Sadie's Top 5, 3-Years-Old

At the end of my last "Sadie's Top" post, I wrote the sentence "Hopefully I will have enough non-TV/movie character books for another post around Sadie's third birthday!" At the time that I wrote it, most of the books Sadie gravitated toward were books based on TV and movie characters-- Paw Patrol, Moana, Frozen, etc. We were in a not-so-great reading phase and I was sad about it. Now, at three-years-old, Sadie definitely still does enjoy those character books, but she has totally come back around to reading other things! She asks me to bring home new books constantly! And, even though our bedtime has changed, we're back to reading books together at night! Hooray!

Once again, I'm going to omit the books based on TV and movie characters (although, FYI, she's REALLY into this specific Frozen book with a spinning Elsa in the middle.) because the reason those books are hits are because of the recognizable characters, not because of the quality of the writing or the story-line. So, those books aside, here are Sadie's Top 5 books, as a sweet, big-girl, three-year-old:

Little Bear Needs Glasses by Bernd Penners is super fun. It's about Little Bear, who, as the title suggests, need glasses. He asks to try on all his friends' pairs but none are quite right. The cool thing about this is that you can actually try each pair of reusable sticky glasses on Little Bear's face! It comes with 5 plastic, reusable stickers! So it's totally interactive! In the end, Little Bear does find the perfect pair (spoiler alert: It's the red, circle pair that none of the other animals are wearing) and everyone is happy! Also, if you like this and your kid is really into the whole reusable sticker thing, try All Better! by the same author. This one is the "original" removable sticky story book and has pretend bandaids instead! Both great!

Hi, Pizza Man by Virginia Walter is a storytime favorite of mine! I have been using it for years in programs and I'm so excited that Sadie likes it now too! The story is about waiting for pizza and greeting whoever brings it. The first pizza deliverer is a human man, so we say "Hi, pizza man!" Then it's a human woman, so we say "Hi, pizza woman!" Then we say things like "Meow meow, pizza cat!" and "Ssssss, pizza snake" when a super formally dressed cat (including a cape!) and a friendly snake in three bow-ties and a top hat deliver the pizzas. There are a total of 8 greetings and then, finally, the pizza comes! Who's going to deliver it? It's a surprise! I love this book because it includes animal sounds and silliness, plus a gentle nod to children having to wait patiently from time to time, even though it's difficult.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems-- Yay! We're finally reading Mo Willems! Even though sometimes Sadie immediately allows the pigeon to drive the bus the very first time he asks to, every time we read it, it clicks a little more in her brain. In case you're not familiar with it, this book is about a pigeon who's begging the reader to allow him to drive a school bus. The book very specifically starts off with the bus driver asking the reader to keep an eye on things for him until he gets back and to make sure NOT to let the pigeon drive the bus while he's gone. So then, as soon as the driver walks away (on page 2), the pigeon pokes his head in and says "I thought he'd never leave." Then he asks, "Hey, can I drive the bus?" (to which the reader is supposed to answer "Nooo!"). His pleading with the reader gets more and more dramatic until he explodes about halfway through the book with, "LET ME DRIVE THE BUS!!!!!!!" Other pleading attempts include "I bet your mom would let me," "I'll be your best friend," and "How 'bout I give you five bucks?" It's a great storytime book and a great one-on-one book and is probably good for kids until, at least, first grade. I'm even inclined to say that there is no upper age limit, except that there comes a point where kids would find reading picture books super uncool. Also, FYI, there are a ton of other Pigeon books like Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, and The Pigeon Wants a Puppy, so there's no shortage of chances for kids to have control over the character in the book while giggling along the way! I can't wait to introduce other Mo Willems books to Sadie soon!

Rock-a-bye, Baby by Jane Cabrera ticks all the baby love boxes for Sadie. I'd say that this book is probably great for kids a lot younger than she is, but Sadie really enjoys it too. Maybe she finds it comforting. It's the classic song we all know, but re-imagined with lots of woodland animals and extra verses. For example: "Rock-a-bye Squirrel, high in the tree, in Mommy's arms, cozy as can be." I always sing (instead of say) the whole book and when I do, Sadie always pretends to scoop up and rock all the different animal babies on the pages in her hands. Then she goes "Awwww! So cute!" while pretending to pet them. She really loves babies and therefor, she really loves this book!

Can You See What I See? Seymour Makes New Friends by Walter Wick is one of many search-and-find books and magazines (hello, Highlights!) that Sadie enjoys. She seems to like these particular ones best because they're a little easier than some of the others that we've tried. Like, she can actually find the stuff. I think that they're better for her age. There's even a little story about Seymour along the way, although that part is totally lost on Sadie and even kind of lost on me. This was the first Seymour book that we tried and was, possibly, her favorite one, but all of them are great... and basically the same familiar thing!

Quick aside: I just had a patron ask me for potty books for her daughter and it reminded me of the potty book that really really sealed the deal for Sadie as far as potty training books go. I figured I'd recommend it here in case anyone else is looking for a great potty book recommendation. It's called A Potty For Me by Karen Katz. There are a lot of potty books out there, and a lot of other great ones too, but this is, by far, the one that Sadie always both enjoyed reading the most and the one that, absolutely, made using the potty a feasible and relatable experience for her. This book was a game changer for us-- and we read a lot of potty books!

Anyway, Sadie's Top 5 will be back in 6-months with her 3½-year-old faves!

Share & Play Babies (9/18/19 - 10/9/19)

It's been a loooong time since I wrote about Share & Play Babies but, to me, it's one of the most important programs that I do. For most of the babies and probably about half of the adults, it's their first library program! Ever! So I always want to make sure it's fun, relaxed, and a welcoming environment. To me, this is more important than the actual content of the program. Of course this isn't to say I don't agonize over the weekly content, but more to say that, above all else, I just want Share & Play Babies to feel like a warm, inviting, nonjudgmental mom group, where the moms are free chat if they want to, but aren't required to make small talk for toooooo long.

Anyway, this past session was for four weeks and, rather than write about just 1 week in detail, I'm going to share lists of all of the different things that I did over the course of the whole program.

The basic general format of this program has changed a bit since I first started doing it back in 2017, and it varies a little week-to-week depending on the group, but this is my general outline for each 30-minute session:

1. Open play (with music) + (sometimes) introductions (5-10 minutes)
2. One big book read by me (2-3 minutes)

3. A few familiar lap bounces or finger play type songs (2-3 minutes)
4. One board book, passed out as a class set, read individually between parents and babies (2-3 minutes)
5. Baby soccer (with music) + clean up toys (3-5 minutes)
6. Instrument/play thing time-- shakers, rainbow wrist ribbons, scarves, etc. (5 minutes)
7. Parachute time (5-10 minutes)
8. Goodbye song + bubbles (2-3 minutes)

In short, and if you do the math up above you'll see, this is a LOT to cram into a 30-minute program. So we're very busy in there...all while trying to all be relaxed!

1. Open play: I have done programs involving open play for years, but it typically felt awkward and forced for me. Before I had my own kids, open play included a lot of me feeling sort of useless, smiling, and only saying things like "Awww, so cute." But now that I am a mom too, open play/chat time/introductions are totally different! First, I've decided that open play works better at the start of the program. This gives everyone a chance to settle in, get comfortable, even come in a few minutes late without too much pressure. Second, I learned that it works well when combined with introductions. This organically opens up the conversation floor a little and is just a good way to get to know who's in the room. Plus, chit-chatting with moms during open play is sooooo much easier when you have your own kids.

2. One big book read by me: After open play, the first "structured" thing I did was read the class a big book. I purposely only did big books because my bottom age limit was so young and I wasn't sure how well some of the smaller babies could see yet. I don't remember the specific month-by-month developments, but I do know that it isn't until 12-months-old that babies see the same way we see, as adults, so I erred on the side of seeing less, and did only big books. I left the toys out too because (a) I'm not really a stickler for making kids (especially babies) pay attention to me, (b) I believe babies can benefit from hearing a book while also playing with or chewing on a toy, and (c) Just why NOT let them play with a toy a little longer if that's what they're currently in the mood to do? Like I said, we're all there to relax and have fun!

These are the four big books I read throughout the class:

Freight Train by Donald Crews

Where's Spot? by Eric Hill

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker

Note: I was limited in my selection based on what big books we own. These four books were definitely good, but if I were choosing from literally all books ever, instead of just the big ones we have, I probably would have only done Freight Train from the books listed above. And possibly Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? I definitely would have also done Baby Parade by Rebecca O'Connell. FYI, that is a really great book for a class of babies!

3. Familiar lap bounces/finger play type songs:  These songs are a mix of familiar songs we mostly know, new songs I wanted to teach the group, and old songs spiced up a bit! I did 1-3 of these each week, depending on how long they were. Here are the songs we wound up covering over the four weeks:

The Moon Is Round *

Eyes, Nose, Cheeky, Cheeky, Chin *

Itsy Bitsy Spider

London Bridge

A Smooth Road *

You Roll It *

She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain *

Five Little Monkeys

* These are all from Jbrary! Here are the videos!

4. One book, passed out as a class set, read individually between parents and babies: I like incorporating some one-on-one reading time for the babies and caregivers, again, because the babies can see the books up close, even if their distance vision hasn't fully developed yet. There are also a lot more wonderful baby books out there in board book format than there are in big book format. Plus, this is a great way to introduce some of my favorite books for this age bracket to parents who may be looking for recommendations! Throughout the four weeks of this class, these are the books that I had the parents share with their babies:

Sneak-a-Peek Colors by Roger Priddy
Baby Food by Margaret Miller

Hello, Bugs! by Smriti Prasadam-Halls

Are You My Mommy? by Mary Murphy

5. Baby soccer: This is a super fun game that I stole from the wonderful Ms. Kathy who does this in her baby programs at my local library. For this, I brought out a decent-sized ball, had the parents/caregivers lift their babies by grabbing them under their arms, and then making the kids "kick" the ball around the circle to each other. It could maybe more accurately be described as Baby foosball.  This winds up being a really awesome team building activity-- all the grown ups working together, making sure all the babies have a chance to play. There was one week where I got to play with of the twins in the group and, sure enough, it was really a lot of fun!

6. Instrument/play thing time-- shakers, rainbow wrist ribbons, scarves, etc.: I did a different thing at this point in the program each week. One week I did shakers, one week I did BABY AEROBICS*, one week I did scarves and also a circle dance, and one week I did wrist ribbons.

What's baby aerobics? Glad you asked. This is something I've tried a few times but have had trouble with when my age group is too varied. But with this class, oh it worked... and it worked really, really well. It's to the tune of Lynn Kleiner's Exercise to the Beat-Twinkle Theme. Here's how it goes:

I have this video starting at 5:55 because that's when they do this song. When you have a group entirely of kids the right age for it, this is SO cute. But the odds of having a group all the correct age, when the age range is only a couple of months wide (maybe 4-9 months?) is kind of a long shot. I got really lucky the week I did this! It was a great experience!

7. Parachute time: I am a huge fan of parachute time with babies. There is so much you can do and even the simplest songs are exciting and stimulating for them because the parachute itself is stimulating. Some weeks I used my normal 12" parachute but some weeks I used a cute lil' 6" one.

Here are all the parachute songs I wound up using throughout the four-week-class:

The Colors Over You *
Wheels on the Bus (with baby leg motions)

Let’s Go Riding in an Elevator *
Peek A Boo 

ABC’s
If You’re Happy and You Know It Lift it High / Shake it Fast

Twinkle, Twinkle
Old McDonald (with puppets)

* These two are also from Jbrary! Here are the videos!

8. Goodbye song: My classic program goodbye song for over 10-years-- Laurie Berkner's Blow a Kiss. Always a favorite for me!

Ladies and gentleman, I am quitting "What worked least" and "What worked best." It's my blog and I just straight up don't wanna do 'em anymore! Overall, this was a great program and it makes me so happy to be able to reach our youngest, newest library patrons and to provide them with a happy, comfortable, welcoming place to make and form happy library memories! Yay babies!

Astro Babies

I am a person who loves taking pictures and documenting things. When I was a really little kid, my parents bought my a "kids camera", having no idea how much money they'd be spending on film over the next few years. When I was in my 20's I won a travel contest (a trip to Australia!) because I wrote an essay promising lots and lots of documentation (and, by the way, did deliver lots and lots of documentation). So when I say that I ran this whole program and totally forgot to take pictures until the last five-minutes, you know I must have really been enjoying myself!

I had 6 babies join me for my space-themed baby class, Astro Babies. It was back in August and I am only writing about it now, but better late than never, right? We had a great time! Here's what we did:

This was my plan (red = ipod, blue = song I sing, green = book):

1. A New Way to Say Hello by Big Jeff
2. Goodnight, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

3. Zoom, Zoom, Zoom *

4. Moon, Moon, Moon by Laurie Berkner (with the basic arm-movements that Laurie herself does in the video for this song).

5. Peek-a-Boo Space by DK Publishers **

6. Pete the Cat: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by James Dean ***

7. Rocketship Run by Laurie Berkner #
8. Yellow Star (parachute + stars) ##

9. Outer Space is Where I'd Really Like To Go (parachute + stars) ##

10. If You're Happy and You Know It (parachute + stars)

11. Blow a Kiss by Laurie Berkner (parachute + stars + bubbles)

* Zoom, Zoom, Zoom can best be explained by my friends at Jbrary, from who I steal basically everything I ever do:



The verses are a little out-of-order in the video above because this is the video for the "extra verses" which I do after the first verse. But the first verse does come at the end of this video, when they show a fun way to end the song (which I don't do). This is the best video on Jbrary for showing all 3 verses I do in one single link.

** Peek-a-Boo Space is, admittedly, not the best baby book I've ever used in my life but it WAS a decent baby book-- especially if you only read the pages on the right side (the left ones make it way too long for kids this age) and, most importantly, it was an available and an on-topic baby book. I really like to have 1 or 2 (usually just 1) board book class set per baby program for the kids and caregivers to share together for a few minutes and, overall, this one fit the bill.

*** Both of my girls LOVE James Dean's Pete the Cat: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I don't know what it is that makes it so perfectly engaging for little ones, but even I find singing the full song with all its verses to be soothing and beautiful (and trust me, it's not my singing voice!). This was on Sadie's Top 5 list when she was just 3-months old and it would have been on it again and again if I'd allowed myself to do duplicates. For Astro Babies, I had to gather my courage because reading this book basically means singing a song alone in front of everyone for about 2-3 minutes. It's a little scary but, from time to time, I think this book is worth it. The song and the illustrations together just really work well together.

# Ok. I write about Rocketship Run a lot. Sometimes it seems like I write about it in every blog post I do. But this was my first time ever doing it with babies so, again, it deserves some space!

This is my Rocketship Run "kit:"

In Musical Kids, I do Rocketship Run every week, starting in the 17-30-month-old group, and then also in the 2.5-5-year-old group. With these kids (and also with the school-age kids I did it with in 3...2...1... Blastoff) when I hold up one of these signs, the kiddos all run up and touch their rockets to it, like they're really "going" to the sun/moon/etc. I'VE NEVER TOLD THEM TO DO THIS, and yet every week, it happens. They all do it! It's so funny to see! They totally invented it and it's continued on from week-to-week and from class-to-class. For years!

Obviously, things went down differently with the babies. There was no running. But it was actually super gratifying to show the pictures along with the words of the song because of the intense amount of language acquisition happening at this age. There is absolutely nothing better than the combination of visual aid and music for language-learning--it hits everything at once--so, even though it was different that I'm used to, it felt really beneficial! And, in the end, the parents and kids had fun playing with the rockets-on-sticks together and just getting in that special bonding time.

## Yellow Star is a song written by me. Sort of anyway. It goes to the tune of Baby Shark and goes like this:

Yellow Star doot doot doot doot doot doot

Yellow Star doot doot doot doot doot doot

Yellow Star doot doot doot doot doot doot

Yellow Star.

Blue Star doot doot doot doot doot doot
Blue Star doot doot doot doot doot doot
Blue Star doot doot doot doot doot doot
Blue Star...

And then also, purple star, green star, orange star, and red star. I purchased two sets of these plush stars from Oriental Trading, cut off the strings and tossed the corresponding colors on the parachute as we sang each verse. I think it worked, again, getting in that music + visual combo. Language acquisition? I'm on it!

### Outer Space is Where I'd Really Like To Go is another demonstration of my song writing skills. I found the basic song here on Kidsparkz, but I modified it a LOT. It's to the tune of If You're Happy and You Know It and it made an ok parachute song. Click here to download the words on a handout,which I obviously had to make because this song is way too long and complicated to teach and then re-sing over and over in a 30-minute baby program. This is how it goes:

Click here to download the handout! 

I followed this up with classic If You're Happy and You Know It, because I'd always prefer to sing the classic song also when I sing an alternative version of it.

What worked least: I think Outer Space is Where I'd Really Like To Go was only ok. It was sort of more effort than it was worth-- writing the song, making the handout, singing 4 verses-- when all of it was just lost on the kids because they were so little. I think it was one of those examples of the theme detracting from the quality of the program, where if I'd just done a few of my really good tried and true parachute favorites, it would have been less work for both me and the parents, and, quite possibly, the kids would have gotten more out of it.

What worked best: This is so crazy but, AGAIN I think I have to say the winner is Rocketship Run! This one's always a favorite in Musical Kids, but it surprised me when it was a favorite with the school-age kids in 3...2...1... Blastoff and now it's surprising me again by working really well with the babies too! This song is magic! It's literally always good.