Before there was Play & Learn, there was the idea of Science, Baby. A presentation at an annual ALA Conference by Brooklyn Public Library about their Science Baby! program opened my eyes to how much more babies can do than what many baby storytime outlines imply. Babies are so much more than passive observers–their brains are developing faster than they ever will for the rest of their lives–combined. STEM concepts do not need to be limited to older children. In fact, babies are the perfect example of little scientists as they learn everything about the world:
My own Science Baby! program finally became a reality during our winter storytime break in late December. Seventy babies and adults joined me for a morning of baby play with a STEM twist.
Activities were broken down into a few rough categories. They included:
- Light & Color Play
- Scarf Play
- Magna Tiles
- Mirror Play
- Sensory Bottles
- Black & White Box
- Bubbles
- Gravity and Engineering
- Pom Pom Drop
- Building Blocks
- Motion
- Wheeled Vehicles
- Sink or Float (water play)
- Tugging Boxes
- Sound
- Instrument Play
- Math
- Observation & Exploration
Some of these stations just involved putting out an item, like mirrors for mirror play. Others involved some ahead of time creation, like the sensory bottles. Still more involved in-room setup, like attaching sticky contact paper to the wall and building the pool noodle counter by stringing pool noodle pieces to string tied between two chairs.
Each station included a front and back laminated handout explaining the value of the particular activity, what little ones are learning, conversation starters, and vocabulary to stretch conversations with little ones.
We had many older siblings join in the fun as well, particularly enjoying all of the building activities. The sticky contact paper, baby pool play, bubbles, pom pom drop, and sensory bottles were the most well-loved activities.
Most families stayed for about 45-50 minutes. I’m looking forward to bringing this back again someday!