Baby Storytime Outline

These are the songs, rhymes, stories, and activities I used for a 25-minute baby storytime, followed by 20 minutes of free play.

Our baby storytime is for ages 0-24 months, with most children being 12-24 months old. Approximately 85 people attended this storytime, including about 50 babies.

Room Setup: Doors open about 5-8 minutes before storytime. Powerpoint slides are displayed on a smartboard at the front of the room with words to all songs and rhymes. As folks enter, two bubble machines are hard at work in the front of the room while baby songs play from the department iTunes account.

Welcome Song: Wake Up Feet (play from 0:14 to 1:00)
Wake up feet, wake up feet
Wake up feet and wiggle, wiggle, wiggle
Wake up feet, wake up feet
Wake and wiggle in the morning.
Continue with: Legs, Arms, Hands

Welcome Rhyme: Clap and Sing Hello
We clap and sing hello,
We clap and sing hello,
With all our friends at storytime,
We clap and sing hello!
Continue with: kick and sing hello, wave and sing hello

Focused Early Literacy Tip: Babies focus on the work spoken immediately after their name. For example, if you say, “Raven, do you want to read a book?”, the child focuses on the word “do.” Instead, try saying “Raven, book. Do you want to read a book?”

Book: Up!: How Families Around the World Carry Their Little Ones by Susan Hughes

Song: Row, Row, Row Your Boat from Songs for Wiggleworms

Body Rhyme: Everybody Knows
Everybody knows that I love your toes!
Everybody knows that I love your toes!
I love your eyes,
Your ears,
Your mouth
And your nose!
But everybody knows that I love your toes!

Action Rhyme: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

Song: Baby Shark by Pinkfong!

Movement Rhymes: This portion of my storytime involves 2-3 rhymes that specifically focus on bouncing, swaying, or tilting to the rhythm of the words. I talk about how these types of rhymes help develop phonological awareness.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom
Zoom, zoom, zoom
We’re going to the moon.
Zoom, zoom, zoom,
We’ll get there very soon.
In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
BLAST OFF! (lift)

Tick-Tock
Tick-tock, tick-tock, (sway)
I’m a little cuckoo clock.
Tick-tock, tick-tock,
Now it’s almost one o-clock.
Cuckoo! (lift)

Humpty Dumpty
(sway) Rock and rock and rock on the wall,
Rock and rock; I hope we don’t fall.

(sway) Humpty Dumpty say on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall! (tilt backwards)

(bounce fast) All the kings horses and all the kinds men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again!

Puppet Time: Retold abbreviated version of book Dear Zoo.

Manipulative Time: Scarves

Manipulative Rhyme: We Shake and Shake
We shake and shake and shake and stop.
We shake and shake and shake and stop.
We shake and shake and shake and shake and shake and shake and shake and shake and shake and shake and STOP!
Continue with: Wave, Jump

Manipulative Song: Milkshake Song from Old Town School of Folk Music

Closing Song: Skinnamarink by Sharon Lois and Bram

Discovery Time Activities: Discovery Time is 15-20 minutes of free-play at the end of storytime that encourages parents to have time to talk to one another and for parents to interact with their children. I try to include a variety of fine motor, gross motor, and sensory activities that appeal to my wide age range as well as a mixture of purchased toys and items that parents can remake at home. This week’s activities included: