Signs of Spring Baby Lap Time, 4/4/13

 Signs of Spring Baby Lap Time, 4/4/13

Rhyme: Cheek Chin 

Book: Planting Seeds by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
This was a good baby read-aloud. We didn't count each bunny, but we counted to ten once on the last page.

Song with Puppet: Mr. Sun

Song with Puppets: Did You Ever See?
One little guy was so in love with the puppets he wanted to be right next to me the whole time!

Song: Tony Chestnut
I am always surprised when a group doesn't get this song, but it happened again today.

Rhyme: One Two, One Two
This is a new rhyme for me, and it was a huge hit. I'm definitely adding it to my mental list of surefire baby lap time successes.

Rhyme: Two Little Blackbirds (with stick puppets)
I did this rhyme three times, using the plain birds shown on the flannel board in the photo. I stuck them on popsicle sticks to it was easy to make them fly away and come back. Babies were mesmerized; parents were great at participating!

Book: The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Crockett Johnson

Bounce Rhyme: One I Love You
This was a new bounce, and it wasn't as well received as I would have thought. I think the last phrase - "bouncing buckaroo" - puzzled some of my non-native English speakers. I wonder if there's something else I could that would rhyme just as well...

Bouncing Song: All the Little Babies

Rhyme with Cow Puppet: Hey Diddle Diddle

Song with Puppets: All the Cows Say... 

Flannel Board Rhyme: Hippety Hop
I normally don't do flannel boards for the babies, but these pieces are nice and big and the  rhyme is short and sweet. It was a success!

Song: Head and Shoulders

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It 


I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.

Signs of Spring Toddler Lap Time, 4/4/13

 Signs of Spring Toddler Lap Time, 4/4/13

Book: Planting Seeds by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
I like this book a lot - it has counting, bunnies, and plants! I'll definitely be using it again during the summer.

Song: Love Grows
This is a group of toddlers who normally love to learn motions to new songs. Today, I got 20 blank stares when we sang this song. It just did not work.

Book: The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Crockett Johnson
This book is a hit with parents. The kids didn't say much, but their eyes were on the book for almost the entire time.

Song: One Seed by the Laurie Berkner Band
This was a huge hit - we did it three times!

Song with Puppet: Mr. Sun
The kids got really excited about this one!

Book: Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
A flop again, as on Tuesday.

Songs with Foam Flowers: We had more older siblings than usual at this session because of Spring Break, and though there were only three "big kids" they basically took over the entire story time from this point until the end. I couldn't blame them - their responses to everything were age appropriate, but I had some parents questioning whether we had changed the age limit on the sessions. If this happens in the summer, we plan to offer a "big kid" craft for the siblings outside of the story room, so we don't have total chaos.

• Oh Little Flower (also with flannel board)
• There’s a Little Flower Growing...

Song with Puppet: Flutter, Flutter Butterfly

Flannel Board: Color Rhymes
At the end of the rhyme, we said goodbye to each bird by name.

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

Song: Monkeys on the Bed

Song: If You’re Happy and You Know It

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here.