Movement is a big part of all my storytimes – I love getting kids and caregivers moving and dancing and shaking and lifting!
But as someone with a chronic illness that can sometimes cause severe joint pain, swelling, stiffness and limited motion, I know all too well that not everyone has a full range of motion, or is comfortable with certain activities or movements.
It’s important that everyone who attends storytimes feels included and inspired, and for me this means working to ensure that my songs are as physically accessible as possible.
Here are a few examples of ways you can make movement songs more inclusive of different physical abilities (and don’t forget to model!):
Invite caregivers to stand up when it’s time to dance, if they’re comfortable doing so. Caregivers with tiny babies might feel more secure holding their babies in a seated position, while people with joint issues like myself might find getting up and down uncomfortable or awkward. It can feel weird being the only parent who isn’t standing, so be sure to acknowledge there’s no right or wrong way to sing any of these songs!
Zoom Zoom Zoom and the Elevator Song can easily be done as lap bounces, with caregivers lifting babies into the air from a seated position, or elevating them by raising their knees.
In songs like Toast in the Toaster or I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock, rather than lifting babies, caregivers can raise and lower their own arms or their babies’ arms to reinforce vocabulary.
While seated, caregivers can sway to the rhythm of dancing songs like My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean or Dancing with Bears.
With a song like Go In and Out the Window, seated caregivers can lean their babies forward and backward, rather than swooping them around as one might do when standing.
Toddlers and older children can be encourage to raise and lower their own arms, reach up and touch their toes, or jump in movement songs.
And with all lifting songs, caregivers can adapt the lifts to be as high or as gentle as they and their babies are comfortable with! Some babies love to touch the sky, while a gentle raised sway will be quite enough for some wee ones.
I also always have a few chairs available, as not everyone is comfortable sitting on the floor.
Obviously this is far from an exhaustive list of ways to make storytime as physically accessible as possible (and there are many other kinds of accesibility!), and I would love to hear what you do in your programs to help caregivers with different physical needs and abilities feel empowered and included!
And a big thank you to all the wonderful storytime facilitators who work so hard to make their programs welcoming to everyone – I always appreciated it as a caregiver, and I know so many other caregivers in your communities do, too.