Last week the library was closed on Monday for Veterans’ Day, and last weekend was quite cold, so today’s group was large and squirrelly! I used all my quiet down and redirection strategies and it was still pretty rowdy (although to be fair, it was mostly the four in front; there were several in the back who were sitting pretty quietly and could have listened to more books).

• Welcome and announcements (please fill out our community survey if you have 5-10 minutes!)
• “Hello Friends” with ASL (Jbrary)
• “The More We Get Together” with ASL
• Pom Pom Panda Gets the Grumps by Sophy Henn (everyone can say “Harumph!” together)
• Will Ladybug Hug? by Hilary Leung (this is a board book, but they really seemed to enjoy it, and I think the message about consent is a good one to fit in before the holidays, when kids are likely to see some family members and family friends they might not know very well).
• Song cube: “Wheels on the Bus” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It”
• Roly Poly Pangolin by Anna Dewdney: They liked this one a lot, actually; I’m not sure whether that’s because it’s in rhyme or because they were sympathetic to the main character’s shyness. It also has big, bold illustrations that are easy from anywhere in the room.
• The mouse house game (“Little mouse, little mouse, are you in the ____ house?”) They react to this game the way that Stones fans react to Satisfaction. The same three kids kept shouting out colors so I asked to hear from some of our quieter friends in the back to try to ensure everyone got a turn.
• Want to Play Trucks? by Ann Stott and Bob Graham: This is usually a great storytime book for this group, but their attention span was completely gone at this point.
• “Shake Your Sillies Out” with egg shakers
• Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett: We stayed on our feet for this book so we could do the animal impressions; with the repeated “monkey and me” singsong part, it’s equal parts movement activity, song, and story.
• “Goodbye Friends” with ASL
• Clean up mats; reminder about surveys
• Art: coloring with markers and crayons on brown butcher paper with a tape shape on it. (On reflection, the markers were not a good choice for today, and I got less help from grown-ups than last time with putting the caps back on. But the tape shapes were a hit! And there were so many kids I added a second paper and shape, because there wasn’t enough room around the first paper.)