Another day, another family story time. This morning I led a family story time in a new-to-me branch that has only recently started offering Saturday morning story times. Because the program is new, and is only offered every other week, we weren’t expecting a big group – which is just as well, as the branch meeting room was unavailable and I set up shop in the children’s area.
The group started out pretty small – only a handful of very young children and their caregivers seated in a semi-circle on the floor. As the program wore on, children were drawn from around the library by my enthusiastic (read : loud) singing, and our numbers soon grew.
Here’s what we did! I don’t typically do three books at a family story time, but this was a small, quiet group and the books were short and interactive, so it worked out really well. The small space wasn’t conducive to too much jumping around, but we did manage to fit in a few jumping songs (mostly because I love doing them so much!). No one in the group has done the elevator song before, so we sang that one a couple of times – it was an all-ages hit, so I think they’ll be requesting it in the future!
Welcome Song: Hello, Friends
Book 1: Monkey and Me / Emily Gravett
Hand Rhymes
- I wake up my hands
- Wiggle your fingers
- The itsy bitsy spider
Book 2: Little Owl Lost / Chris Haughton
Hand Rhymes
- Roly poly
- Open shut them
Book 3: Bark, George / Jules Feiffer
Action Songs
- Zoom Zoom
- The elevator song
Goodbye Song: Goodbye, Friends!
Oh, Bark, George. You have served me so well, for so long, and without fail. Apparently my animal impressions need a bit of work, though. My “oink, oink” apparently sounded like a cow.
The most hilarious part of the experience was the tween who walked up behind me while I was reading a story, tapped me on the shoulder, and said “could you be a bit quieter?”. Once the initial shock wore off, my response was something along the lines of a hissed-through-a-smile “no, I cannot. But you are free to move to a quieter part of the library.” Oh tweens….