When I initially started doing babytimes, before I became a full-time librarian, I wasn't sure what to bring to the table. If you know anything developmentally about babies, you know that there is such a broad range of developmental needs within that first year or so of life.
I think the most important thing that I learned while being a storytime librarian is that Baby Storytime is not necessarily for the babies...it's for the parents and caregivers. It creates an environment for caregivers to bond with their babies and provides tools for the caregiver to take home to use with the baby.
Below is a list of elements that I always used at baby storytimes while I was the storytime librarian.
Elements that I always include:
1. Sign Language:
When caregivers come to Baby Story Time, I typically include a sign language word of the day. Babies are not at a stage where they are recognizing symbols and letters yet. That being said, it is SO important to give your baby ways to communicate with you. Pre-verbal babies and toddlers get frustrated easily, mostly because they have something to say or something they need but no way of communicating it. Learning even a few signs and teaching them to your baby is a step towards bridging the gap. This is one of my favorite websites to find sign language words for babies.
2. Bouncing Rhymes:
Most babies are not walking yet. Some of our older ones, when they do start walking, end up graduating to Toddler Story Time. Having bouncing rhymes, intermittently throughout story time, breaks up the time and keeps the babies focused. It can also be a teaching tool for caregivers to learn different songs and rhymes that could be used to calm down their fussy baby.
3. Nursery Rhymes:
I usually teach 1 or 2 nursery rhymes during each baby time. Part of the reason is that I want caregivers to realize that we did not grow up on nursery rhymes just for fun. They serve a purpose as ways to distract children, repetition for learning, and many have movements that go along with them that we have long since forgotten. It is important to have some old with the new.
4. Repetition:
Yes, this may make it boring for regular story time caregivers. But repetition is SO important for babies. When they hear the same thing over and over again, they start putting together the meanings of the words, rhymes, and songs that they've heard hundreds of times. I typically keep my Baby Story Times the same every week, except for a change of 1 rhyme or 1 song here and there. It serves a developmental purpose and also provides caregivers repetition to do exactly what Baby Time is intended for: teaching parents and caregivers the rhymes. We adults learn better through repetition too.
5. Fingerplays:
I use several familiar fingerplays that also double as songs, such as "Two Little Blackbirds", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", and "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider". I teach variations on how to use these so that the caregiver has the freedom to choose how they might want to incorporate familiar songs at home.
6. Songs:
Again, many of the above activities ARE songs, so this is just emphasizing that aspect of the above elements. Have you ever noticed how babies and toddlers focus when you sing to them? If you haven't, watch and be amazed. Even the most distracted toddlers drop everything. A few stand-by songs on the iPod are fine, but babies don't care if you don't have a perfect singing voice. In fact, as a Librarian it's probably better if you don't have a perfect singing voice (I know I don't). What better way to demonstrate to parents that even I, as the Librarian, am not perfect and so they certainly do not have to be in order to share that experience with their child. Singing to our child soothes them and calms them down.
Resources:
You may have noticed that most of these elements are already used in your story times for older children. I use the Every Child Ready to Read literacy skills even at Baby Time. I just alter any element I include to work for a lap sit program.
Some great resources that have been incredibly helpful:
1. "What'll I Do With the Baby-O?: Nursery Rhymes, Songs, and Stories for Babies" by Jane Cobb
For a refresher, or an introduction, in baby developmental needs, this book is amazing! It also provides reasoning behind the elements you may want to have in your story times. Some items were not helpful for my particular library, but for an overview on the purpose behind baby story times, I cannot emphasize how great of a resource this book is!
2. Jbrary
This is a great resource on story time planning and outlining. And, of course their YouTube channel has a list for baby time bouncy rhymes and songs. Plus, for many of their other rhymes, they give you ideas on how to adjust it for different age groups.
3. Baby Sign Language
Here's the link, again, for American Sign Language. I know there are a lot of sites out there for sign language, but this was the best one I have found. It also is geared towards young children, so it keeps the vocabulary minimized to words that you would typically teach a young child.
4. "Step Into Storytime: Using Storytime Effective Practice to Strengthen the Development of Newborns to Five-Year-Olds" by Saroj Ghoting
Saroj Ghoting just happens to the be an expert on early literacy and is a consultant for the American Library Association. The book is a wonderful resource on the developmental needs of children. It also provides tons of ways to put early literacy research to practice at library storytimes.
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