Baby Time

40 babies
37 adults

Mr. Bear (comes out every week).  I play tracks 2 and 3 from this album.

Fingerplays:  Like Betsy Diamant-Cohen (Mother Goose on the Loose), I try to use props/flannels/pictures to offer babies a visual representation of what we are singing about.  Here are some of the puppets I used today.

Roly Poly (every week)

Roly poly, roly poly up, up, up
Roly poly, roly poly down, down, down
Roly poly, roly poly out, out, out
Roly poly, roly poly in, in, in
Roly poly, roly poly clap, clap, clap
Roly poly, roly poly lap, lap, lap

Mr. Bullfrog

This is Mr. Bullfrog (make fist)
sitting on a rock (place fist on other palm)
He jumps into the water... (lift fist, building anticipation)
Kerplop! (clap hands together)

The Leopard Has Lots of Spots

This is from Jbrary, except there is no way I could keep that tune.  I ended up singing it like this to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell"

The leopard has lots of spots (point to different "spots" on baby)
The leopard has lots of spots
The tiger has stripes (rake your hand up baby's belly)
Which are just as nice
But the leopard has lots of spots

Open Shut Them

Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a little clap, clap, clap
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Put them in your lap, lap, lap

Raise them, lower them
Raise them, lower them
Give a little flap, flap, flap
Raise them, lower them
Raise them, lower them
Put them in your lap, lap, lap

Animal Song with Puppets ( "Down on Grandpa's Farm" (Every week, but I rotate the song each week):

Song with Manipulatives: Balls (Every week, but I usually hand out shakers)

"Roll Your Ball".  Everyone goes nuts over this song!

Bouncing Songs:   

"Peanutbutter Jelly" (Every week, but I rotate songs)
I love, love this version.  I always encourage lots of pizazz and everyone cracks up when the singer burps.

"I Wake Up My Hands" (Every week)

Prop Rhyme: "Hickory Dickory Dare" (Every week, but I rotate rhymes)
This may originally be from kindermusik, but I'm not sure.  The great thing about this rhyme is that parents can do it at home with their own stuffed animals.  They can even take turns throwing the animals in the air with their babies and toddlers.

Hickory dickory dare
The turkey flew up in the air
Farmer Brown
soon brought him down
Hickory dickory dare

(I used a turkey and rooster because they are farm birds... and of course pigs fly too.... but ANY animal works with this rhyme).

And we always end with bubbles!  Watching bubbles move, rise, and fall helps babies practice tracking objects with their eyes.  Reaching for bubbles helps develop motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

Baby Time: Monsters

Reminder:  I will be in NY for the next two Baby Time Sessions so there will not be storytimes until right before Halloween.  I had to get my monsters in today!

Here are some of the theme-specific activities we did today:

"Mr. Bear" sang his welcome song (dressed like a Jack o' Lantern)

 "The Star Monster"
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We'll catch a monster
and give her a pink star
And then we'll let her go...

 "Five Green Goblins"

The Halloween version of "Five Little Monkeys" Listen here.  There is a 20 second interval at one point where there is just music and we take that opportunity to toss our babies in the air.

 Book:  Monster, Monster.  This is a really fun lift-the-flap book

 Uh oh!  We found the monster and he  likes to munch on books.

"Pumpkin, Pumpkin"
(movements)

Make pumpkin in front of your with arms
Tip over
Roll your hands
Hug baby (or through your arms up and say, "Trick or Treat!"

"I Saw a Ghost"

I saw a ghost (use this fun ASL sign for "ghost" )
He saw me too (point to self)
I waved at him (wave)
But he said, "Boo!" (gesture with hands)

Shakers:  We shook to Eric Litwin's "We are Monsters" Listen here

Baby Time

I really love doing Baby Time!  The caregivers are so invested in the early bonding moments they share with their babies and participate enthusiastically.

This post from last week includes Mr. Bear, "Roly Poly", "I Wake Up My Hands", "Going Up and Down in an Elevator", "Charlie Chaplin Went to France" (my new favorite!), and "Robbie Rabbit".


Animal Song with Puppets: "If I Was a Bird"

Book: "Hickory Dickory Dock" from Cat & Mouse by Ian Schoenherr

Prop Rhyme:  "Slowly, Slowly Snail" - I played Kathy Reid-Naiman's version 

My lovely co-woker livened this rhyme up with some puppets while the caregivers and I creeped our fingers up and down baby's arms and body.

Slowly, slowly, very slowly
creeps the garden snail
Slowly, slowly, very slowly
up the garden rail

Quickly, quickly, very quickly
runs the little mouse
Quickly, quickly, very quickly
right up to his house!

Bounce Song:  I used a recorded version of "Hickory Dickory Dock" and these adorable mice (from IKEA).  The babies tick-tocked and the mice ran up and down them as the clock struck, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00

Baby Time

We did some new rhymes in Baby Time yesterday so I wanted to make sure to post everything we did on here so you can do them at home.

36 babies
2 school-age children (with permission)
39 adults
77 total


The Regulars:  Mr. Bear and Roly Poly Beatle:

Roly Poly:
Roly poly, roly poly UP, UP, UP
Roly poly, roly poly DOWN, DOWN, DOWN
Roly poly, roly poly OUT, OUT, OUT
Roly poly, roly poly IN, IN, IN
Roly poly, roly poly CLAP, CLAP, CLAP
Roly poly, roly poly LAP, LAP, LAP

Songs:

"I Wake Up My Hands" Listen to sample here

Animals Song with Puppets:  "Down Grandpa's Farm" by Raffi" using these signs:

Chicken - baby sign language
Sheep - baby sign language
Cow - baby sign language
Dog - baby sign language
Horse - baby sign language

Book: If You're Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera

Bounce Rhymes and Fingerplays:

Going Up and Down in an Elevator (to the tune of "Bouncing Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon")
Going up and down in an elevator X3 (bounce)
First floor (lift baby)
Second floor (lift baby higher)
Third floor (lift baby higher)
Dooown!

Charlie Chaplin Went to France:
(My 5 month old goes nuts over this one)

Charlie Chaplin went to France
To teach the babies how to dance
First they did the Ramba
Then they did the kicks
Then they did the Samba
Then they did the splits, the splits, the splits

Watch YouTube video here

There Was a Little Turtle 

There was a little turtle  (make fist, thumb out)
who lived inside a box (cover fist with other hand)
He swam in the water (paddle)
And he climbed on the rocks (walk fingers up baby's arm)
He snapped at a mosquito (snap)
He snapped at a flea (snap)
He snapped at a minnow (snap)
And he snapped at me (snap)

He caught the mosquito (snap)
He caught the flea (snap)
He caught the minnow (snap)
But.... he didn't catch me! (wave finger side to side)

Robbie Rabbit:

Robbie Rabbit is so fat, fat, fat (tickle belly)
His soft little paws go pat, pat, pat (clap hands)
His soft little ears go flop, flop, flop (flop "ears")
And when Robbie runs he goes hop, hop, hop (lift baby up)

We always ends with shakers (or every now and again something a little different) and BUBBLES!

Baby Time: Some Halloween - ish stuff

Here's the plan for Baby Time tomorrow:

Mr. Bear is still wearing his pumpkin costume:

Book: If You're a Monster and You Know It by Ed Emberley: Monsters sing their own version of this popular song that encourages everyone to express their happiness through movement.

 

Animal Puppet Song:  "If I Was a Bird"

From the Wiggleworms Love You album:

 

Fingerplay/Rhymes:

I saw these rhymes on multiple sites - not sure whom credit originally belongs to...

 

Pumpkin, Pumpkin

 

Pumpkin, Pumpkin sitting on a wall (bounce baby on lap)

Pumpkin, Pumpkin tip and fall (tip over)

Pumpkin, Pumpkin rolling down the street (roll hands)

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, you're so sweet! (hug!

 

I Saw a Ghost

 

I saw a ghost (ASL ghost)

He saw me too (point to self or baby)

I waved at him (wave)

But he said, "Boo!"

 

See sign for "ghost" here

 

Bouncing Song:  "Five Green Goblins"

From the Fisher Price Halloween album.  (This is the goblin version of "Five Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed") 

 

Prop Rhyme: Star Monster

 

A-hunting we will go

A-hunting we will go

We'll catch a monster

and give her a (color) star

And then we'll let her go!

Monsters! Baby Time and Wiggle Worms (toddler)

Here are some monster-y activities I did with the babies and toddlers this week:

Mr. Bear (and me)

 

Letter of the Day: Mm

 Flannel:  Alphabet Monster by Robert Heidbreder
(source)

The toddlers all got a letter to bring up to to stick on the large flannel monster.  They brought them up in groups of:

ABCDEFG

HIJK

LMNOP

QRSTUV

WXYZ

The babies just sang the alphabet as I pointed to the letters (that I placed in order on the monster beforehand)

 

Music / Transitional Song: "ABC Medley"

 

This is a great transition medley by Laurie Berkner to settle toddlers after an exciting activity like The Alphabet Monster. 

 

 

Music / Movement:  "Five Green Goblins"

Listen to sample or download here

 

You know the premise:  Five green goblins jumping on the bed...

 

Books:

Monster, Monster by Melanie Walsh (amazon.com).  (Read with babies)  The flaps in this book are in the shapes of silhouettes of people and animals in costumes.  The real monster at the end of this fun, colorful read takes a bite out of the book.  Mmmm

Monster, Be Good by Natalie Marshall.   (Read with toddlers)  This books is colorful with large illustrations and a great read for toddlers who are invited to help the monsters behave.  I add a few of my own pleases and thank yous when sharing this book.

Spiders! Baby Time

With Halloween approaching, I did a couple of spider-y activities with the babies:

Board books for one-on-one reading (not spidery-y)

 

Music and Manipulative Activity:  "Shoo Fly"

We usually end with shakers, but today all the babies got a fly to shoo away.  I use Carole Peterson's version because there is some hand clapping, foot stomping, bouncing, and twirling in between all the shooing.

 

 

Book: I always read a short, interactive book in Baby Time.  This week I read:

 

Bouncing Song:  "Itsy Bitsy Spider" by Halp Palmer

I use the song from this CD. 

 

In this version, the tenacious little spider keeps on climbing until he finds an adorable little baby toe to land on and crawls all the way up the body.  As we sang the song, I took the opportunity to bring Fluffy the Spider (puppet) around to each baby.  She's actually quite adorable!

 

Prop Rhyme:  "The Spider Catches a Fly"

 

The spider catches a fly

The spider catches a fly

Hi ho the dairy-o

The spider catches a fly

 

 

To see how this prop was used in other storytime sessions, see this blog post

 

 

Baby Time - Autumn

I don't post about Baby Time nearly enough.  I love this group.  I love the care-givers!  I love the babies! 

Depending on weather, time of year, etc. this program (for babies ages birth to around 20 months and their caregivers) brings in an average of 50 to 80 participants each week.

There is a lot of repetition, but we keep it fun along the way! 

These friends make an appearance every week:

Roly Poly Beetle
(Roll baby's hands - or your hands - accordingly)

Roly poly roly poly up up up
Roly poly roly poly down down down
Roly poly roly poly out out out
Roly poly roly poly in in in
Roly poly roly poly clap clap clap
Roly poly roly poly lap lap lap

Mr. Bear (recorded music)

After we wake up Mr. Bear, he sings hello to all the babies and then we wave to him and clap together:

Today he was so excited about fall sports, he wore his Arizona Cardinals jersey

Every week we also:

• Sing "I Wake Up My Hands" (recorded music)
• Sing an animal song with puppets (recorded music)

This week we sang "If Animals Could Dance"

• Read a book as a group (Today we read From Head to Toe by Eric Carle)
• Read board books one-on-one with our babies
• Reading should be a fun activity for babies!  If they are getting antsy, it's ok for them to walk around while you read or just put the book down.  No need to finish it.
• Books are fun!  Leave books in your toy baskets at home.  If baby just wants to play with the books, that's fine!

Some of our babies reading with care-givers today:

 

• Sing a bouncing song (recorded music)

Today we sang "The Leaves on the Tree" by The Learning Station (Listen here)

 

 

• Dance to music with shakers (Today we played with scarves instead while I played "Falling Leaves") (Listen here)
 
• Do a prop rhyme

 Today we did "I Found an Apple on the Ground" (idea from Storytime ABC's

 

• End with bubbles

Other Rhymes We Did This Week:

 

Tommy Thumbs

 

Jack is Quiet

 

There Was a Little Turtle

 

We always end with social time.  Thank you, adults, for being so focused on your babies during the program! 

 

Baby Time

Today was a smaller group, but I got to meet some new babies and see some "old" friends which was really nice!  I chose to do rhymes and songs most of us know so that the babies could ease back into the routine after a month "off".

Check out this cute baby playing with our Teen Volunteer, Lucia, during social time:

Of course Mr. Bear and Roly Poly Beetle sang their signature songs:

Roly Poly
Roly poly roly poly up up up (roll baby's hands)
Roly poly roly poly down down down
Roly poly roly poly out out out
Roly poly roly poly in in in
Roly poly roly poly clap clap clap
Roly poly roly poly lap lap lap

Bouncing / Lapsit Rhymes

Popcorn
Popcorn, popcorn put in in the pot (bounce)
Shake it, shake it (gently wiggle baby)
Pop! Pop! POP! (lift baby up)

Rain is Falling Down
Rain is falling down (wiggle fingers downward)
Rain is falling down
Pitter patter, pitter patter (clap softly)
Rain is falling down
Splaassh! (clap hands together and up for a big splash!)

The Alligator

It's no secret this is one of my favorites (courtesy of Miss Trish at Sunset Branch, Chandler).  You can crawl after mobile babies and catch them or let them crawl after you!

The alligator's jaws go snap, snap, snap
The alligator's tail goes thwack, thwack, thwack
Gotchya! (big hug!)

"The Itsy Bitsy Spider" by Hap Palmer.  My not so itsy bitsy spider helped.

Book:

Lunch by Denise Fleming.  I love this hungry little mouse.  Lucia helped mouse (my puppet) devour all his favorite fruits and veggies (flannel board pieces) as I read.

 

Prop Rhyme:

 

The babies helped me say goodbye in some fun ways with these animals:

 

 

See you later, alligator

Bye bye, butterfly

Give a hug, lady bug

Take care, brown bear

See you soon, racoon