Our summer session of Infant Storytime is underway.  Each week you’ll find a blog post that covers the books, rhymes, songs, tickle, bounces, flannel stories and finger puppets we shared.  We also throw in some information about the benefits of reading, singing and talking to your baby!

For our very first storytime of the session we enjoyed reading and singing about BEARS!  Below you’ll find a record of everything we shared!

FUN FACT
By bringing your infant to storytime you are contributing to your child’s brain development.  Discover the 13 things babies learn when you read to them by clicking onto the link below.  You’ll be redirected to an article that appears on the official website for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

BOOKS WE SHARED


   

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? by Bill Martin

We modified the text from this classic picture book by Bill Martin (illustrations by Eric Carle) and created a flannel board story.  The book works because it capitalizes on elements that appeal to babies and toddlers – rhyming cadence, bold and bright colors, large drawings that can easily be seen, repetition with an element of surprise, and animal identification.  It is sometimes fun to take a story and use props to tell it in another way – children respond to the textures and tactile nature of flannel stories.

(Each animal is placed on the flannel board as it is mentioned).

Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?
I see a red bird looking at me.
Red bird, red bird what do you see?
I see a yellow duck looking at me.
Yellow duck, yellow duck, what do you see?
I see a blue horse looking at me.
Blue horse, blue horse, what do you see?
I see a green frog looking at me.
Green frog, green frog, what do you see?
I see a purple cat looking at me.
Purple cat, purple cat, what do you see?
I see a white dog looking at me.
White dog, white dog, what do you see?
I see a goldfish, looking at me.
Goldfish, goldfish what do you see?
I see a librarian looking at me?
Librarian, librarian, what do you see?
I see children looking at me!


Hello Bear by Priddy Books is a simple board book that works well as a lap sit or read aloud.  As you turn each page your baby greets a different animal with a “hello.”  Recreating the sounds that each animal makes encourages your infant to start mimicking you.  These utterances are the beginnings of your baby’s speech and language development.  Also, getting baby to say “hello” begins reciprocal language and introduces the concept of communicating with actual words.  This book is a great way to jump-start all of these processes in your baby’s brain.  Plus infants love the colorful pictures and can grab and hold the book without tearing any pages.  Another aspect of literacy you might not think about – figuring out the mechanics of turning the pages!


Flannel Nursery Rhymes & Songs We Shared

Listen to these two children’s librarians from their blog site – Jbrary – sing the Grizzly Bears song which we sang together during our first storytime!  The lyrics are sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb.  You can sing along at home with your baby.  (I’ve provided the lyrics below):


Grizzly Bears Song

Grizzly bears are big and brown,
big and brown, big and brown.
Grizzly bears are big and brown
and live in the woods.

Polar bears are soft and white.
soft and white, soft and white
Polar bears are soft and white
and live where it is cold.

Teddy bears are just my size,
just my size, just my size,
Teddy bears are just my size
to cuddle with at night.


The Bear Went Over the Mountain

 

The bear went over the mountain
The bear went over the mountain
The bear went over the mountain!!!!
To see what he could see.

But all that he could see (clap twice)

But all that he could see (clap twice)

Was the other side of the mountain
The other side of the mountain,
The other side of the mountain!!!!

Was all that he could see!


Click onto the animated video clip below to hear the melody to the nursery rhyme song, The Bear Went Over the Mountain.  This version is a bit longer than the one we sang during Infant storytime.  There are many variations on this song so you’ll notice mine is a bit different from the one in the video clip.  Hope you have fun with it!



Action Songs, Rhymes & Bounces We Shared

We share a lot of songs, bounces & rhymes during storytime!
You’ll find lyrics/words to those songs & rhymes we shared without CD accompaniment here.

Opening Songs

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.

Dickery Dickery Dare (bounce)

Video:  Dickery Dickery Dare

Dickery dickery dare,
The pig flew up in the air –
Wooooo!
The man in brown,
Brought him back down,
Dickery dickery dare!

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.

Peas Porridge Hot! (nursery rhyme)

Video:  Peas Porridge Hot

Peas porridge hot
Peas porridge cold
Peas porridge in the pot, nine days old!
Some like it hot
Some like it cold
Some like it in the pot, nine days old!

Round the Garden

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

Goodbye Friends (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” from 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 bears, check these out from your local Pasadena Public Library!