Musical Kids (for ages 17-29 months) 5/25/18

Greetings from my second official maternity leave! I am enjoying a summer off, sleeping in and relaxing poolside. Just kidding! Turns out it's super hard to have a newborn and a toddler at the same time! I'm exhausted! Anyway, I started this blog post a couple of days before I went into labor and then--surprise!--my daughter came early and I never got to finish it. Until today!

Friday, May 25 I did my last Musical Kids class before baby and I had my favorite visitor join me: Sadie! As it turns out, it has been over two years since I featured my "middle group" in a Musical Kids blog post! And now that I have a "middle group"-aged kid myself, it seems like the perfect opportunity to discuss them! They are such a fun, sweet group that seem to range so much in their 12-month span of ages. In fact, I've always found this group the hardest one to plan for because of their varied levels of abilities and understanding. Even with my own kid falling in this range, it's still a hard group to accommodate fully-- at least the way I'd ideally like to.

That said (and I hate to sound biased but I totally am), it's currently my favorite group because... well, honestly, my favorite group is just whichever one Sadie is in.

Anyway, here's my playlist for the week (red = ipod, blue = sing):

1. A New Way to Say Hello by Big Jeff
2. We're Going To Kentucky by Bob McGrath (shakers)
3. Spaghetti Legs by Jim Gill (shakers)
4. This is the Way We Wash Our Arms (scarves) *
5. The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Suzi Shelton (scarves) **
6. If You're Happy and You Know It
7. Rocketship Run by Laurie Berkner (rockets) ***
8. Whole Lotta Lovin' from Fats Domino (drums)
9. Can't Buy Me Love by The Beatles (tambourines)
10. The Grand Old Dukes of York (parachute) #
11. Ring Around the Rosie (parachute) ##
12. Slow and Fast by Hap Palmer (parachute + balls) ###
13. Blow a Kiss by Laurie Berkner (parachute + balls + bubbles)

* This is the Way We Wash Our Arms: To the tune of So Early in the Morning, for this song, we pretend our scarves are washcloths and "wash" different parts of our bodies. So the first verse goes:

This is the way we wash our arms, wash our arms, wash our arms
This is the way we wash our arms so early in the morning

Then we come up with other body parts to sing about, usually doing about 5 in total. Simple and fun, plus great for getting kids in this age group to reinforce the names of body parts.

** The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Suzi Shelton: This is a fun one! I use the scarves and have everyone pretend that they are lions and their scarves are are blankets or pillows. When the song starts, everyone is "sleeping." Then, when Suzi Shelton says, "Wake up lions!" we all dance around and wave our scarves. It's fun and I also just love this version of this song.

*** Rocketship Run by Laurie Berner: I write about Rocketship Run every time I blog about my middle or oldest Musical Kids group because it's an absolute essential with these kids. I can't do the class without it. When I do this song, I hand out rockets-on-sticks (which I made, probably, four years ago at this point) for them to zoom around with, and then also, I hold up signs for all the places that we "travel" to. Here is a picture of my gear:

When I hold up a given sign, the kiddos all run up and touch their rocket to the sign, like they're really "going" to the sun/moon/etc. I'VE NEVER TOLD THEM TO DO THIS, and yet every week, it happens. It's so funny! They totally invented it and it's continued on from week-to-week and from class-to-class. For years! In fact, I saw my own daughter run up and touch the sign with her rocket for the very first time during this class and it made me crack up in the middle of the class. It was SO cute and funny. Additionally, this song always gets the loudest end-of-song cheer from both the children and the adults. A++ for Rocketship Run! Here are a few pictures of the kids last week as they "traveled" to the stars. There's mine right in the mix of it!

# The Grand Old Duke of York: If you're not familiar with it, the lyrics to The Grand Old Duke of York can be found here. The song references "up" and "down" and "top" and "bottom" a couple of times, making it a super easy and intuitive parachute song-- just follow along with the lyrics!

## Ring Around the Rosie: This is a great kids-on-top-of-the-parachute song. We seat them all in the middle, then the adults walk around in a circle, holding the parachute handles as we sing the first verse. For the second verse ("Cows are in the meadow eating butter cups, ashes, ashes, we all jump up!"), the adults shake the parachute quickly around the kids then snap it up around them when we sing the words "jump up!" I usually do the whole thing twice since it's short.

### Slow and Fast by Hap Palmer: Usually for this song we bounce the balls around in the parachute slowly and quickly. It's fun because the song changes tempo and we have to keep up. However on this particular Friday, I let the kids sit on top of it instead and they just kind of played with the balls while the adults shook the parachute around them. This group of kids were just kind of all about sitting on the parachute, so I went with it.

What worked least: Me. Really. This class was the first time ever that I sat down for a large part of Musical Kids. I felt kind of guilty at the time but, looking back now, I was just days away from going into labor so I can give myself a pass.

What worked best: No surprise here-- Rocketship Run is always the highlight of this program. And I LOVED seeing Sadie in the mix with all the other kids. It was so cute!

Even though I am almost 7 weeks into maternity leave, I won't be back at work again until October. So happy summer, everybody! I'll be back in the fall!

Musical Kids (for ages 17-35 months) 11/20/15

Anyone who's even glanced at my blog probably knows that I love Musical Kids. This is a reoccurring program done in three 30-minute sessions per week: 6-16 months at 10:00, 17-35 months at 10:45, and 3-5 years at 11:30, for either 3 or 4 weeks in a row. All of the sessions are very well-attended, with a core group of wonderful regulars who I've been getting to watch grow up. I feel SO lucky to get to hang out with these sweet and goofy kids weekly.

Today, I'm in the mood to blog about my middle crew, the kids who are 17-35 months-old. I've written about them before, but they're so adorable that I wanted to discuss them again. And since every week is different from the last, why not, really? Give me one good reason.

Here's Friday's playlist (red = ipod, blue = sing):

1. A New Way to Say Hello by Big Jeff
2. Milkshake Song by Ann-Marie Akin (shakers)
3. I Like it Like That by Chris Kenner (shakers)
4. Grey Squirrel by Mary Lee (puppets)
5. B-I-N-G-O by Lynn Kleiner (circle dance)
6. Rocketship Run by Laurie Berkner (rockets)
7. Zoom Zoom Zoom (rockets)
8. Drummers Drumming by Dr. Seuss (drums)
9. The Sticks on the Drums (drums)
10. These are the Colors Over You (parachute)
11. Slow and Fast by Hap Palmer (parachute)
12. Alphabet Song by Josh Levine (parachute + letters)
13. Merry Go Round x2 by Wee Sing (parachute)
14. Blow a Kiss by Laurie Berkner

I've been on a parachute kick lately so I wanted to write about this part of my program in a little more detail. My parachute time in Musical Kids keeps getting longer and longer; I can't get enough and it seems like the kids can't either! Friday's class was especially parachute-intensive because we got a new parachute! We started with These are the Colors Over You, thanks (as usual) to Jbrary. It's a nice, calm, good first song with the parachute. You can watch it below:

I had the group just wave the parachute together for this song and when I finished singing it, I heard a lot of parents say things like "That was a nice song." Then I let the kids go under the parachute for Hap Palmer's Slow and Fast, which they are always absolutely crazy for. So many giggles! So much staticky hair!

Next, I had the kids come out from under the 'chute and we all bounced foam letters (these from Oriental Trading) on the parachute for the Alphabet Song by Josh Levine. This was the best version of the ABC's I could find--rhythmic enough for bouncing, not too slow, not too fast, just exactly perfect for what I wanted it for. The foam letters, however, kind of sat in a clump. A few straggly letters did bounce and the clumpiness didn't really detract from the flow of the program, but it would have been cooler if they'd popped up and down as well as balloons or mini beach balls do. Regardless, it was nice to try something new.

Last, I had the kids get in the middle of the parachute, as closely to the middle as possible for Merry Go Round from the Wee Sing and Play CD. There are usually 1 or 2 kids who are either afraid of it or who would just prefer to stand outside the parachute with the grown ups, but the majority of the group like this part the best of all! When the kids are all in all seated in the middle, the grown ups walk in a circle so the kids get a ride. During this time, one mom said "the picture of them right here should be the library's Christmas card!" So I took the picture. I didn't exactly ask them to pose, but it is a cute shot anyway. Here's that picture, as well as a picture of the letters bouncing around in a clump.

What a good bunch. Everyone really enjoyed the extensive parachute time and were excited about the new parachute (although obviously not as excited as me).

What worked least: The floppy letters were a bit of a let-down but it was still fun to try something new. But I think that thicker, almost floor-mat-type letters (like these) would have would be perfect.

What worked best: I hate to totally cop out here, especially because the parachute was so much fun, but last time I wrote about the 17-35 months group of Musical Kids, I said that Rocketship Run was worked best and that is definitely still the case. In fact I can't not do Rocketship Run. It's a requirement. These kids are obsessed with it.

A year or so ago I made rockets-on-sticks to give out to the kids for this song, as well as signs that I hold up. Here's a picture of them:

The kids are so funny when we do this song. When I hold up a given sign, they all run up and touch their rocket to the sign, 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 totally invented it and it's continued on from week-to-week. It's just so cute and funny that they do this. Additionally, this song always gets the loudest end-of-song cheer from both the children and the adults. So basically, it's always a hit! If you don't already do Rocketship Run in your storytimes, give it a try!

All in all, I had a great 10:15 group last Friday. I love Musical Kids!

Getting to Know You

It's the first day of September! For many of us, that means (unofficially, at least) that summer's over. I'm totally bummed to say goodbye to my favorite season, and although it isn't exactly quiet around the library, I'm enjoying a short yet relaxing break from program planning.

So my blog doesn't go completely abandoned, I figured I'd write about a really simple (yet successful) program I did throughout this summer called Getting To Know You. This program was passed on to me from a librarian who left last summer. I was given the premise of the program: open play for the kids and a chance for community parents to meet and chat with other community parents. I was also told that "this was a new program and I could make it whatever I wanted." I knew this would be easy for me to keep up throughout the summer since it didn't require a lot of weekly planning and, as it turned out, the program was a huge hit with many of our patrons!

In addition to the room of toys, each week I made a different playlist, planned a 10-minute wrap-up mini-storytime, and put up this sign (thanks to Lindsey at Jbrary for the great idea!):

I've struggled with play programs for years. They've always made me uncomfortable because I'd worried about how I looked in the room--awkward, useless, and like I was "just standing around." But knowing the importance of it for kids, over time, I've incorporated small amounts of play in other programs (like Books n Play for Pre-K) more and more. Since doing so, I've noticed that they've gotten easier! I have become more comfortable with it and less self-conscious about how I appear. Making it even easier still, I had personal relationships with many of the parents, caregivers, and children in this particular group because of doing Musical Kids this summer (and there's no standing around there!). So once I sucked it up and more or less got over myself, I was able to really enjoy being part of this program!

I tried to keep this both easy for me and consistent for the kids. Each week, I put out the same toys in the same spots, then followed the same basic mini-storytime format: 1 simple book, Old MacDonald with the puppets, and the Bread & Butter Goodbye Song seen below:

I had two classes each week: 10:00-10:45 for non-walkers and 11:00-12:00 for walkers.

While the non-walkers class was generally a smaller group, I noticed that almost all of the attendees were new moms who were happy and enthusiastic about discussing parenthood with other new moms. In short, they pretty much utilized this program exactly the way we wanted them to. That's a win! Meanwhile, the walkers group was absolutely packed every week! It had a nice mix of regular library users and newer-to-programs patrons who were excited about what we were offering. Both groups were absolutely wonderful.

I noticed that people poured in sporadically for this program, which was totally ok since it was all open play until the last 10-15 minutes. I did wind up sitting for most of the time but I also got the chance to play with blocks, read board books one-on-one, and roll balls with many of the kids. Then, when there was about 15 minutes left of the program, I had the group clean up, then sit back down for our mini-storytime. Each week I read one of the library's big books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, Where's Spot?, or Freight Train. Next I lead the group in Old MacDonald with the puppets, which the kids absolutely love. LOVE! Of course it helps to have the most adorable selection of Folkmanis puppets on hand at all times. As we sang together, I brought the current animal around and had it kiss (or lick, or nuzzle) each kid and they usually giggled or squealed or smiled. Fun story: One mom told me that her son asks for this at home now. To end the program we sang the Bread & Butter Goodbye Song and that wrapped it up! Everyone enjoyed this so much!

What worked best: The open play was just so perfect for the summer. Attendance was high and, especially in the non-walkers group, this program gave a lot of new moms the chance to really use the library as a community meeting space and to talk about their experiences in parenthood together. You can't really be more for-your-patrons than that! Amiright?!

What worked least: Even though I put time into making the What To Say While You Play sign, I found that nobody really used it. I could have skipped it, really, but no biggie!

After all my nervousness about beginning this program at the start of the summer, I am now sad to see it go. But it's inspired me to create a new half-play program for babies starting this fall, so (hopefully) new parents will get to meet each other again!

Musical Kids (for ages 17-35 months) + Back to work Update

Hooray! I am finally blogging about my Musical Kids middle age-group! And not only that, I am doing it from work!

It feels great to be back. It's been two weeks now and I am pretty much completely adjusted. My first day back was awesome! The first thing I saw when I came in was a huge, colorful sign that said "Welcome back, Laura! We missed you!" taped to my desk. Then there were hugs galore, both from staff members and wonderful patrons. People from all around the library stopped by my desk to greet me. And I even got some little presents! Then my favorite 3-year-old came in and, when she saw me, we locked eyes, paused, and then she ran to me and hugged me like we were in a movie. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect first day!

The days since have been great too. Reuniting with my regular storytime moms was both exiting and humbling. Seriously, the fact that these moms care even at all about their kid's librarian's car accident is amazing! They're all so sweet and appropriately sympathetic. This is why I missed work so much while I was out!

Anyway, this morning I had week 2 of my current session of Musical Kids, and as I promised back in early February, I am now going to discuss it on my blog!

The middle age group are 17-35-months-old. This is always my most well-attended of the three classes. Today I had 26 people, which is actually less than my usual crew (but also it's absolutely incredible outside so it's to be expected). These were a lucky 26 though because I'd consider this to be one of my best Musical Kids classes ever! It just worked.

Here's my playlist:
(red = ipod, blue = sing)

1. A New Way to Say Hello by Big Jeff
2. Tapping On My Sticks by Kathy Reid-Naiman (sticks)
3. The Tempo Marches On by Jim Gill (sticks)
4. Ain’t Got No Home by "Frogman" Clarence Henry (drums)
5. The Fly is on my Foot * See below
6. Rocketship Run by Laurie Berkner (rockets)
7. 5 Green and Speckled Frogs (monkey mitt)
8. We’re Going To Kentucky by Bob McGrath (shakers)
9. No More Monkeys by Asheba (shakers)
10. The Goldfish by Laurie Berkner
11. Blow a Kiss by Laurie Berkner

* The fly is on my foot was a total score that I found on Jbrary. It worked really well. We had the fly land on our feet, knees, stomachs, elbows, and noses. Here's the video for how it's done:

What worked best: Always Rocketship Run! In fact I almost can't not do Rocketship Run. These kids are obsessed with it. A while back I made rockets-on-sticks to give out to the kids, as well as signs that I hold up. Here's a picture of them:

The kids are so funny when we do this song. When I hold up a given sign, they all run up and touch their rocket to the sign, like they're really going to the sun/moon/etc. I've never told them to do this yet every week it happens. They totally invented it and it's continued on from week-to-week. IT IS ADORABLE. Additionally, this song always gets the loudest end-of-song cheer from both the children and the adults. So basically, it's always a hit.

What worked least: It's minimal but sometimes the giving out and returning of instruments can be chaotic. This group is large and they sometimes get eager and crazy. However, it always works out. The kids really like to run up and choose their instrument from the bin, so there can be a lot going on at once. But after about two-minutes of what seems like chaos, it's done and everyone has an instrument.

It's so great to be back! And even greater to know (really know) that I was missed. I'll post again soon!