Baby Lapsit 11-14-17

The first thing we did this morning, as we do every Baby Lapsit, was sing good morning to all our friends. I'm delighted that we have a core group of regulars who know the songs now!

The first book we read this morning was Peekaboo! On the Farm by Cocorette. This was a quick lift-the-flap, where we practiced making farm animal sounds as each one was revealed. 

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)

There was nothing new for the musical portion of lap bounce this morning, but I did bring out "Hurry, Hurry, Drive That Firetruck," which we haven't heard in a few weeks. We also bounced to "Pop Goes the Weasel," with grownups encouraged to lift their baby up high at the POP!

Penguins are my favorite animal, which made me fall in love with our adorable second book even more than the art and story would have. Penguin Misses Mom by Michael Dahl tells the story of a baby penguin who is nervous about spending the evening with a babysitter when his mom goes out. I don't want to spoil the ending for you, but let's just say it's a happy one.

Because it's been a while since we did Sign Language in Baby Lapsit, we practiced the signs to "Hush Little Baby" as one of our movement/gesture songs. Finally, before saying goodbye, we sang my new favorite, "One, Two Hands."

My version of "Hush Little Baby"

Preschool Storytime 9-5-17

Welcome back! 

After our usual introduction, we read Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin. I like this book for storytime because the kids get a huge kick out of making animal noises. I asked them to repeat the recurring phrases with me, and give me their best silly giggle. I firmly believe that finding ways to make books interactive will make kids love reading. 

Today we jumped and counted again ("Jumping and Counting"), and then did a freeze dance with Greg and Steve's classic, "The Freeze." This is one of the only songs I use that doesn't have directed movement, but freeze dance is also a good way for kids to learn to control their bodies in space. I always make sure to explain that we dance while the music is on, and then when it stops, we have to FREEZE!

Today I tried something new to get attention back on me after a high energy song. Before our second story, we sat down and did a chant together until the kiddos were calm and listening. I got this one from another librarian at my branch; she said it would be a hit, and she was 100% right. It's called "The Hippo on the Bus." I demonstrated it once, and then encouraged both kids and grownups to keep time by hitting their knees with open palms and chant with me as we did it two more times.

A hip, a hip, a hippotomous
Got on, got on, got on the city bus
And all, and all, and all the people fussed...
STOP SQUISHING US! 
(On that last line, squish your cheeks in from both sides so your mouth looks funny and speech is distorted, as if you were being squished by a hippo)

After we were all calm and ready to listen to another book, I read The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli. This is a hilarious story of a crocodile who loves watermelon, until he swallows a seed and starts getting worried about what will happen. It's short, funny, and the kids love guessing whether he will have a watermelon growing in his belly by the end. 

This book is pretty short, so we had time for two more movement songs before saying goodbye to our friends. I decided to go with two of what I consider storytime classics: "Clap Your Hands" and "The Goldfish."

Click here for my version of "Clap Your Hands."

Baby Lapsit 6-29-17

I suppose you could say the theme of this storytime is farm animals because of the book choices, but the songs don't really reflect that, so I'm going to refrain from classifying it that way.

After our introduction, the first board book of the day was Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton. This book is a personal favorite of mine, and actually the first one I buy for any friend who announces they're having a baby. The rhyming is great for a small child's language development, and Sandra Boynton's characters are just so dang cute. There's nothing bad about this 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)

I used "Walkin' Ol' Joe" again as our first lap bounce song, which I guess is also applicable to the farm. Our second lap bounce song was "Noble Duke of York," which is long but affords a lot of opportunity to bring the baby up, down, left, right, and even upside-down (over your shoulder) if you're brave enough. I always see grownups' eyes widen the first time they see me turn my demonstration teddy bear upside down, but by the end of the song, they're trying it out and their babies usually have the time of their life!

The second book was Quick, Duck! by Mary Murphy. It was fun to make the babies (and their grownups) to quack like ducks. Some of them got the idea and started quacking by the end, but most importantly, I demonstrated for their caregivers a potential interactive activity they can do with their babies as they read. Talking about the animals on the page, and what sounds they make, is a great way to practice identifying pictures, which is one of the first steps toward learning sight words later on.

Our last movement song today was "I'm a Little Teapot." I have a version with this song first, and then "Two Little Blackbirds" to the same tune directly after. I like this version because that nursery rhyme has fallen out of use over the years, and it's still a fun fingerplay.
Click here to listen to the version I use.

I could have included "Six Little Ducks" by Raffi to continue with the barnyard theme, and because there's never a bad time to play Raffi, but I'm still working out movements for that one.

To conclude storytime we sang "Peek-a-Boo" and "Skidamarink," then had bubbles and a 15-ish minute community play time. You can see my usual Baby Lapsit conclusion by scrolling up and clicking on the "introduction" link.