I haven’t been a children’s librarian for very long, but a lifetime of being scatter-braine has taught me to keep stashes of extra in-case-of-memory-lapse-emergency items (i.e. chapstick, keys, $10) stashed away in all my bags, jackets, and desk drawers. I have found this rule work for me in the storytime room, too. I keep a mix CD of my favorite interactive kids songs hidden near the CD player. If things are going a little rocky, I need to fill some time, kids are getting restless; I pop it in on shuffle, and go with whatever the machine chooses. It’s a silly thing, but there something about that small element of surprise that I could never fake in a million years. It never fails to shake things up, and get storytime back on track.
So here’s my Storytime 911 mix:
- Clap Your Hands/ They Might Be Giants
- Shake Your Sillies Out/ Raffi
- Brush Your Teeth/ Raffi
- Brush Brush Brush/ of montreal
- 1, 2, 3, 4/ Laura Freeman
- Do You Wanna Know My New Dance Step/ Dog on Fleas
- The Hokey Pokey/ Dan Zanes
- Song about Slow, Song about Fast/ Hap Palmer
- Shake Your Sillies Out/ Michael and Jello
October 21, 2010 at 5:44 am
This is the COOLEST TIP. I love the idea of being as surprised by the song as the kids are. What a great element to add to a storytime that needs a little something! We’re having a storytime providers training/meeting in a couple weeks and this is the thing I’m going to share!
October 21, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Thanks! whatever keeps you on your toes, right?
October 21, 2010 at 11:06 pm
oh, and either tomorrow, or possibly next week I will write a post about a program I started this year… Bibliobop: Family Dance Parties at the Library.