Remember what I was saying about variety being the norm for a children’s librarian?
I arrived for my on-call shift at the children’s department of the central branch to discover that I was scheduled to deliver the morning’s family story time. Surprise! Thankfully I am a bit of an old hat at last minute story times by now.
One of the nicest things about doing on-call story times is that you can cheat. You can bust out your favourite songs and story books, the really popular ones that everyone loves and that you’ve already done to death with your own group. Today’s family story time was a bit of a greatest hits edition, but no Pete the Cat, as I couldn’t find a copy in the story time closet…
Welcome Song: Hello, Friends
Book 1: I went Walking / Sue Williams
Hand Rhymes
- I wake up my hands
- Roly poly
Book 2: Old MacDonald Had a Farm / Jane Cabrera
Action Songs
- Bend and stretch
- Zoom zoom zoom
- The wheels on the bus
- Toast in the toaster
- The elevator song
Cool Down Songs
- The itsy bitsy spider
- Open shut them
Goodbye Song: Goodbye Friends!
I had some very enthusiastic caregivers in today’s small story time group who were happy to belt out all of the songs, which took some of the pressure off my voice, which was still a little strained after the program-heavy day before.