Early Literacy Messages in Action!

When the lovely Lindsay from Jbrary started tweeting about organizing a blog tour for early literacy tips, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. I started brainstorming ideas and trying to decide what I wanted to say. There is so much that I love to say about early literacy, and it can be hard to get it all in one blog post. 

I decided to do a top 5 list (because I'm obsessed with lists) of things I wish I knew about early literacy tips when I first became a librarian. 

1. Make it fun! I think this is the most important thing to keep in mind when sharing early literacy tips. If caregivers feel like they're being lectured, or spoken down to, then they're not going to pay attention to you. Or worse, they're going to feel like you don't respect them and their parenting choices. I share "Fun Facts!" with my caregivers instead of calling them early literacy tips. To me this makes it seem less like a student/teacher relationship and more "We're all friends!".

Also, make sure the tips you're sharing are fun. No one, other than your other librarian friends, want to hear all about the statistical data you found. Instead, I always try to make it short and sweet. My goal is to give them useful knowledge that they'll remember and also share with their caregiver friends.

For example, because of all the Jurassic World excitement, I read a dinosaur book at my under 2's storytime. The book "Dinosaurs" by Simms Taback includes the name of real dinosaurs like Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Brachiosaurus. After reading a few pages my "Fun Fact!" was, "Saying the name of hard words and not simply skipping them is really important for little ones. While saying scientific names of dinosaurs might seem silly, you're building their vocabulary!"

2. Interact with your caregivers. A great way to make your early literacy interactions less awkward is to know your audience! Talk to them before and after storytimes. I start each storytime with introductions and this usually breaks the ice with the group. Also, you might be surprised by how many questions your caregivers have for you. Questions that might even lead you to your next "fun fact" to share at storytime!

3. It's ok to not have a tip in every single storytime. This is so important! Don't feel pressure to give out an early literacy tip at every single storytime. Especially if you are working in a new place, age group, etc.

Read your crowd. If it's going to seem awkward or forced then just skip it that week. If two kids in the room are howling and another one is running in circles, maybe it's time to start a song instead. You can always try to insert a tip later if the timing seems right.

You can also completely change the tip you were going to share. One week I had planned to talk about colors, but when I lost my voice due to allergies I decided to talk about singing instead. "Singing, even if you think your voice is the worst, is a great way to bond with your little one. Your child loves your voice, and they don't care if you have perfect pitch!"

4. You're allowed to give tips if you're not a parent. This was a hard one for me at first. While I love my job and love researching early literacy, I don't have any children. Why would caregivers listen while I tell them how to raise their child? The key is that you're not telling them how to raise their child. You're simply giving them information about how to develop the skills their child needs to get ready for reading and writing. You're never judging their parenting or telling them they're doing something wrong!

5. Be confident in your knowledge. There's a reason you're doing your job! You're an expert! Make sure you know the information that you're sharing with your caregivers. Research it and make sure there is information to back it up. Plus, really delving into the research behind your early literacy tips will just make you more knowledgeable about the topic! You might even find your tip for next week's storytime while you're investigating.


How do you share early literacy messages? Tell me your tips! Also, be sure to check out a round up of all the great early literacy posts on Jbrary at the end of the week!

Play, Baby, Play! – Paper Everywhere!

Kendra has also blogged about this process, but it's so much fun that I decided to steal her idea again. Seriously, if you do nothing else this summer, bring this out at least once in your storytime. I did it last summer and parent's still talk about it! It will definitely be making another appearance this year.

First, you need to get a bunch of shredded paper. Make friends with your business manager, or simply take out all those papers in your file cabinet that you're never ever going to use. You know the ones I'm talking about. The person before you wrote out every program they did by hand and you've never looked at them. Give them a second life in this program.

After getting a good amount of paper, you need to make sure you have the cleaning up supplies ready. Get a vacuum, a broom, and a dust pan. Find a sweet naive volunteer if you're very lucky.

Do your normal storytime jam (or make it all about the parachute if you'd prefer), and then tell the parents you're going to get crazy. Warn them that it will be a total disaster area, but you don't mind the mess and you just want people to have fun. I always encourage parents that this is something that they would most likely never do at home (unless they're really cool), so they should take full advantage of it here.

I lay out the parachute, get everyone to gather around, and then warm everyone up. We do a round of peek-a-boo, Itsy-Bitsy Spider, and Row, Row, Row Your Boat– then I dump out the paper. 

Everyone freezes at first. 

  

Then it becomes a total frenzy. You can sing another song if you want, but I choose to skip it. I just let everyone play with the parachute without instruction. After about 10 minutes of shaking and shrieking (the good kind), parents laid the parachute down and kids starting just playing with the paper.

We had one kid playing "SURPRISE" with the paper. A great game where you grab as much paper as your tiny hands will hold, throw them in the air, and yell "surprise". This was definitely a crowd favorite.

We had kids who wanted to see how much paper they could put on their head and their entire bodies. I had a parent come back a week later and say she found handfuls of paper in both her child's pockets and her own.  

After 30 minutes of chaos, I had to shoo everyone out so I could do a quick clean-up for my next storytime. I did the best I could and the next session came. After a great time was had by all, I started the real clean up. It took about an hour to clean up the entire room. 

It was totally worth it. So, why do we do a program like this? Using the parachute is a great way to build those core muscles, Grabbing tiny shreds of paper improves fine motor skills. The "SURPRISE" game involved imaginative storytelling because it eventually became all about a surprise birthday party. Also, it's just a lot of fun. 

Play, Baby, Play! – Draw On Your Babies

Last year during ALA Annual 2014, Kendra (from the blog Read Sing Play) and I presented an Ignite session all about playing with babies at the library. It remains to this day one of my favorite presentations. After talking about it for months, we decided to start blogging about all of our crazy ideas for babies! We're calling this new series, "Play, Baby, Play!"

This week, I'm copying directly from Kendra's great post about drawing on baby's faces.  I always try to do something special for our last storytime of each session, and I knew my group would love this activity.

I encouraged the parents that I have tried this on myself and multiple babies and I promise it'll wipe off. There are always looks of disbelief that this will actually work. Simply pull out washable markers and baby wipes. It really does work, I swear. Usually once one parent is brave enough to try others join in.

We got some really funny faces this time.

We also got some brave parents who let their children draw on them!

 

We had one artist who was so into it that she took over the drawing all herself.

So, why do we do this in storytime? It's a great activity to use with the "talking" skill. I always encourage parents to describe to their child what they're drawing and use descriptive words like bumpy and smooth. It's also a fun way to play! Plus, by the end of storytime parents and babies alike were all giggling over how silly everyone looked.

Also, I always keep a stash of paper plates for kids to scribble on in case the parents or kids are not feeling the face drawing, or for little ones with skin allergies.

So, how do you play with babies at your library? Tell me about it!

My Favorite Things: Top 5 Baby Storytime Books

I currently do one infant (0-9 months) and three baby (10-23 months) storytimes each week. I make a dedicated effort to not repeat my storytime books often, since some caregivers are with me for a full two years. However, I usually have a week of "favorites" each session. I also like to keep a stack of proven successful books for when my storytime groups are having a rough morning.

These are my go-to books that I read to caregivers and children during baby storytime. We also do choral reading each week, but that will be a different post! Check out what my traditional infant and baby storytimes look like here. 

5. The Baby Goes Beep by Rebecca O'Connell



Do I love this book for its sing-song rhythm? How you can act out a motion on every page? That it's a book about babies? All of the above. This book is so wonderful to use in storytimes. Bonus points if you hand out paper plates for babies to "drive" with.

4. A Kiss Means I Love You by Kathryn Madeline Allen



I found this jewel using Abby The Librarian's amazing baby storytime lists. This has quickly become one of my favorite picture books. Showing full page pictures with a short line of text, it is the perfect supplement to any baby storytime. Also, DIVERSITY on every page!

3. Hurry! Hurry! by Eve Bunting



This book provides great opportunity for animal noises. You follow a mama chicken throughout the farm as she encourages everyone to hurry. The surprise ending is that they're all hurrying to see a baby chick hatching. This book always gets the "awww" noise from caregivers and is one of the most requested storytime books. The clean, uncluttered pictures are perfect for little ones.

2. Charlie Chick by Nick Denchfield



Everyone loves pop-ups. This is my favorite pop-up of all time. They FINALLY reissued this book last year so everyone needs to go order it immediately before it goes out of print. Before the reissue, I easily would have paid $50 for this book. It's that fabulous. It's extremely short and the pictures use a lot of white space, which is perfect for baby storytimes.

1. Clip Clop by Nicola Smee



My favorite storytime rhyme is "Giddy-up Giddy-up", so it makes sense that this would  be my favorite storytime book. There are animal noises to be made on every page, as well as a refrain for caregivers and children to bounce along with. I always have an amazing storytime when I pull this one out of the storytime closet.

ALL TIME GREATEST

Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.



I didn't include this one in the top 5 because I think it's doing the book an injustice. If I could only have one book for storytime for the next 5 years, I would pick this book. (Please, don't only read this book every week.) You can talk about animals, colors, animal noises, sing it, chant it, or even dance around to it. You can even read this book with shaky eggs. If you haven't yet, buy a copy of this for your storytime shelf immediately. When my groups are getting crazy this book seems to have an instant calming effect. It is the best of all time.

My Baby Storytime: 2014 Edition

The most visited post on my blog is "My Baby Storytime". After almost 2 years in La Crosse, I've made a lot of changes though! Here is the new and improved version of how I facilitate my infant and baby storytimes.

Room Setup– Blankets and pillows really help contain little ones and make the parents more comfortable too! My song sheets are directly behind me so no parent has to figure out the words to the songs. I sing the same songs every week, so usually by week 3 they have them all memorized. At the beginning of each new 6-week session I will usually introduce a new rhyme or two and rotate out others. This keeps the content fresh and helps me not stab my eyes out from singing the same 10 songs for months and months.

Bouncing Babies (0-9 mos) Set-up

For my 1 year old storytime I use a slightly different set-up. The pillows and blankets are just tripping hazards for their unsteady toddling and I need more space for the group. I used 10 spots for this picture, but I usually set down 16 of them and have a wider circle. I set down these small cushions only for the first session. If I put them down each week kids will eventually start fighting with them and it becomes a huge distraction for some. Setting the room up the first class helps everyone understand the shape I want them to sit in, and is worth the headache for the first session. I've tried simply telling the caregivers to sit in a half-circle and they all seem to forget what it looks like if I don't do the cushions at least once.

Little Movers (10 mos-23 mos) Set-Up

Nametags: I still hand these out as the caregivers and babies are walking in. This helps me memorize their names and get a count for how many are in attendance. I remind caregivers to stick nametags on their child's back so they can't reach them. If your class is small enough, make a nametag for the parents too!

My Introduction: I always start each session with a welcome. For the first two classes of a session I will also explaining the timeline of what will be happening.

"Welcome to Storytime! My name is Miss Brooke and I'm so excited to see you all today. We're going to read great books and sing a lot so everyone get your singing voice ready! All of the words to my songs are on the wall, so please sing with me because your baby loves to hear your voice. If your little one is having a rough day feel free to step out and come back if you can. If you need to leave early I promise I won't be offended. Just come back and try again next week. Is everyone ready?"

Song Wall: 11x17 sheets taped together and laminated

Timeline:  "Storytime usually last about 15-20 minutes. We always start about 5 minutes late to give everyone enough time to come and settle in. Once storytime is over I will throw out book and toys and you all can stay and play! This is a great time to make new friends and have some one-on-one time with your little one."

Caregiver Introduction: The first few classes of a new session I also go around the circle and have my caregivers introduce themselves, their child, give the child's age, and a fun fact about them. The fun fact can be stressful for some caregivers at first so I always say, "You can tell me something they love or something they hate. Tell me about a milestone they just hit or just something you just really want me to know about them!" I start out the exchange with my name, how long I've been in La Crosse, and a fun fact about myself. This helps break the ice because I always make it super ridiculous. The introductions combined with the nametags make learning names much easier for me.

Books: I have changed the way I approach books in infant and baby storytime. I used to go into storytime with a plan for 3 books. This is WAY too much in my opinion. I did it this way because that's what I read on a lot of other outlines and in different books. I stuck with this for about a year before I realized I was making reading a forced activity. Yes, I would still have a few kids by the third book but the majority were lost. I now do one book as a reader and the group does one book with me for choral reading. Two books for the entire storytime. The rest is singing, talking, dancing, and rhyming. This has made the storytime experience a much more enjoyable one for both myself and the participants.

Outline:

Opening Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement

Flannel Game (Little Mouse or The Shape Game)

Rhyme/Movement

Book

Rhyme/Movement

Rhyme/Movement

Rhyme/Movement

Choral Reading (Usually a different book each week. I always start and end the session with Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr. though)

Shakey Eggs/Scarves/Parachute (I usually only do one during each class. Sometimes I will hand out shaky eggs to get the parachute back though.)

Nursery Rhyme

Closing Song

Buy it here

Playtime/Bubbles

Playtime: Are you playing at the end of your baby storytimes? If not, start immediately! It is such a great time to make those bonds with caregivers and to encourage and model play with their babies. For a list of toys I use check here. I always put a stack of books out first and then my toys.

If I have a storytime immediately after one group I will put my clean-up bin down 15 minutes before the next class. If there is no group in the programming room after then I let them stay as long as they want.

I also stopped handing out bubbles to my parents. They were such a headache. They spilled everywhere, parents didn't really want to use them, and kids wanted to just drink them. Instead, I took the genius advice of Kendra from Read, Sing, Play and bought this bubble blower from Gymboree. Stop whatever you're doing and buy this immediately. You basically become a bubble machine. The kids will flock to you which is nice for the parents who want a moment to catch up with their storytime buddies. Plus you get a lap full of babies!

A refill bottle lasted me an entire year, because you have to use so little of the solution to get SO MANY BUBBLES! Gymboree should really just hire me to sell these at ALA. Maybe we can make a black market type thing at ALA? So many possibilities....



Organization: I started storing my toys in plastic bins. This keeps kids from losing focus during the storytime. I also have the book I'm reading and the bubbles (ignore them in this picture) hidden in my tote bag. Keeping my table more organized has really helped with the overall chaotic-ness of storytime. I know exactly where everything is and the kids can't grab anything off the table I don't want them to have. Invest in plastic bins.

Cleaning: I use Lysol wipes on everything after my storytimes. I take the pillow covers and quilts home every other week to wash them. Any item I give to the babies, I assume they will try to eat so I plan accordingly with how I'm going to clean it before my next class.

Final Thoughts: This is simply what I do. Maybe you read 5 books every storytime and love it. Maybe you read and sing the same books every single storytime. Maybe you think you storytime is the best and you are never going to change it.

My challenge to you is to ask yourself- Do your kids and caregivers love it too? Are you reading all 5 books simply so you can say you read 5? Are your caregivers starting to roll thier eyes when you announce it's time for The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Have you had some caregivers who have heard the same books and songs for multiple years?

Please just stop and reflect about your storytimes. If you're struggling to plan or not enjoying them as much as you once were then it's time to change it up. Try only reading a few books. Try singing more and using different songs. Use CDs. Try whatever you want, but simply try something different. As our dear friend Albert Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." Don't let storytimes drive you insane! I hope it is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding parts of your job. Need to talk about it or have questions? Email me at berasche at gmail dot com.

The Biggest Baby Shower Ever – Community Outreach

The community I live in is amazing. There are so many great opportunities for library outreach. We go to school fairs, parent read nights, mom & baby classes, daycares, and anyone else who will invite us. One event that I look forward to every year is the Biggest Baby Shower Ever!

It is coordinated by the Mayo Clinic and groups come from all over to participate. There are about 20-30 booths at this event, with everything from the YMCA to Mary Kay represented. The library has been lucky enough to get invited to this event for the past few years. Around 250-300 people attend each year, and it is a great opportunity to meet new patrons!

I always make sure to have a bright and fun table. The event is located in a Children's Museum, so I'm competing against a lot of background items to grab their attention. I also make sure to have some sort of "giveaway" for parents. Fact– New moms love free things.

This year I brought plastic keys and rubber duckies to hand out. Each had a sticker with our logo and website on them. Truthfully, I found both of the items in the basement (lots of buried treasure down there) and decided I was tired of seeing them every time I went downstairs.

On the table I included some of our alphabet sensory bags we use in storytime, board books, a handout about storytime,  and a sign-up sheet for our Baby Book Bees initiative. I also set up a little reading nook in the corner with paperbacks of popular characters for older siblings who were getting bored. I had quite a few parents thank me for this last minute addition.

They only got the bib if they signed up for Baby Book Bees.
Once people started showing them off
I had lots of questions about the program!

The main thing I highlight when I talk to people are our storytimes. We offer speciality ones for infants, babies, toddlers, and a family storytime. I also talk about all of the different resources we offer such as DVDs, books, audio books, etc. I encourage expecting moms to use us to read parenting books. You'll only read them once or twice and they're usually $25-$35 each! It's way more cost efficient to get a library card and check the books out from us. I keep our tri-fold pretty sparse and use lots of white space. I usually only have parents for a minute before they walk away, and the pictures always make them stay a little longer.

I love this event because I get to meet potential patrons for the first time, while also seeing some old friendly faces. I always leave this event feeling successful because of the number of people I speak to, but this year the success was even more apparent. We opened up storytime signups the following day and my infant storytime is almost full 2 days into sign-ups! I've never had an infant storytime fill up, so we're all feeling pretty happy about this.

Does your community have an outreach event like this? If not, you should convince your library to organize it. It is a great resource for new parents and it's a wonderful way to reach new patrons!

Baby Storytime –Farm

Opening Song
Welcome Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement
Hands are Clapping

Early Literacy Tip
If your child really loves a certain page of a book, then stay on it. When we all read our board book together we don't all have to stay on the same page. If your child really loves the black sheep or red bird then stay on that page a little longer and start talking about it! Every time you talk to your child you are introducing them to new words and building their vocabulary.


Shape Game
Today, I hid a cow. You can find out about this game here.

Rhyme/Movement
This is Big

Book
Farm Animals by Simms Taback
All of these giant fold-out books are perfect for baby storytime! I use them often and they're always a winner.

Rhyme/Movement
Itsy Bitsy Spider

Rhyme/Movement
Roly-Poly

Book
I Went Walking  by Sue Williams
The sing song rhythm is perfect for baby storytime. Plus there's plenty of opportunity for animal noises!

Rhyme/Movement
Giddy-up, Giddy-up

Rhyme/Movement
Where is Thumbkin

Choral Reading
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  by Bill Martin Jr.
or
Ten Little Fingers and Tel Little Toes by Mem Fox

Egg Shakers
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
The Egg Shaker Song

Closing Song
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Playtime!

Baby Storytime – Opposites

Opening Song
Welcome Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement
Hands are Clapping

Early Literacy Tip
Your little one is going to get up and move during stories. That's ok! They are still absorbing the language and seeing you enjoy reading even if they're not looking at the pages.

Shape Game
Today, I hid arrows. You can find out about this game here. (As an aside, figure out how you're going to explain the concept of opposites before storytime. It's really hard to define it without using the word 'opposite'.)

Rhyme/Movement
Itsy-Bitsy Spider
We did it once like normal and the second time around we said the Great Big Spider! The kids thought it was hilarious when I used my deep voice.

Book
Quiet Loud by Leslie Patricelli
All of her board books are fabulous! Parents and babies just adore them.

Rhyme/Movement
Where is Thumbkin

Rhyme/Movement
Roly-Poly

Book
Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli

Rhyme/Movement
Giddy-up, Giddy-up

Rhyme/Movement
The Elevator Song

Choral Reading
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  by Bill Martin Jr.
or
Ten Little Fingers and Tel Little Toes by Mem Fox

Egg Shakers
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
The Egg Shaker Song

Closing Song
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Playtime!

Baby Storytime – Hello!

This was my first storytime of a new session. We took a long 3 month break, so I wanted to make sure everyone felt comfortable. During the first 2 storytimes I always introduce myself, talk about why we're here, and share a rough outline of what each storytime will look like.

I also make the parents go around the circle and introduce themselves, their baby, and say a "fun fact" about their child. It can be a new milestone, something they love/hate, or something they just want to share. It really helps me remember the child's name and relieves some of the awkwardness in the room.

Opening Song
Welcome Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement
Hands are Clapping

Early Literacy Tip
It's ok if your child doesn't participate during the songs. They're in a new space and might be nervous. Parents just keep smiling and doing the motions and your little ones will start mimicking you. You're the role models, so they look at you to see what they should be doing.

Shape Game
I know I said I was going to get rid of this, but I chickened out. So many kids request it or come up and immediately start saying the shapes that I know it is a great thing. I'm just sick of it. Maybe if I make new flannel shapes I'll feel better about it? Something to add to my to-do list.

Today, I hid a happy face because I love when people say hello to me! You can find out about this game here.

Rhyme/Movement
Itsy-Bitsy Spider

Book
Say Hello Like This by Mary Murphy
This book is new and adorable! It is a perfect book to use with babies. You should all go buy it right now.

Rhyme/Movement
Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Rhyme/Movement
Giddy-up, Giddy-up

Book
Hi, Pizza Man! by Virginia Walter
A storytime classic. It's a little long for my crowd, so I usually clip a few pages. Everyone loves waving hello though!

Rhyme/Movement
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Rhyme/Movement
The Elevator Song

Choral Reading
I finally decided to use books other than Brown Bear, Brown Bear and started purchasing new board book sets for our choral reading time. I went back and forth between these two sets for the 6 week session. I will be introducing new ones each session.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  by Bill Martin Jr.
or
Ten Little Fingers and Tel Little Toes by Mem Fox

Egg Shakers
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
The Egg Shaker Song

Closing Song
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Playtime!

Baby Storytime – Monkeys

Check out what my typical storytime looks like here. All the words to my songs and rhymes can be found here.

Opening Song
Welcome Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement
Hands are Clapping

Early Literacy Tip
Repetition is so important for little ones. One of the reasons we sing the same songs and follow the same schedule each week is because it gives children a sense of security in knowing what will happen next. You'll notice that when I stand up and turn to the table a lot of them run up to me. It's because they know Brown Bear, Brown Bear is about to happen! Or if we skip Itsy-Bitsy spider, a baby will always let me know before storytime ends. Keep in mind that when you're drastically changing their normal schedule (for vacation, a party, travelling, etc) it can affect their behavior and mood.

**The last sentence was actually said by a parent who is also a teacher. She felt like it was important to note with the upcoming holidays (this was right before Thanksgiving).**

Shape Game
Today, I hid a monkey! You can find out about this game here.

Rhyme/Movement
Roly-Poly

Book

Monkey & Me by Emily Gravett
This is such a wonderful book and it's full of repetition. I tell parents the chant before I start the book so they'll do it with me. 

Rhyme/Movement
Giddy-up, Giddy-up

Rhyme/Movement
Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Book

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
Pop-up books are always a winner in storytime. I wish the pictures were bigger though! I really need to make this into a flannel story like this amazing one. I also have everyone say, "No thank you!" when we send back our animals.

Rhyme/Movement
This is Big

Rhyme/Movement
Where is Thumbkin

Choral Reading
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

Egg Shakers
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep 

Rhyme/Movement
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Playtime!

Baby Storytime – Colors

Check out what my typical storytime looks like here. All the words to my songs and rhymes can be found here

Opening Song
Welcome Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement
Hands are Clapping

Early Literacy Tip
"Talking to your baby is one of the most important things you can do. You're building their vocabulary, and you're also increasing their knowledge of the world around them. When you leave storytime today, try to talk to your baby during your car ride about what you see outside."

Shape Game
Today, I hid a rainbow! You can find out about this game here.

Rhyme/Movement
Roly-Poly

Book

Duckie's Rainbow by Frances Berry
It was really cold this week and clearly the first time a lot of the families had left their house in a few days. I just talked about the colors on each page and then we tried to find something or someone in the room that was the same color. 

Rhyme/Movement
The Noble Duke of York

Rhyme/Movement
Giddy-up, Giddy-up

Rhyme/Movement
Where is Thumbkin

Game
Where is Brown Bear?
Exactly like Little Mouse, Little Mouse- except I used Brown Bear. You would have though I was handing out free candy and puppies the way the kids reacted. We played this 3 times and they still wanted more. I think I might replace the shape game with this during my next spring session.

Rhyme/Movement
This is Big

Choral Reading
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
Seriously, buy a copy of this for everyone in your storytime. It is amazing to see how kids run up to grab the book and then immediately run to their caregivers lap. Bill Martin Jr. was a genius.

Egg Shakers
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep 

Rhyme/Movement
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Playtime!

Baby Storytime – Puppies

Check out what my typical storytime looks like here. All the words to my songs and rhymes can be found here.

Opening Song
Welcome Song

Opening Rhyme/Movement
Hands are Clapping

Early Literacy Tip
It was a really cold week and it was definitely the first time most of them had been out of the house. In each session I had to cut a book short. So, my tip was: "Make reading enjoyable! If your little one doesn't want to listen then don't force them too. Let them play and pick up a book yourself. It's wonderful to promote reading at your house simply by letting your child catch you reading!"

Shape Game
Today, I hid a dog! You can find out about this game here.

Rhyme/Movement
Roly-Poly

Book

Puppies- Fiona Watt
This board book is very sweet. It is a little though and works best with a small crowd.

Rhyme/Movement
Giddy-up, Giddy-up

Rhyme/Movement
Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Book

Maggie's Ball by Lindsay Barrett George
An entertaining story about a dog who's looking for a friend and loses her ball. The expressions on the puppy's face are hilarious and the parents got a kick out of it. It is long, so I clipped a lot of the pages.

Rhyme/Movement
This is Big

Rhyme/Movement
Where is Thumbkin

Choral Reading
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

Egg Shakers
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep 

Rhyme/Movement
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Playtime!