Baby Lapsit July 2019

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

July 2

Board Book #1

Where is Little Fish? by Lucy Cousins

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)

"My Bouncing Buckaroo"
I learned this one in an online course I took recently to brush up on my storytime sign language skills. Before we do this rhyme I like to go over counting up to ten using only one hand and American Sign Language numbers (this is a little above babies' developmental stage but a good skill for parents to learn and practice for later). I also like to emphasize that this fun rhyme gets children ready to laugh at jokes later in life by making them anticipate the last line, then doing something unexpected by getting loud and crazy! This is the general basis of most jokes, so in addition to numbers and rhyming words, this is a good exercise in building social skills.

One, I love you. Two, I love you.
Three, I love you so!
Four, I love you. Five, I love you.
Never let you go!
Six, I love you. Seven, I love you.
Eight, you love me too!
Nine, I love you. Ten, I love you...
My Bouncing Buckaroooooooooooo!!!!!

"This is the Way the Ladies Ride"

"Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We're Going to the Moon"

Board Book #2

Baby Parade by Rebecca O'Connell

Movement Song

"One, Two Hands"

July 9

Board Book #1

Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers

Lap Bounce Journey

"Bumpy Road/Smooth Road"

"My Bouncing Buckaroo"

"One, Two Hands"

"Little Red Wagon"

Board Book #2

Baby Astronaut by Dr. Laura Gehl and Daniel Wiseman

July 16

Board Book #1

Tinyville Town: I'm a Veterinarian by Brian Biggs

Lap Bounce Journey

"Bumpy Road/Smooth Road"

"My Bouncing Buckaroo"

"This is the Way the Ladies Ride"

"Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We're Going to the Moon"

Board Book #2

Clive is a Librarian by Jessica Spanyol

July 23

Board Book #1

Freight Train by Donald Crews

Lap Bounce Journey

"Bumpy Road/Smooth Road"

"My Bouncing Buckaroo"

"Hurry, Hurry, Drive That Firetruck"

"Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We're Going to the Moon"

Board Book #2

The I Love You Book by Todd Parr

July 30

Board Book #1

Take A Look: More Fun Together by Liesbet Slegers

Lap Bounce Journey

"Bumpy Road/Smooth Road"

"My Bouncing Buckaroo"

"Walkin' Ol' Joe"

"This is the Way the Ladies Ride"

Board Book #2

Sporty Babies Wear Sweats by Michelle Sinclair Colman

Teen Scavenger Hunt

The end of summer means another thank you party for the teen volunteers! They do so much good work for us that the staff always throws them an after-hours party complete with food, activities, and party favors. Allow me to present, a group picture of everyone who attended the party, which was about a third of our SRP volunteer class of 2019.

This year, I was in charge of running the party along with one of the building managers. I found an app called GooseChase that makes it incredibly easy to make scavenger hunts for groups and/or students, and they even have an educator option that lets you access much of the app's features for free! GooseChase let me create my hunt easily using the desktop computer, then let me password protect it so only our teens would have access. After everyone downloaded the app and signed in to our activity, they formed two- or three-person teams and ran off. One thing I would do differently if I do another teen scavenger hunt using digital devices is to add more challenges. Tonight's had twelve, and they were all back within 15 minutes!

Dinner was pizza and fruit, and the movie was the incomparable 1996 classic Matilda, but let's get to the real important part: the scavenger hunt. In my humble opinion, the best part of having teen programs after hours is the opportunity to run around and be loud in the stacks while there are no patrons there to complain. It's silly, fun, and lets the teens unwind in a casual environment after working hard for two months.

AWE Computers: Take a picture of you and/or a friend playing at the AWE computers in the Children's Room.

Books: See how many books you can balance in top of your head. Have a teammate take a picture before they fall!

Children's Room Colors: Find the wall in the Children's Room that you think has the best color, and take a picture in front of it.

First Time: Find an area in the library that you have never used (or haven't used a lot), and take a picture there.

Friends: Take a picture with someone who is NOT on your scavenger hunting team.

Furniture: Find your favorite piece of furniture in the library, and have someone take ap cture of you using it.

Mirror: Find a mirror somewhere in the library and take a mirror selfie. The more creative, the better!

Picture Book: Find a picture book you read as a kid, and take a picture with it.

Purple: Find a purple object and take a selfie with it.

Sorter: Take a group picture of your scavenger hunting team by the front check-in area and/or sorter.

Study Rooms: Take a picture inside one of the study rooms.

Tables: Take a picture under a table!