I wasn't sure what I was getting into with this program, but by the end it turned out to be one of my favorites! The concept was simple: Set out a bunch of random craft supplies and large pieces of butcher paper, and let the kids make whatever they wanted with the intention of beautifying our library.
I had some pre-cut paper pieces in the shape of butterfly wings, rectangles, circles, flower stems (the rectangles and circles can be strategically placed to look like a flower), and triangles. I was delighted to find the kids took these and ran with them! Some copied my sample flowers and butterflies, and others went off the map completely, turning the circles into caterpillars and other incredibly creative things I would never have thought of. This is proof of what I have been saying since last October's Mad Science: children are more creative than I could ever hope to be. That's why I've started structuring my programs a lot less, and just letting them run with the supplies I put out to see what they'll come up with.
I also printed a large banner in 11x17 pieces and set it out on the table for anyone to color. After the program I put the banner together and laminated it to hang up with some of the art. Here are the creative and colorful results:
Some of our first attendees starting their projects
My Sign Language Storytime format is:
Intro and hello
Felt story
Movement song or video
Book
Movement song
Goodbye
This storytime is special for a couple of reasons. First, it's the only one that I give a handout with pictures of the signs on it, so that the kids and grownups can refer to it during storytime and then practice at home. Second, I'm experimenting with adding an AV component to storytime by showing videos to follow along with instead of just listening to songs.
Handout:
Intro and hello: Hello: "Hello Friends"
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!
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.
Stretch:"Tall/Small"
This is a short, easy stretch the kids 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.
Felt Story
"The Moon Up Above"
To the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus"
Bolded words correspond to signs from the handout
The moon up above is big and bright (put moon on board)
Big and bright, big and bright
The moon up above is big and bright
In the sky
The moon up above is near the stars (put stars on board)
Near the stars, near the stars
The moon up above is near the stars
In the sky
The moon up above helps me to sleep (put bed on board)
Me to sleep, me to sleep
The moon up above helps me to sleep
In my bed
Video
"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" by My Smart Hands
During the video, I encouraged everyone to practice along. Using videos in storytime is still something I'm trying out, but it's going well so far.
Book It's Not Time for Sleeping (A Bedtime Story) by Lisa Graff
This book repeats the line "It's not time for sleeping," which I encouraged the kids and their grownups to repeat with me every time, along with practicing the sign for "sleep."
A short and simple sign song. I usually play it twice through so everyone has a couple chances to learn the signs.
Goodbye
"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box
When we sing this song, I help them recall the sign for friends from the hello song, and teach them a couple others as we sing: meet, time, and say.
Friends
Meet
Goodbye
This is the only storytime that I don't close with bubbles, because directly following is another program called Stay and Play where I set out 4-5 bins of toys for a 30 minute free play. Adding bubbles to that seems to be too much stimulation.
Grandparents Day is the second Sunday in September. I like to celebrate it at the library on the preceding Friday or Saturday. Last year, I made it mostly about making cards. This year I had a volunteer who is a professional card maker and brought two people to help at her card station, but I decided to open up the activities and make it a more inclusive program. I set out a book display with a cozy reading corner for families to read together (all books somehow featuring grandparents, of course), and I also set out some puzzles and activities.
I did experience a roadblock during this program, which I think are important to acknowledge so you can work around them in future programs. I was overzealous in my expectation of how many people would attend. We got about 40, which was far under my estimation of 100. I scheduled three teen volunteers in addition to the one adult volunteer card maker. I didn't realize she would also bring two people to help her. So I had six people, seven including myself, working this program. There's no reason to have a 1:5 ratio between staff members and patrons in a drop-in program. It did turn out okay, though, because the teens had a good time making cards and interacting with the kids and families who attended.
So, I learned the lesson of not counting your chickens (patrons) before they hatch (attend). The positive spin on this is the people who attended had a good time, read some books, did some puzzles, and made some gorgeous cards. I guess this program can be considered intentionally intergenerational, since my aim was for kids and grandparents to spend time together in the same space. I saw some happy faces and creative cards leaving the room, so I'd say it was a successful program even though fewer people attended than expected.
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.
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 Really Want to See You, Grandma by Taro Gomi
Taro Gomi is a hidden gem in the world of children's literature. He has so many books, and they are all written in sparse, simple language with fantastic illustrations and gentle, positive messages. This one is about a child who wants to see their grandma, and the grandma wants to see them, so the two keep passing each other on the road across town to visit the other one. They finally meet in the middle and have a picnic!
Movement Song
"Baby Shark" by The Kiboomers
After all this time, I've finally found out who sings the version of Baby Shark I've been using for years, and located a YouTube video for it! Now you get to hear the actual version I use in storytime. I like it because it's slower than the version that's recently gone viral, giving the kids more time to figure out their movements and sing along. I used it for grandma storytime because there's a grandparent shark... I think they're actually saying "grandpa," but it's hard to tell for sure, so I just went with it.
Felt Story
"Grandma, Grandma, Look and See"
(Start with the flowers already up on the board.
Bolded text is the part kids can be encouraged to chant along with you.)
Grandma, Grandma, look and see!
I brought a butterfly home with me (put butterfly on board) Grandma says to let wild things be, so I set my butterfly free.
Grandma, Grandma, look and see!
I brought an inchworm home with me (put worm on board) Grandma says to let wild things be, so I set my inchworm free.
Grandma, Grandma, look and see!
I brought a songbird home with me (put bird on board) Grandma says to let wild things be, so I set my songbird free. Grandma, Grandma, look and see!
I brought a slimy frog home with me (put frog on board) Grandma says to let wild things be, so I set my slimy frog free.
Grandma, Grandma, look and see!
Dad brought a kitten home for me (put kitten on board)
Grandma approves and I agree--seems like the perfect pet for me!
Movement Song "Peek-a-Boo"
I went simple with this song today. It's very short, and somehow magically quiets a crowd of restless toddlers with very little effort.
August 14th Board Book #1 One, Two, Baa, Moo by Jonathan Litton
Lap Bounce Journey
“Bumpy Road/Smooth 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)
“This is the Way the Ladies Ride”
“Pop Goes the Weasel”
Board Book #2 Peekaboo Morning by Rachel Isadora
Movement Song
"Follow the Leader"
August 21st Board Book #1 Play Date for Panda by Michael Dahl
Lap Bounce Journey
“Bumpy Road/Smooth Road”
“Noble Duke of York”
“Humpty Dumpty”
Board Book #2 Are You My Cuddle Bunny? By Sandra Magsamen
Movement Song
"One, Two Hands”
August 28th Board Book #1 Here Are My Hands by Bill Martin Jr
Lap Bounce Journey
“Bumpy Road/Smooth Road”
“Happy and You Know It”
“Milkshake”
Board Book #2 Alice in Wonderland (A Color Primer) by Jennifer Adams
My Sign Language Storytime format is:
Intro and hello
Felt story
Movement song or video
Book
Movement song
Goodbye
This storytime is special for a couple of reasons. First, it's the only one that I give a handout with pictures of the signs on it, so that the kids and grownups can refer to it during storytime and then practice at home. Second, I'm experimenting with adding an AV component to storytime by showing videos to follow along with instead of just listening to songs.
Handout:
Intro and hello: Hello: "Hello Friends"
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!
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.
This is a short, easy stretch the kids 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.
Felt Story
"I Went to the Rescue Shelter"
This story was made by my coworker Sarah of Miss Sarah's Storytime.
I went to the rescue shelter and made a special wish.
The pet that I wanted was a very special...
(Have kids guess what animal rhymes with "wish." When they guess right, put fish on the board)
I went to the rescue shelter while out for a jog.
I wanted a pet with a wagging talk. I found a little...
(Have kids guess what animal rhymes with "jog." When they guess right, put dog on the board)
I went to the rescue shelter, I went there just like that.
Because I heard a little purr. It was a little...
(Have kids guess what animal rhymes with "that." When they guess right, put cat on the board)
I went to the rescue shelter. It had become a habit.
The pet I wanted now was a soft and fluffy...
(Have kids guess what animal rhymes with "habit." When they guess right, put rabbit on the board)
I went to the rescue shelter. I'm sure this sounds absurd,
But the pet that I wanted was a colorful flying...
(Have kids guess what animal rhymes with "absurd." When they guess right, put bird on the board)
I went to the rescue shelter and it was no mistake.
The pet I really wanted now was a green and hissing...
(Have kids guess what animal rhymes with "mistake." When they guess right, put snake on the board)
Video
"ASL Animals Song" by My Smart Hands
During the video, I encouraged everyone to practice along. Using videos in storytime is still something I'm trying out, but it's going well so far.
Book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carl
It's a classic, and a great book for practicing animal and color signs.
When we sing this song, I help them recall the sign for friends from the hello song, and teach them a couple others as we sing: meet, time, and say.
Friends
Meet
Goodbye
This is the only storytime that I don't close with bubbles, because directly following is another program called Stay and Play where I set out 4-5 bins of toys for a 30 minute free play. Adding bubbles to that seems to be too much stimulation.
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 (or Book #2)
My favorite felt stories 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.
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 Monkey and Me by Emily Gravet
This book repeats a chant on almost every page: "Monkey and me, Monkey and me, Monkey and me, we went to see." I taught the chant before starting the book, and then encouraged the kids and caregivers to chant with me while practicing the ASL sign for "monkey." It was a great way to keep everyone engaged in the story and avoid wiggles.
Movement Song "Five Little Monkeys"
I like to do this song in sign language. It includes several every-day signs, like the numbers up to five, "mom," "call," "hurt," and "no more" which doubles as the very useful sign "all done."
Monkey
Jumping
Fall off
Hurt head
Mom
Call
No more/All done
Book #2 Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
This is a classic that I grew up with, and is timeless in my opinion. It's short and fun, and the kids get to help you guess where the animals are hiding. And of course, there are monkeys.
Movement Song "Peek-a-Boo"
I went simple with this song today. It's very short, and somehow magically quiets a crowd of restless toddlers with very little effort.
