We had a wonderful time reading books about fish during Infant Storytime this week.  We met Fred the Fish, sang songs, shared nursery rhymes and had fun with some bounces.

We also learned that the word Fish begins with the letter F and we discovered a few other things that begin with the letter F:  Frog and Flower.

 

Books We Shared

Fun FACT:  Did you know it is good to read early and often to your infant?  You might think that your baby isn’t able to benefit from books when they are just a few months old, but that is not true. 

Beginning early is important because the roots of language are developing in a baby’s brain even before they can talk! The more words your baby hears over time, the more words they learn.  Zero to Three

We read another book by Lucy Cousins titled:  Hooray for Fish!  If you read the blog post about our storytime on Birds, you’ll know that she has a similar book titled:  Hooray for Birds!  Both are colorful, bold, bright and full of concepts like up and down, round and round, upside down and many more.  Although both books are too long to keep an infant’s attention, they can easily be shortened to work for babies.  They even work well for very young infants because the illustrations are large, clearly defined and brightly colored.  Babies whose eyesight is still in the early stages of development (0-5 months) are able to make out most of the shapes/images while babies 5 months and up are able to distinguish between different colors.   Watch the video clip below to get an idea of how your baby’s vision develops.

Flannel Story

5 BIG FISH

5 big fish swimming in the sea (make swimming motions with arms)
5 big fish having fun and feeling FREE! (wiggle fingers in the air on FREE)
One big fish started swimming to shore
And that leaves us with only 4! (count aloud 1-2-3-4)

4 big fish swimming in the sea (make swimming motions with arms)
4 big fish having fun and feeling FREE! (wiggle fingers in the air on FREE)
Another big fish decided to flee
And that leaves us with only 3! (count aloud 1-2-3)

3 big fish swimming in the sea (make swimming motions with arms)
3 big fish having fun and feeling FREE! (wiggle fingers in the air on FREE)
Another fish said:  “I have things to do!” so he swam away
And that leaves us with 2! (count aloud 1-2)

2 big fish swimming in the sea (make swimming motions with arms)
2 big fish having fun and feeling FREE! (wiggle fingers in the air on FREE)
Another fish said: “I want to feel the sun!” so she swam away
And then there was 1! (count aloud 1)

Slowly say…

1 big fish swimming in the sea (make swimming motions with arms)
1 big fish feeling sad and feeling free (wiggle fingers in the air very slowly)
This big fish felt so sad and all alone that he decided to swim back HOME!

Sadly say…

No big fish swimming in the sea, no more fish having fun and feeling free…

Nursery Rhyme Flannel We Shared

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

This version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star incorporates sign language.

Songs, Rhymes & Bounces We Shared

We share a lot of songs, bounces & rhymes during storytime!  You’ll find lyrics/words to most of the bounces, songs & rhymes we shared.

Welcome Song
(to the 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!

Clap Everybody and Say Hello! (see “CDs section” below to find this song in our CD collection)

Clap everybody and say hello, clap everybody and say hello, clap everybody and say hello, no matter what the weather

Stamp everybody…

Wiggle everybody…

Jump everybody…

Dance everybody…

Sing everybody…

Songs, Bounces & Tickle

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Video:  Twinkle Twinkle

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle Twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are.

The Grand Old Duke of York (bounce)

Video:  The Grand Old Duke of York

Oh, the grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again.
When they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down.

One, Two, Three…Whee!!! (song & bounce)

One, two, three…Whee (repeat 3 x)

Then count – 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8!

REPEAT with Jump, Shake, Twist & then back to Whee!

From: Smile at Your Neighbor with Mr. Eric ~ Eric Litwin

Peas Porridge Hot! (bounce)

Video:  Peas Porridge Hot

Peas porridge hot (bounce baby on lap)
Peas porridge cold (bounce baby on lap)
Peas porridge in the pot, nine days old!
Some like it hot (move baby to left)
Some like it cold (move baby to right)
Some like it in the pot, nine days old! (bring baby down below knees)

Two Little Eyes  fingerplay rhyme)
Two little eyes to look around (point to eyes)
Two little ears to hear a sound (point to ears)
One little nose to smell what’s sweet (point to nose)
One little mouth that likes to eat! (point to mouth)

Dickery Dare (bounce)

Dickery, dickery dare,
The pig flew up in the air…WOOOO!  (lift baby up)
The man in brown
Soon brought him down! (put baby back on lap)
Dickery, dickery, dare.

With My Little Hands (song activity)

With my little hands I go clap, clap, clap, (clap baby’s hands)
With my little feet I go tap, tap, tap. (tap baby’s feet)
With my little arms I wave bye, bye, bye, (gently lift baby’s arm to wave bye)
With my little legs I kick high, high, high! (help lift baby’s legs)
With my little eyes I say peekaboo, (cover baby’s eyes and play peekaboo)
With my little lips I say I love you! (look at baby and say I love you)

REPEAT once

Tickles:

Round the Garden (circle baby’s belly button)

Round and round the garden, goes the Teddy Bear, a one-step, a two-step, a tickle under there.

Goodbye Babies (song in sign)

Click here for video:  Goodbye Babies (Friends)

Goodbye babies, goodbye babies
Goodbye babies, it’s time to say goodbye.

Music from CDs We Shared

Children love to sing and dance to music.  Here are some of the songs/bounces on CD that we used in storytime.  Click onto the CD titles to find these items in our library catalog.

“Clap Everybody and Say Hello” fm Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman

“Ladies Ride” from More Tickles & Tunes by Kathy Reid-Naiman“Smooth Road” from Baby’s Boat by Kathy Reid-Naiman

“I’m a Little Teapot” from Toddler Favorites by Music for Little People

“Two Little Blackbirds” from by Circle Time: songs and rhymes for the very young by Lisa Monet

“Itsy Bitsy Spider” from It’s Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

Continue the Fun

If you’d like to read more books about fish, check these out from your local Pasadena Public Library!