Baby Bloomers- Surprise!

Today was our last Baby Bloomers official class for the Winter session.  It was kind of sad because we have such a great group of babies that don't want to stop meeting...so we have decided to keep meeting during our regular time for the next month and have "informal story time" until we resume our Spring session.  We started with our opening song and our "Wiggle, Wiggle" .Our first book today was

 

Baby Says Peekaboo!  by Dawn Sirett.  This book is great for the babies with all the flaps and visual images. Plus at the end they all loved to look at themselves in the mirror. The size was a bit small but overall it worked well since I made sure to give every baby a chance to check themselves in the mirror.  Since the group had lots of energy I went ahead and played  "Clap Your Hands" from the Milkshake album displaying the lyrics  so we could all sing together.

We then did a couple of rounds of "Ten Fingers" and used a flannel I created using pictures from "What's On My Head?" by Margaret Miller. The kids loved the bright photographs and the funny things you can put on your head, like a frog! Our next book was
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Under My Hood I Have a Hat by Karla Kuskin. I had thought this book was going to transition better and some babies were really into it but others were more interested on crawling away.  We followed with a fingerplay "This Is Big" and "Open Shut Them". Since our group was ready to move on I switched to one more song "Skinnamarink" and our closing song. 

I had the chance to use our last book with a couple of the babies that stayed in the room. It actually worked much nicer because the copy I had was very small. This is a cute book for one-on-one reading with all the different animals looking for their babies, which are hidden under different flaps.

  

Surprise! by Liesbet Slegers.

Totally Tots- Surprise!

Today was our last class for the Winter session. We have had so much fun over the last six weeks- the kids have gotten to know each other and myself and we are having so much fun singing and listening to stories. Today's theme was "Surprise" and after our usual opening song and rhyme we read a classic with an old twist.


The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort.  The kids really liked this story and followed along with each new animal that rides the bus.  After the story we sang "The Wheels on the Bus"and a different version of "If You Are Happy and You Know It" we used "If You Like Books and You Know It".  Because we had lots of energy in the room I went ahead with a quick "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes".  Our next book was


Yes Day! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  This is a fun book, at least I think so because imagine if you could have one day when you got everything you wanted. One can dream.  I had half the class's attention while the other half was singing and dancing around, so I decided we should continue moving around with "Shake Your Sillies".  After the movement we were ready for some fingerplays "Here's a Hill"and "Ten Fingers".  Our last book was

Higher! Higher! by Leslie Patricelli.  This book didn't work out to well with the group. The illustrations are adorable and the text is minimal- basically repeat Higher!Higher!- but I think the kids were ready to wrap it up so we just moved into our closing song.

Baby Bloomers- Bath & Bed Time

Today we had a full house for Baby Bloomers! And like yesterday the babies were really getting into our routine of singing, playing, and listening to stories.  The concensus in the room was that we don't want story time to end next week, who knows I might be able to add some extra sessions and eventually have the program year-round!

We started with our regular opening song and our "Wiggle, Wiggle".  Our first book was one I read yesterday during Totally Tots


 Bubbles, Bubbles by Kathi Appelt. The babies really liked this book and some of the older ones were really good at pointing out the duck and the froggy.   We followed with "This Is the Way We Wash Our Hands" and like yesterday we ended switching to "early in the morning" versus "in the evening" and the fingerplay "Baby's Bath" which didn't really worked out as well as I had hopped.  I used our little monkeys to tell "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" and the babies were really interested on grabbing them.
Our next book was


 











The Big Sleep Book by Guido Van Genechten. I was very excited about this book and I think overall the babies enjoyed the book but we just had a bit of commotion going on while I was reading. I liked the book size and the large outlined pictures.  I will for sure explore some of his other books for future story times.

We used our "Elephants in the Bathtub" flannel but by that point the commotion level had increased so we switched to some songs "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Skinnamarink". I used our last book a bit differently and instead of reading it told the story as we looked at the pictures.

Bathing by Liesbet Slegers.  The size was less than ideal but we still made the most of it by looking and talking about how the little boy gets ready for his bath, plays with his rubber ducky, and gets ready for bed. 
We finished with our usual closing song. 

Totally Tots- Bath & Bed Time

Today's Totally Tots time was about getting ready for a good night sleep with a nice bath and PJ time stories.  We had lots of fun with our five silly monkeys jumping on the bed and elephants in a tub! We ended with dimmed lights and a soft version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". 
I was so impressed by all the little ones willingness to jump in and sing with me and their readiness to listen to our stories. They are an amazing bunch.

We started with our usual story time song and a quick let's get moving rhyme.  Our first book was


Bubbles, Bubbles by Kathi Appelt.The kids really like this book with its nice rhyming and tongue twisters.  The illustrations are the perfect size for this group bright, bold, and large. 

I did a few more songs and rhymes today in between books. We started with "This Is The Way We Wash Our Hands" "After a Bath" and a round of "Open, Shut Them".  Instead of reading "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" I used our finger puppets to tell the story. It was a lot of fun and something I will repeat with other stories.  Meet our monkeys:

We had another rhyme "Before I Jump Into My Bed" and our trusty "Shake Your Sillies Out". I followed with another flannel "Elephants in the Bathtub".  The kids thought it was really funny to have all these elephants in one tiny bathtub.

Our next book wasn't on my list but I had just read it to my son and we both loved the rhyming and silliness of it.













Scrubba Dub by Nancy Van Laan.  Some of the kids were getting a little restless at this point and ready for one last song.  We went with "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and our closing song "We Wave Goodbye Like This".

Baby Bloomers- Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Today we had such a lovely time in our Baby Bloomers class.  The kids all looked adorable in their red ensembles- the girls wore the most adorable dresses and shoes, boys looked handsome too.  I was going to give my Valentine to the babies at the end of class but decided to go ahead and give it to them earlier so they could hold on to them or play while we were reading and singing.  They loved their little hearts.

We started as usual with our opening song "The More We Get Together" and our little "Wiggle, Wiggle".  While the babies continued to play I read our first book


Huggy Kissy by Leslie Patricelli. This book was the perfect size for them, the illustrations are bright and the black outlining makes them pop out even more.  The text has a nice rhyming and the babies were really into the pictures and sounds.  We did a quick fingerplay "How Many Valentines" and sang "Skinnamarink" even though I had planned to use it as part of our closing it was the perfect song to get their attention back. We followed with


A Kiss Like This by Mary Murphy. Like yesterday this is a brand new book to our library an it was so much fun to read it to the babies. They were mesmerized with the flip pages and since the main refrain repeats itself from page to page it was fun for the parents to jump in an participate. After our book we did another finger play "I Have a Little Heart" and sang "Love to You" I used this song yesterday as well and have decided to modify the lyrics as we all got tangle with the last part of the song.  It worked out okay because we just laughed and continued on.  Our final book was



Counting Kisses by Karen Katz. We have read other books by Karen Katz and they always work well with this age group. The illustrations are large enough and the text tends to take over one page with the action overlapping on the oppositte page.  We ended our program with another round of "Skinnamarink" and our closing song "We Wave Goodbye Like This".

Totally Tots- Valentine's Day

We had a fantastic time at today's Totally Tots Story Time! Everyone was ready to sing, count, dance, and listen to wonderful stories.  I decided to use the large screen TV on our story hour room to display the rhymes, fingerplays, and songs I use during the program by using a PowerPoint- I have to give credit to an amazing fellow children's librarian friend who shared this idea with me. I think it worked really nice and allowed the adults to be active participants.

Our theme today was Valentine's Day (a day earlier just to accommodate our schedule) we started as always with our opening song "The More We Get Together" and our quick "Let's Start Story Time" to get all the wiggles and sillies out.  The kids are really getting into this last song now and they all counting along with me. 
Our first book was

Sweet Hearts by Jan Carr.  This is a sweet story of a little panda making and hiding Valentine's throughout his house all day long. I went with this book because the illustrations are different than what I have used other times, it is very bright and large format.  We followed our book by doing a short fingerplay "How Many Valentines" and once again all the kids were ready to count Valentines for father, mother, grandma, brother and sister.  Our usual "Shake Your Sillies Out" was a great way to get some of the remaining wiggles out followed by a round of "Open, Shut Them". 
Our next book was

Pigs in Love by Teddy Slater.  This is a brand new book at our library and I had the honor to be the first one to read it to our kids.  This beautiful board book is ideal for this age group, it is larger and thinner than the regular baby board books with an all over the page shiny finish.  The kids and adults both loved this book.  We did a quick "Love to You" song and a fingerplay titled "I Have a Little Heart" and closed with "Skinnamarink" which was a success.

Our last book was

Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  This is one of those books that stay with you, I read it over a year ago and I just knew it I would want to use it for a Valentine's story.  The illustrations are just adorable centering around the little girl and her amazing act of love. Her willigness to believe transforms this small act into something bigger and more dazzling than you can imagine.  We closed with our usual closing song "We Wave Goodbye Like This".

Baby Bloomers- Winter & Snow

Our Babies enjoyed a morning of Winter & Snow stories, snowflake dancing songs, flannels, and fun. Before each class we had a chance to play with small toys and board books with a nice soothing melody playing on the background.  This gives everyone in the group a chance to say hi and for the babies is a great way to relax and interact with each other.

We started our program with our opening song "The More We Get Together" followed by our "Wiggle, Wiggle" rhyme.  This short rhyme is becoming a great way to stretch and get moving for some of our early walkers.  Our first book was


The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats,  I was very excited to read this book again and the babies loved the big format and the bright suit our main character wears. As a prop I used a stuff toy that resembles the boy in the story. It was perfect!

We followed our story with the "Five Little Snowmen Fat" flannel and a short song "Say, Say, Oh Baby" from Mel's Desk.  The next book was


How To Build A Snowman by Jon Moon.  The text in this book is minimal but the tactile and visual images are perfect for babies. I had the babies touch the different parts as we were reading from the soft snow to the leathery buttons.  We followed the book by building our own snowman.  This is the our final "Baby Snowman"

 


We followed our flannel with "Mitten Weather" song/fingerplay and the  "Three Little Kittens" nursery rhyme.  Our final book was



My First Season: Winter by Giovanni Caviezel. The size of this book is not ideal but the images are bright and the text stands out against the white snowy landscape.  We closed with our "Dance Like Snowflakes" song using snowflake props.

The babies loved to hold them, and of course to chew on them.  Our final song was "We Wave Goodbye Like This".