Nighttime 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: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”
Get ready song: “Open, Shut Them”
First book: Silly Lullaby by Sandra Boynton. Using nonsense words in this delightful song, a child is sung to sleep.
Fingerplay: “Ten in a Bed”
Second book: Chengdu Could Not, Would Not Fall Asleep by Barney Saltzberg. A panda cannot fall asleep until he finds the perfect resting place.
Movement song: “Wiggy Wiggy Wiggles”
Third book: Moon Babies by Karen Jameson. In this rhyming story, two grandma moons take care of five baby moons.
Song: “These Little Stars of Mine”
Extra book if needed: Pigs in a Blanket by Hans Wilhelm. Three pig siblings get read for bed in this brief story that goes from morning until night.
Board book for parents: Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. In this classic, the reader says “good night” to several things in a room.
Closing song: “Hello and Goodbye” .
Penny Peck, San Jose State University iSchool