Saturday Storytime February 2019: Rainbows

This storytime is for ages 0-5, but I've decided to structure it as a combination of Toddlertime and Preschool Storytime.

My formula for Saturday Storytime is:

Intro and Hello
Learn Theme Signs
Book #1
Movement Songs
Felt Story/Song
Book #2
Movement Song
Goodbye Song
Bubbles
Take-Home Craft

Intro and Hello
Hello Song
"Hello Friend"
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!

Friend

Warming Up Motor Skills

"Open, Shut Them"

Stretching
"Tall/Small"
This is a short, easy stretch the preschoolers especially get a kick out of.

Learn Theme Signs
Our theme this week is rainbows, so we learned the signs for "colors" and "rainbow."

Rainbow

Colors

Book #1
Hideaway Hedgehog and the Magical Rainbow by Lisa McCue
A super cute tale of a mama hedgehog who stumbles into a leprechaun's golden pot to have her babies, this story can easily be brought to a toddler or preschool level depending on how much dialogic reading you incorporate. It's also adorable that each baby has a different magic power corresponding to their unique color.

Movement Song

"I See Something Blue"

I like to play this song and encourage the kids to find things around the room that match the color the singers mention. This song is pretty mellow and slow-moving, which is good for two reasons. One, it gives even the youngest storytimer a chance to find something of that color and point it out. Two, we all get a chance to practice the signs for the four colors named in the song as well as "color" and "rainbow" at the end.

Felt Story/Song

Today we did a felt story that I didn't make up myself, but tweaked from Rainbow Stew and made my own version. I'm probably over-analyzing, but it really bugged me that everything going into the rainbow stew pot was, in fact, a fruit. So Rainbow Fruit Salad was born. Since the chant was the same for each verse, I encouraged everyone to chant and do the motions along with me.

Red fruit: apple

Orange fruit: orange

Yellow fruit: banana

Green fruit: pear

Blue fruit: blueberries

Purple fruit: grapes

(Put apple and red part of rainbow on felt board)

Chop up an apple, put it in the dish. (mime chopping fruit)

Stir and stir as much as you wish. (mime stirring a large bowl)

Look inside, what color will it be? (hand above your eyes as if looking)

The prettiest red that you ever did see! (ASL sign for "red")

~repeat with all other fruits in rainbow order~

(All fruits and rainbow pieces should be on the board)

Chop up all the fruit, put it in the dish. (mime chopping fruit)

Stir and stir as much as you wish. (mime stirring a large bowl)

Look inside, what color will it be? (hand above eyes as if looking)

The prettiest RAINBOW that you ever did see! (ASL sign for "rainbow")

Movement Songs

Today we did our movement songs with scarves, starting with an a cappella rhyme that ends with everyone throwing their scarf into a pile to make a rainbow:

Wave your scarf high, wave your scarf low.

Wave your scarf fast, wave your scarf slow.

Crumple up your scarf and throw it on three.

One, two, three, whee!

"Color Song"

(vid to come)

"The Freeze" by Greg and Steve

This one has nothing to do with colors, but it was so much fun to make up dances with scarves in between freezes!

Goodbye Song

"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box
When we sing this song, I help them recall the sign for friends, and teach them a couple others as we sing. After a while, storytime regulars start to look like native signers!

Goodbye

Friend

Meet

Bubbles
I like to play the two following songs while I blow bubbles for the group.
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles
Yo Gabba Gabba Bubbles Song

Take-Home Craft
Since this is a monthly storytime with a theme, I thought it would be fun to provide families with a craft based on the theme to work on when they get home. I put everything needed for the craft in baggies, including an instruction sheet so they know how to do the project once they get home. It's a rainbow fish that helps the child's fine motor skills develop as they practice going over, under, and over again.

Giving a take-home craft as families leave the storytime room is a good way to extend the learning experience after families have left the library. Also, it's a great way to provide a literacy-based craft without having to clean up afterward.

Books to Display:

• How the Finch Got His Colors—Guertin
• Princess Rosie’s Rainbows—Killion
• Elmer and the Rainbow—McKee
• Ava and the Rainbow (Who Stayed)—Adamson
• Curious George Discovers the Rainbow—Cherrix
• The Leprechaun Who Lost His Rainbow—Callahan
• The Greedy Rainbow—Chandler 

Saturday Storytime January 2019: Feelings

This storytime is for ages 0-5, but I've decided to structure it as a combination of Toddlertime and Preschool Storytime.

My formula for Saturday Storytime is:

Intro and Hello
Learn Theme Signs
Book #1
Movement Songs
Felt Story/Song
Book #2
Movement Song
Goodbye Song
Bubbles
Take-Home Craft

Intro and Hello

Hello Song

"Hello Friend"
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!

Friend

Warming Up Motor Skills

"Open, Shut Them"

Stretching

"Tall/Small"

This is a short, easy stretch the preschoolers especially get a kick out of.

Learn Theme Signs

Our theme this week is feelings, so we learned the signs for "feel," "happy," "sad," and "grumpy."

Happy

Sad

Grumpy/Angry

Book #1

Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

This is one of my favorite storytime books because it's fun to read, and the kids love grumpy bird's transformation from grumpy to part of his happy friend group. 

Movement Songs

"Clap Your Hands"

"Feelings"

I like to do this song twice because it's only 40 seconds long. This also gives the kids a second chance to get all the movements down.

Felt Story/Song
"If You're Happy and You Know It"

After identifying the emotions each face seems to be feeling, we sang " If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands" for the happy face. Then we did the following verses for the other faces:

If you're sad and you know it, say boo hoo. BOO-HOO!

If you're surprised and you know it, say oh my. OH MY!

If you're scared and you know it, give a shriek. AAHHH!
If you're silly and you know it, make a face. (make silly face)

Book #2
Love by Stacy McAnulty
This book is new to our library, and a complete delight! Super diverse, super sweet, and few enough words to keep a group of wiggly kiddos engaged as storytime winds down.

Movement Song
"If You're Happy and You Know It" by Mr. Jon
We sang it a cappella already, but this is another good time to practice signing "happy" and get our wiggles out with a special appearance of the hilarious Tickle Bugs.

Goodbye Song
"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box
When we sing this song, I help them recall the sign for friends, and teach them a couple others as we sing. After a while, storytime regulars start to look like native signers!

Goodbye

Friend

Meet

Bubbles
I like to play the two following songs while I blow bubbles for the group.
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles
Yo Gabba Gabba Bubbles Song

Take-Home Craft

Since this is a monthly storytime with a theme, I thought it would be fun to provide families with a craft based on the theme to work on when they get home. This month I put everything needed for the craft in baggies, including an instruction sheet so they know how to do the project once they get home. It's a feelings wheel made of two paper plates, a brad, stickers showing different emotions, and whatever decorations the child would like to add. 

Giving a take-home craft as families leave the storytime room is a good way to extend the learning experience after families have left the library. Also, it's a great way to provide a literacy-based craft without having to clean up afterward.

Here's a video I took of my demo wheel in action:

And here is the "how to" sheet included in the craft bags:

(Click image to enlarge)

My Toddler Time Hello and Goodbye 2018

We're only a third of the way through 2018... I might as well share what I've been doing differently in our Toddler Time hello and goodbye since roughly January.

First of all, I have made an amazing discovery about the 16-36 month age group. They are not smaller preschoolers; they are bigger babies! Toddlers are basically infants with the ability to run away from you. For this reason, I have decided to disconnect my Toddler Time and Preschool Storytime activities, and instead more closely link Toddler Time and Baby Lapsit.

In Toddler Time, we now begin with an a cappella greeting song instead of one with recorded music. I changed it because I feel the toddler age group benefits the most from chanting and singing without musical accompaniment. It makes it easier to sing the songs with their grownups at home, and they'll remember the songs more if their voices are the only thing making the music.

Here is our *shiny and new* good morning song:

Hello: "This Is the Way We Wave Hello"

(Wave both hands)
This is the way we wave hello,
Wave hello, wave hello.
This is the way we wave hello,
Hello, hello, hello!

(Clap hands to the beat)
This is the way we clap hello,
Clap hello, clap hello.
This is the way we clap hello,
Hello, hello, hello!

(Stamp feet to the beat)
This is the way we stamp hello,
Stamp hello, stamp hello.
This is the way we stamp hello,
Hello, hello, hello!

(Wave both hands)
This is the way we wave hello,
Wave hello, wave hello.
This is the way we wave hello,
Hello, hello, hello!

This video shows the melody we sing to, but it uses different lyrics.

The other two hello songs are the same as 2017. They are good for both toddler and preschool audiences, and "Open, Shut Them" comes with a built-in parent tip.

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.

My parent tip: It's great to do a motor skill-strengthening exercise like this once a day with your toddler. You can make it fun with a game or a song, and it will help strengthen their muscles and help with coordination as their bodies and minds develop.

Stretch: "Tall/Small"

This is a short, easy stretch the preschoolers 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.

Click here to listen to the version I use

This is where the rest of the storytime comes in. And then...

Goodbye: "This Is the Way We Wave Goodbye"

Know what's great for tiny, developing brains? Repetition. 

Know what's great for tiny, developing brains? Repetition.

(Typed it twice to make a point.)

Our goodbye song for Toddler Time is now also a cappella, and a repeat of our new hello song. We just substitute "hello" for "goodbye." Doing this song twice per storytime gets the melody and movements in the kids' heads that much quicker. If they're not scream-singing "This is the way we blankety-blank" about everything they do for the rest of the week, I haven't done my job.

(Wave both hands)
This is the way we wave goodbye,
Wave goodbye, wave goodbye.
This is the way we wave goodbye,
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!

(Clap hands to the beat)
This is the way we clap goodbye,
Clap goodbye, clap goodbye.
This is the way we clap goodbye,
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!

(Stamp feet to the beat)
This is the way we stamp goodbye,
Stamp goodbye, stamp goodbye.
This is the way we stamp goodbye,
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!

(Wave both hands)
This is the way we wave goodbye,
Wave goodbye, wave goodbye.
This is the way we wave hello,
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!

Bubbles! "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles" and the Yo Gabba Gabba Bubbles Song

The last thing I do at every storytime is blow bubbles. The kids go crazy over them! I play the same songs every time so they get to know that after we say goodbye, we have bubbles for the duration of two songs, and then storytime is over until next week. Our regulars know this is the way it always goes, which is a great introduction to establishing routines in other aspects of life as they grow.

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles
Yo Gabba Gabba Bubbles Song

All About Space with Tanya of Mars

I have recently met a fantastic local research scientist, Tanya Harrison. She works at Arizona State University, and does all kinds of fancy things with the Mars Rover and outer space. Basically, she's a science rock star and I'm so glad that she was able to come to our library for a program.

March is Women's History Month, so I asked Tanya if she could talk about women in space as part of her presentation. She put together a fantastic PowerPoint just long enough to get the school-age kids in attendance interested, but not so long that they were falling asleep. She talked about the first several women in space, and also briefly about her work at ASU. Here is what I learned that I didn't know before:

Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space, in 1963.

Sally Ride was the first American woman in space in 1983.

Mae C. Jemison was the first African-American woman in space in 1992.

Ellen Ochoa was the first Hispanic woman in space in 1993.

After the history of women in space and a short overview of her work, it was time to make a solar system bracelet! It took 20-30 minutes to put the bracelets together, but the kids really enjoyed following the directions in the kit to put together an accurate solar system they can wear. This project unexpectedly doubled as a fine motor skill builder AND an exercise in understanding written directions!

 

Finally, thanks to Tanya and ASU, we were lucky enough to be able to raffle off the new American Girl doll to the program participants.

Luciana has recently been named the American Girl Doll of the Year for 2018. She wants to be an astronaut when she grows up, so it was the perfect fit for this program. Each child in attendance wrote their name on a sparkly card stock star, and the winner was drawn at the end of the program. The little girl who won was already an American Girl enthusiast, and was really excited to add Luciana to her collection. I love giving away awesome prizes like this!

Overall, an incredibly successful and fun program. I can't wait to have Tanya back for Summer Reading, when she will be a guest at Mad Science!

You can follow Tanya on Twitter @tanyaofmars or visit her website, TanyaOfMars.com. 

Here is a list of books I pulled for display at the program:

Adult Nonfiction

• Notable Women Scientists—Pamela Proffitt (ed) 
• Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, From Missiles to the Moon to Mars—Nathalia Holt 
• Hidden Figures—Margot Lee Shetterly 
• Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space—Rosanne Welch 

Juvenile Nonfiction

• Women Astronomers: Reaching for the Stars—Mabel Armstrong 
• Exploring the Solar System: A History with 22 Activities—Mary Kay Carson 
• Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet—Buzz Aldrin with Marianne J. Dyson 
• Connie & Bonnie’s Birthday Blastoff—Ray Nelson Jr. and Douglas Kelly 
• When You Look Up at the Moon—Allan Fowler 
• Voyager’s Greatest Hits: The Epic Trek to Interstellar Space—Alexandra Siy 
• Space Encyclopedia: A Tour of Our Solar System and Beyond—David A. Aguilar 
• Sally Ride: First American Woman in Space—Carole Ann Camp 
• Ellen Ochoa: The First Hispanic Woman in Space—Joy Paige 
• To the Stars! The First American Woman to Walk in Space—Carmella Van Vleet and Dr. Kathy Sullivan

Learn & Grow With Rhythm & Flow 2-9-18

This morning, after saying hello to our friends with our regular introduction, I actually deviated from the usual Rhythm & Flow plan. For the first time since this program started I did not do the Heckity Peckity rhyme! I could say I wanted to put more variety into my storytime, but the truth is, I forgot my bumble bee finger puppet at my desk. It worked out okay, though, because with the passig out and collecting of rhythm sticks, we ended up just about on time.

After the intro, we sang the incomparable "Goldfish Song" because I could tell there were some extra wiggles in the room this morning. Before singing this song, I like to teach the kids the phrase, "Wait a minute, we're fish!" so they are ready when it comes up in the song.

At this point, I passed out a pair of rhythm sticks to each child. I like to tell them that I have two rules for rhythm sticks:
1. The only people who get sticks are the ones sitting calmly in one place.
2. Don't hit your friends.

They think it's hilarious when I make them repeat "Don't hit your friends" several times, but it's effective. They do not hit their friends. Actually, everyone was incredibly calm and respectful of the sticks today.

After everyone got their sticks, we learned a short rhyme. Along with it, we did a rhythm with our sticks. The X's show a place to hit the floor with your sticks, and the O's show a place to hit them together.

Rain on the rooftop
  X    X        O

Rain on the tree
  X    X        O

Rain on the green grass
  X    X        O

But none on me!
       X      X  O

This diagram is not exact, which is why it doesn't seem like an even rhythm... But it is, I promise. Two hits on the floor, and one tap of the sticks together. It's a simple pattern that kids find easy to follow, but that still does the job of waking up the music centers in their brains. In addition to tapping this rhythm with the rhyme, we turned off our voices and tapped it alone a few times. I think this really helped drive home the rhythm for the kids and grownups.

After our a cappella stick exercise, we practiced following directions while tapping to "Tapping on My Sticks."

After collecting the sticks, it was already time to say goodbye! My biggest tip for using any prop in storytime, from scarves to egg shakers to rhythm sticks, is to remember to build the time to pass out and collect the props into your storytime plan. With an especially large and/or wiggly group, it can take up to five full minutes just to make sure everyone has an egg shaker! In a 30 minute storytime, 5 minutes counts. This is valuable time that teaches preschool-age kids a lot about cooperation and being patient, so the time is not wasted. It's just something you need to account for so the program doesn't go overtime.

Baby Lapsit 2-9-18

Even considering last week's success in a themed Baby Lapsit, I went back to no theme this week. After saying hello to all our friends, our first book was Why Cry by Yusuke Yonezu. This book is a good one for babies and toddlers, because it teaches about emotions and normalizes sadness. As children are developing, it's important that they learn it's okay to cry and be sad sometimes, and that these feelings don't last forever. The book also has a cut-out half circle in each page, that turns to a rainbow by the last page.

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)

Our musical lap bounces today were "Noble Duke of York" and "Humpty Dumpty." Since my version of "Humpty Dumpty" repeats the nursery rhyme three times, I suggested to the grownups that their baby's "great fall" be in a different direction each time.

Our second book today was Rainy Day by Dan Yaccarino, from the Happyland series. This book was interesting to read to a room full of babies (and one two-year-old big sister) because it only has words on every other page. The others show Glub Glub performing an action: putting on his rain boots, dancing in the rain, etc. I realized that while babies might not be the ideal audience for a book like this, toddlers or preschoolers might. It leaves lots of room for discussion: "What is Glub Glub doing? How do you think he feels?"

We did two movement songs before saying goodbye today. First, we practiced "Hush Little Baby" with the sign language.

Here is the version of the song that I use, and here is a video showing the correct signs to go with the song.

We also sang "One, Two Hands" by Laurie Berkner today, because she's a storytime goddess and her songs are fantastic. When we sing this song, I like to remind parents that an important part of a baby's development is learning who they are, and where they exist in space. Naming their body parts is an important part of this, and this song helps begin that conversation.

Preschool Storytime 1-16-18: Dance

Next on my list of storytime themes is one quite near ad dear to my heart (read my bio on the Welcome page if you're not sure why), dance. After singing hello to our friends, we learned the American Sign Language sign for "dance."

Dance

Our first book was Color Dance by Ann Jonas. Even though it's older than I am literally...it was published in 1989), I love this book for storytime. It has simple words, shows the relationships between colors, and gives lots of diversity because it represents children of all colors and genders dancing together. This book would also be great for a color themed storytime.

Next, because of the kids dancing with colorful scarves in the book, we danced with our own colorful scarves! I passed out one per child (and any grownup who wanted one) and we waved them to "Get Ready, Get Set, Let's Dance" by Greg and Steve.

Despite looking all week online and in several print resources, I wasn't able to find a calm-down chant that had anything to do with dance. If you have one, please leave it in the comments! So after we collected the scarves, I used a wonderful song that I have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use. My one reservation is that the character Joe sings it on Parks and Recreation, and I was a little afraid the parents would recognize it from that. Although I saw a small spark of recognition in one of the regular moms' eyes, but this song went really well and did a great job focusing the kids' attention back on me. I will definitely be using it again.

The second book was Everybunny Dance by Ellie Sandall. It worked out great as a storytime book! First of all, it rhymes, which is always helpful to get littles to pay attention. Second, there are movements you can easily ask the kids to do. Whole pages are devoted to "everybunny" dancing, playing instruments, jumping, and running. 

After our second book, I actually paused the storytime action long enough to make a quick craft. We made ribbon dancers today, and I wanted everyone to have theirs to dance with for our last couple of songs. This craft was extremely easy; tongue depressors, clear tape, and short-ish lengths of ribbon I had a volunteer cut for me ahead of time. Not only was it easy and cheap, the kids were absolutely delighted by them. Plus, it only took about five minutes for all 30 kids and their parents to put together. 

Our final movement song before saying goodbye was "Everybody Dance" by Teacher Dan. Everyone swinging their ribbons around as this calypso beat played was the most fun I've had all week!

Here is a list of dance books I displayed today:

• Everybunny Dance—Sandall
• Dance! A Story About Being Happy—Bendall-Brunello 
• Color Dance—Jonas 
• Giant Dance Party—Bird 
• Dance is for Everyone—Zuill 
• Sock Monkey Boogie-Woogie—Bell 
• Spunky Little Monkey—Martin 
• Duck Sock Hop—Kohuth 
• Cats’ Night Out—Stutson 
• Dilly Dog’s Dizzy Dancing—DeRubertis 
• Naughty Toes—Bonwill 
• The All-American Jump and Jive Jig—Proeller Hueston 
• I Got the Rhythm—Schofield-Morrison

Learn and Grow with Rhythm and Flow 1-12-18

If you recall, the last time I did this program we had some major tech issues and my beloved tiny blue iPod kicked the bucket. Luckily, I used the break from storytime to order a new-to-me iPod that I will keep at work and use for all my storytimes. Say hello to ADMIN'S IPO! (I haven't picked out a name for him yet, this is just what shows up when I plug him into the computer.)

After our regular introduction, we did the "Heckity Peckity" chant and counted the syllables in our names. I use a little bumblebee finger puppet when we do this, like she uses in the second video below. Before we start, I tell the kids my friend Bumble Bee really wants to meet each of them, but he's really shy, and he will only ask their names if we all say this rhyme together. Then, after we all say the first two lines, he buzzes up to children and asks them what their name is.

Heckity peckity bumblebee,
Won't you say your name for me?
Bzzzzz (Bee buzzes up to a child and asks their name. Let's say it's Harold.)
Everyone say Harold. (Group says name)
Can we whisper it? (whisper the name)
Can we do it on our legs? (Repeat name and pat thighs with each syllable)
Can we clap it? (Repeat name and clap with each syllable)
Now let's turn off our voice (Do a clicking motion with hand on throat and make clicking sound)
And let's just clap it (Group claps the syllables without speaking)
How many claps was that? (Group answers)
Harold's name is two claps! Who is next?

Our movement song today was "It's Time to Stand Up" by Susan Salidor. It might be my imagination, but I think today's group of kids had an extra amount of silly fun with this song.

Because this song is so exciting, I found it necessary to do a chant to calm down. I used my favorite "Hippo on the Bus," because it is really fun and hilarious, but you can do it as many times as necessary to get the kids back to listening status.

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)

While passing out rhythm sticks, I made sure the kids knew that I would only be handing a pair to children who were sitting calmly on the floor, and those who loudly repeated my one and only rhythm stick rule: "Don't Hit Your Friends!" Kids and parents alike find this rule giggle-worthy, but it's also very seriously my only rhythm stick rule.

I gave them a minute to hit them on their own, then lead the group in hitting out sticks slowly, quickly, loudly, quietly, and rubbing them together to create a new sound. Then we did two songs with the sticks: "Tapping On My Sticks" and "Lummi Stick Tap." For that one, I always teach the word "lummi," what they call rhythm sticks in the UK, so the kids aren't confused when they hear that word in the song. 

Finally, it was time to give the sticks back and say goodbye to all our friends!

Baby Lapsit 11-28-17

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."

Click here to listen to my version of "Wheels on the Bus"

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!

Spooky Singalong

This program was the brainchild of my wonderful and talented partner in crime, the other youth services librarian at my branch, Sara. She conceived, named, and planned this whole thing. Hopefully she will have her own librarian blog soon so that I can link to her entry about Spooky Singalong and give her all the recognition for this incredible event. Until then, here is my take as one of the staff members who helped set up and run it......

First of all, I will not be writing up our actual Halloween storytime and parade because I didn't get enough pictures of our super cute tiny patrons in their costumes, nor did I get permission from any of their parents to share those pictures in a public forum such as a blog. So here is a picture of me, Sara, and our temporary (she is getting a promotion!) third youth services librarian Nicole on Halloween day. I am a unicorn, Sara is a dinosaur, and Nicole is the human embodiment of the spirit of Halloween itself. 

Now, for the Spooky Singalong program. We did a Disney Karaoke program during Summer Reading, which was an awesome success with almost 100 people coming to sing iconic Disney songs and dressing up as their favorite character. So for Halloween, we had a similar program with some troubleshooting that we learned from the Disney event. 

First of all, most of the participants at a weekday program are not yet in kindergarten, so they are not fluent readers. Instead of playing actual karaoke tracks with words on the screen but no vocal track, we played songs with vocals intact. Second, instead of have children sign up to sing one by one (like karaoke in the real world), we structured this program as a storytime/karaoke hybrid and called it a singalong!

The prep for this program was insanely easy. Sara found a great playlist of preschool Halloween songs with animated videos, and we projected it on the wall of our programming space. There were rows of chairs set up, but everyone was encouraged to get up and dance around as we sang. 

In addition to their Halloween costumes, which most of them wore because tomorrow is Halloween, there was a craft station set up where kids could cut out and decorate their very own cardstock "monster feet." Sara printed the templates onto cardstock a couple of days ago, but we did not cut them out ahead of time; manipulating scissors helps develop fine motor skills! (Plus, less craft prep). After the feet were cut out, there were art supplies available to decorate them.

Here is a video that is 30 minutes long, and almost the exact same as the playlist we used. All the music played for the Spooky Singalong were from Super Simple Songs, which I know I've shown on this blog before in my storytime entries. 

One song that we did use for the Spooky Singalong that is not in the compilation above was the Halloween version of Baby Shark. I couldn't not include it in this entry, so here it is separately:

Pumpkin Mosaic Art

Since it's October, I hosted a drop-in craft for all ages with the theme of pumpkins. Living in Arizona, it's sometimes hard to remember which season it is by looking outside, because it stays in the 90's well into November and then suddenly drops to the mid-50's until Spring. So, we overcompensate for our lack of weather with extra decorations.

This is the example I made of a mosaic pumpkin. This is a fun art project that you can easily tailor to any age group, which was lucky for me because I had a family with a baby and a preschooler, a set of three pre-teen siblings, and lots in between.

Making a pumpkin mosaic includes four basic steps:
1. Paint a piece of white paper your desired pumpkin color (fun to mix paints and create a custom shade). Wait for it to dry. We had Halloween and Autumn coloring sheets to work on while we waited.
2. Cut your custom painted paper into strips, then cut the strips into triangles, rectangles, and squares.
3. Fit your new shapes onto a construction paper pumpkin and glue them down.
4. Decorate with googly eyes and a Jack-o-Lantern smile!

This project is great for motor skill development because of the painting and cutting with scissors, and also helpful in developing spacial awareness by fitting the pieces together on the pumpkin.

I thought I got some pictures of our awesome final products, but I can't find them now! So instead, here is a .gif of a librarian (and/or model) wearing a dress I wish I owned in front of a photo backdrop I wish I owned, and my promise to be better at taking pictures of adorable children's art in the future.