Today after saying hello to all our friends, we read one of my favorite books: Lola at the Library by Anna McQuinn. I love the whole Lola series, because Lola and her little brother love reading, the library, and books. The board book is a shortened version of the original picture book, but just as fun for kids to see the environment they are currently in reflected back at them on the pages of a 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)
Our musical lap bounce today was "Little Red Wagon" and "Milkshake."
Usually I do "Milkshake" the way the Jbrary ladies do, but today we stood up on the last verse. It was a hit for babies and grownups; I heard lots of big belly laughs!
Our second book today was Nighty-Night by Leslie Patricelli. There are no more than four words on each page, and it demonstrates a nice bedtime routine for a baby about the age of our Baby Lapsit patrons.
Finally, it was time to say goodbye to our friends and have bubbles and community playtime.
The new "This is the Way We Wave Hello" song was such a hit in Toddler Time this week, I decided to use it for the babies as well! The only difference is, most of our babies are not yet standing steadily on their own. So instead of tapping our feet, we wiggle our fingers!
I use totally different lyrics, but this video will give you an idea of the tune:
Here are the lyrics we use here:
This is the way we wave hello, Wave hello, wave hello. This is the way we wave hello, Hello, hello, hello.
Repeat with clap, wiggle (wiggling fingers), and then close it out with another chorus of wave.
After that, we continued with the rest of our regular Baby Lapsit hello, minus the first song. Then, our first book was Where is Baby's Puppy? by Karen Katz. I don't usually use lift-the-flap or pop-up books in storytime because of the size of the group, but our Baby Lapsit rarely has more that 30 people. Plus, today it was nice to have a more interactive book since I had one older sibling in the room. She is almost three, and really enjoyed that I let her lift the flaps for me before we showed the surprise picture to all the babies.
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)
Since it's been a while, I brought back the "pop" theme for our musical lap bounce today. "Pop Goes the Weasel," and then "Popcorn" by Raffi (twice through because it's very short).
Our second board book today was Olivia Loves Owl by David McPhail. Short and sweet with cute illustrations, this one was a big hit with the grownups.
Before recorded songs with gestures, I did an a capella fingerplay today. "Two Little Blackbirds" is a bit of an antiquated nursery rhyme, but I'm trying to bring it back. I like to sing it to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," which adds an extra line onto the end of the original version:
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill
One named Jack and one named Jill
Fly away Jack and fly away Jill
Come back Jack and come back Jill
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill
One named Jack and one named Jill
The fun thing about this song is, once you learn the original melody you can substitute "Jack and Jill" for any set of opposites. It's a great way to teach rhyming words and opposites to any age of child. Example:
Two little blackbirds sitting on a gate
One named Early and one named Late
Fly away Early and fly away Late
Come back Early and come back Late
Two little blackbirds sitting on a gate
One named Early and one named Late
You can even give your fingers personalities that match their names; Late could move slower than Early to show he is always late. Here is Jbrary giving a great example of this song.
I plan to teach more songs where you can substitute the words as a fun game. It's something I grew up with, and I feel it's very important for kids to grow up playing with language and letters. It helps them become better communicators later on, and also makes them more confident and comprehensive readers.
Our next song was "One, Two Hands" because these are great hits with the kiddos as well as grownups, and there's no limit to how often babies and toddlers should practice the names of body parts.
After that, we said goodbye to our friends until next time!
We had a huge group of babies this morning! Usually we have 6-7 babies, each with one grownup. Occasionally two parents bring one baby, or one parent bring 2-3 kids. Today, we had 13 babies, and many of them came with 2-3 adults! It was the biggest Baby Lapsit I've done in a while, and it was also one of the most fun sessions I've ever done.
After our usual introduction, we read I Love Hugs and Kisses by Sandra Magsamen. It worked well for a first book because it only has a few pages, and the illustrations are bright and eye-catching. It was also a good opportunity to identify animals and what sounds they make (if applicable: pandas do not, to my knowledge, make a distinct sound). We had a couple of older siblings in class today, so this worked out well.
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)
I tried a new lap bounce today, that went really well: the old children's music standby, "BINGO." I encouraged everyone to sing along, and we bounced babies on our laps for most of the song. At the missing letters, I encouraged them to hold babies up above their heads, or even gently toss them. The babies had a great time, and I could tell the grownups thought it was fun, too!
video
Our second lap bounce song was "Milkshake," one of my favorite storytime songs because it works with all ages. Makes a great lap bounce because you can "stir" baby (similar to the "smooth road" part of the above chant), and of course bounce and gently shake them while making your milkshake.
For our second book we read the board book How Do Dinosaurs Learn Their Colors? by Jane Yolen. The How Do Dinosaurs... series is adorable, and I'm really happy that they published some board books for the series as well. The board books are better for the baby and toddler level, while still engaging for the kiddos.
While reading this book, we learned the signs for all the colors mentioned. I also took the time before class to print out pictures of the signs, so the grownups could follow along with the color signs, and hopefully retain them well enough to practice at home with their baby.
Colors
Red
Purple
Green
Blue
Pink
Yellow
Brown
White
Black
Orange
Rainbow
Our first movement song today was Mr. Jon's awesome version of "If You're Happy and You Know It," tickle bugs and all. We also practiced the sign for "happy" while singing, clapping, stomping, and shouting yippee.
Before singing goodbye, our last movement song was a new favorite of mine, "One, Two Hands." I like to give the parent tip that practicing naming body parts helps babies of all ages start to figure out where their bodies are in space, and how they have control over how they move their bodies. This song is great for practicing body part names.
Then we had our community playtime and said goodbye until next week!
Today was my last time with the babies for two months! I'm really sad about it and going to miss seeing their adorable, squishy faces every week. Since we have three children's librarians at our branch, we decided to rotate monthly between the three storytime age groups. This way all the storytime families will get to know all three of us, and the kids won't have the shock of a stranger running storytime if one of us needs to call out sick.
It's a good idea with great reasoning behind it, and I'm sure I'll have a great time with the preschoolers in December and the toddlers in January. Even so, I'm gonna miss my babies!
After saying good morning, the first book we read was My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall. This is one of those board books that doesn't have an actual plot. Instead, each page shows an animal and the narrator describes what characteristic of their heart matches that animal (for example, "brave like a lion"). At the end, your heart is "tired as a zookeeper who had a busy day," and all the animals are gathered together in the zookeeper's dark bedroom. It's super cute, and a fun way to practice the names of animals.
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)
AND NOW I HAVE BREAKING BABY LAPSIT NEWS! I USED A NEW SONG TODAY! After we bounced up and down in our little red wagon...
...we bounced our babies to this bluegrass tune, "Bounce Your Baby" by Caspar Babypants.
As always when you introduce a new song to a group of regular storytimers, there was some uncertainty on their part and mine. I didn't realize until the song was halfway over that there really are no movements built into this song. We ended up simply lap bouncing the whole time, with the option to turn the baby to face us and interact with them while bouncing. I would use this song again, but not very often as there's not really enough other movement for it to be interesting on a recurring basis.
Our second story was The Mommy Book by Todd Parr. I've raved about the wonder that is Todd Parr before, but I really can never sing his praises to a wide enough audience. Todd Parr is an absolute champion for diversity, tolerance, and acceptance. The best part is, these complex topics are explained in a way that young kids actually understand and respond to. Plus, the art is really colorful and pleasing to the eye. I love, love, love Todd Parr, and if I could get him as a storytime guest I'd probably die of happiness.
Today, since it was my last time with this group of babies until they're all in college, I did two movement songs with them. We did my favorite version of "Wheels on the Bus," and then what has become a regular Baby Lapsit standard, "One, Two Hands."
Then we did our usual goodbye song, "Skidamarink," blew some bubbles, and played with toys. In the next couple months, I might try to poke my head into their community playtime even though it's not my Baby Lapsit rotation anymore!
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."
Today, after saying hello to everyone, I read Love You More Than Anything by Anna Harber Freeman. I love this book because it's sweet, it rhymes, and it's a great one to read one on one with your baby.
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)
Lap bounce songs were "Walkin' Ol' Joe," "Milkshake," and "Popcorn."
I have to talk about "Milkshake" for a minute, because it's a fantastic song for all ages of kids. For babies, it's a lap sit. For toddlers and preschoolers, it's a great movement/get the wiggles out song. There really is no wrong time to sing the milkshake song. Here is her version, and also the wonderful Jbrary's a capella version.
Finally, we pretended to be popcorn with Raffi, twice through because this song is very short.
Because the public library is all about inclusion, I like to emphasize diversity in storytime as much as possible. Our second board book today was The Family Book by Todd Parr.
I talk up Todd Parr whenever I read one of his books to a group. The art in his books are simple and brightly colored, which hold young children's attention. More importantly, the message in every single book is one of diversity and acceptance. In The Family Book, there is a different type of family on each page. It normalizes adoption and mixed race families ("some families are the same color, some families are different colors"), working families, single parent families, same-sex parents, families where the grandparents are the primary caregivers, and a bunch of other nontraditional family units in a way even the youngest kiddos can understand. We have a diverse group in Baby Lapsit, most notably several grandmothers who bring their grandbabies, and I wanted to highlight different types of families with them today to remind all our storytimers that the public library is a place for everyone.
Our last movement song before saying goodbye was "One, Two Hands" by Laurie Berkner. I love this song because it teaches body parts and helps kids practice counting to 10. I like to tell the parents that my goal is this catchy tune getting stuck in their head, so they go home and keep practicing these skills with their babies.
(Look how clever I am. Click that link to see my usual hello/goodbye for the babies.)
Our first story today was Who is Smiling? by Yusuke Yonezu. Like the last few board book authors I've discovered, Yonezu has several books with similar art, all of which are simple and great for readers under two. I'm starting to think board books are an underappreciated literary art.
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)
Next were two of my favorites, "Hurry, Hurry, Drive That Firetruck" and "Noble Duke of York."
Our second story was one I found in our branch's storytime collection, Bunny Roo, I Love You by Melissa Marr. In Baby Lapsit especially, my two favorite story subjects are love and diversity. This one covers love in a very sweet and simple way.
Our last movement song of the day before saying goodbye was "Wheels on the Bus." Always a fun song for kids, and an opportunity to talk about anything from transportation, to talking to strangers, to the sound a muffler makes (spoiler alert: it sounds an awful lot like a zerbert).
We took August off from all storytimes and programming, and I honestly had no idea what to do with myself. So excited to get back to the babies!
We sang my regular intro songs and fingerplays this morning, and then moved on to story #1, Look Look Outside by Peter Linenthal. Linenthal has a series of these simply illustrated, simply worded books that I think are great for kids under two because they don't take that long to read, but it still introduces the idea of literacy to them when their attention spans are very short. Also, the art style seems to grab and keep their focus.
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)
Since we missed a month and the parents haven't heard the same old songs for a while, we lap bounced to "Walkin' Ol' Joe," "Pop Goes the Weasel," and "Popcorn." What I like to tell our grownups when I see their eyes glassing over from hearing the same songs week after week is, babies and toddlers strive on repetition! It helps their brain develop patterns that will later contribute to literacy. What is obnoxiously repetitive to us is actually vital to a baby's brain development!
Our second book was Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli. It's literally just a list of edible things (ex. spaghetti) paired on a page with similar but non-edible things (ex. worms). It's a good reminder for people of any age, really. And a very cute, short board book.
Our last song before saying goodbye was "Happy and You Know It," tickle bugs and all!
Artist tip: Mr. Jon is super cool. Almost as good as Laurie Berkner. He;s just a dude with a guitar singing traditional kids songs, but he has a great voice and doesn't have one creepy bone in his body, which is really important for a children's performer.
After the usual introduction, our first story of the day was I Love my Dinosaur by Caroline Jayne Church. It's a very cute, very short board book about a child and her stuffed dino. Caroline Jayne Church has a series of "I Love My ___," including a puppy and a robot, among others. All of her books are short, sweet, and perfect for readers under two.
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)
Mixing it up today, our lap bounce songs were "Wheels on the Bus" and "Pop Goes the Weasel." I like "Wheels" because it can work as a lap bounce or simple gesture song, and is therefore great for all ages. I like this particular version because after the mommies and daddies are done saying "shh shh shh," they also say "I love you."
The second story today was One, Two, Baa, Moo by Jonathan Litton. Farm animals are always a winner with the teeny tinies. Plus, this is a pop-up book, so it's full of surprises!
Our last song before saying goodbye was one of my favorites, "The Goldfish." I have to shout out again to Laurie Berkner for her wonderful children's music that I shamelessly steal almost every storytime.
I don't have a list of display books this week because there was no solid theme. Thanks for reading!
Hello again! Today's Baby Lapsit did not have a theme. Instead, I relied on some tried and true storytime favorites because we're knee-deep in Summer Reading and planning time has been scarce!
After the usual introduction, I segued right into the lap bounce portion instead of reading a story first.
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" and "The Noble Duke of York" next, which are both great lap bounces but very different from each other in terms of tempo. "Joe" changes up several times to show the different speeds the horse walks, while "Duke" stays at a steady marching beat the whole time. I've found that both babies and grownups stay more engaged if you keep your activities varied.
Our story today was I Am Tall by Flying Frog, a fun, short story about animals of varying sizes. The great thing about this one is it's a lift-the-flap. It's great for teaching small children about opposites. And, they get a big surprise at the end when you actually have to turn the book sideways and lift the flap to expose the tall giraffe!
The last song we did before saying goodbye was "Milkshake," a storytime classic that works great as a lap bounce or simple song with gestures. I saw grownups doing both, and it made me happy that they make this program their own and do what feels best to them and their baby! I do it with the music, but I've also included a great video from the amazing blog Jbrary where they do it a capella.
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 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 ourintroduction, 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.
This Baby Lapsit session began, as they all do, with my three "hello" and introduction songs, that can be found (along with the "goodbye" ending) here.
Transportation was the first themed Baby Lapsit that actually landed! I'm so excited to report that the babies seemed to be having as much fun reading and singing about cars, boats, wagons, and horse rides as I was!
Our first story was Beep! Beep! by Sam Hearn. This book can easily be brought down to baby level by talking about the colors of the vehicles and practicing counting them as they line up at the beginning of the race.
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)
We did three (count em, THREE!) lap bounce songs today because I couldn't bear to exclude any of these picks. We began with "Hurry, Hurry, Drive That Firetruck," moved on to this adorable version of "Little Red Wagon," and finished with a lesser known and more mellow closer, "This is the Way the Ladies Ride."
Our second story was Trashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman. For the babies, it's an excellent intro to following directions and pairing gestures with words when you put movement to the repeating phrases in the book: "dump it in, smash it down, drive around the trashy town!"
Our final song before saying goodbye was "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." I saw some of the parents practicing gestures with their baby during this song, and others treating it like another lap bounce. Either one is great, as long as the grownups and babies are interacting and the babies are getting the most out of the music!
I covered all forms of transportation except, regrettably, air travel. I wish I had had an airplane song!
After "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," we finished up with the usual goodbye, bubbles, and playtime. Here is a list of books I displayed on the subject of transportation:
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:
As always, I started this session with my usual introduction, which you can view here (as well as the goodbye at the end).
Today's theme was monsters! Like last week, the theme was mostly chosen for my preschoolers and tailored to fit babies as well.
Our first story was Go to Bed, Monster! by Natasha Wing. It's a super cute story about a little girl who draws herself a monster friend when she's avoiding going to sleep. It's great, until she gets tired and the monster refuses to settle down!
After the story it was time for our lap bounce, so I began with my non-musical chant, "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)
The lap bounce songs for today were "Ten Little Monsters," a kids Halloween song where we practiced our counting, and "Walkin' Ol' Joe." This one was not in the monster theme, but it is one of my lap bounce standbys that the babies always like. When demonstrating this one, I like to show the different speeds you can bounce your baby.
The second story was Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems. Usually Mo is a slam dunk, but with slightly older kids. I recognize now that this story went way over the babies' heads and I'm better off to stick with board books for this storytime. However, spoiler alert: the preschoolers loved it.
Our movement song for the day was "Games Monsters Play" from Sesame Street. I encouraged grownups to help their babies do the movements with me as motor skill development exercise.
Finally, it was time for "Peek-a-Boo," "Skidamarink," and bubbles, followed by community play time. Scroll up for more info about my regular Baby Lapsit conclusion.
Today I started out with my standard introduction, which you can view here(along with the goodbye at the end).
Since the theme of the day was fish and the ocean, the first book I read was Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count by Lois Ehlert.
I like this book for babies because it teaches counting and colors. Lois Ehlert is always great for unique and colorful art in picture books.
For the lap bounce portion of Baby Lapsit, I always start with the same non-musical chant called "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)
The two lap bounce songs with music today were "Octopus (Slippery Fish) and "The Goldfish" by Laurie Berkner. Neither of these are ideal lap bounce songs, but I wanted to keep with the ocean theme and these were the songs I used for Preschool Storytime this week also. A learning experience that putting on a quality storytime should trump sticking to the theme every time. Even if the songs were over the babies' heads, the grownups seemed to enjoy them.
After the lap bounce portion, I read Smile, Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen. I like to read board books in Baby Lapsit, because they tend to have fewer words on a page and the babies usually pay attention for the whole time because it only takes about five minutes to get through a board book.
Then it was time for a couple more songs with gestures before we said goodbye. Sticking with the ocean theme, we sang "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."
Finally, we sang "Peek-a-Boo," and then concluded with "Skidamarink" and bubbles for all!
Here are the books I had out on display during the ocean theme storytimes:
