Happy Noon Year Storytime!

We rang in the start of 2025 with a special family story time, featuring a bedtime-friendly countdown to noon! It was heaps of fun, and we had a pretty big crowd, which always helps keep the energy high. Here’s what we did, for our last story time of 2024:

Hello Song: Hello, Hello, Can You Clap Your Hands? 

Wake Up Song: When Cows Get Up on New Years 

(Adapted from When Cows Get Up in the Morning)

When cows get up on New Years, they always say hooray!

When cows get up on New Years, they always say hooray

They saaaaay: MOOOOOO!

That’s how they say hooray!

Book One: Dinosaur Dance, Sandra Boynton

Hand Songs: Open Shut Them / Roly Poly

Book Two: If You’re Happy and You Know It, Jane Cabrera

Movement Songs: The Elevator Song / Zoom Zoom Zoom (with countdown from 10)

Happy New Year Song:

(To the tune of Roly Poly)

Happy New Year, Happy New Year,

Everyone, Everyone!

Happy New Year! Happy New Year!

Everyone! Everyone!

If you’ve seen any of my previous story time recaps, I followed my tried and true family story time routine, with a few adaptations thrown in to match the special New Years theme. I changed the words to “When Cows Get Up in the Morning” so my puppets could say hooray!, read books that featured dancing and happiness, and made up my own simple “Happy New Year” song to wrap up the program.

Funny story about the Happy New Year song…I’d actually meant to sing the classic song “Auld Lang Syne” after our countdown, but when the time came, I completely blanked on the tune! Did I panic? I think not! I simply took a familiar tune (Roly Poly, or Frere Jacques) and turned it into an on-the-spot Happy New Year song that was simple enough for everyone to join in on! That’s certainly a benefit of having done more story times than I could count – it takes a lot to phase me these days!

We also did a simple craft after the story time – I know that many library systems incorporate crafts into their story time programs, but we reserve them for special events and occasions. We made simple paper cone-shaped party hats – all you need is paper, coloring supplies, scissors, tape and yarn or string for the chin straps. Simple, fun, and a great way to practice those fine motor skills.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2025, full of songs and stories!