Thinking ahead to the next session of toddler storytimes and reviewing the past seems appropriate for this week between Christmas and New Years. What I've learned is that over planning gives me confidence that I will always have materials/activities no matter the flow of the kids attending. I rarely have time to read more than 2 books, but having the extras there always gives me hope that I can squeeze in 1 more and sometimes I do! And 2, no one has covered their hears and run screaming from the room when I start singing ABC's or the Hokey Pokey(although I wouldn't blame them if I did), so sing on I will!
My last 2 storytimes of the year were themed "Gingerbread" and "Holiday Trees". I wasn't that happy with the selection of gingerbread books to pick from, not because they weren't good books, but most were too long for 2-3 year olds to sit through and be engaged. The two I used were Gingerbread Mouse by Katy Bratun and Maisy Makes Gingerbread by Lucy Cousins which worked perfectly. The kids loved our activity song: Jingle Bells and Stop! by Miss Carole on her Season Sings CD. So glad we had lots of bells for everyone! The decorate your own gingerbread (paper) cookie was a super cute craft.
Our Christmas Tree storytime involved a repeat of Jingle Bells and Stop! song...did I mention they LOVED this song? The books I will use again because the kids participated in both. And we made popsicle stick Christmas Tree ornaments with a little help from the moms and dads. (Lesson learned...pre-glue the trees together and tie on the string so all they have to do is glue on the decorations!) Candy canes and special stickers were also handed out at the end.
I can't wait to get back to our next session of storytimes!
