Food for Babies
Storytimes for babies and toddlers offer an opportunity to model great read-aloud techniques for parents, and gives them the confidence to read to their children every day. A baby-toddler storytime can be followed by an extra 20 to 30 minutes of playtime, which encourages parents to talk to each other and for the young children to learn to play with others. It also demonstrates the importance of play to parents.
Welcome song: “Hello Everybody, Yes Indeed”
Mother Goose rhyme: “Simple Simon”
Get ready song: “Open, Shut Them”
First book: Is That Wise, Pig? by Jan Thomas. Mouse and Cow are making soup, and Pig tries to add unusual ingredients. Repetition of the title will engage listeners.
Fingerplay: “Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?”
Stretching song: “Peanut Butter and Jelly”
Second book: Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle. On the farm, making pancakes begins with grinding the flour, milking the cow, and churning the butter.
Fingerplay: “Five Fat Sausages”
Movement song: “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”
Third book: Feast for Ten by Cathryn Falwell. The whole family helps to cook dinner in this counting story.
Song: “Apples and Bananas”
Extra book if needed: Round Is a Tortilla by Roseanne Thong. Mexican food items are the examples used for this book on shapes.
Board book for parents: Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli. A baby demonstrates opposites using food, such as “Spaghetti is yummy. Worms are yucky.”
Closing song: “The More We Get Together”