Littlest Learners

Littlest Learners (for, quite literally, the littlest learners-- ages 6-16 months) was a program that I was SO EXCITED about. It was a chance to do some of that cool, Pinteresty stuff that I always think about but never actually try. 

The program breakdown went like this:

Circle time - 5 minutes

Parachute time - 10 minutes

Sensory play - 30 minutes

Bubbles - 2 minutes (during sensory play)

I had a relatively small crew, 5 babies in total ranging from 6 months to 12 months. This was the absolute perfect allotment of time for each thing. I wouldn't change it a bit. I'll go into detail below (but try to be a little more concise than I usually do!): 

Circle time:

Five Little Monkeys (with the monkey mitt)

Itsy Bitsy Spider

If You're Happy and You Know It

Parachute time:

The Colors Over You, with babies under the parachute *

Twinkle, Twinkle, with babies under the parachute

Peek-A-Boo, with babies on top of the parachute **

In & Out the Window, with babies on top of the parachute *

Wheels on the Bus, with babies on top of the parachute *

* You can read about these songs in lots of detail on other posts I've made if you want, but here are a few shortcuts:

I write in detail about The Wheels on the Bus in this post; Jbrary explains The Colors Over You best in this video; and Jbrary explains In & Out the Window best in this video.

** Peek-A-Boo is quite literally what I am saying when a patron snapped the photo of me seen above. This is a cute little song that encouraged playing peek-a-boo. To the tune of Frère Jacques, it goes:

     Peek-a-boo, Peek-a-boo 

     I see you, I see you

     Are you over here?

     Are you over there?

     Peek-a-boo! Peek-a-boo!

Then it was time for sensory fun! Here's where I got to be a little creative! I had 4 distinct stations:

1. Edible finger paint, which I have made a handful of times in the past. This is just Greek yogurt with food coloring on finger paint paper! SO easy, although a word to the wise, it doesn't dry so great. It gets kind of peely and cracked. So it's really more of an "process, not product" activity. The parents are not going to be taking home a lasting piece of art.

2. Bubble wrap paintings, inspired by this post: https://www.artycraftykids.com/art/baby-bubble-wrap-art/. Only one baby attempted this, but I was still happy to have it. When I set it up, I taped down the paper to the table cloth, then put paint on the paper, then taped the bubble wrap on top of that. One thing I noticed was that the packing tape was REALLY strong. It was impossible to avoid ripping the paper when we pulled it up. I think if I ever do this again, I wouldn't tape down the paper, but instead cut bubble wrap pieces that are slightly larger than the paper and let the paper just sit under it instead. No tape on the paper. That way, when I pull up the bubble wrap, it only rips apart the table cloth.

3. Shredded paper pool! SO COOL. I was a little worried about potential paper eating and choking but with lots of adults and lots of watchful eyes, it didn't happen. All was good and the kids had a BLAST. One boy was literally rolling around in it!

4. Sensory toys that I borrowed from our county library system. This included stress disks (seen in the photo below and also seen in the photo at the top of this post), sensory tubes (these from Lakeshore Learning), Sensory shapes (these from Discount School Supply, also seen in the photo below), and squishy numbered disks (these from S&S).

Then I did bubbles at the very end, sort of to signal the end of the program in a way that felt natural to me, but also because bubbles are fun and babies love them. I played Laurie Berkner's "Blow A Kiss," which is always my go-to for ending a program.

What worked least: The bubble wrap paintings went the most unused but I still feel like they really worked. I liked having a mix of messy and not-so-messy activities for the kids and a lot of the moms liked it too. I think I would still include the same activities if I chose to do this program again in the future.

What worked best: The shredded paper pool was SO GREAT. I think that, with the parents there to supervise, it was a wonderful activity to get to try together and definitely the kind of thing people aren't likely to have done at home.

Parachute Play

Believe it or not, after almost 12-years of librarianship, last Wednesday's Parachute Play was my first toddler parachute program ever! And it was only my second parachute program for any age group ever! (The first was Petite Parachute Play for babies ages birth - 16 months, which I did a little over a year ago.) It seems so simple, especially since I use the parachute in my other programs so so so often, but I have long been afraid of the parachute-exclusive program! I've always worried that it would seem like it was getting boring or that I wouldn't be able to come up with enough material to fill the time. In fact, now that I have done it, I can't say that I am fully over that irrational anxiety. Parachute programs are just plain scary!

Originally, in my research for Petite Parachute Play, I stumbled across this blog post from Laughter and Literacy. The librarian who wrote it didn't fill an entire 30-minutes with specifically parachute stuff. She did other songs and stories too. This realization took the pressure was off a bit at the time, but this time around, it was a little different. This time I had toddlers. I wanted to up my game a little, and also, I didn't want the program to feel too much like my other programs where I use the parachute for just a few minutes. So I planned for 25-minutes of parachute + one big book + goodbye song. Here's how my 30-minutes broke down  (red = ipod, blue = sing, green = book):

1. Let’s All Clap is a hello song that I use often, but not in Musical Kids. I like it because it's easy, doesn't take up too much time, and I don't need the ipod to do it. I use it in most of my one-off programs for babies and toddlers and I learned it from Jbrary (of course):

After we finished  this song, I had all the grown ups lift up the parachute to reveal a bunch of balls underneath. Then I told the kids to run under, grab as many balls as they could, and throw them on top of the parachute. This sort of worked. It worked great for the kids who were about 2 and older, but 4 out of 6 of them were younger and I think this was too complex of an activity for those children.

2. Popcorn Chant by Carole Peterson, for which I had the kids bounce the balls on the parachute.

3. Popcorn by Joanie Leeds, for which I had the kids climb into the middle of the parachute and the adults shook all the balls up around them. After this song I had the kids all help me collect the balls,  then I instructed them to sit in a circle around the parachute.

4. I’m Being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor was originally a poem by Shel Silverstein, but works really well as a parachute song! I borrowed this idea from a wonderful program that I attend regularly with my own kids at my home library. The song can be heard below (although I think the version I sang wound up being slightly different) and, when we did it with the parachute, I had everyone pull it up to the kids' body parts as we sang about them (like they're getting swallowed).

5. Colors Over You is my #1 favorite parachute song. To the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, it goes "Red and green and yellow and blue, these are the colors over you. Red like an apple, green like a tree, yellow like the sun, and blue like the sea. Red and green and yellow and blue, these are the colors over you." This one is good for ALL ages!

6. Let’s Go Riding in an Elevator is another regular for me. It can be found in the video below and works just as well (if not better!) with the parachute and the kiddos underneath it:

7. Stop & Go by Greg & Steve was a good under-the-parachute freeze dance song.

After this song was over, I threw my little black sheep (made by Folkmanis) on to the parachute and did...

8. Baa Baa Blacksheep. The kids were still underneath for this, even though the sheep were on top of it and...

9. Mary Had a Little Lamb. Some kids liked dancing under the parachute; some liked helping us grown ups shake. 

10. Ten in the Bed by Fred Penner is fun because it's a short song and it gets faster and faster. If any of the kids are around the parachute, shaking it, the way the tempo increases usually gets everyone giggling and wiggling. The whatevers-are-in-the-middle fall off and everyone scrambles to get them back in. It's fast paced and lots of fun!

11. Wheels on the Bus is my go-to song for having the kids on top of the parachute. When I do this song, I sing three verses. (1) The wheels on the bus go round and round. (2) The wipers on the bus go swish swish swish. (3) The doors on the bus go open and shut. For the first verse, everyone sits (with the sheep in their laps, in this case) while the grown ups pull the kids around in a circle, like a ride. For the second verse, the grown ups "swish" the parachute around the kids back and forth. And, for the third verse, the grown up pull the parachute all the way down around the kids and then snap it up on the word "shut." In my head, it reminds me of a Venus fly trap and, most of the time, all the kids giggle.

12. Seals on the Bus (as a big book) was the one little non-parachute activity I worked in. I thought, since we'd just done Wheels on the Bus, it'd be cute to follow it up with Seals on the Bus. The book is about a bunch of animals that barrage a bus and make noise, basically. The seals go "erp erp erp," the snakes go "hiss hiss hiss," etc., until, on the last page, the people on the bus go "help, help, help!"

13. Blow a Kiss by Laurie Berkner is the song I always end with when I do a structured program. It's the best and everyone basically knows it means the end. Throw in some bubbles, and we've got ourselves a finale.

What worked least: Maybe, thinking back, the age group should have started at 18-months. In theory, I wanted those babies there, but in practice, I probably didn't have enough things to really accommodate their particular level.

What worked best: I think the kids enjoyed the part toward the beginning when they were crawling around on the parachute with the balls (to the song Popcorn by Joanie Leeds) the best. This was also probably the most baby-friendly activity that I did.

All in all, I still think parachute programs are intimidating. I'd do one again, absolutely, but I can't say I wouldn't be a little nervous that morning!

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!

Petite Parachute Play

Greetings from the blog post of my first EVER parachute-only-focused program. Despite the parachute always being the resounding favorite part of every program I've ever used it in, a parachute-only-focused program has always petrified me! I just didn't think I had enough stuff to fill a half-hour. But, as it turns out, I didn't have to!

In my research for Petite Parachute Play, I stumbled across this blog post from Laughter and Literacy. The librarian who wrote it didn't fill an entire 30-minutes with specifically parachute stuff. She did other songs and stories too! When I read that, I thought Oh! Of course! I'm TOTALLY allowed to do other, non-parachute-specific stuff, while the kids are still sitting AROUND the parachute! It's the parachute itself that's fun, not the songs the grown ups sing while we lift and lower and shake it! The pressure was off! In fact, in the end, this program actually most closely resembled Share & Play Babies. It was for the same age group and, aside from a little more parachute, wound up really including a lot of the same stuff. It was held at our Station branch library and the 30-minutes broke down like this:

1. 5-minutes of open play and toy time as everyone came in and got settled. I put out a small assortment of baby toys-- not quite as much as I use for Share & Play Babies, but a few things. But to be honest, I'm not sure any of it got touched.

2. Hello Song. In my last post I wrote about a song I used called Let's All Shake 'Cause Sadie Is Here (which was the made-up-name I gave to the Jbrary song seen below [originally titled Let's All Clap]). This time I used the song as is and we all clapped for each kid. I had five sweet babies in total and this was a great and quick way to make sure we all had everyone's names down.

3. Songs with the babies under the parachute. After our introductions, we cleaned up the toys and lifted the parachute up over the babies for a few songs. The littler ones laid on their backs and the bigger ones sat up or crawled around. First we did The Colors Over You *, then Let’s Go Riding in an Elevator **, and last Slow and Fast by Hap Palmer.

* The Colors Over You is to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and goes like this:

Red and green and yellow and blue

These are the colors over you

Red like an apple

Green like a tree

Yellow like the sun

And blue like the sea

Red and green and yellow and blue

These are the colors over you

** Let's Go Riding in an Elevator can be found in the video below and works just as well (if not better!) with the parachute and the kiddos underneath it:

4. Mini storytime. At this point, I announced that it was time for "a little story time break." First, I read the big book version of Freight Train by Donald Crews. Then we did She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain as a lap bounce.* And last we read Are You My Mommy by Mary Murphy as a class set of board books passed around (then once together as a group).

* Whenever I do She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain as a lap bounce, I start by explaining that there will be four moves that we'll be doing with the babies: Lifting for "Yee-ha!," Tilting for "Woah there!," Tummy rubbing for "Yum yum," and kissing for "Kiss, kiss." Then I sing! It can all be seen below:

5. Scarf songs around the parachute. I just love the scarves with the super young baby group. First we sang Popcorn Kernels* and then did Laurie Berkner's Moon, Moon, Moon**.

** Popcorn Kernels is to the tune of Frère Jacques and goes like this:

Popcorn kernels, popcorn kernels (wave the scarf around above your head)
In the pot, in the pot (crumple the scarf into balls in your hands)
Shake them, shake them, shake them (shake your tightly wrapped scarf around in your hands)
Shake them, shake them, shake them
'Til they pop, 'til they pop (toss the scarf up in the air and watch it fall slowly to the floor)

** Moon Moon Moon by Laurie Berkner has quickly moved up the ranks to become one of my favorite sitting down/lap songs for this age group and, as it turns out, it also works great as a scarf song! I like to do some basic lap and hand motions for each-- most of the stuff Laurie Berkner herself does in the Moon Moon Moon video. I usually hold the scarf for both, waving it around bit, and let the parents and babies sort of interpret all of it in a way that works best for them. Different levels of scarffing/bouncing/watching me do hand motions work differently for each kid, so this works in different ways for everyone. It's nice. Here is the video for reference:

6. Songs with the kids on top of the parachute. This was the last part of the program and also how I almost always end Musical Kids. First, we sang Itsy Bitsy Spider, then did Peek-a-Boo!*, and Wheels on the Bus**. Then I threw the mini beach balls on and played Popcorn by Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights while the grown ups kind of shook the 'chute around a little. I always feel like everyone loves this, even though it's so simple! The kids get lots of stimulation with the beach balls, the music, the colors, and the other babies, and the grown ups get a good photo op! Last I added the mini black sheep into the mix and everyone sang Baa Baa Black Sheep. Then I  did my goodbye song (Blow a Kiss by Laurie Berkner, as usual) and walked around the circle, blowing bubbles at the babies-- another crowd pleaser for the same reasons listed above.

* Peek-A-Boo: This baby song, to the tune of Frère Jacques (again), goes like this:

Where are you hiding?
Where are you hiding?
I can't see you
I can't see you
Are you over here?
Are you over there?
Peek-a-boo!
Peek-a-boo!

It winds up being a fun little game for parents and babies to play together and is particularly good for the babies on the younger side of the age range.

** Wheels on the Bus is another one of my favorite "little baby" songs. For this song, I have the parents lay their babies down on their backs in front of them, feet toward mom or dad. Here's what we do:

The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round (move baby's legs in a circle)
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish (move baby's legs back and forth)
The windows on the bus go open and shut (open and close baby's legs)
The windows on the bus go up and down (move baby's legs up and down)

I didn't take any pictures but here are a few pictures from when I did Wheels on the Bus during a different program about a year ago (what's crazy is that the babies pictured on the right have both recently turned one!):

What worked least: The 5-minutes of open play at the very start of the program was actually kind of awkward! Usually I have a great group of regular moms who all have lots to say, both to me and to each other. And usually I'm a lot better at driving the conversation! But it didn't flow this time and it felt kinda weird. I was happy to cut it short and move on to the structured activities!

What worked best: I think the songs with the babies on top of the parachute at the end were the most enjoyable for both the babies and the parents. It's such a simple thing, but this is the resounding favorite part of  Musical Kids as well. I guess just having a pile of stuff in the middle and letting the kids play is, ultimately, the most fun thing for everyone!

Musical Kids (for ages 6-16 months) 2/2/18

Ladies and gentleman, I cannot resist. Both my daughter and my neighbor's daughter visited me for Musical Kids last week and I've got to blog about it! I know I've written about the 6-16 month-olds repeatedly and no other Musical Kids groups for a very long time, but they're such a sweet and fun group, with such sweet and good-natured parents, I just can't resist sharing. Especially when my own sweet Sadie makes an appearance for the day!

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

1. A New Way to Say Hello by Big Jeff
2. We're Going To The Market by Kathy Reid-Naiman (shakers)
3. Let's All Shake 'Cause Sadie Is Here (shakers)*
4. Gimme Some Lovin' by the Spencer Davis Group from the Sing soundtrack (tambourines)
5. Popcorn Kernels (scarves) **
6. Elevator Song by MaryLee(scarves) ***
7. Moon Moon Moon by Laurie Berkner(scarves) ***
8. B-I-N-G-O by Lynn Kleiner (circle dance) ****
9. Aiken Drum from the Five Little Monkeys CD (drums)
10. Heartbeat Drumbeat by Joanie Bartles (drums) #
11. Colors Over You (parachute) ##
12. Let's Go Riding in an Elevator (parachute) ###
13. I'm a Little Groundhog (parachute + balls + groundhog puppets) ####
14. Slow and Fast by Hap Palmer (parachute + balls + groundhog puppets)
15. Blow a Kiss by Laurie Berkner (parachute + balls + letters + bubbles)

* Let's All Shake 'Cause Sadie Is Here is the made-up-name I gave to the Jbrary song seen below (originally titled Let's All Clap). I just swapped "clap" for "shake" to make it a shakers song and it's been working really well for introductions (done the first week of each session) since January. Until 2018, I have always used Mary Had a Little Lamb for introductions, subbing out Mary for each kid in the class, but after a 4-year-old told me "hates that song," I traded it for Let's All Shake 'Cause Sadie Is Here and I haven't looked back! (To be honest, I got a little tired of it too.) It's much faster and more efficient than Mary Had a Little Lamb, so it's here to stay!

** Popcorn Kernels: About two years ago I was in a scarf-rut and, to combat it, heavily researched new scarf songs for a few days. Then, of course, I wound up introducing a whole batch of new songs all at once. As time passed, the two that stuck around most prominently for the long haul were called The Scarf is On My Head and Popcorn Kernels. The handout for both of these songs can be downloaded here. The Scarf is On My Head goes to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell and is possibly the reigning favorite scarf song, but Popcorn Kernels, to the tune of Frère Jacques, is a close second favorite! It goes like this:

Popcorn kernels, popcorn kernels (wave the scarf around above your head)

In the pot, in the pot (crumple the scarf into balls in your hands)

Shake them, shake them, shake them (shake your tightly wrapped scarf around in your hands)

Shake them, shake them, shake them

'Til they pop, 'til they pop (toss the scarf up in the air and watch it fall slowly to the floor)

*** Elevator Song by MaryLee (from the CD Baby-O) and Moon Moon Moon by Laurie Berkner: These are two of my favorite sitting down/lap songs for this age group and, as it turns out, they also make wonderful scarf songs! I like to do some basic lap and hand motions for each-- gentle bouncing and lifting in Elevator Song and most of the stuff Laurie Berkner herself does in the Moon Moon Moon video. I usually hold the scarf for both, waving it around bit, and let the parents and babies sort of interpret all of it in a way that works best for them. Different levels of scarffing/bouncing/watching me do hand motions work differently for each kid, so this works in different ways for everyone. It's nice. Here are two videos for reference:

**** B-I-N-G-O makes an awesome and easy circle dance for the parents and babies to do together. I'm going to try REALLY hard to explain it:

For this song, heard on YouTube here, the parents hold their babies and walk around in a circle. For the verse of the song, everyone just kind of dances their kids as they face out. Then, the song slowly goes through the letters, B, I, N, G, and O. For B, I, N, and G everyone takes a step in--one step per letter. So by the end of G, everyone's in a tight circle with all the babies looking at each other up close. Then, for the letter O, we all scoot quickly back out of the circle to our original spots.

# Heartbeat Drumbeat: I got the idea to do Heartbeat Drumbeat from a library program I took Sadie to at my local library. The (real) song, however, is a little long for kids, and if I am remembering right, the library programmer who used it wound up just cutting the song off when it got too long. I just can't do that. I am too particular. Enter... YOUTUBE 💜💛💚. I've encountered this dilemma a few times over the years (mostly when I do holiday programs, actually) and, when I do, I turn to YouTube. I found the PERFECT version of Heartbeat Drumbeat here. A little finagling and it's made its way into my playlist. It even has audience applause at the end, which is a fun bonus!

## Colors Over You is to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and goes like this:

Red and green and yellow and blue

These are the colors over you

Red like an apple

Green like a tree

Yellow like the sun

And blue like the sea

Red and green and yellow and blue

These are the colors over you

### Let's Go Riding in an Elevator can be found in the video below and works just as well (if not better!) with the parachute and the kiddos underneath it:

#### A groundhog's day special song! I'm A Little Groundhog goes to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot and was easy enough for me to memorize! We bounced mini groundhog puppets around in the parachute as we sang:

I'm a little groundhog short and stout

February second I will come out.

If I see my shadow hear me shout: 

"Six weeks more winter without doubt!"

What worked least: I'm a Little Groundhog wasn't the highlight of the program, as the song was quick, nobody knew it, and the babies totally don't care about groundhogs day, but when Musical Kids falls on an actual holiday (even groundhog's day), I feel like I have to acknowledge it in some way. Plus, we had such cute little finger puppets from Folkmanis (no longer available but similar to this beaver) that we never get to use and bouncing them around on the parachute a bit was fun!

What worked best: Everything worked with this group. I love my baby classes! But, as usual, I'd call the highlight of the program the parachute in general. It's just so much fun and so much great stimulation for the babies!

Holiday Dance Party & Holiday Dance Party for Babies

I have fallen way too far behind on my blog posts! The holidays, lots of days off, and Winter Reading Club planning got me this year-- typical December! I'm going to try to write TWO posts in ONE day so, with that said, this one might seem terse (or have lots of weird-yet-entertaining type-os), but here it is! Post #1 of the day: my Holiday Dance Party and Holiday Dance Party for Babies.

I did a Holiday Dance Party back in 2015 and this year's (aside from taking place at our branch library location and having a "spin off" program-- Holiday Dance Party for Babies), was quite similar. I love music and dance programs of any kind, but, I was happy to have done the bulk of my song-finding two years ago! Finding songs that are the perfect mix of dance-able, not too long, and kid-friendly is actually super-hard! I searched and searched and modified and modified until it was time for the program and I was forced to stop and be happy with what I had. Here is the playlist I wound up with (red = ipod, blue = sing):

Holiday Dance Party (2-5 Years-Olds)

1. Hello Song by Big Jeff
2. Jumping and Counting by Jim Gill
3. Once There Was a Snowman from this YouTube video (drums)
4. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from this YouTube video cover by Amasic (drums)
5. Frosty the Snowman from Music Factory Music (bells)
6. Jingle Bell Rock from the Glee cast (bells)
7. Oh, Hanukkah from the Glee cast (dance) *
8. It's a Marshmallow World by Darlene Love (tambourines)
9. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from Barbie in the Nutcracker (ribbon dancers)
10. Jingle Bells from this YouTube video (parachute)
11. Wheels on the Bus (parachute)
12. Blow A Kiss by Laurie Berkner (parachute + bubbles)

Holiday Dance Party for Babies (0-2 Year-Olds)

1. Hello Song by Big Jeff
2. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from this YouTube video cover by Amasic (drums)
3. Once There Was a Snowman from this YouTube video (drums)
4. Frosty the Snowman from Music Factory Music (bells)
5. Jingle Bell Rock from the Glee cast (bells)
6. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from Barbie in the Nutcracker (scarves)
7. Scarf Dance by Mary Jo Huff (scarves)
8. Oh, Hanukkah from the Glee cast (shakers) *
9. It's a Marshmallow World by Darlene Love (tambourines)
10. Snowflake, Snowflake (parachute) **
11. Jingle Bells from this YouTube video (parachute + balls)
12. Blow A Kiss by Laurie Berkner (parachute + balls + bubbles)

* When I did Oh, Hanukkah with the older group (ages 2-5), I briefly taught them a super-basic version of The Hora (while explaining that I am extremely unqualified to be teaching them The Hora) and had them dance it in a circle. The actual steps didn't last long but it was fun dancing around and wound up being a good laugh for everyone. With the babies, we all just danced around with our shakers. No circle, no steps. They're babies.

** Snowflake, Snowflake came from this wonderful Jbrary video:

It was a PERFECT baby parachute song! I had the babies lie or sit on the floor and we raised and lowered the parachute above them. I may even use this again for my baby group in Musical Kids this winter!

Keeping it fast so I can move on...

What worked least: For some reason, when I was planning this out, this Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer cover by Amasic (this YouTube video) seemed to have a more defined drum beat. In actuality, while fun, it didn't have the solid easy-to-drum-to rhythm I was originally hoping for. But I don't think anyone minded too much!

What worked best: It's hard to say, but I think the up-beat Glee version of Jingle Bell Rock coupled with the bells (for both groups) was the most fun part of each program. I'd high recommend this combo for future Holiday Dance Parties!

Apologies for any weird things I should have caught while proof-reading! Like I said, I'm working quickly today!

Musical Kids (for ages 6-16 months) 11/10/17

Hello! Today I'm in the mood to blog about my favorite recurring program-- Musical Kids! I do Musical Kids so much that I could fill my entire blog with weekly posts about it but, for the sake of some variety, obviously, I don't. In fact, I'd taken a little (8 month!) break from writing about it! But two weeks ago, I had SUCH a wonderful baby class that I just have to blog about them! And no, it's not just because my own sweet Sadie was there to join the fun...although that might be part of it. Maybe.

If you haven't been to my blog before, allow me to briefly explain Musical Kids: This is a reoccurring program done in three 30-minute sessions per week: 6-16 months at 10:00, 17-29 months at 10:45 (this used to be 17-35 months), and 30 months-5 years at 11:30 (this used to be 3-5 years). We did a bit of age group modification recently due to overcrowding in the middle group, which is not a bad problem to have! This all goes on for 3 or 4 weeks in a row, takes a week or two off (or sometimes doesn't!), then starts again for another 3 or 4 weeks in a row. I love Musical Kids and, even more than that, I love the relationships that I've formed with the patrons who attend it! I am so so lucky to get to work with such wonderful families regularly.

So on to my baby class two Fridays ago. I'll be honest, when I was planning the various weeks of activities, I'd saved some of my favorite stuff for this 4th and final session because I knew my husband and daughter were coming and I wanted them to get the best of the best. You'd do the same if were you! 

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

1. A New Way to Say Hello by Big Jeff
2. Alabama, Mississippi by Jim Gill (shakers)
3. We're Going To The Market by Kathy Reid-Naiman (shakers)
4. Faith by Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande (tambourines)
5. Popcorn Kernels *
6. Smile for the Camera by Datarock (scarves)
7. Five Little Monkeys (mitt) **
8. Heartbeat Drumbeat by Joanie Bartles (drums) ***
10. Whole Lotta Lovin' by Fats Domino (drums)
11. Peek-A-Boo (parachute) #
12. Popcorn by Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights (parachute + balls) ##
13. Alphabet Song by Josh Levine (parachute + balls + letters) ##
11. Blow a Kiss by Laurie Berkner (parachute + balls + letters + bubbles) ##

* Popcorn Kernels: About two years ago I was in a scarf-rut and, to combat it, heavily researched new scarf songs for a few days. Then, of course, I wound up introducing a whole batch of new songs all at once. As time passed, the two that stuck around most prominently for the long term were called The Scarf is On My Head and Popcorn Kernels. The handout for both of these songs can be downloaded here. The Scarf is On My Head goes to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell and is possibly the reigning favorite scarf song (We did it the week prior to this one in Musical Kids. I can't save ALL the best stuff for the last week). But Popcorn Kernels, to the tune of Frère Jacques, is a close second favorite! It goes like this:

Popcorn kernels, popcorn kernels (wave the scarf around above your head)
In the pot, in the pot (crumple the scarf into balls in your hands)
Shake them, shake them, shake them (shake your tightly wrapped scarf around in your hands)
Shake them, shake them, shake them
'Til they pop, 'til they pop (toss the scarf up in the air and watch it fall slowly to the floor)

** Five Little Monkeys: Another thing I have blogged about before but want to mention again: The monkey mitt. It's available here. I totally chose to do this song this particular week because it's one of Sadie's favorites. So sue me! Like I said, you'd do the same if were you!

*** Heartbeat Drumbeat: I got the idea to do Heartbeat Drumbeat from a library program I took Sadie to at my local library. The (real) song, however, is a little long for kids, and if I am remembering right, the library programmer who used it wound up just cutting the song off when it got too long. I just can't do that. I am too particular. Enter... YOUTUBE 💜💛💚. I've encountered this dilemma a few times over the years (mostly when I do holiday programs, actually) and, when I do, I turn to YouTube. I found the PERFECT version of Heartbeat Drumbeat here. A little finagling and it's made its way into my playlist. It even has audience applause at the end, which is a fun bonus!

# Peek-A-Boo: This baby song, to the tune of Frère Jacques (again), goes like this:

Where are you hiding?
Where are you hiding?
I can't see you
I can't see you
Are you over here?
Are you over there?
Peek-a-boo!
Peek-a-boo!

It winds up being a fun little game for parents and babies to play together and is particularly good for the babies on the younger side of the 6-16 month age range. There is such a difference in ability between a 6-month-old and a 16-month-old, I like to make sure I get in at least one thing that is especially for the littler ones.

## Popcorn, Alphabet Song, and Blow a Kiss: The end of the babies Musical Kids class is always the most fun part (albeit probably best for those who are 10-months and up). Here's where, really, I just throw a bunch of stuff on the parachute and let the babies go wild. It's so simple, yet it is always the highlight of this class. Our parachute time and parachute songs vary from week to week, but they always end with some time like this. Here's how parachute time usually happens:

a. 1-2 structured parachute songs (in this case it was Peek-A-Boo. Other favorites are The Colors Over You, Come Under My Umbrella,  If You're Happy and You Know It, The Grand Old Duke of York, or Wheels on the Bus).

b. 1-2 unstructured parachute songs where we throw the beach balls in the middle of the parachute and just let the babies go hog wild (in this case they were Popcorn and The Alphabet Song). Some weeks we may toss alphabet letters (as seen here) or something else in the parachute too, but always the beach balls.

c. The goodbye song, which is always Blow A Kiss. I've found it best to use this as additional parachute time and also, because clearly there needs to be MORE STIMULATION, I also blow bubbles at this time.

What worked least: This was such a fun week but I'm not sure if Smile for the Camera was the best scarf song possible. It was my first time using it and may (or may not) be my last. But also, sometimes ya just need a little variety after a lot of the same things from week-to-week.

What worked best: In this class particularly, with this small but really really great group of babies (and parents), the end of the program felt like the best. Everyone (including me!) got in on a fun baby photo op (see the picture at the very top of this post) and I kind of felt like maybe, some real mom friendships were genuinely formed here. Such a great group, seriously! 

Stories in the Garden

My blog hasn't been getting much attention this summer because, instead of exciting-looking, blog-worthy parties and crafts at work, I've been hosting weekly simple programs for lots of different age groups: Musical Kids, Stop In Stories, and--new for this summer and the subject of today's post--Stories in the Garden!

My library is on a busy main street without any outdoor space whatsoever so it's really a special treat to have any kind of program out of the building. When I found out that my coworker arranged for us to be able to borrow the garden from the church across the street, I was SO excited to be part of it! (To be fair, it was March and I was still wearing boots, so it's possible that that played a small roll.) I wanted to make sure we fit lots of different age groups into the outdoor fun, so I did one session for ages 6-16 months, and one for ages 17 months-5 years. 

The big challenge with this program was that, since there were no outlets, I didn't have access to any recorded music--something I tend to rely heavily on in most of my programs for this age group. This meant that I had to come up with some new material: New songs, new parachute games, and--the most dramatic of all--a new hello and goodbye song! (Anyone who's ever stepped foot in one of my programs knows that I have been a loyal fan of Big Jeff's A New Way to Say Hello and Laurie Berkner's Blow a Kiss for what feels like forever).

The program, other than having totally weird-for-me hello and goodbye songs, went really well. On rainy days it was held inside and even then it was still fun, albeit slightly less well-attended. 

Here's me, barefoot (a nice perk), and ready to sing Five Little Ducks:

Since, above all else, this was a storytime, I'm going to list all the books that were read over the course of this program.

B = Baby class (6 - 16 months)

T = Toddler class (17-months - 5-years)

Are You My Mommy? by Mary Murphy (B)

Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz (B, T)

Baby Faces by Margaret Miller (B)

Baby Parade by Rebecca O'Connell (B, T)

Baby Pets by Margaret Miller (B)

Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton (B, T)

Breathe by Scott Magoon (B, T)

Cat the Cat, Who Is That? by Mo Willems (B, T) *

Elephant and Piggie: Elephants Cannot Dance by Mo Willems (T) *

First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger(B, T)

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle (T)

Hello Lamb by Jane Cabrera (B)

Hi Pizza Man! by Virgina Walter (T)

Jump by Scott M. Fischer (B, T)

Peek-a-Boo Zoo! by Jane Cabrera (B, T)

Pete the Cat: I Love My While Shoes by James Dean and Eric Litwin (T)

Pouch! by David Ezra Stein (B, T)

Say Hello Like This by Mary Murphy (B, T)

Toot Toot, Beep Beep by Emma Garcia (B, T)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (B, T)**

* Mo Willems' books are PERFECT for two-librarian storytimes! Andrea (of Disney Princess Tea and Mall Storytime) and I have totally mastered these! Reading Elephant and Piggie: Elephants Cannot Dance with Andrea feels like straight up acting, which is kind of fun, and Cat the Cat, Who Is That? has a sort of "call and response" feel, which flows a lot more naturally with two readers. Lately I try to work a Mo Willems book in every time I know there will be another librarian able to read with me.

** I've written briefly about our wonderful Very Hungry Caterpillar kit in the past before, but it's truly a wonderful storytime prop! The kids love holding up all the signs and "feeding" the different things to the caterpillar puppet throughout the story. They also like sticking their heads through the giant holes, as seen below.

Doing a storytime outside was SO much fun with both age groups, and coming up with a new hello and goodbye song turned out to be easy enough. Thanks to Jbrary (as usual), here is the song we used:

We Clap and Say Hello/Goodbye (to the tune of The Farmer In the Dell):

We clap and say hello
We clap and say hello
With our friends at storytime, we clap and say hello
We stomp and say hello
We stomp and say hello
With our friends at storytime, we stomp and say hello
We nod...
We jump...
We wave...

(I altered the actions a bit on a whim if it felt right for the group.)

Here's a picture of my baby group (and three moms) melting in the sweltering sun one week:

What worked least: Relying on the weather is something I'm not used to doing for a program. There was really only one week (the last week) where the weather was REALLY good, not to hot, not too wet. And actually, one week, it was so insanely stormy out that, even though I held the program it inside, nobody came to the baby class.

What worked best: The parachute, always! And what's more fun that the parachute OUTSIDE?! Hint: Not much.