After our usual hello this morning, our first book was One, Two, Three... Crawl! by Carol Thompson. This is my favorite type of board book to read in Baby Lapsit, because there are action words the grownups can demonstrate to/with their baby while reading. Also, the diversity in babies is wonderful to see in a board book.
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 musical portion of the lap bounce, I brought back a couple songs I haven't used in a while: "Noble Duke of York" and "Humpty Dumpty." I like to encourage the grownups to get creative with how their baby "falls" in "Humpty Dumpty," since the verse repeats three times in the version I use.
Our second book was a classic: Llama Llama Nighty Night by Anna Dewdney. Short and sweet, simple rhymes, and a lilting rhythm to the words make all the Llama Llama board books a Baby Lapsit slam dunk.
The unofficial theme of the day was sleep. One, Two, Three... Crawl! ends with the babies taking a nap, and of course our llama book is about bedtime. For this reason, I decided to throw in a little baby sign language today with "Hush Little Baby."
This is the version of the song I use, usually twice through because it's so short. Below are the signs I teach and encourage the babies and grownups to follow along as we sing.
Finally, it was time to say goodbyeuntil next time.
Today was my first storytime after a three week leave! You might have noticed there are hardly any programs listed for March 2018. This is because I was gone most of the month for recovery from a much-needed surgery. I am now back and ready to get my storytime groove on!
After our usual introduction and hello songs, our first board book today was Llama Llama Easter Egg by Anna Dewdney. It is technically the week after Easter, but I never pass up a chance for 1) a cute Spring story or 2) Anna Dewdney.
And since it's been a while, here is Ludacris rapping Dewdney's original, Llama Llama Red Pajama.(For the record, I don't include this in storytime, but I love it so much in my other life as a childless adult who enjoys hip hop music.)
Next it was time for our lap bounce journey and it began, as always, with "Bumpy Road." I have a few regulars who have come to Baby Lapsit continuously since their babies were only a couple months old, and they know this chant by heart now. 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 musical lap bounces were on the "pop" theme: "Pop Goes the Weasel" and "Popcorn" by Raffi. I like to do "Popcorn" twice through, because it's only about 30 seconds long. By the second time the grownups usually get the hang of when to bounce, when to sizzle, and when to POP!
Our second story was Peekaboo, Pierre by Florence Wetterwald. This little board book is great for grownup/child interactions. You can practice naming directions like up and down while looking for Pierre. It's also a great opportunity to practice counting to three, and playing peek-a-boo. It segued wonderfully into our Peek-a-Boo song later on in storytime.
Before saying goodbye, our final movement songs were my standby classics, "One, Two Hands" and "Peek-a-Boo."
Today's Baby Lapsit was only about 15 minutes long. Usually I aim more for the 25 minute mark before our 15-minute Community Playtime at the end. Today, since it was my first time back after a long absence, I kept it simple and we ended the entire session after almost exactly half an hour.
You can find my Baby Lapsit hello and goodbye routine by clicking this link.
The theme today was feelings. Our first story was Wild Feelings by David Milgrim. It doesn't have a story, but I like this book because it helps kids associate their feelings with things they understand, like animals. It asks questions like "Have you ever felt as stubborn as a mule? As chicken as a chicken?" and ends by normalizing these feelings: "Of course you have. Everyone does."
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)
I used the theme of "pop" for our two musical lap bounces today. First, "Pop Goes the Weasel," where the grownup bounces their baby on their lap until the POP, when they lift them up high. Next we bounced to Raffi's "Popcorn." the sizzling is similar to our "smooth road," and then the baby POPs up high again at the end! I like to do this song twice because it's less than 30 seconds long.
Our second story was Llama, Llama, Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney. This is another one that definitely went over the babies' heads, but the grownups enjoyed it. I also shortened it by paper clipping some of the middle pages together. None of the plot was lost, the babies are still able to enjoy the rhythm and rhyme, but they don't have to sit still and quiet for quite as long.
To conclude feelings day, we sang "If You're Happy and You Know It" with gestures, clapping, stomping, and cheering. Then it was time for our closing songs, bubbles, and toys (see above). Here is a list of books I displayed:
I think the parents and caregivers appreciated the theme of this storytime more than the babies did. It can be hard to get your baby to go to sleep, so I approached the subject with humor as well as some solid lullaby tips.
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:
We began today's Preschool Storytime by sayinghelloto all of our friends the same way we always do, because repetition helps form neural pathways in developing brains. The theme today was naptime and sleep, so we learned the American Sign Language sign for "sleep."
Our first story was Sleepyheads by Sandra J. Howatt. I learned last week to get mellower books out of the way earlier in storytime, so we started out with this short and quiet list of sleepy animals.
Then to wake up again, we danced to "Clap Your Hands" and "The Ants Go Marching."
Click here for the version of "Clap Your Hands" that I use. I don't think I will be doing "Ants" too often. It's a fun song and the constant marching is great for solidifying rhythm patterns and getting the wiggles out, but it's more than three minutes long. As a storytime rule, I try to stick to songs that are no longer than two minutes, to make sure the kids stay engaged and their attention doesn't start to wander.
Next we read The Napping House by Audrey Wood, and I am lucky to have a big book copy at my library. The kiddos were really entertained by the fact that I had a giant version of a regular book! Plus, it helps everyone to see all the pictures when you're reading to a big crowd.
And then we got up and sang "The Goldfish Song," because it has sleeping fish in it to stick with the theme of the day, and also because there has never been a better storytime song in the history of the world.
Our last story of the day was Llama, Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney. I love reading rhyming books with the preschool crowd because you can ask them to finish your sentences.
Also, here is Ludacris rapping this book, a must see for any fan of hip hop music or picture books. (Disclaimer, I did not show this video in storytime.)
After bubbles, we had a special treat: a Llama, Llama Red Pajama craft! I had a storytime volunteer cut out about 50 one-piece red pajamas out of construction paper before storytime, then passed out one to each child. We set out crayons and stickers, and let the kids decorate their pajamas however they wanted. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any pictures, but here is one I stole from Pinterest (where I got the idea in the first place).
I love including a craft, or at least a coloring sheet, at the end of Preschool Storytime for a few reasons. First, gripping crayons and scissors helps the development of fine and gross motor skills. Second, a limited number of supplies in a large group of kids forces them to share. Third, sitting down and doing a guided activity gets them ready for kindergarten. Here is my display list of sleep books:
