January Toddler Storytimes

Rather than writing up individual storytimes, I decided to write a whole month's worth in one post, since I use the same songs all month and don't really have over-arching themes. [For more details about how I structure toddler storytime and why, see my basic toddler storytime plan.]

This month's songs/rhymes were:

• Welcome: "Hello My Friends"
• Warm-Up: "The Wheels on the Bus"
• Movement 1: "Shake Your Shakers" w/egg shakers
• Movement 2: "Colors" w/egg shakers
• Lead-In: "If You're Ready for a Story"
• Movement 3: "Roly-Poly"
• Movement 4: "Ten Little Bubbles" with bubbles
• Good-bye: "Storytime Is Over"

The books and activities for each week (only 3 because of snow cancellation one week):

1. Book: Bear Has a Belly by Jane Whittingham. A great book for toddler storytime written by a fellow children's librarian! It has photographs of animals for kids to identify and imitate, naming body parts, as well as tips for caregivers. Love it!
   
   Activities: Animal pop beads, rabbit builders, fish builders, sensory balls & tubes, markers & paper.
   
   
2. Book: Mouse's First Snow by Lauren Thompson & Buket Erdogan. Join little Mouse and his father as he explores a winter wonderland for the first time. This "Mouse's First" series is great for toddlers and younger preschoolers, who are also experiencing many "firsts" of their young lives. 
   
   Activities: Felt snowflakes and snowmen on the flannel board, giant pom-pom snowballs & buckets to toss into, foam blocks, sensory tubes & balls
   
   
3. Book: Everything a Drum by Sarah Warren & Camila Carrossine. This is a perfect book for toddler storytime or a music & movement program. The story is narrated by a caregiver, and pictures a toddler using everyday items like a drum. After I read the book I led the kids through a few listen-and-repeat simple clapping patterns. While I clapped my hands, I told them they could clap their hands, pat their tummy, or slap their thighs.
   
   Activities: Assorted musical instruments along with bowls, pots, boxes, bins, and spoons. It was quite the cacophony, but the kids loved it! 
   
   
   

How It Went
These all went really well, though I've had to really dig to build up a list of good books for toddler storytime without repeating to often. I know repetition is good for toddlers, but I also feel that in addition to supporting developing early literacy skills, storytime should also expand caregivers' awareness of a variety of children's books, particularly those in the library's collection.

Wiggle - Toddler Storytime

 

My toddler storytimes often don't have a strong theme, since we use the same songs/rhymes all month, and I can't always come up with activities that are developmentally appropriate and strongly tie-in with the book, and this was one of those times. Themes can be fun and help give direction, but sometimes it can unnecessarily complicate things, so I don't worry too much about whether I have one or not (for a more in-depth discussion of themes, please see my previous "To Theme, or Not to Theme" post).

This was the first week of the month, so we have new songs/rhymes (other than the Hello/Goodbye and lead-in songs, which only change every few years when I get tired of them). 

Hello

Hello, my friends, hello.
Hello, my friends, hello.
Hello, my friends at storytime;
Hello, my friends, hello!

Followed by introductions, expectations (we have so many late-comers I've started saving expectations for after the greetings and hello song), then a warm-up song with movement, followed by two songs with manipulatives (scarves for this month).

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

 Head, shoulders, knees and toes; knees and toes.
Head, shoulders, knees and toes; knees and toes.
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
Head, shoulders, knees and toes; knees and toes.

(repeat 2x, faster each time)

This Is the Way....

This is the way we wave our scarves,
Wave our scarves, wave our scarves.
This is the way we wave our scarves,
Because it's fun to do!

(shake, twirl, scrunch, throw, look through)

Popcorn!
(to the tune of 

Popcorn kernels, popcorn kernels,
(wave scarves overhead)
In the pot, in the pot.
(scrunch into ball)
Shake them, shake them, shake them;
(shake)
Until they POP! Until they POP!
(throw in air)

(They LOVE this one so we usually do it three times.)

Then it was time to settle down for our story with our lead-in song:

If You're Ready for a Story

If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet.
If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet.
If you're ready for a story, if you're ready for a story,
If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet!

(turn around, have a seat, clap hands, pat knees, say "shh")

I'm finding it is becoming more and more difficult to find books for storytime, especially toddler storytime, as kids' attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter, but today I settled on an older book that has toddler time written all over it! 

Wiggle by Doreen Cronin and Scott Menchin is a fun read-aloud that is perfect for those shorter attention spans as it encourages the kids to move along with the cute dog that is narrating the story, and it has a very pleasant rhythm and rhyme, which I've observed seems to hold their attention better. Wiggle is part of a movement trilogy, which includes Bounce and Stretch.

After that we worked on our ABCs and 123s with the "Alphabet Song" (to the traditional "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" tune) and "Ten Little Bubbles" (first counting up, popping bubbles, then counting down). Bubble time generally turns into a toddler mosh pit! 

Following bubbles, I announced we were done with the storytime part and would go ahead and sing our "Goodbye" song in case we didn't get to say goodbye to all of our friends later, but that we did have activities afterward.

Activities
I put out a variety of developmentally appropriate toys and activities afterward:

• Busy Boards with various locks and fasteners to open and close
• Puzzles - Chunky, simple wooden puzzles with animals or vehicles
• Foam Blocks
• Sensory Tubes
• Sensory Balls
• Stacking/Nesting Cups
• Paper & Crayons
• Sensory Bin - with a variety of beans and rice with measuring cups and spoons
• Magnetic gears
  

How It Went

Everything went well, though I am finding that now that I am getting steady attendance, those that started as new toddlers a year or two ago are turning 3 (or already have), and I have a new bunch of 1-2 years olds, I feel like the age range (1-3) is too broad and the older kids are taking away from the experience of the true toddlers. 

I have started trying to gently suggest the older kids (who don't have younger siblings) move to the preschool storytime by changing the stated age range for toddler time from 1-3 years to 12-36 months and reminding the group that we have a preschool storytime for ages 3-5 and that it is usually a smaller group and less chaotic, but so far, no one has moved up. I'm not sure if it is a scheduling thing, they just like the toddler storytime better (more songs and movement, and less books than preschool), habit, or what. This is the conundrum I will be trying to figure out how to manage over the next few months.

Exploring the Arts - Toddler Storytime

This was our second week of summer reading, which had the overall CSLP theme of "Adventure Begins at Your Library". I usually pick loose weekly themes after I've booked performer/presenters based on their shows; this week I booked an interactive steel drum performance so used "Exploring the Arts" as the theme for the week. This was a very fun, busy, and noisy storytime!

My toddler storytimes incorporate a lot of repetition and movement, with generally only one book, followed by activities that are usually open-ended, exploratory, and play-based. We started with our "Hello" song, followed by this month's warm-up song:

Hello, Everybody
(from Jbrary)

Hello, everybody, can you touch your nose?
Touch your nose, touch your nose?
Hello, everybody, can you touch your nose?
Touch - Your - Nose

(I do 4-5 verses with various body parts/actions)

Next we did two movement songs with props. This month, we are using shaker eggs and I chose two recorded songs, "I Can Shake My Shaker Egg" by Eric Litwin & Michael Levine and "I Know a Chicken" by Laurie Berkner:

Then I tried to get them settled down with several verses of our lead-in song:

If You're Ready for a Story

If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet!

If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet!

If you're ready for a story, if you're ready for a story,

If you're ready for a story stomp your feet.

(turn around, clap hands, take a seat, say "shh"...)

Since we already incorporate so much music into storytime, I chose a book reflecting a visual art form, Beautiful Hands by Bret Baumgarten and Kathryn Otoshi. 

This book has beautiful, creative illustrations that use handprints and fingerprints to create images of flowers, trees, butterflies, a dragon, and more. I immediately fell in love with the idea of using handprint art for one of our activities, but as I read the book in storytime I realized the text really didn't flow that well or tie in to the pictures well enough. Sometimes I do an additional song or rhyme after the book, but I had a large group and I was losing them, so I went straight to counting with bubbles, which is how I end every toddler storytime.

Ten Little Bubbles

One little, two little, three little bubbles,

Four little, five little, six little bubbles,

Seven little, eight little, nine little bubbles,

Ten little bubbles go POP!

(blow bubbles during second verse using a bubble gun)

Pop, pop, pop go all the bubbles,
Pop, pop, pop go all the bubbles,

Pop, pop, pop go all the bubbles,

All the little bubbles go POP!

(repeat second verse as many times as needed)

Ten little, nine little, eight little bubbles,

Seven little, six little, five little bubbles,

Four little, three little, two little bubbles,

One little bubble goes POP!

Then we sang a "Goodbye" song, which I prefaced by telling then that we did have activities afterward, but we would go ahead and sing our goodbye song in case we didn't get to say goodbye to all of our friends later.

Activities 

I set up four different "stations" with simple, age-appropriate activities to explore various types of art:

1. Handprint Collage - Inspired by our book, but I used large stamp pads with washable ink instead of paint because it is easier, less messy, and dries much faster. Also provided markers for adding details.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Dot Painting - While perhaps not as creative as others, young kids really love this and it gives them practice with their fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination, and they can play with color. While I do give them printed templates with the circles to fill, they always have the option of turning it over and doing their own thing on the back.
3. Play-Dough Sculpture - Provided several different colors of play-doh, cookie cutters, rotary cutters, plastic knives, and rolling pins and just let them do their own thing! Parents love when we do this at the library, because so many don't do it at home (unfortunately). I emphasize that rolling, squishing, and cutting dough is such great exercise for little hands and fingers, building strength and motor skills.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Musical Instruments - I could not come up with anything I liked for the sensory bin, so I decided to just put all the instruments in it. After all, they are definitely sensory! I felt a little bad about it, because I knew my assistant and some of the adults (and some kids) would have a hard time with the noise, but I felt I just had to this time and knew most of the kids would love them.
   
   
   
   

   
    [Btw, a set of musical instruments is a great passive-aggressive gift to give to a child whose parents have annoyed you, but also very developmentally appropriate! A couple of my nieces/nephews may have received such a gift in the past 🤣]

How It Went

I had a large group (for this library) of at least 22 children and 18 or so adults (it's so hard to get an accurate count because of people coming and going due to arriving late, needing to step out early with a fussy/wiggly child, or not staying for the activities afterward), and it was a very busy, noisy, but fun storytime.

The book I chose was great for inspiring an activity, but not so great for a group read-aloud, and I lost all but the oldest kids' attention, but of course quickly re-gained it when I brought out the bubbles! A few families opted not to stay for the activities, or not very long, due to being overwhelmed by the noise and number of people, and that's okay. Usually, after they have been coming regularly and get to know people, they get used to it, plus it's usually not as noisy as it was today 😉. For example, the child in the photo above gleefully banging the cymbals with a huge grin of pure joy on their face used to be very quiet and shy, and would leave right after storytime instead of staying for the activities. Now, they stay afterward and dive right in!

Babies - Toddler Storytime

 
Another recent toddler storytime...

A couple of weeks ago I happened across a couple cute books about babies while straightening up the shelves, so decided on that for that week's storytime theme, since several of our attendees either are babies, have baby siblings, or are about to have new babies.

As always, we started with our "Hello" song: 

Hello, my friends, hello.

Hello, my friends, hello.

Hello my friends at storytime,

Hello, my friends, hello.

I introduced myself, then welcomed all of the children by name, and quickly went over expectations (this is toddler storytime, geared for ages 1-3, but all ages are welcome; toddlers are not expected to be able to sit and listen quietly, so it's okay if they are milling around but please keep them in this general area, not behind me, not racing around the room; feel free to step out if they get too restless and rejoin when they calm down or for the activities afterward).

Our warm-up song for the month was "The Wheels on The Bus", followed by two egg-shaker songs (I usually alternate scarves one month and egg shakers the next, because I found it didn't make for smooth transitions trying to do one song with each all the time). First I tell them to make sure their egg shakers work! Then I run thru shaking various ways and stopping on cue prior to doing our songs:

Shake Your Shakers

Shake your shakers way up high, 

way up high, way up high.

Shake your shakers way up high,

Shake your shakers.

(way down low, over here, over there, fast fast fast, slow slow slow)

Primary Colors Egg Shaker Song

(Nancy Stewart)

Once they'd had plenty of movement to get their wiggles out, I lead into reading the book I'd selected with a song that I've used for years, "If You're Ready for a Story". I like it because I can do as many verses as needed, and adapt it to the energy level. 

For our book I chose Karen Katz's Ten Tiny Babies. Karen Katz is one of my go-to authors for toddlers and babies because she keeps the text short and simple, with content little ones can relate to, and they typically can be made fairly interactive. I particularly like this book because of the diversity (babies represent different ethnicities/skin tones, and adults appear to be an interracial couple) and all the actions the kids can do along with the babies in the story, such as running, jumping, and wiggling. And as a bonus it helps us practice counting from 1 to 10.

We concluded with bubbles, while singing "Ten Little Bubbles", counting up and back down.

One little, two little, three little bubbles;

Four little, five little, six little bubbles;

Seven little, eight little, nine little bubbles;

Ten little bubbles go POP!

Pop, pop, pop go all the bubbles.

Pop, pop, pop go all the bubbles.

Pop, pop, pop go all the bubbles;

All the little bubbles go POP!

Ten little, nine little, eight little bubbles;

Seven little, six little, five little bubbles;

Four little, three little, two little bubbles;

One little bubble goes POP!

Then I announced that was the end of the storytime portion, and that we did have activities afterward, but we would go ahead and sing our "Good-Bye" song in case we didn't get to say good-bye to all of our friends later.

Storytime is over, wave good-bye.

Storytime is over, wave good-bye.

Storytime is done, and I know that we had fun.

Storytime is over, wave good-bye.

Activities 

This week I didn't really have any activities that related to the book, but of course the kids don't really care. I just pulled out a variety of things:

• Foam blocks
• Sensory tubes
• Sensory balls
• Stacking cups
• Bunny builders
• Sensory bin (sand with animal & castle molds)
• Paper & crayons

How It Went

Though the kids were not necessarily as interested in the subject of babies as I thought they'd be, they did enjoy doing all the actions along with the babies in the book. As always, there was lot of excitement when I pulled out the bubbles! Bubbles are not only fun, but great for tracking and encouraging reaching across the midline. Even babies too young to chase and pop them love watching them. I had a slightly smaller crowd that usual, 12 kids and associated grown-ups, but still a decent crowd. 

Year of the Dragon - Toddler Storytime

Image by Freepik

I realized after I posted my general toddler storytime plan that I did not have any posts of actual storytimes I had done since I developed that plan. So, here is an example of one of my typical toddler storytimes from this week....

Since Lunar New Year was this week and it is the Year of the Dragon I decided on a "Dragon" theme for this week's storytimes, although the toddler storytime really doesn't have a strong theme as we use the same songs/rhymes for a month and the activities may or may not have a strong connection to the book.

We started with our "Hello" song: 

Hello, my friends, hello.

Hello, my friends, hello.

Hello my friends at storytime,

Hello, my friends, hello.

I introduced myself, then welcomed all of the children by name, and quickly went over expectations (this is toddler storytime, geared for ages 1-3, but all ages are welcome; toddlers are not expected to be able to sit and listen quietly, so it's okay if they are milling around but please keep them in this general area, not behind me, not racing around the room; feel free to step out if they get too restless and rejoin when they calm down or for the activities afterward).

Our warm-up song this month is "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". We start out slowly, then faster, and faster (for the preschoolers I also add doing it backwards).

Next we did two scarf songs (I usually alternate scarves one month and egg shakers the next, because I found it didn't make for smooth transitions trying to do one song with each all the time). First I prompted them to save their scarves up high, down low, twirl in a circle, scrunch into a ball, etc., then did the songs:

Painting Rainbows

Painting rainbows, painting rainbows

Way up high, in the sky.

Pretty, pretty rainbows; pretty, pretty rainbows

Way up high, in the sky.

First comes red, then comes orange,

then yellow, then yellow,

Next comes green, then comes blue,

And purple, too; and purple, too.

(repeat first verse)

Popcorn

Popcorn kernels, popcorn kernels,

In the pot, In the pot.

Shake them, shake them, shake them.

Until they POP, until they POP!

Both of these are to the tune "Frere Jacques", but the tempo is slightly different. The first song is a little slower, softer, more melodic; the second is a bit faster, more energy and excitement. "Popcorn" is is a big favorite here, so we usually do it 3x.

Now that they've had plenty of movement to get their wiggles out, I lead into reading the book I've selected with a song that I've used for years, "If You're Ready for a Story". I like it because I can do as many verses as needed, and adapt it to the energy level. 

I briefly introduced the idea of Lunar New Year and it being the year of the dragon with a non-fiction book (didn't read it, just showed a couple of pictures), and then read Tom Fletcher's "There's a Dragon in Your Book!". I love this whole series, but especially this one. They are cute, not too much text, simple, adorable illustrations, and very interactive.

Generally I use the same songs/rhymes all month in toddler storytime, but every now and then I will add one that goes along with the theme of the book, and this was one such occasion. A simple rhyme patterned after "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" that gave them a chance to pretend to be dragons.

Dragon, Dragon

Dragon, dragon turn around.

Dragon, dragon touch the ground.

Dragon, dragon fly up high.

Dragon, dragon touch the sky!

Dragon, dragon swing your tail.

Dragon, dragon shake your scales.

Dragon, dragon give a "Roar!"

Dragon, dragon sit on the floor.

We concluded with bubbles, while singing "Ten Little Bubbles", counting up and back down.

One little, two little, three little bubbles;

Four little, five little, six little bubbles;

Seven little, eight little, nine little bubbles;

Ten little bubbles go POP!

Pop, pop, pop go all the bubbles.

Pop, pop, pop go all the bubbles.

Pop, pop, pop go all the bubbles;

All the little bubbles go POP!

Ten little, nine little, eight little bubbles;

Seven little, six little, five little bubbles;

Four little, three little, two little bubbles;

One little bubble goes POP!

Then I announced that was the end of the storytime portion, and that we did have activities afterward, but we would go ahead and sing our "Good-Bye" song in case we didn't get to say good-bye to all of our friends later.

Storytime is over, wave good-bye.

Storytime is over, wave good-bye.

Storytime is done, and I know that we had fun.

Storytime is over, wave good-bye.

Activities 

• Q-tip Dot-Painting Dragon - I found a template online, and gave them red, green, and purple paint. This provides fine-motor practice and lets them play with colors.
• Sensory Bin - The sensory bin was currently filled with sand, along with some shells and molds. To tie with the dragon theme, I buried some dragon treasure (gold foil coins and plastic jewels) in the sand.
• Foam Blocks - the kids love these! I end up putting them out almost every week
• Alphabet Dinosaurs - Dinos are kinda like dragons, right? They're both reptiles, and the closest thing I had to a dragon toy. Each one is made of two pieces that fit together, and one half has the uppercase letter, and the other half has the lowercase of the letter.
  
  

How It Went 

I had a big crowd; twenty-five kids and twenty-three adults! Usually my toddler storytime averages 12-16 kids, but maybe 3-4 times a year the planets align and I get a big crowd. A couple of the kids (and some adults!) seemed slightly overwhelmed, and it was a bit loud for one little boy who kept putting his hands over his ears. But it went pretty well, and I think everyone had a good time. Some of the kids were more engaged than others, but that's pretty typical with this age and a crowd that large.

Ideally, I'd rather keep it a little smaller, but this big of a turnout is pretty atypical and it's usually just about right. If it ever becomes more consistently that large, I will probably divide it somehow; either a second session or add a baby storytime. However, I really need more staff before I add an additional storytime. There are also several 3 year olds, and even a couple over 3, that I may need to very gently encourage to move on up to the preschool storytime.

My Basic Toddler Storytime Plan

Toddler storytimes are a relatively new thing for me. Previously, I almost exclusively did preschool storytimes, though I did sub a few times for toddler storytime. In my current position, when I first started in-person storytimes back up in 2022 I was only doing 1 family storytime per week, but then starting that summer I divided it into 1 toddler storytime and 1 preschool storytime. The toddler storytime is planned for ages 1-3, with the preschool storytime being for ages 3-5. However, those ages aren't strictly enforced, though I'm thinking of changing the toddler age range to 1-2 because I'm starting to get a lot of 3 year olds, which is taking away from the true toddlers, and many of them are ready for the preschool storytime.

I've played around with the format, and have finally settled on one that seems to be working pretty well for us, for now. There are some key differences between the toddler and preschool storytimes:

• Shorter
• More songs, fewer stories
• More movement
• Use shaker eggs, movement scarves, bells, or other "instrument" every time
• More repetition - use all the same songs & rhymes for 4-6 weeks (I do occasionally add a new one that ties into the book), in addition to the welcome and ending songs being the same all of the time
• Usually only 1 book
• Very short, simple books, preferably with bold illustrations, interactive, and a really good rhythm
• Always end with bubbles (before good-bye song and activities)
• Activities afterward, some overlap with preschool storytime as I always have at least 1 or two older kids, but I always put out the foam blocks, sensory tubes, sensory balls, and stacking cups for the younger ones.
  
  

Basic Toddler Storytime Plan:  

1. Open room and announce it's time for storytime (I found if I let them in early, they would get too restless and start running around and getting into stuff, better to let them stay in the play area and let entering the room signal it's time to settle down.).
2. Greet families as they enter and hand them program sheet.
3. Shut door after everyone is in to prevent escapees.
4. Greet and welcome the group, briefly go over expectations.
5. Sing short "Hello" song, then introduce myself and say hello to all the kids by name (I generally average 5-10, rarely more than 12.  I would not try that with a large group.)
6. Warm-Up Song - Something with a little movement.
7. Shaker Eggs/Scarves - With 2 songs or rhymes. I alternate; eggs one month, scarves the next usually. If doing scarves, I have them pick one up as they enter, if doing eggs I pass those out when we're ready to use them. I take things up afterward, before moving on, but I also tell parents it's not worth causing a meltdown if their child really doesn't want to part with them.
8. Lead-in song - I use "If You're Ready for a Story"
9. Read book - very short and simple!
10. Song/rhyme
11. On a very rare occasion, might attempt a second, very short book here
12. Bubbles! Sing "Ten Little Bubbles" count up, then blow bubbles to pop, then sing again counting down. Bubbles are not only fun, but encourage tracking and reaching across midline. (Letting kids blow bubbles also works their oral musculature for speech, but that's best left as a home activity. I use a bubble machine or gun; no blowing in a group to reduce germ spread.)
13. Good-bye song - first explain that there are optional activities after, but we're going to go ahead and sing our "Good-bye" song in case we don't get a chance to say good-bye to all of our friends later.
14. Activities - usually  2 or 3 plus other toys, if larger group add more. I try to keep them developmentally appropriate, play-centered, and working on some developmental skill. Sometimes do a craft, but not often for this age as it isn't developmentally appropriate. Some examples:
• Sensory bin, they LOVE this! I use a base such as water, sand, kinetic sand, shredded paper, rice, or water beads with manipulatives added (plastic animals, gold coins & jewels, figures, boats, ducks, measuring cups & spoons, fishing set, etc.)
• Sensory tubes & balls (always put these out)
• Paper & crayons
• Play dough - great pre-writing activity! Rolling and smooshing dough strengthens little hands and fingers.
• Dot painting - they loved these at first, but have gotten a little bored with it, so use infrequently
• Play food
• Counting & Sorting manipulatives
• Building sets (foam blocks, star builders, bristle blocks, etc)
• Toy cars & construction vehicles with activity mats
• Flannel sets on large flannel board
• Magnetic gears
• Magnetic letters
• Plastic animals
• Puppets & Finger puppets
The storytime part lasts about 20-25 minutes, and I do sometimes deviate from the above plan by throwing in an extra short song or rhyme or on rare occasions getting in a second book, and sometimes cutting it short. Some of the songs that I use can be found on the "Repeating Songs" tab above (even some possibly cringe-worthy videos of me singing them), or in the thematic storytime write-ups listed in the right-hand column. Jbrary.com is a great source for songs and rhymes, with videos so you can hear the tunes and see the motions.

The activities portion lasts anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending on how many kids show up, their ages, and the activities. Occasionally I'll have a couple of families linger, but at 20-30 minutes I'll go ahead and put away anything they aren't using and go on out to the children's department, leaving the door open so I can keep an eye on things to be sure the room doesn't get wrecked and things don't "walk away" (sad, but true). Most families hang around in the children's department playing, socializing, and picking out books for a little while after storytime.


*Note for Outreach Storytimes - When I do classroom visits to daycares and preschools, I do not do crafts or activities, just the basic storytime. When I first start with a new client, or at the beginning of the school year, I usually shorten it a bit the first time or two. but I generally find I can do 2 books easily with toddlers in this setting as circle time is part of their daily routine. I currently am only able make visits once per month due to lack of staff and all the demands on my time, but my preference would be to visit every other week.



I'll add this plan to the "Storytime Plans" link above. If you'd like more detailed discussions of specific elements of storytime planning, check out all my posts tagged "Storytime Planning".

What does your Toddler Storytime look like?

Toddler Storytime - August

 

After having done only one family storytime a week since the pandemic hit, virtually through May and in-person outdoors through the summer, I decided to go back to the pre-pandemic schedule of toddler storytime on Wednesday and family storytime on Friday.

Movers & Shakers - Toddler Storytime

One of my coworkers usually does this storytime, but I had the chance to fill in for her when she was attending a conference last week. Though I see toddlers in my monthly outreach visit, this was my first time doing a toddler storytime with this particular structure.

Our system has two different storytimes for toddlers (defined as ages 18-36 months), a "Little Listeners" which is more of a traditional storytime for kids who are able sit and listen for longer periods of time, and/or prefer a quieter, calmer storytime. "Movers & Shakers" is for the same age range, but is more lively and active (more what I think of as a typical toddler storytime). It has more songs and rhymes with lots of movement, only 1 or 2 books that are typically very short and very interactive, and ends with bubbles and playtime. I've subbed once for the "Little Listeners" at another branch, but this was my first "Movers & Shakers".

Since children this age need and like repetition, my colleague uses the same songs for several sessions, changing it up each month, and doesn't really try to make it fit any particular theme. She had already selected this month's songs, so all I had to do was select the books and present it. She also uses a chime to get everyone's attention when it is time for storytime to begin, and during the storytime if they need refocusing.

I began storytime by ringing the chime and leading everyone to the storytime area, then sang a quick "Hello" song and handed out programs with all of the songs. I then introduced myself, explained I was subbing for Ms. S, and that she would be back next week. I went over expectations (it's okay for kids to wander, but please don't allow them to get into my things, invade others' personal space, or block anyone else's view; feel free to step out and come back if you need to, etc).

Next was a song from Jbrary I've been using a lot lately in my own storytimes that has movement and identifying body parts and actions. You can do as many or few verses as your want, and mix up the parts and actions:

Hello, Everybody

Hello, everybody, can you touch your nose?

Touch your noes, touch your nose?

Hello, everybody, can you touch your nose?

Touch....Your....Nose?

(Touch your toes, wiggle your ears, blink your eyes, rub your tummy...)

Then it was time for our first book, Eric Carle's From Head to Toe. I think this is the perfect book for a toddler storytime! 

The text is very short and simple, it has large, simple, bright and colorful illustrations of animals that the children can identify and imitate sounds, and it invites the children to move like the animals, "I am an elephant, and I can stomp my foot. Can you do it?"

I do skip the page featuring the donkey kicking because storytime is usually a bit too cramped for that, and I don't want anyone to get hurt. (I noticed that when Mr. Rogers visited Eric Carle on his show, he skipped that page when reading it aloud, too.)

That was followed with this movement song, also from Jbrary. To lead into it, I first showed everyone how to roll their arms, and told them we would be going up and down, out and in, and fast and slow.

Roly Poly

(to the tune of "Are You Sleeping")

Roly poly, roly poly

Up, up, up! Up, up, up!

Roly roly poly; Roly roly poly

Down, down, down. Down, down, down

(In-out, fast-slow)

Then we did one of my favorites that kids of all ages seem to love:

Five Little Dinosaurs

One little dinosaur went out to play,

Out in a giant swamp one day.

She had such enormous fun,

She called for another dinosaur to come.

"OH, DINOSAUR!"

(slap hands on thighs to imitate dinosaur running)

Two little dinosaurs....

Three little dinosaurs...

Four little dinosaurs....

Five little dinosaurs went out to play,

Out in a giant swamp one day.

They had such enormous fun

That they played all day til the was done!

(spoken) And then their mamas called,

"OH, LITTLE DINOSAURS,

Time to come home!"

And all the little dinosaurs ran back home.

(slap thighs to make running sounds)

I led into our second book with a quick verse of "If Your Ready for a Story" that is just a bit different than how I typically do it:

If You're Ready For a Story

(to the tune of "If You're Happy & You Know It")

If you're ready for a story, find a seat.

If you're ready for a story, find a seat.

Check your hands and your feet; if you're ready find a seat.

If you're ready for a story, find a seat!

For the second book I choose another great one for incorporating movement that I've used before, Everybunny Dance by Ellie Sandall. This is such a fun book! I start with telling the audience that this is a stand up and move book, not a sit and listen book, and they they are all going to be little bunnies, too. I have them show me their bunny ears (holding two fingers up over their heads) and shake their little bunny tails to get started.

As we go through the book, they get to do a lot of different movements along with the bunnies: dance and twirl, clap hands, pretend to play instruments, sing, etc. Then the fox comes and we have to crouch down and hide, staying very still and quiet. The fox also dances and plays, but then becomes sad and cries because she is all alone. When the bunnies realize that the fox is just lonely, they all jump out and clap and call "Bravo!".

That was followed by the classic "Wheels On the Bus" song, another I really like because of the motions and being able to do as many or few verses as you need/want to.

Then we began to wind things down with bubbles, starting with a counting song. We did the first verse, then once I didn't need my counting fingers anymore I began blowing bubbles as we did the second verse, and for a few minutes afterward.

Ten Little Bubbles

One little, two little, three little bubbles.

Four little, five little, six little bubbles.

Seven little, eight little, nine little bubbles.

Ten little bubbles go POP!

Pop, pop, pop, go all the bubbles.

Pop, pop, pop, go all the bubbles.

Pop, pop, pop, go all the bubbles.

All the little bubbles go POP!

I closed with the "Storytime Is Over" song, and put on some music and brought out some sensory toys for them to play with: sensory tubes, nubby balls and other 3-D shapes, and "Search and Find" alphabet bags. These are kind of like bean bags, made with a soft, velvety fabric, with a clear vinyl "window" on the front. Each is labeled with a letter, and inside are various objects that begin with that letter, along with the plastic pellet "beans". Kids can squish them all around to find and name all of the object. I believe they came from Lakeshore, but don't seem to be available any more.

How It Went 

Though the conditions weren't ideal, I thought it went pretty well. This storytime is normally held in the meeting room, where there is more space, less noise, fewer distractions, and the little ones are contained in a closed room. However, because it was election day and the library is a polling center, the meeting room was required for voting, so we had to have storytime in the space originally intended for storytime that really isn't the greatest design.

It is enclosed on three sides, but the fourth side is open to rest of the department, with the play area directly behind it. It is too small and cramped for the larger group this storytime attracts, too easy for little ones to wander off, and too much noise and distraction from older kids playing right behind us. Additionally, the area is lined with built-in storage bins, topped with cushions for seating, which are great for storage and for parents and kids to sit on to read together, but not so great for storytime because everyone sits there instead of on the floor closer to the presenter. This means it's harder to engage them because they are so far away and can't see the pictures very well. We ask people to move close, but they seldom do, and I do try to get up and walk around so everyone gets a better look. We really need our own separate, designated children's program room!

Since it was election day and school was out, there were a number of older kids at the library playing, so there was quite a din behind us and much more distraction. There was so much background noise my coworker at the desk relatively nearby said she couldn't hear me or the storytime at all! But despite that, I think it went pretty well, though there was the embarrassing moment when I totally blanked on the tune of the "Five Little Dinosaurs" song, even though I've done it at least a couple of dozen times and it's one of my favorites! I ended up speaking the first verse instead of singing it because I just couldn't come up with the tune, but finally it came to me for the remaining verses.

My voice was hoarse afterward from trying to talk/sing over all the background noise, though. I think it's time to invest in some kind of personal PA system. If you use one that you like, tell me about it in the comments!

Dinosaurs - Toddler Storytime

Once again I volunteered to sub for storytime at another branch, this time it was the toddler storytime. My family storytimes have a varying range of ages and often are more of a toddler storytime, and I do an outreach visit once a month that includes the toddler classes, but this was my first official toddler storytime.

Because the request came fairly late, I didn't have a lot of time to plan, so I fell back on a favorite theme that I thought was sure to be a hit - Dinosaurs! Who doesn't like dinosaurs? And of course anything that involves roaring is usually a sure thing! This was actually easier than planning either the baby time, which I was completely unfamiliar with, or my family storytime, since I could plan for a more specific age range (18-36 months), rather than baby thru school age, so didn't need to have as many back-ups or "Plan B"s.

I did it similar to my usual storytime, but only planned on doing 1-2 books, and added more songs and movement, and bubbles and music at the end instead of a craft. I started with singing "Hello, My Friends, Hello" as I passed out the sheets with all the songs on them, then introduced myself and gave my welcoming spiel, encouraging them to not worry about their child moving around as long as they didn't block the book or infringe on someone else's personal space, and to feel free to leave early if need be, or step out and come back.

Then we sang my new favorite beginning song I got from Jbrary. I like this song for the younger kids especially, because it has movement and encourages participation, and you can do as many or few verses as you like and incorporate different actions/body parts:

Hello, Everybody

Hello, everbody, can you touch your nose?

Touch your nose, touch your nose?

Hello, everybody can you touch your nose?

Touch - your - nose?

(pat your head, rub tummy, clap hands, stomp feet, take a seat)

In the past, I've found that the younger kids tend to be warm up more and be more engaged when I start with familiar children's songs, particularly the ABC's, and that's how I begin my outreach toddler visits, so I figured I would do the same today, and amp it up a notch by showing how the ABCs can be song to other songs, which helps break up the letters in different ways, so "LMNOP" doesn't always get lost in the middle.

So we started with the traditional way, which is to the tune of "Twinkle Little Star", and I mentioned it could also be sung to London Bridges, Mary Had A Little Lamb, This Old Man; Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes; and Row, Row, Row your boat. I decided to do it to the tune of "This Old Man", and we sung the first verse of that first, to get the tune in our heads:

This old man, he played 1; he played knick-knack on my thumb.

With a knick-knack, paddy-whack, give a dog a bone!

This old man came rolling home.

Then we sang the ABCs to that tune.

After that, it was time for our story, which we led into with three verses of our story song, clap your hands, find a seat, and say "Shh".

I chose an oldie but a goodie that I knew they would love, Snappy Little Dinosaurs, which is a wonderful pop-up book that is perfect for preschool and under. The illustrations are very bright and bold, with a heavy black outline, and the pop-ups really get their attention and make it fun. The name of each dinosaur is given, along with a short rhyming text, and it ends with the ferocious daddy T. rex with his massive jaws open wide!

These "Snappy Little..." pop-up books are so great to have in your storytime collection, with this one and the "Colors" one being the best. Sadly, they are out of print, but sometimes you can get a good deal on a good-condition used one.

SInce we talked about the colors of the dinosaurs while reading the book, I used that to segue into doing two scarf songs with our birghtly colored scarves. As I handed them out, I asked the kids to identify the color if they were older, or just said the color as I gave it to them. I originally had just planned one scarf song, but since I know they like them so much, I added a second, similar one. Both I found at Jbrary (of course).

We Wave Our Scarves Together

(to the tune of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow')

We wave our scarves together;

We wave our scarves together.

We wave our scarves together,

Because it's lots of fun.

(throw, twirl, etc)

Wave Your Scarf

(tune of London Bridges)

Wave your scarf up and down, 

Up and down, up and down.

Wave your scarf up and down,

Wave your scarf.

(left & right, fast & slow, 'round & 'round, to say goodbye)

In the last verse they are getting a chance to say "goodbye" to their scarves in preparation for putting them back in the bag, and I'm happy to say everyone did a great job of giving them back with no tears or objections!

Then I told them we were going to pretend to be dinosaurs with the next song:

The Tyrannosaurus Goes...

(to the tune of "The Wheels On The Bus")

The tyrannosaurus goes roar, roar, roar;

Roar, roar, roar; Roar, roar, roar.

The tyrannosaurus goes roar, roar, roar,

All day long!

(pterandodon's wings go flap, mosasaurus' tail goes splash, triceratops goes munch, brontosaurus feet go stomp, velociraptor runs fast, fast, fast, etc.)

I had planned a possible second book, I Love My Dinosaur by Giles Andreae and Emma Dodd, but we were already out of time, and I was losing them, so I skipped it and went straight to the bubbles. It is a super cute book, though. The text and illustrations are simple enough for toddlers, but it would probably be perfect for 3 year olds.

Instead, I put my "Wee SIng Dinosaurs" CD on and blew bubbles, and gave hand stamps (dinosaurs, of course) to those that wanted them, and blew a few more bubbles since there were still a fair number of families hanging around. 

I left the music on for a couple of minutes while I put everything else away, and still had a few cute stragglers who were determined to hunt down and pop every last bubble, and one who stayed until I just couldn't wait any longer and had to stop the music so I could leave. If I had been working my normal shift and my home branch, I would've just left it on as long as there were kids listening/dancing to it, but it was actually my day off, and I needed to get home to work on a final MLIS assignment due Friday.

How It Went

I think it went fairly well, as well as a toddler storytime with a substitute presenter could go. Most of the kids didn't seem to preturbed that their usual storytime person wasn't there, but the son of our program manager was not happy at all that I was there instead of his Miss Meggan, though he warmed up a little once we got going. One little girl was there that also comes to my branch frequently and recognized me, so she was happy to see me at least.

Though many of the kids seemed to like everything we did, I did notice that surprisingly I started loosing them during the "The Dinosaur Goes..." song, which I thought they would love, but maybe it had just gone on too long for them. I also noticed I lost some during the attempt to show the ABCs could be sung to different tunes. 

In retrospect, I should have skipped the ABC song, and done either the scarf songs or the dinosaur song in its place. I think I did not have enough movement at the beginning, and then too much at the end. I wish we'd gotten to the second book, but I did not really expect to, and I think it probably would have been slightly too long for this crowd anyway.

But the one little girl who stayed until the bitter end when I finally had to unplug the music and leave did come up and give me a hug, so I consider it a success! Plus, I got to wear my dinosaur dress.