles, because directly following is another program called Stay and Play where I set out 4-5 bins of toys for a 30 minute free play. Adding bubbles to that seems to be too much stimulation.

Grandparents Day Celebration

Make A Grandparents Day Card 2017

Grandparents Day is the second Sunday in September. I like to celebrate it at the library on the preceding Friday or Saturday. Last year, I made it mostly about making cards. This year I had a volunteer who is a professional card maker and brought two people to help at her card station, but I decided to open up the activities and make it a more inclusive program. I set out a book display with a cozy reading corner for families to read together (all books somehow featuring grandparents, of course), and I also set out some puzzles and activities.

I did experience a roadblock during this program, which I think are important to acknowledge so you can work around them in future programs. I was overzealous in my expectation of how many people would attend. We got about 40, which was far under my estimation of 100. I scheduled three teen volunteers in addition to the one adult volunteer card maker. I didn't realize she would also bring two people to help her. So I had six people, seven including myself, working this program. There's no reason to have a 1:5 ratio between staff members and patrons in a drop-in program. It did turn out okay, though, because the teens had a good time making cards and interacting with the kids and families who attended.

So, I learned the lesson of not counting your chickens (patrons) before they hatch (attend). The positive spin on this is the people who attended had a good time, read some books, did some puzzles, and made some gorgeous cards. I guess this program can be considered intentionally intergenerational, since my aim was for kids and grandparents to spend time together in the same space. I saw some happy faces and creative cards leaving the room, so I'd say it was a successful program even though fewer people attended than expected.

Cozy reading area

Card station in action

Teen volunteers making cards after the program

Toddlertime 9-5-18: Grandmas

My Toddlertime format is:

• Intro and hello
• Book
• Toddlers are basically babies who can run away from you, so I tend to look for books with no more than two lines of text per page. When they're that age, kids are still figuring out how books work, how you hold and treat them, and looking at the pictures. They will listen to the story and participate if the book has an interactive element, so anything that will keep them engaged verbally or physically is Toddlertime gold.
• Movement song
• This is the time for a longer movement song. Ideally one that corresponds to your theme, but that's not a requirement. Some themes just aren't compatible with music, and that's okay.
• Felt story
• My favorites are the ones where the kids have to help you chant, identify colors, count with you, or sing a song.
• Movement song(s)
• Depending on how much time we have, I'll use one 2-3 minute song or two that are under a minute long.
• Goodbye
• 10-15 minute toy time
• Toddler attention spans are short! In this storytime, I only plan 15-20 minutes of content because that's about as long as you can hold their attention. After that, we do a short community playtime with educational toys to give kids the opportunity to learn to play in a group, and parents the opportunity to meet and interact with one another.

Book
I Really Want to See You, Grandma by Taro Gomi
Taro Gomi is a hidden gem in the world of children's literature. He has so many books, and they are all written in sparse, simple language with fantastic illustrations and gentle, positive messages. This one is about a child who wants to see their grandma, and the grandma wants to see them, so the two keep passing each other on the road across town to visit the other one. They finally meet in the middle and have a picnic!

Movement Song

"Baby Shark" by The Kiboomers
After all this time, I've finally found out who sings the version of Baby Shark I've been using for years, and located a YouTube video for it! Now you get to hear the actual version I use in storytime. I like it because it's slower than the version that's recently gone viral, giving the kids more time to figure out their movements and sing along. I used it for grandma storytime because there's a grandparent shark... I think they're actually saying "grandpa," but it's hard to tell for sure, so I just went with it.

Felt Story
"Grandma, Grandma, Look and See"
(Start with the flowers already up on the board.
Bolded text is the part kids can be encouraged to chant along with you.)

Grandma, Grandma, look and see! 
I brought a butterfly home with me (put butterfly on board)
Grandma says to let wild things be, so I set my butterfly free.

Grandma, Grandma, look and see! 
I brought an inchworm home with me (put worm on board)
Grandma says to let wild things be, so I set my inchworm free.

Grandma, Grandma, look and see!
I brought a songbird home with me (put bird on board)
Grandma says to let wild things be, so I set my songbird free.

Grandma, Grandma, look and see! 
I brought a slimy frog home with me (put frog on board)
Grandma says to let wild things be, so I set my slimy frog free.

Grandma, Grandma, look and see! 
Dad brought a kitten home for me (put kitten on board)
Grandma approves and I agree--seems like the perfect pet for me!

Movement Song
"Peek-a-Boo"
I went simple with this song today. It's very short, and somehow magically quiets a crowd of restless toddlers with very little effort.