Monday, September 30, 2013

Baby Bloomers- Trains



 Today's Baby Bloomers was all about trains. We read, played, and listened everything train. Our little ones loved to play with scarves as we listened to "Down By the Station". I switched our routine a bit and didn't place our toys out until story time was over.  This seemed to help the attention spam and engaged everyone with the songs and rhymes.  This is how it went:
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Books:


Freight Train by Donald Crews* make  flannel
I Love Trains! by Philemon Sturges
A Train Goes Clickety-Clack by Jonathan London



Opening song:  “The More We Get Together”

Clapping rhyme: “Patty-Cake, Patty Cake”
Patty-cake, patty-cake, baker’s man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
Roll it and pat it and mar it with a “B” *use baby’s name initial
And put it in the oven for baby and me!

Wiggle rhyme:
A wiggle, wiggle here
A wiggle, wiggle there.
Wiggle your hands up in the air
Wiggle your shoulders and wiggle your hips,
Wiggle your knees and move your lips,
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle
And wiggle and bend
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle,
And this is the end!

Open, Shut Them- Traditional
This is Big- from Mel's Desk
 

Clickety-clack, clickety-clack,- we didn't use this rhyme
Here comes the train on the railroad track!
Clickety-clunn, clickety-clunn,
Here comes ENGINE number one.
Clickety-clew, clickety-clew,
Here comes COAL CAR number two.
Clickety-clee, clickety-clee,
Here comes BOX CAR number three.
Clickety-clore, clickety-clore,
Here comes TANK CAR number four.
Clickety-clive, clickety-clive,
Here comes COACH CAR number five.
Clickety-clicks, clickety-clicks,
Here’s the CABOOSE, that’s number six.
Clickety-clack, clickety-clack,
There goes the train on the railroad track!
Choo-choooooooo! Goodbye!



Action Rhyme: “This Is a Choo-Choo Train”
This is a choo choo train
Puffing down the track
Now it’s going forward,
Now it’s going back,
Now the bell is ringing
Now the whistle blows
What a lot of noise it makes
Everything it goes. Credit: SurLaLune Storytime


Fingerplay: “This Little Train”
The little train ran up the track (run fingers up arm)
Toot, toot, toot (make train noises)
And then it came toot-tooting back (run fingers down arm)
Toot, toot, toot (make train noises) Credit: SurLaLune Storytime



Closing Song: “We Wave Goodbye Like This”

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Bagels with Buddies

Today I hosted our first "Bagels with Buddies" a family story time for working parents.  The idea to offer a Saturday family story time started at the request of some of our working parents since all our regular story time sessions are offered early or mid morning during weekdays. I totally understand their frustration because I had been there when my children were little and all the story times happened on Wednesday at 11 am.  This summer we started planning and decided to offer a program that could work for the working parents or maybe for the dads who want to spend time with their young children.  I decided to go with Saturday morning since our evenings are kind of full with other programs and offer bagels and an incentive for the families.  I wasn't sure what to expect or what to plan for since it is a drop in program.  I had a selection of books for younger and older kids. 

Today's theme was all about me and my community.  My book were

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I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont
The Best Baby Ever by David Milgrim
Press Here by Herve Tullet
The Earth Book by Todd Parr
I'm Not Cute! by Jonathan Allen

I also planned on showing "If I Were You" by Richard Hamilton using our Tumble book options.
I had planned on using my regular Let's Start Story Time rhyme but my group was to young to follow the directions. Instead I used my Wiggle, Wiggle from Baby Bloomers.   I incorporated songs and scarves for the younger ones to play peak-boo as we listened to some of the songs.   I also planned a craft for the older children while the younger ones played with puzzles and small toys.

Overall it went really good with 11 children and parents spending over an hour playing, listening to songs, and reading books.  I am hoping that word of mouth might help grow our numbers but I felt that it was an amazing morning and a great opportunity for our community to enjoy our regular programs. 

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Totally Tots- Library Time

My Totally Tots group is growing with eleven rambunctious tots today. I switched our order a bit today and held back the toys until the end of the session. I added more songs and movement to our morning.  I also tried having each child hold a stuff animal as a storytime buddy.  Some did, some decided to just play around.  Here was the plan



Books:
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
Lola at the Library by Anna McQuinn and Rosalind Beardshaw
Maisy Goes to the Library by Lucy Cousins

Opening song:  “The More We Get Together”
Wiggle/action rhyme: “Let’s Start Story Time”

Songs: 
Rainbow Dancers from Art Smart Songs for 1's, 2's & 3's by Dr. Pam Schiller. 
Shake Your Sillies Out by Raffi.

Rhyme: Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes.

Action Rhyme: “Alphabet Beat”
First clap your hands. Then stomp your feet.
Everybody do the alphabet beat.
Apple, Apple, Apple – a – a – a,
Apple, Apple, Apple – a – a – a,
Wave your arms high. Swing your arms low.
The alphabet beat is the way to go.
Blue, Blue, Blue – b – b – b
Blue, Blue, Blue – b – b – b
Move to the left. Move to the right.
The alphabet beat is way out of sight.
Car, Car, Car – c – c – c
Car, Car, Car – c – c – c
Now give a high five to a nearby friend.
The alphabet beat has come to the end!
Credit: http://storytimekatie.com/songs-rhymes/master-list/

If You Are a Reader
If you are a reader  and you know it,
Clap your hands x2
If you’re a reader and you know it
And you really want to show it
If you’re a reader and you know it
Clap your hands.
Use: Shout hooray, read a book

Five Little Books
Five little books at the library,
Five little books as great as can be.
Along comes (name) with her library card
To take one home and read.
Continue to zero.
 
Closing Song: “We Wave Goodbye Like This”

Monday, September 23, 2013

Baby Bloomers- Library Time





Today we celebrated National Library Card Sign Up Month with stories about libraries, alphabets, and letters. I had the largest group ever- 44 babies & adults/caregivers.  I love this group and their energy,  the babies love exploring our story hour room and checking each other out.  So far we haven't had any significant crying or melt downs.  I didn't finish all the books instead we decided to sing and do some of the clapping rhymes.  Here are the books I had planned:



Chicka Chicka ABC by MARTIN, Jr
ABC Now You See Me by Kim Siebold
Goodnight Moon ABC
Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray

Opening Song: “The More We Get Together”
Clapping rhyme: “Patty-Cake, Patty Cake”
Wiggle rhyme

BOUNCE: Great A Little A
Bounce baby on your knees!
Great A, little a, bouncing B
Cat’s in the cupboard, and can’t see me!

Song: It's a Small World from Baby Face Activities for Infants & Toddlers. Kimbo Educational.

Fingerplay: “Way Up High In the Apple Tree”
Way up high in the apple tree (stretch arm up high)
Two red apples smiled at me (hold up 2 fingers)
I shook that tree as hard as I could (make a shaking motion)
Down came the apples, (make a downward motion)
Mmmm–were they good! (smile and rub stomach)

Action Rhyme: “Alphabet Beat”
First clap your hands. Then stomp your feet.
Everybody do the alphabet beat.
Apple, Apple, Apple – a – a – a,
Apple, Apple, Apple – a – a – a,
Wave your arms high. Swing your arms low.
The alphabet beat is the way to go.
Blue, Blue, Blue – b – b – b
Blue, Blue, Blue – b – b – b
Move to the left. Move to the right.
The alphabet beat is way out of sight.
Car, Car, Car – c – c – c
Car, Car, Car – c – c – c
Now give a high five to a nearby friend.
The alphabet beat has come to the end!
Credit:
Preschool Storytime Outlines

Closing song: “We Wave Goodbye Like This”