I love volunteering with our local library, and want to share some of the fun themes I've done with the kids! I volunteered in April for story hour with the theme - Silly Words!!
Our current group of community kiddos are on the younger side, babies through ages 4, with most kiddos being 18 months - 3. We do have a few older homeschool kiddos that join their families, so I try to include them too! It's a fun age range to keep entertained.
Getting Started: I love using a parachute and stuffed animals from the library to get things moving while kids trickle in as story hour begins. Things to try while using the parachute - everyone go low, everyone go high! Everyone go slow, everyone go fast! Everyone, stop. Everyone go slow + fast, high + slow. Counting to three then stopping, everyone going under the parachute, etc. There's so much to learn with these simple movements for little kiddos! Plus, it's just so fun for them. And it's a great way to feel like the program has started for the day, while still giving time for families to arrive a few minutes late. Song we did this week: Shake Your Sillies Out.
Books: There are some fun books that just SOUND silly, or are call and repeat type books that I love to do with kiddos. With our age group, I typically opt for board books so that we could read several or just one or two depending on the kid's vibe that day. BUT, this week, the kids were ready to rock and roll with sitting and listening and we read:
The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith
I Say Ooh You Say Aah by John Kane
The Hiccupotamus by Aaron Zenz
Wiggle Break: Inevitably, these kiddos will need to get some wiggles out! I brought my bluetooth speakers and led the kids in this song: Shake Your Sillies Out.
Craft: This was one of the first weeks that it was actually nice enough for everyone to go outside, so in lieu of a typical craft, we all headed outside to play with chalk on the sidewalk!! I brought our bubble machine outside and played some kid music and we all had a great time visiting and playing! Plus, some of their artwork was just too cute! (My favorite is when kids laid down and had their parent trace them!)
Have a silly day! Thanks for reading!
-Kami
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