For more information on how I plan and prepare my baby storytimes, check out this introduction post. And for a complete list of the baby rhymes/bounces/lifts/etc., visit this post. I starred the materials used in the plan; multiple stars indicate use for more than one session.
The Plan
Books
For baby time, my library passes out individual copies of board books to each caregiver/child pair. I typically keep two or three to the side of me in case a baby tries to grab my copy. I read face out; caregivers read to their children.
Clifford’s Animal Sounds by Norman Bridwell*
Cow Moo Me by Stephen Losordo**
Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton**
Early Literacy Tip
Animal sounds are your baby’s first steps to saying words!
I took the cow from my “Mrs. Wishy-Washy” set and kept her hidden, with her clean side showing. Now that this is the third week, the babies have started to anticipate the shape game and immediately walk up closer after we sing “Hands Are Clapping”. I love that they are excited about this game!
Repeating Extension Activities
- Baa Baa Black Sheep**
- I Bounce You Here**
- Open, Shut Them**
- Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear*
How It Went
Tuesday morning
There was a lot of really good animal sounds from my caregivers in this storytime. Quite a few babies answered back with their own sounds! This was the storytime where one of my families asked me to use some recorded music since my co-worker had done that in the past. It was an easy addition to add, so I did. I still dislike fiddling with the CD player though. I feel like it disrupts my storytime flow, but I’m sure I’ll get better with practice.
Thursday morning
Today’s group really enjoyed the Boynton title; I could tell that there were a lot of fans when some of the babies vocalized once I passed the books out. I have a helper baby in this group who loves to collect everyone’s board book copy. It’s the sweetest thing ever, but I have to be careful that no one bursts into tears if she takes their book.
storytime katie 
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