Last week’s Infant Storytime, our last of the Winter Session, was all about the forest. We put together a flannelboard picture out of shapes, and I based it on the book Orange, Triangle, Fox by Sarah Jones:

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orange triangle fox 2

We played I Spy and talked about forest animals. Then we read Mama’s Little Bears by Nancy Tafuri. The large illustrations show bears discovering all the animals that share their forest home.

Mamas Little Bears

We sang the song “Way Up High in the Apple Tree”:

Way up high in the apple tree
Two little apples smiled at me
I shook that tree as hard as I could (tickle baby)
Mm, mm, mm those apples were good! (tickle baby’s tummy)

After that we did something new: I created a sheet with rhyme lyrics, and an image of three eggs in a nest. Then I cut out slits around the eggs so that the parent holding it could poke their fingers through as the little birds hatch! Here is a PDF you can reproduce. And here are the lyrics:

Here’s an egg in a nest in a tree.
What’s inside? What can it be?
Peck, peck, peck,
Peep, peep, peep.
Out hatched a little bird, (poke finger through)
Cute as can be! (wiggle finger)

Here’s an egg in a nest in a tree.
What’s inside? What can it be?
Peck, peck, peck,
Peep, peep, peep.
Out came a second bird (poke finger through)
Wiggling free! (wiggle finger)

Here’s an egg in a nest in a tree.
What’s inside? What can it be?
Peck, peck, peck,
Peep, peep, peep.
Out hatched another bird, (poke finger through)
And now there are three! (wiggle fingers)

We sang “A Smooth Road to London Town,” and bounced our babies to the rhythm:

A smooth road to London Town,
A smooth road to London Town,
The road goes up and the road goes down,
A smooth road to London Town.

But by and by we came to a wood,
And there the roads are not so good,
A bumpy road, a bumpy road,
A bumpy road to London town.

A smooth road to London Town,
A smooth road to London Town,
The road goes up and the road goes down,
A smooth road to London Town.

But by and by we came to a dell,
And there the roads are not so swell,
A rough road, a rough road,
A rough road to London town.

Then we read another book, Sally In The Forest by Stephen Huneck. It’s a funny book, also about exploring animals in the woods.

Sally In The Forest

We did another tickle–“Slowly, slowly”:

Slowly, slowly, very slowly creeps the garden snail. (walk fingers up arm)
Slowly, slowly, very slowly up the wooden rail.
Quickly, quickly, very quickly runs the little mouse. (run fingers around child’s belly)
Quickly, quickly, very quickly round about the house. (slip fingers under child’s arm and tickle)

Then we sang “Bunny, white bunny”:

Bunny, white bunny (place pointer fingers beside head)
With ears so tall,
And your two pink eyes,
And a mouth so small, (make O with mouth)
Wiggle goes one ear, (wiggle one finger)
Wiggle goes the other, (wiggle other finger)
Hop, hop, hop, hop home
To your mother!
(from http://wiki.kcls.org/index.php/Bunny,_White_Bunny)

We finished with a flannelboard and our song cube…

five little squirrels

Five little squirrels sitting by the door,
One ran away and then there were four.
Four little squirrels climbing up a tree,
One ran away and then there were three.
Three little squirrels wearing coats so new,
One ran away and then there were two.
Two little squirrels warming in the sun,
One ran away, leaving only one.
One little squirrel was having no fun,
He ran away and then there were none.

Thank you so much for letting me witness your babies’ growth and delight while we sang, tickled, bounced and read. Remember to come tomorrow to register for the Spring Session. Take care of yourselves and your beautiful infants!