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.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.**
Corduroy’s Day by Lisa McCue*
Mr. Bear Says Goodnight by Debi Gliori**
Early Literacy Tip
It’s only natural for babies to chew on books. They chew everything because they explore using their mouths.
This little guy came from my “Ten Teddy Bears” set. I took special care to hide him in my bag immediately after finding him because of his googly eyes. (This was an older flannel from before I was doing baby and toddler only storytimes.)
Repeating Extension Activities
- Grr Grr Went the Big Brown Bear**
- I Bounce You Here**
- Open, Shut Them*
- Round and Round the Garden**
- Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear**
How It Went
Tuesday morning
Today’s group was so fascinated with the brown bear puppet that I brought. Several of the babies just kept petting him once I was done with “Grr Grr Went the Big Brown Bear”, which was a nice tactile thing for them to play with. I actually went and put on a CD with “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” so they could keep squishing him.
Thursday morning
The best activity for this group was definitely “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”. Our parents and caregivers love this book. So many of them have it memorized. And while I often want to introduce new materials to parents, if a material works with this age group, I will use it and use it often!
storytime katie 
I do a Brown Bear, Brown Bear flannel board each week with my 18mo & 2’s. I pass out the animals (felt die cut shapes)including the bear and have them bring them up to the board as we call them. We sit on the floor in a circle on rug squares for our Toddler Time and the board is propped up. Some need mom to come with them and some can’t wait. I go around the circle with whatever animal is next but sometimes take those who can’t wait out of turn. We clap for each child when they place their animal. I made a few extra animals (pink pig, orange owl, you can repeat colors with different animals) with our die cut and used them with bigger groups. This is their favorite part of Toddler Time.
Cute!