For our last Infant Storytime of the Spring session (June 9), we ended with a trip to the ZOO!

A heartfelt thank you for sharing your beautiful babies with me!  It was a joy and an honor.

Let’s take a peek at the stories, bounces & rhymes we shared; for a printable list of  EVERYTHING we shared (including lyrics), click here:  Infant Songs-Bounces-Rhymes

OPENING SONGS:

Welcome Everyone!

Clap Everybody and Say Hello!

BOUNCES:

Dickery, Dickery Dare!

Grand Old Duke of York

 OUR BOOKS:

The infants are definitely at the toddling stage but thankfully  I was able to capture their attention with a classic book, Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell.  This book is about a child who writes to the Zoo asking for the perfect pet; there was quite a bit of trial & error before the Zookeeper sent him a suitable match!  The infants loved it and I think the parents did too!

Dear Zoo

MOVEMENT SONG: 

Clap, Tap & Bend

creature featuresI couldn’t resist sharing just three creatures from this marvelously illustrated book.  It is nonfiction but the visuals are bright, clearly delineated and stunning so I thought the babies would be attracted to the pictures.  I was right…  Packed with many cool facts and visuals on where certain animals live and what they eat, this book captures twenty-five humorous—and very true—explanations of why animals look the way they do in order to exist in this world.  In totality, a bit much for infants, but with a bit of paraphrasing it was workable!  (By the way, we identified the Panda, a Pufferfish and the Tiger! )

FLANNEL STORY

Teasing Mr. Crocodile

Monkey and alligator2

We had fun with the flannel version of this story:

Teasing Mr. Crocodile

Five little monkeys
Sitting in a tree

Teasing Mr. Crocodile,
“You can’t catch me.”

Along came Mr. Crocodile,
(finger up to mouth like SHHHH)
Quiet as can be
SNAP
(Both hands clap together like a crocodile’s mouth)

AND SNATCHED THAT MONKEY RIGHT OUT OF THAT TREE…(pull one monkey from the flannel board)

Four little monkeys
Sitting in a tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile,
“You can’t catch me.”
Along came Mr. Crocodile,
Quiet as can be
SNAP

Three little monkeys
Sitting in a tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile,
“You can’t catch me.”
Along came Mr. Crocodile,
Quiet as can be
SNAP

Two little monkeys
Sitting in a tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile,
“You can’t catch me.”
Along came Mr. Crocodile,
Quiet as can be
SNAP

One little monkey
Sitting in a tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile,
“You can’t catch me.”
Along came Mr. Crocodile,
Quiet as can be
SNAP

No more little monkeys
Sitting in a tree

MORE BOUNCES:

This is the Way the Ladies Ride

Trot to Boston

Trot Trot Trot

OUR NURSERY RHYME:

Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill,
 Put 2 forefingers and thumb on each shoulder to represent birds.

One named Jack.
Hold out one set of fingers.

One named Jill.
Hold out the other set of fingers.

Fly away, Jack.
Place one hand behind back.

Fly away, Jill.
Place other hand behind back.

Come back, Jack.
Return one hand to its shoulder.

Come back, Jill.
Return the other hand to its shoulder.

You can also replace Jack & Jill with the following options –

 One named Short and the other named Tall

(put one finger lower and one finger higher to represent Short & Tall)

OR

One named Quiet and the other named Loud

(say Quiet softly and say Loud with more force to represent Quiet & Loud)

 CLOSING SONGS:

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Goodbye Babies (in sign) (to the tune of Hello Ladies…)

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