Adjusting Storytime On the Fly

Last week I talked about how important it is to be flexible and responsive to your audience during storytimes. There were a lot more examples about possible ways to do this than I wanted to squeeze into that (already) long post! So here’s a list of tricks I’ve used and read about for adjusting your storytime as you go. This list is SO not complete! What are your tips?

Adjusting “up” (your group is older than you planned)

• Stop and ask open-ended questions as you go through the story
• Ask the children to make predictions about what will happen next
• After you’ve read the story once, go back, and have them retell the story to you as you turn the pages
• If you’re singing a song like “Wheels on the Bus,” ask the children for ideas for additional verses
• Add an action song (“Shake Your Sillies Out,” “Hokey Pokey,” etc.)
• Do a cumulative chant such as “Button Factory” or “My Aunt Came Back.”
• Tell a familiar story like “Three Little Bears,” but mix up the details and let them correct you. (“Once upon a time there was a family of rhinocerouses that lived in the woods…”)

Adjusting “down” (your group is younger than you planned)

• Skip one of the books you had planned on reading
• Stop and explain vocabulary words, or emphasize plot points
• Count only 3 things instead of 5 for a flannel, or 5 things instead of 10
• Sing only 2 or 3 verses of songs like “If You’re Happy and You Know It” or “Spider on the Floor”
• Substitute an oldie but goodie such as “Itsy Bitsy Spider” or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” for a less-familiar or a more complicated fingerplay
• Or do the new fingerplay, but explain it all first, and then do it 2 or 3 times in a row

And how about adjusting for bigger or smaller storytimes than you expected? What do you do then?