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!

Baby Lapsit 10-3-17

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.

Until next time!