Baby Storytime Outline

More baby storytime highlights:

The songs, rhymes, stories, and activities I used for a 25-minute baby storytime, followed by 20 minutes of free play in February 2020 are below. Our baby storytime is for ages 0-24 months, with most children being 12-24 months old. Approximately 112 people attended this storytime, including about 55 babies.

My powerpoint is available here:

Room Setup: Doors open about 5 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

Early Literacy Tip: During play, ask open-ended questions such as “What do you think will happen if…”, “can you think of another way to…”, or “what else can you build…”. Make sure to give little ones time to think about their answers (which they probably won’t express verbally).

Book: Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera

Song: If You’re Happy and You Know It by Old Town School of Folk Music

Movement Rhyme: 5 Little Monkeys
Five little monkeys jumping on the bed.
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

Continue with: 4, 3, 2, 1

Body Rhyme: Where Is Big Toe?
To the tune: Where Is Thumpkin?

Where is big toe? Where is big toe?
Here I am! Here I am!
Wiggle, waggle big toe,
Wiggle, waggle big toe,
Here I am. Here I am.

Continue with:
Elbow…bendy, bendy elbow
Tummy…squishy, squashy tummy
Two hands…happy, clappy two hands

Tickle Rhyme: Pizza, Pickle Pumpernickel
Pizza, pickle, pumpernickel
My baby deserves a tickle!
One for her nose
One for his toes
One for the tummy where the cracker goes!

Song: Hands Together, Hands Apart by Rainbow Songs

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.

Toast in the Toaster
I’m toast in the toaster, (sway)
I’m getting very hot!
Tick tock, tick tock,
Up I pop! (lift)
Grand Old Duke of York
The Grand Old Duke of York
He had ten thousand men.
He marched them up to the top of the hill (lift)
And he marched them down again!

And when they’re up, they’re up. (lift)
And when they’re down, they’re down.
And when they’re only half-way up, (small lift)
They’re neither up nor down!

Oh he marched them to the left.
And he marched them to the right.
Then he marched them round and round
And marched them out of sight.

Here We Go Bumpy-Boo
Here we go bumpy-boo
Here we go bumpy-bye
Here we go bumpy-bee
All on top of my knee.

I bounce you to the left
I bounce you to the right
I bounce you up and down (lift)
I bounce you out of sight! (tip over)

Here we go bumpy-boo
Here we go bumpy-bye
Here we go bumpy-bee
All on top of my knee.

I bounce you very fast.
I bounce you very slow.
I bounce you up and down.
And back we both do go.

Puppet Time: Dear Zoo
Dear zoo,
I want a pet.
And they sent me a….

This week’s friends: Elephant, Lion, Sloth, Monkey, Dog

Manipulative Time: Bells (and tambourines due to crowd size)

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: Tap, Bounce

Manipulative Song: Shaky Shaky by The Wiggles

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: