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!

Sadie's Top 5, 12-18 months

While, yes, this post is coming a couple of days early, I can't believe we're just a couple of days away from a year-and-a-half! Where does the time go? I cannot BELIEVE how fast the past 6-months have gone!  Since Sadie's birthday, she's gotten SO much better at sitting through books and will even sit for several books in a row! Some of her very favorites are still some of her past picks (A Kiss Like This by Mary Murphy, Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia, Sneak-a-Peak Colors by Roger Priddy, Five Little Elves by Dan Yaccarino, and the Margaret Miller Look Baby! books), but in the interest of variety, I've set my rule about only posting books one time each and I'm sticking to it! So with that, here are Sadie's Top 5 for ages 12-18 months, which have not been posted in past lists:

Three Little Mermaids by Mara Van Fleet-- and also the similar Little Color Fairies, Night-Night Princess, and Mama's Pajamas (also all by Mara Van Fleet)-- have all really piqued Sadie's interest on the later end of this age bracket. I tried a few of these with her when she was about 10-months-old and, while she certainly enjoyed them even then, she is really the perfect age for them now, at 18-months. In fact, Sadie is intrigued by these books from the moment she sees the pull-tabs on the covers! She is constantly handing them to me to read to her. They are each SO interactive; the pull-tab covers are just the start! On the first page of Three Little Mermaids, for example, there is an octopus holding a fun, sticky lollipop that Sadie likes to touch over and over again. The book also has fuzzy seals, bumpy star fish, flaps to open, and--best of all--MORE PULL TABS! What's crazy is that, while these stories themselves seem like they'd be too long to be interesting to a child this age (in Three Little Mermaids, all the sea friends help the mermaids prepare for a tea party), I think Sadie is actually focused on the stories! Even when we come across a rare non-interactive page, she still seems engaged. It's so crazy! We can read any of these four selections over and over, or switch between them, and she's happy for a while. So thanks, Mara Van Fleet, for letting this very pregnant momma sit for a few minutes while her active toddler actually interacts with a few books in a row!

Pete the Cat: The Wheels on the Bus by James Dean has been a hit in our house since Sadie was a newborn, but only now has it become one of our solid, regular go-to's. Or should I say, one of Sadie's solid, regular go-to's. She is always yanking this one off her (fairly tightly packed) bookshelf and handing it to me to read to her. She'll sit nicely in her chair while I sing The Wheels on the Bus song (with some fun variations thanks to Pete) over and over, and occasionally point out things like the bird, the dog, and Pete's guitar. Sadie definitely learned the word "guitar" because of Pete the Cat. She's even just begun to mimic The Wheels on the Bus hand motions that I try to do along (as I also hold the book). This is one we're gonna read again and again for a long time in our house!

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell is a CLASSIC that I have been just waiting for Sadie to be old enough for. And now she is! In fact, I think this book has helped Sadie hone in on some of her animal sounds. She's mastered the elephant noise, lion noise, and snake noise, I'm certain, thanks to Dear Zoo. If you're unfamiliar, the premise of this story is simple. The narrator wrote to the zoo to send him/her a pet and each pet that comes back is unfit. The elephant is too big, the lion is too fierce, the frog is too jumpy, etc. But, at the end, the zoo sends a dog (finally!) and it's just perfect! Sadie loves to lift the flaps as we read and she has an easier time finding which end to lift from in this book that in other books. (If you look carefully, there's a small, half-circle cut out next to each flap that guides little fingers to the right spot and I think it really helps!) Just like the dog at the end of the story, this book is perfect for us!

This exact "Slide and Find" version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle is a book that Sadie keeps migrating toward, especially toward the second half of this age-range. She lovessssss to slide the little tabs to reveal the animals underneath. Then, when we finish reading it, she almost always asks for, "More?" so we read it again! Also--here's something crazy-- her favorite animal in the book is not an animal at all but the teacher on the second to last page! She LOVES the "chee chee!" Maybe it's the glasses? Who knows! Another classic book, making our top 5 list today!

That's Not My Kitten by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells is a favorite from the earlier end of this age range-- one that Sadie still definitely enjoys now but really stood out as a favorite when she was about 12-14-months-old. The first time we read this, the day after her birthday, I pointed out all the "touchy-feely" spots in the book for her and then every time we've read it thereafter, Sadie's felt the spots herself, without any guidance. The "plot" is simple. Each spread says something like, "That's not my kitten, its ears are too soft," or "That's not my kitten, its bell is too shiny," or "That's not my kitten, its paws are too rough" until the last page, when we finally find the narrators kitten and it has a big, soft belly! This is another one I am able to read to her a few times in a row without her getting too antsy. Side note: Sometimes (often), when I read this, I change the word "kitten" to "cat" because  I feel like it makes things simpler for Sadie, but I'll probably stop doing this soon.

Next up... Sadie's Top 5 as a TWO-YEAR-OLD. 😳