Baby Lap Time, 6/3

Baby Lap Time was chaotic today, with parents talking and coming in and out of the room. Half the audience got up during the last five minutes and made a mass exodus, which really threw me off. But we did about 25 minutes of singing and reading, and about 20 kids were in attendance. I'd say half were actually babies, and the others were preschooler siblings.

Opening Song: Clap Along With Me from Wee Sing for Baby

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Book: Hello, Baby! by Mem Fox, illustrated by Steve Jenkins (2009)

I love Mem Fox, and baby story time goers tend to love animal books, so this was a great one. I especially loved the winking owl, and the "yawning jaws" of the hippopotamus. The illustrations have great texture and personality, which makes it stand out from so many other animal books.

Song: Say Hello to The Animals
(sung to the tune of Did You Ever See a Lassie? / The More We Get Together)
I wrote this song on the fly, while I was walking up the steps to the meeting room, because I wanted to do something with my zoo animals puppets, but I was sick of what I've been doing. (The Keeper at the Zoo, shown here, just never feels right to me.)

Here's the result of my creativity:

Let's say hello to the lion, the lion, the lion

Say hello to the lion with its brown curly mane.

(pause to wave and say, "Hello, lion!")

Let's say hello to the tiger, the tiger, the tiger

Say hello to the tiger, with its orange and black stripes.

(pause to wave and say, "Hello, tiger!")

Let's say hello to the elephant, the elephant, the elephant

Say hello to the elephant with its long gray trunk.

(pause to wave and say, "Hello, elephant!")

Let's say hello to the zebra, the zebra, the zebra

Say hello to the zebra, with its black and white stripes.

(pause to wave and say, "Hello, zebra!")

Let's say hello to the monkey, the monkey, the monkey

Say hello to the monkey with its curly brown tail.

(pause to wave and say, "Hello, monkey!")

Let's say hello to the giraffe, the giraffe, the giraffe

Say hello to the giraffe with its very long neck.

(pause to wave and say, "Hello, giraffe!") 

Song: Bumpin' Up and Down in my Little Red Wagon

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Book: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (2007)
I read this book at a couple of story times when I first started with this library, back when we still had our temporary location, and I didn't have a blog. I like using it with babies because it shows a lot of pictures of babies (by the baby-drawing queen, Helen Oxenbury), and because of the repetition of the text. I also love the diversity of the babies, and the unifying commonality of ten fingers and toes. My absolute favorite is the little baby with the sniffles, whose nose is red and runny. The moms liked this one and really got into the rhythm of it, repeating the refrain along with me. The ending also got a nice collective "Awww."


Rhyme: Open, Shut Them

Song: Where is Thumbkin?

 Song: Oleanna by The Laurie Berkner Band (from Victor Vito)
I am determined to make this work with the flannel board. Today I stood behind it, and pointed out each object as it was mentioned in each nursery rhyme. Unfortunately, my flannel board pieces are really small, and I don't think it was as effective as it could have been. I wonder if just playing and singing the song is enough. I always get nervous when I'm not doing anything besides singing - I need to get over that!



Song: How Much is that Doggie in the Window?
This is the song during which half the room got up and left. Also, since I was standing up to put things on my flannel board, three kids commandeered my chair! But I took it back for the last quick story and then let them have a turn sitting in it after story time.

Book: The Key to the Kingdom by Betsy and Giulio Maestro (1982)
Simple text zooms us all the way in - from the kingdom, to the town, to the garden, to the house, to the baby in a basket on a bed. Then we zoom back out again, and say goodnight to the baby. A simple, quick story, and a nice quiet ending to a story time.

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This