My coworker, Sarah Simpson, and I have the pleasure of presenting to our colleagues at the 2019 Ohio Library Council Convention and Expo today about our passion and programs for babies in the session Baby Time Boredom. Hopefully some of you reading this post had a chance to see our presentation (and learn some fantastic babywearing dance moves).
Check out these posts for some more information about some of the programs and activities we mentioned in our Baby Time Boredom presentation:
Baby Storytime Outlines (These are both from before our most recent program tweaks, so they may look a little different than what was discussed in the presentation.)
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
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!
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:
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 80 people attended this storytime, including about 45 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
Bounce Rhyme: Five Little Monkeys Five little monkeys jumping on the bed One fell off and bumped his head Mamma called the doctor and the doctor said No more monkeys jumping on the bed!
Fingerplay: Itsy Bitsy Spider The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain, And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.
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.
The Baby Hop (to the tune: Bunny Hop) Snuggle up together Baby’s in your lap. Snuggle up together And clap, clap, clap.
Snuggle up together Don’t you nap. Snuggle up together And tap, tap, tap
You’re workin’ out together Baby don’t stop. You’re workin’ out together So hop, hop, hop.
A Bouncing We Will Go A bouncing we will go, A bouncing we will go, Hi ho the derry-o A bouncing we will go Continue with: Rocking, Tickling
Puppet Time: Who’s in the barnyard? An oink, a moo, a cockle-doodle-doo Who’s in the barnyard playing peek-a-boo? Featuring: cow, pig, sheep, chicken, horse
Manipulative Time: Bells
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
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:
