Crawlers- Cars

Today's Crawlers group was so much better than last week. We had almost same number of children and pretty much the same children that were here last week- two new friends joined us today.  I changed my approach and used the same books I used with our Baby Bloomers except I added The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort. 



I used the same song "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Hop Like a Bunny"- the kids weren't to interested on hoping like bunnies or jumping like frogs.

We did several rounds of Wiggle, Wiggle; Open Shut Them, and Touch Your Nose. And of course had our bubbles out while we sang our Goodbye song.

All in all it was a much better class than last weeks. I think the shorter books and the content that lend itself to active participation- we all say Beep-Beep is the way to go with this active group.

Baby Bloomers- Cars

Our Baby Bloomers were so happy and excited today, it was a great and energizing while at the same time it was peaceful and relaxing.  The books we shared were perfect on length and the illustrations were bright and big.



We skipped our morning song...which I continue to struggle with and instead used a puppet to say hello to each baby.  We switched from "One, Two Buckle My Shoe" to "Open Shut Them", and added Touch Your Nose.  We also did several rounds of One to Five, and used little black birds to chant "Two Little Black Birds".  We ended playing with bubbles and our ribbon wands. 

Totally Tots- Owls

Our Totally Tots had a blast last week making their own little owls.  We read some of the stories I read with our Crawlers and had similar problems with our Wednesday group- the book been to long, the kids to excited to start our craft. Our Wednesday group was to rambountious and we really didn't finish


The Thursday group enjoyed the interactions on



Both groups enjoyed

This was my favorite book from this theme.  The best part was when we made our own little owls

Crawlers- Owls

I have been wanting to do an Owl story for a while and decided this fall was the perfect time.  The books I choose were a bit long for my Crawlers group and the fact that we have a big group makes the interactions between myself and the kids and parents a bit difficult at times. 

We started with our regular opening song and moved right into our first book right away



After our first story I tried one of the new songs "Walking" that has worked really well with the Toddlers.  Some of the kids liked it, some were a bit young for the action/motions on the song.  I followed with a couple of rounds of "Open Shut Them".  I was hoping we would get into the counting part of the second book but it really never happened so I decided to move to our Wiggle rhyme and Nursery Rhyme with another song "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes". My hope was that some of their energy would be spent and maybe we could imitate the sounds on our last book.  I actually had several kids interested on the animals and sounds Old Owl finds during the night but the book was a bit to long for these age group.  We finished with several rounds of a new rhyme

Hands On My Head
My hands upon my head I'll place
upon my shoulders, on my face,
at my waist, and by my side
then behing me they will hide
then I'll raise them way up hide
and let my fingers fly, fly, fly
then clap, clap, clap then...
1, 2, 3!
Sit down and see how quiet can be.
Credit: A Year in the Story Room.

We closed with our goodbye song and the Bubbles song.  I'm going to change the order a bit with my Totally Tots group tomorrow and maybe only read two books since we are doing a craft or have less songs.  I still like the theme and would like to try in the future with shorter books for my younger listeners.

Baby Bloomers- Sandra Boynton Day

Our Baby Bloomers had a Sandra Boynton Day.  All our stories were by this amazing author and we enjoyed making the stories come alive using our voices to create characters from Barnyard Dance to Pajama Time.  We read



I brought out some plastic balls and we use them with this rhyme:

Roll, Roll, Roll the Ball
Roll, roll, roll the ball
happy as can be
(nam) rolls it back to me
Quick as one, two, three!
Credit: Baby Storytime Magic

We also used scarves to chant our  Nursery Rhyme "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" and to listen to a Peek-a-Boo song.  We also had our weekly "Wiggle, Wiggle" and opening and goodbye song.

Our play time together was great with the babies happily playing with soft toys of different colors and shapes, scarves, and balls. 

Last week's programs

I'm a week behind again, don't know how this keeps happenning but I promise to try better this week.  Last week was busy week with six programs, yep, you are reading correctly Six programs.  I had my regular Baby Bloomers, Crawlers, and two Totally Tots classes, plus a brand new Bilingual program "Los Cuentos", and the first meeting of our Junior Friends.  Here is how it went:

Baby Bloomers- see post.

Crawlers- see posts.

Totally Tots- this group keeps growing, which is an amazing dream but it can present a challenge in our small story hour room.  I did the same transportation program as with the Crawlers and we used our scarves to "shake our sillies out" and dance with our bubbles.  I read the same books but got different reactions from some of the older kids who engaged with A Truck Goes Rattley Bumpa  by Jonathan London. We identified colors, shapes,  types of trucks and cars, and the actions taking place.  Because the group was large both days- 18 kids on Wednesday- I refrained from using the flannel pieces to our Nursery Rhyme, we still chanted "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" and used the scarves to keep the pace. 

Los Cuentos- this is my new bilingual class for families (birth thru 7 years old).  Last Spring we celebrate El Dia de los Libros/ El Dia de los Ninos or Book Day/Children's Day and we had a nice show of parents and kids that were interested on having a bilingual program.  During the summer I researched our community and found out that we have a growing number of Hispanic speaking residents and school children.  This is a pilot for the Fall and hopefully I get to keep doing them during the Winter and Spring and expand from Spanish/English to other languages.  The first session was attended by five families with eight children.  I mixed the stories from full Spanish to bilingual stories. We also listened to some songs/video using the big TV screen in our Story Hour room.  We ended with a small craft. 

Crawlers_ Transportation

Our second week of Crawlers has seen a surge in little crawlers/walkers~ we almost doubled our numbers from last week with 28!  The best part is getting to know all their new personalities, and trying to remember everyone's name.  I love each group from our Baby Bloomers to Totally Tots but this group always amazes me because you never know what can happen.  Sometimes we love our stories and sit quietly, some times we love to clap and hop, and there are times when only the bubble machine can rescue Story Time.  Today we read books about airplanes, and trucks, and trains.

 

We tried our new opening song again "Hello, Hello" but I continued to struggle with the tune and the fact that it takes a lot of our time when there is a big class.  We tried a new rhyme/action chant 

Runaway Engine

Runaway engine, rickety rack, (pump arms like a train)

Running around the railway track (draw large circle with finger)

All the way there and all the way back (point at child and at self)

Runaway engine rickety rack (pump arms like a train)

Repeat slow, then faster

Credit: Sunflowerstorytime.com

Followed by our "Wiggle, Wiggle".  I decided to bring out the  "maracas" to chant our Nursery Rhyme "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe".  And we listened to the "Walking song" and clapped our way through bubbles.  

 

Totally Tots- Welcome back

Our Totally Tots returned last week with a full house both days- we have sessions Wednesdays & Thursdays at 10:30 am. It was so much fun to see lots of our Crawlers graduating to Totally Tots time.  They grow so fast.  

For this class we use a different opening song

Everybody say one, story time has just began

Everybody say two, shake your shoulders show your shoes

Everybody say three, listen very carefully

Everybody say four, and put your bottoms on the floor

I borrowed this song from one of my professors and love it. You can sing loud or wisper, you can go fast or slow, and every child loves to show their shoes, or socks, or lock off. We followed with our Wiggles  and read books about going to school because some of them are already in preschool or will soon be in preschool.

  

I love reading any Mouse's book, they work great to get the group to settle down and quiet down otherwise Mouse will run away.

We did a new rhyme 

Hands Up High
Hands up high
Hands down low
Hide those hand now where did they go?
One hand up, the other one too
Clap them, fold them, now we're through.

Credit: FingerPlays & Action Rhymes

and used the flannel pieces for our Nursery Rhyme "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe".

I found a new song by Ann Marie Akin "Songs for Wiggleworms" CD  titled "Walking, Walking" that is going to be a new favorite this fall.  It is full of motions and directions- we walk, we jump, we run...and then we STOP.  We also had to bring out our Bubble machine and dance around with the bubble song.  All in all a great couple of days.  

Baby Bloomers- From Nose to Toes

Week two of Baby Bloomers was so much fun. We continued our "Body Parts" theme by reading



We repeated our Baby Rhyme and .

These are baby’s fingers (tickle fingers)

These are baby’s toes (tickle toes)

This is baby’s tummy button (tickle belly)

Round and round it goes!

 

Up & Down rhyme

Up, up in the sky like this, (gently lift baby in the air)

Down, down for a great big kiss( slowly bring baby down and kiss)

Up like this (lift up)

Down for a kiss (lower down)

You’re my special baby! (hug and cuddle baby)

We also used our bells and shakers to chant "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe".  The fun part was playing Peek-a-Boo with scarves.  

Day Two-Crawlers

Today was our Crawlers Story Time, this is my most energetic group each session, they are between 1 to 2 years old and are mastering walking, jumping, marching, any sort of acrobatics we can think off- they will try! The format for this class is similar to the other classes with emphasis on early literacy skills~reading, playing, singing, writing, and talking. I try longer books and different fingerplays that allow movement. We started with our new opening song and the Wiggles.  We also try to have fun with Nursery Rhymes by having the kids help with the different flannel pieces.   Today we read

 

I used flannel sections for Ten Tiny Toes by Caroline Church to engage the group and have fun with body parts.



Our Rhymes were

Hands Up High
Hands up high
Hands down low
Hide those hand now where did they go?
One hand up, the other one too
Clap them, fold them, now we're through.

Credit: FingerPlays & Action Rhymes

 

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

One, two, buckle my shoe ( clap twice, tap shoes)

Three, four, shut the door (clap twice, clap hands)

Five, six, pick up sticks (clap hands, wiggle fingers)

Seven, eight, lay them straight ( clap hands, pat hands on floor)

Nine, ten, a big fat hen (clap hands, widen arms)

Overall, it was a great session getting to know everyone and creating a new routine for all of us. 

Baby Bloomers is Back!

Today was our first day of Baby Bloomers Fall Storytime- Yay! Finally back after summer break it was great to see familiar faces and new additions. I am hoping to make this a fabulous storytime for all. I decided to shake things a bit and make sure to focus on the Early Literacy connections we are creating at each storytime.  I created a new opening song to help each everyone learn  all the babies names and decided to keep using our Wiggle, Wiggle stretch song, and Nursery Rhymes.  This week's Early Literacy Tip focused on the power of early language and literacy (reading and writing) and how it development in the first three years of life and is linked to a child’s earliest experiences with books and stories. Five ways to promote early literacy with your child: talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing.  Every week we will sing, talk, read stories, play, and while we don't write we play with toys to develop fine motor skills that will help us one day hold our pencils/crayons.  Each week we will repeat some of the same rhymes and songs.  Today we chanted

Baby Rhyme

These are baby’s fingers (tickle fingers)

These are baby’s toes (tickle toes)

This is baby’s tummy button (tickle belly)

Round and round it goes!

One to Five

One little nose,

Two little feet,

Three little tickles on your tummy so sweet!

Four little kisses on five little toes,

Then one more kiss for your sweet little nose!

Up & Down Rhyme

Up, up in the sky like this, (gently lift baby in the air)

Down, down for a great big kiss( slowly bring baby down and kiss)

Up like this (lift up)

Down for a kiss (lower down)

You’re my special baby! (hug and cuddle baby)

We read





We listened to a couple of songs and ended our storytime playing with some new toys and fun textile baby books

 

Looking forward to a fun fall full of stories, rhymes, and songs.