Baby Storytime: Animal Movements

It’s been awhile since I posted a new baby storytime plan! This month we’re talking about Playing for our literacy messages, so a little make-believe seemed like a good fit.

OPENING SONG: Hello Song*

OPENING FINGERPLAY: Open Them Shut Them*

BOOK: Faster! Faster! by PATRICELLI
I can’t get enough of Leslie Patricelli and love this follow up to Higher! Higher!

BOUNCE: Trot Trot to Boston
“We just went faster than a dolphin, and an eagle, and a horse! Are you ready to ride a horse, too?” This is an old favorite. Bounce baby on your lap, gently dropping them between your legs when you say, “in.” I remind parents of young babies that they might be more comfortable bouncing facing in rather than facing out.

Trot trot to Boston
Trot trot to Lynn
Trot trot to grandma’s house
But don’t fall in!

ACTION RHYME: I Can Stretch
by me! Encourage the parents to gently move their babies to reflect the actions if they are too little to follow along themselves.

I can stretch like a kitten
I can hop like a frog
I can swim like a turtle
I can shake like a dog
I can sway like a snake
I can flap like a bat
I can reach like a monkey
I can move like that!

FLANNEL SONG: A Hunting We Will Go*
Today we used snake/cake and dog/log to go with our rhyme, plus house/mouse and fish/dish.

LITERACY TIP: Playing
Parents, when you play lap games and bounces with your baby, it makes them feel secure and happy because they are close to you. Their brains release endorphins which not only make them feel good, but actually can reinforce learning, too. In this case the learning includes hearing the sounds, rhymes, and words of our language, and helps lay the groundwork for becoming good talkers, readers, and writers later on.

BOOK: From Head to Toe by CARLE
I paperclip the pages so we wind up doing about half of the animals.

ACTION SONG: Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes
When you sing this with your babies, slow it down! Give their brains a chance to make connections between the words and the meanings.

Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose
Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes

PUPPET SONG: Did You Ever See a Blackbird
I pulled out puppets to go along with some of the animals we saw and acted out today. You can use whatever works!

Did you ever see a blackbird, a blackbird, a blackbird,
Did you ever see a blackbird fly this way and that?
Fly this way, fly that way, fly this way, fly that way
Did you ever see a blackbird fly this way and that.

…a fishy swim this way and that
…a snake slither this way and that

ACTION RHYME: This is Big Big Big*

CLOSING SONG: Sneeze Game*

*Check out the My Baby Storytime page for the words and/or citations for these weekly activities!