Infant and Toddler Time – Play and Pretend

Last Tuesday we read books about playing and pretending for our Infant and Toddler Storytimes. Here are some of the stories and activities we shared about our theme!

Stories

During our infant storytime, we read Meeow and the Little Chairs. In Sebastian Braun’s story, Meeow and her friends use their colorful chairs to create a train! It is pretend play at it’s finest. We also shared a board book by Carol Thompson titled One, Two, Three Jump! What better way for baby to play? There were all sorts of jumps in this book – little jumps, bed jumps and even kangaroo jumps!

During toddler storytime, we shared the book Joey and Jet by James Yang. Joey’s dog Jet is always ready to play fetch but he sure gets worn out chasing that ball among birds, through trees, on the water…well, you get the picture. Jet goes through quite a few hoops to get that ball back to Joey only to start all over again!! We also read Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis. I tried to make the book come alive by using some props. Remember we had a stick, but the stick wasn’t really a stick! I pulled a fishing pole, a bandleader’s baton, a horse (actually not the horse) and even a sword out of a big blue box! We talked about the things a stick can become when you play pretend!

Flannelboard Story

INFANT STORYTIME

Little Bo Peep

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep

And doesn’t know where to find them.

Leave them alone and they’ll come home,

Wagging their tails behind them.

TODDLER STORYTIME

One Little Kite

One little kite in the sky so blue,

Along came another and then there were two.

Two little kites, flying high above me,

Along came another and then there were three!

Three little kites, watch how they soar,

Along came another and then there were four!

Four little kites, so high and alive,

Along came another and then there were five.

Five little kites dancing cross the sky,

What a sight to see, way up high!

Five Little Kites

Five little kites way up in the sky,

Say hi to the clouds as they pass by

Say hi to the birdie

Say hi to the sun

Say hi to the children, one by one.

Then swish went the wind and

They all took a dive…1, 2, 3, 4, 5!

Rhymes & Songs We Shared

We have a lot of fun doing action rhymes at storytime! Here are the ones we shared without musical accompaniment.

INFANT STORYTIME

Welcome Song (tune: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)

Welcome, welcome everyone
Now we’re here let’s have some fun.
First we clap our hands just so
Then we bend and touch our toes
Welcome, welcome everyone
Now we’re here let’s have some fun.

Dickery Dickery Dare (tune : Hickory Dickory Dock)

DickeryDickery, dickery dare, (bounce baby on lap)
The pig flew up in the air. (lift baby up in air)
The man in brown
Soon brought him down! (bring baby back down to lap)
Dickery, dickery, dare. (bounce baby on lap)

The Grand Old Duke of York (See video of Grand Old Duke of York)

The grand old Duke of York (bounce baby on lap)
He had 10,000 men, (bounce baby on lap)
He marched them up to the top of the hill (lift baby up in the air)
And he marched them down again. (bring baby down onto lap)
When they’re up, they’re up (lift baby up in the air)
And when they’re down, they’re down, (bring baby down onto lap)
And when they’re only halfway up, (bring baby halfway up)
They’re neither up nor down. (lift baby up and bring baby down again)

One Little Nose

One little nose (touch baby’s nose)
Two little feet (touch baby’s feet)
Three little tickles on your tummy so sweet (tickle baby’s tummy)
Four little kisses on five little toes (kiss baby four times)
Then one more kiss for you sweet little nose. (kiss baby’s nose)

Mr. Moon (See video of Mr. Moon)

Mr. Moon, Mr. Moon, you’re out too soon,
The sun is still in the sky,
So go back to your bed and cover up your head,
And wait ’til the day goes by.

TODDLER STORYTIME

Welcome Song

(to tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
Welcome, welcome everyone
Now we’re here let’s have some fun.
First we clap our hands just so
Then we bend and touch our toes
Welcome, welcome everyone
Now we’re here let’s have some fun.

Open Shut Them (See a video of Open Shut Them)

Open, shut them. (hands palms out with fingers stretched, then close into fists)
Open shut them. (hands palms out with fingers stretched, then close into fists)
Give a little clap, clap, clap. (clap hands on each clap)
Open, shut them. (hands palms out with fingers stretched, then close into fists)
Open shut them. (hands palms out with fingers stretched, then close into fists)
Place them on your lap-lap-lap. (pat lap three times)
Creep them, crawl them (creep fingers up from lap towards chin)
Creep them, crawl them (creep fingers up from lap towards chin)
Right up to your chin-chin-chin (tap fingers on chin)
Open up your little mouth (open mouth wide)
BUT DO NOT LET THEM IN! (say quickly and hide hands behind back).

INFANT & TODDLER STORYTIMES

Time to Say Goodbye (tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb)

Now it’s time to say goodbye, say goodbye, say goodbye,

Now it’s time to say goodbye, we’ll all be back next week!

Goodbye Friends (in sign)

Goodbye friends, goodbye friends, goodbye friends,

It’s time to say goodbye..

Music We Shared

Singing is a great way to share words and rhythms with your baby. While you don’t need a music cd to do this, we do share some songs from cds in our storytimes.

INFANT & TODDLER STORYTIMES