This idea has been marinating in my brain for quite a while… With all the children’s music out there, it’s a tough to slog through your library’s collection to find the right music for storytime. Believe me, I know from *recent* personal experience. I’m in the middle of a major slog-athon right now in preparation for a new “Campfire Sing-Along” program I put on our 2012 summer calendar.
Side note: About 2 years ago, I started a program we call “Bibliobop”, and it’s been pretty popular for from the get-go. I decided to try a the sing-alongs this summer. It’s somewhere between a storytime and a dance party. It will still be a program you can grab and go (a playlist on the department’s iPod + 1 book), but with a little more structure than a dance party. I’m pretty close to a final mix. I should have it by the end of the week(?). I’ll post it when I do.
I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time: Must-Have Music Monday. Each week (give or take) I’ll feature a storytime CD that no storytime room should be without.
There guidelines for these CD are as follows:
- currently available thru major vendors
- CD has multiple tracks that will come in handy for storytime
- short/no intro (more than once, I’ve been in front of a storytime group as a 20-30 second intro played through feeling like a total weirdo)
- songs should be 85-98% chorus… This may sound weird but repetition is the sweet spot when it comes to storytime music.
- Movement/Participation/Silliness
- There’s more, and I’ll add more as I think of them
Little Ditties For Itty Bitties by Michele Valeri
This CD is wall-to-wall storytime awesomeness!
1. Bouncy Bouncy
Super-cute song for Babytime. If your library does a small-group baby lapsit this would be a great bouncing song. It’s a pretty rigorous bouncing song, so make sure your group is in the mood. Sit in a circle, follow along with the song (this will work especially well if you use a demonstration doll) as it plays.
2. Hurray For My Face!
Very silly song it would be perfect for toddler time preschool storytime. Have the kids touch the various body parts mentioned through out the song. I might try making a flannelboard to go along with this song, and build a body as the song plays.
4. Walking/Caminando
This is ideal for an English-Spanish storytime. This would work with babies, toddler, preschoolers. I would stand in a circle and follow along with the lyrics (first in English, then in Spanish).
6. My Dog George
Grab your favorite dog puppet, and wag his tail, scratch his ears, let him give you a kiss, and hug him as the songs instructs.
7. Knock Knock and 8. Toc Toc
Pass out rhythm sticks, and use them to knock on the door. Then make the various animal noises when the time is right. This is a super silly crowd-pleaser. You can do it in English and/or Spanish.
9. Monkey Talk
Vrrrrooooooooooommmmm!! Take the wheel!
Storytiming 
May 2, 2012 at 9:15 pm
Thank you! This is great..I always need music suggestions. I will order the CD for the library asap! ~ jane
May 2, 2012 at 9:17 pm
You won’t regret it!
May 2, 2012 at 7:57 am
I would love more info about bibliobop too!! lking67@gmail.com I’ve never used CDs so far during Storytime just did my own singing. But I’m thinking of starting a Lapsit using CDs. This may be a silly question, but how do you you switch smoothly between songs and CDs? I know I must be overthinking this. 🙂
May 2, 2012 at 2:50 pm
Ah! 2 similar questions/quandaries… you are not alone ladies! I will definitely follow up on this. Thanks for the feedback Lean and Erin!
May 2, 2012 at 7:01 am
I love this idea! So far my attempts at incorporating music into storytime have been a little bit awkward (my storytime kids don’t go for “waving scarves to music”–they just stared at me!) I’d like more details on how to make it happen, too! 🙂
May 2, 2012 at 2:45 pm
I never thought about it before. I guess my coworkers here have always used recorded music, so the storytimers are used to it. I am doing storytime in the morning so I’ll try to pay attention to how that works. I will give it a good think, and address it in a later post.
May 1, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Okay, THIS. THIS is AWESOME. Thank you so much for doing this! Can I join in? I listen to a whole bunch of kids radio (thank you, Sirius FM) and could offer some ideas, too! Also, pretty pretty please can you teach me how to throw a bibliobop! I want to do a back-to-school one – been rolling it around in my brain ever since I saw the term on your blog way back in the fall!
May 1, 2012 at 2:45 pm
PLEASE DO! If you post on your blog let me know…Let’s link up!
And what sort of help would you need to get bibliobop going? if it seems at all daunting, it’s an illusion. It’s the easiest program to run…I’ll email you, and feel free to email me with any ?s/issues