I love volunteering with our local library, and want to share some of the fun themes I've done with the kids! First up, our Valentine's Day Story Hour!
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. We did a few songs to start, like the Valentine's Hokey Pokey. 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.
Books: There are SO many cute Valentine's Day themed books! With our age group, I opted for board books so that we could read several or just one or two depending on the kid's vibe that day. We read:
Turkey's Valentine's Day Surprise by Wendi Silvano
Best Furry Friends (Paw Patrol book) by Random House
Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse! by Laura Numeroff
Little Blue Truck Valentines by Alice Schertle
Wiggle Break: Inevitably, these kiddos will need to get some wiggles out! I brought my bluetooth speakers and led the kids in these songs: Valentine's Hokey Pokey and Color Freeze Dance. Then we could sit for the rest of our books!
Craft: My friend Snow found these adorable frames to make!! She had a little black and white camera printer and the kids really loved making them! Plus, I had Valentine word searches like these (they're even free!) from Teachers Pay Teachers ready for the oldest kids. And dot marker pages like these ready for the littlest participants!
All in all, it was a delightful story hour! Looking forward to my next one.
Thanks for reading!
-Kami
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