Toddlertime 12-5-8: Penguins

My Toddlertime format is:

• Intro and hello
• Book
• Toddlers are basically babies who can run away from you, so I tend to look for books with no more than two lines of text per page. When they're that age, kids are still figuring out how books work, how you hold and treat them, and looking at the pictures. They will listen to the story and participate if the book has an interactive element, so anything that will keep them engaged verbally or physically is Toddlertime gold.
• Movement song
• This is the time for a longer movement song. Ideally one that corresponds to your theme, but that's not a requirement. Some themes just aren't compatible with music, and that's okay.
• Felt story
• My favorites are the ones where the kids have to help you chant, identify colors, count with you, or sing a song.
• Movement song(s)
• Depending on how much time we have, I'll use one 2-3 minute song or two that are under a minute long.
• Goodbye
• 10-15 minute toy time
• Toddler attention spans are short! In this storytime, I only plan 15-20 minutes of content because that's about as long as you can hold their attention. After that, we do a short community playtime with educational toys to give kids the opportunity to learn to play in a group, and parents the opportunity to meet and interact with one another.

Book

I Am Small by Emma Dodd

An adorable story that explores the concept that even if you're young and small, there are still things you can do to help your family and community.

Movement Song

"Clap Your Hands"

Fun directed movement song that sneakily helps young kids develop gross motor skills. 

Felt Story

"Pippa's Penguin"
This is a longer felt story, but the kids stay engaged because they want to help you figure out why each penguin isn't correct and what makes each one unique. I got the biggest laugh when I pulled out the penguin in the glittery suit.

Movement Songs

"Doin' the Penguin" from Sesame Street

A classic from 1993! This is actually a directed movement song if you listen carefully. The kids loved pretending to fall on the ice.

"Follow the Leader" by Ella Jenkins

My favorite song to get attention back from wiggly kiddos.

Shake, Boogie, and Bop 1-19-18

This program is absolute insanity, in the best way possible. We push all the chairs and tables against the wall and open up our giant program room into one big dance floor for a preschool dance party of epic proportions! I found myself using "calm down" chants two or three times, especially after collecting the egg shakers. Also, I did not use my traditional hello and goodbye today, because there were lots and lots and LOTS of wiggles in the room. I felt it was best to keep everyone moving at all times, so that's what we did!

Below are all the songs I used today, in the order I used them. "The Goldfish" by Laurie Berkner acted as our goodbye song, because transitioning straight from that to bubbles seemed like the best way to structure the end of class. Most of the songs have movements built into the lyrics, except two of the shaker songs--the movement was free shaker play. I have found that musical instruments are a great tool to play music you wouldn't otherwise use during storytime, because it might not have explicit movements to go with it or it might be a little longer. This way, you and the kids can still enjoy these songs, and they will be occupied by their shakers or other instruments at the same time.

Spotify playlist of the songs I used today

"Hello Hello" by Lewis Watson

"Clap Your Hands" by Lucky Millinder

"One, Two Hands" by Laurie Berkner

"Jumping and Counting" by Jim Gill

"Hurry, Hurry, Drive that Firetruck" by the Kiboomers

At this point, I passed out egg shakers.

"Happy Feet" by Joanie Bartels

"It Sure is Hot" from Sesame Street

"Shake My Sillies Out" by Raffi

The great collection of egg shakers.

"Tooty Ta" (I use the Kiboomers version but I love Dr. Jean)

"Tooty Ta" by the Kiboomers

"The Goldfish" by Laurie Berkner

"One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles"

"The Bubble Song" from Yo Gabba Gabba

Preschool Storytime 11-28-17: Feelings 2.0

I did feelings again, and it was a success this time!

Not sure if that's because I'm a more seasoned storytime presenter than I was in June, or I chose better books, or what, but I felt much more accomplished walking out of the room today than I did the last time we tackled feelings.

The idea to try again came to me by accident when I was browsing the stacks, looking for good storytime books. I came across the Sesame Street book We're Different, We're the Same by Jim Henson, which was our first story after saying hello. This book acknowledges that while people's physical features might be different, we are all the same on the inside and all deserving of respect and love. There is even a part that acknowledges that while we all feel them differently, our feelings are basically the same. I love this because it teaches young readers that their feelings are not only valid, but normal and nothing to be ashamed of.

After the story, we danced to "Clap Your Hands" because it is, in my opinion, a storytime classic.

Click here to listen to the version of "Clap Your Hands" that I use. 

Our second story today was Too Shy for Show and Tell by Beth Bracken. I fell in love with this story about a shy giraffe navigating preschool immediately, which is why I'm surprised it wasn't better received by the group. No one hated it, but the kids were wiggly and a little bit louder than they would have been if they were truly engaged.

Next, staying in the theme of feelings, we sang two versions of "Happy and You Know It." The first one was a capella, and corresponded to some felt faces that my partner youth services librarian made last summer:

(pic to come)

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 made up our own verses for the other faces:

If you're sad and you know it, say boo hoo. BOO-HOO!
If you're angry and you know it, give a growl. GRRR!
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)

The kids had a great time with this spin on the classic song. After that, we danced to the Mr. Jon version of "Happy and You Know It."

Before saying goodbye, we had a few extra minutes so I tacked on an extra movement song: "Can't Sit Still" by Greg and Steve. I love this song because it presents loosely guided movements like wiggling your fingers, nodding your head, and waving your elbows, but also gives the kids plenty of opportunity for free dance time and burns off some of their seemingly endless energy.

Baby Lapsit 6-8-17: Monsters

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.