Tag Archives: virtual toddler storytime

First time filming in the building, which was a little bit of an adjustment. It is nice to get back into the toddler groove for a while, though I am missing the simplicity of having a long stretch of the same storytime. At the end of summer session, I ran with preschool storytime for about 6 weeks, allowing me to build on activities and more intentionally look at growth and skill development. Only three weeks with toddlers doesn’t give quite the same amount of time, and since a lot of our storytime presenters have different styles, I know that when I come back to this age in October, its a little more like starting over than flowing from what happened before.

Background: While my library is closed during the COVID pandemic, we are hosting five virtual storytimes a week, livestreamed through our Facebook page. While those livestreams are deleted soon after they are complete, we are also making YouTube clips of select elements of our storytimes that our patrons can view anytime they would like–and that I can share with all of you!

More Toddler Storytime Content:

• Toddler Storytime Music Playlist
• Toddler Storytime YouTube Playlist

Toddler Storytime Intro Song & Rhyme

Early Literacy Tip: Read books with excitement and anthusiasm–this can be much easier with books that encourage silly actions, voices, or behaviors. Try being extra silly! Nothing is over-the-top to your kid.

Book Recommendation: Is Everyone Ready for Fun? by Jan Thomas

Song: Jelly in the Bowl by Kiboomers

Retelling: Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley

— Find more Book Retellings in this post. —

Action Rhyme: This is Big Big Big

— Find more Fingerplays in this post. —

Magnet: Little Snail

— Find more Flannel & Magnet Activities in this post. —

Manipulative: Scarves (The Freeze by Rainbow Songs)

Closing Song: The Popcorn Song by Laura Doherty

My third virtual toddler storytime this week!

Some new materials for me in this storytime–this is my first time reading Spunky Little Monkey in a storytime. I also decided to use some of the materials that I didn’t have time for last week–they fit a bit better than some of the new rhymes I was planning to try this week.

Weird question for the wide world of virtual storytime presenters: if you have a team presenting virtual storytimes, do you coordinate with them? Choose the same intro/closing songs? Talk about what you each have planned for a particular week?

For example, one of my coworkers did the scarf activity I was planning to do with toddlers this week–adapted for babies–at Baby Storytime last week. Generally, at in-person storytimes, I don’t know about or care about this kind of overlap, as we mostly have different audiences for each storytime. However, these virtual storytimes feel different. Yes, I’m preparing an activity for toddlers–and that activity can really work for babies and preschoolers too–but a decent portion of our audience is the same at every storytime. Is it weird to do the same larger activity–not talking about opening/closing songs and more intentional week-to-week repetition–at two storytimes in the same week when the audience is the same? Am I overthinking this? (Answer: yes.)

Background: While my library is closed during the COVID pandemic, we are hosting five virtual storytimes a week, livestreamed through our Facebook page. While those livestreams are deleted soon after they are complete, we are also making YouTube clips of select elements of our storytimes that our patrons can view anytime they would like–and that I can share with all of you!

More Toddler Storytime Content:

• Toddler Storytime Music Playlist
• Toddler Storytime YouTube Playlist

Toddler Storytime Intro Song & Rhyme

Settle Down Rhyme: This is Big

— Find more Fingerplays in this post. —

Early Literacy Tip & Book Recommendation: Spunky Little Monkey by Bill Martin Jr.

Song: Walk and You Walk and You Walk and You Stop by Rainbow Songs

Action Rhyme: Bubble Bubble Pop

— Find more Fingerplays in this post. —

Flannel: Five Little Penguins

— Find more Flannel & Magnet Activities in this post. —

Action Rhyme: The Elevator Song

— Find more Fingerplays in this post. —

Manipulative: Shaker Time!

Closing Song: The Popcorn Song by Laura Doherty

Extra, Extra:

No video for this, but I was planning to read Snip-Snap Pop-Up Fun, but I cut it due to time.

My second virtual toddler storytime this week (and my first in my new set for the month of May!).

I’m mixing up my routine a little bit with this age range, including adding some new types of materials. I think attention-span-wise I am pushing preschool with some of this material, but from what I can tell in the Facebook Live comments, most of our audience is preschool age, so I think that’s okay. Next week leans more toddler.

I’m also working on getting to that 30 minute mark–I have a clock now that I can see while presenting, which really helps. I’ve also figured out my setup so that I can see myself–I can’t read comments, but I can tell if I disappear off screen, which is a little more likely since I am mixing up my activities.

For sake of time, I dropped the intro bits from my videos…it saves me a few minutes a video, and I’m looking for ways to make this take less time, since our audience does seem to watch them. I did realize that now I don’t introduce myself, so I’ll adjust for that next week.

Background: While my library is closed during the COVID pandemic, we are hosting five virtual storytimes a week, livestreamed through our Facebook page. While those livestreams are deleted soon after they are complete, we are also making YouTube clips of select elements of our storytimes that our patrons can view anytime they would like–and that I can share with all of you!

More Toddler Storytime Content:

• Toddler Storytime Music Playlist
• Toddler Storytime YouTube Playlist

Toddler Storytime Intro Song & Rhyme

Early Literacy Tip & Book Recommendation: There’s a Monster in Your Book by Tom Fletcher

Song: Hot Potato by the Wiggles

Action Rhyme: Roll Roll Sugar Babies

Book Retelling: Bark George

— Find more Book Retellings in this post. —

Action Rhyme: Bananas Unite

— Find more Fingerplays in this post. —

Flannel: Little Mouse

— Find more Flannel & Magnet Activities in this post. —

Closing Song: The Popcorn Song by Laura Doherty

Extra, Extra:

A sick coworker led to my first virtual toddler storytime–and my first toddler storytime in over a year! It was fun to explore this age group again.

This week’s content is visible through the videos and links below.

Background: While my library is closed during the COVID pandemic, we are hosting five virtual storytimes a week, livestreamed through our Facebook page. While those livestreams are deleted soon after they are complete, we are also making YouTube clips of select elements of our storytimes that our patrons can view anytime they would like–and that I can share with all of you!

More Toddler Storytime Content:

• Toddler Storytime Music Playlist
• Toddler Storytime YouTube Playlist

Toddler Storytime Introduction Song & Rhyme

I started with Shake Your Sillies Out by Rainbow Songs, which I couldn’t upload a video of due to copyright. Listen here:

Early Literacy Tip & Book Recommendation

I didn’t create this combined video this week because the book I was sharing isn’t available in our catalog as an eBook.

I talked about giving little ones at least 10 seconds to process a question you ask and to formulate a response, before sharing Shark in the Park by Nick Sharratt.

Fingerplay

— Find more Fingerplays in this post. —

Song

Action Rhyme

Magnet Activity

— Find more Flannel & Magnet Activities in this post. —

Action Rhyme

Song

Manipulative Time – Stuffed Animals

Closing Song