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



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.