Babies: Colors

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.

Butterfly Colors and Counting by Jerry Pallotta**
Maisy’s Colors by Lucy Cousins*
Spot Looks at Colors by Eric Hill*

Early Literacy Tip

Talking about different colors is a great way to introduce new vocabulary. Don’t shy away from using words like “turquoise” and “gray” as well as the primary and secondary colors.

Flannelboard: Shape Game

I used a rainbow piece from my “Rainbow Stew” flannelboard. Once I revealed the rainbow, we talked about all of the different colors in the rainbow.

Repeating Extension Activities

• Bouncing Bouncing*
• Colors Over Me**
• Rock the Baby*
• Roly Poly**
• Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear**
• These Are Baby’s Fingers**

How It Went

Tuesday morning
During this storytime (I nearly always sit on the floor with the babies), I have two of the babies come over and start rubbing my back. It was really sweet and I have to admit, I could use a back massage! The babies were in love with the scarves today and “Colors Over Me”.

Thursday morning
We had a baby take FIRST EVER STEPS in storytime! He came over to get a book from me and I nearly cried along with his caregiver. But as amazing as this was, while we read “Butterfly Colors”, I invited families to read in their native language. I got to hear some Farsi, Hindu, Chinese, Polish, and Spanish. It was a great moment for me to hear all those great new words!