I loved my first Toddler Storytime here at Central! Here are the things we did today:
We celebrated the letter B and talked about words that begin with B! There are lots of creative ways to introduce alphabet letters to your child, and it’s never too early to start. Now, our goal is not to get toddlers “reading” per se, but just exposing them to the letters and words that make up stories and drawing their attention to those letters so they start to build recognition. So every Tuesday at storytime, we’ll talk about a new letter and by the end your child will know one third of the alphabet!
We read Now I’m Big by Karen Katz. We celebrated all the things we can do now that we’re not longer babies!
We also read Baby and Me by Emma Dodd. This is a brand-new, great interactive book with tabs your toddler can pull to watch the pictures come to life. Although these books don’t have the longest shelf life, they are totally fun and you should feel free to check them out with your toddler so you can enjoy them together!
We learned the song “Hush, Little Baby” with a feltboard display:
Hush, little baby, don’t say a word.
Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird
And if that mockingbird won’t sing,
Papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ring
And if that diamond ring turns brass,
Papa’s gonna buy you a looking glass
And if that looking glass gets broke,
Papa’s gonna buy you a billy goat
And if that billy goat won’t pull,
Papa’s gonna buy you a cart and bull
And if that cart and bull turn over,
Papa’s gonna buy you a dog named Rover
And if that dog named Rover won’t bark
Papa’s gonna buy you a horse and cart
And if that horse and cart fall down,
You’ll still be the sweetest little baby in town.
And we sang Pat-a-Cake, Itsy Bitsy Spider, I’m a Little Teapot, Two Little Blackbirds, and Twinkle, Twinkle. We also had lots of fun with the songs Here is the Beehive and Open, Shut Them!
If you’ve never heard Here is the Beehive before, here are the words:
Here is the beehive, but where are the bees?
They’re hiding inside where nobody sees!
But wait! Watch them come out of their hive…
One, two, three, four, five!
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!! (tickle!)
And Open, Shut Them is an old favorite here:
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Give a little clap, clap, clap
Open, shut them
Open, shut them
Place them on your lap, lap, lap
Creep them, crawl them
Creep them, crawl them
Right up to your chin, chin, chin
Open wide your little mouth but…
DO NOT LET THEM IN!
See you all next week!