The first Step into Storytime of 2020 was a great success! As usual, there were some familiar faces and a few new ones, and everyone was pretty close to the target age range (2- and 3-year-olds; some looked a little younger). The kid:adult ratio was 1:1 (except in one case where there were two adults for one kid), which helped make it a tamer affair than when there are more kids than adults. Of course, I also like to think that my book choices, songs, and felt board had something to do with their great listening today…

• Welcome and announcements (Happy new year!)
• “Hello Friends” with ASL (Jbrary)
• “The More We Get Together” with ASL (“more,” “together,” “happy,” “be,” “friends”)
• Book by Kristine O’Connell George and Maggie Smith
• Stretch arms from seated position, wiggle
• I Will Chomp You! by Jory John and Bob Shea: lots of engagement from the adults on this one.
• Song cube: “Zoom zoom zoom, we’re going to the moon” and “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” (the latter we did once at regular speed, once slowly, and once fast)
• Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes: This is the first time I’ve used this book at storytime and it is perfect for this age group!
• Yoga/music: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in star pose, rocking/swaying back and forth
• Hurray for Hat! by Brian Won: I always get the kids to show me their grumpiest faces, and they never disappoint.
• Hand out felt pieces for The Very Hungry Caterpillar: with fifteen pieces of fruit, there was enough to go around.
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle: As each fruit was mentioned, the kids holding that fruit came up and stuck it on the board. I added the caterpillar at the beginning and the butterfly at the end.
• “Goodbye Friends” with ASL (Jbrary)
• Coloring with crayons on butcher paper