Today was our last Lapsit storytime of the spring session.  For some of my sweet tots that have been coming to my lapsit since they were newborns this was their final Lapsit storytime before they move up to Tales for 2's and 3's in the fall.  It certainly has been incredible to watch these Tots learn and grow each session.  I cannot deny that this feels bittersweet!

Next week, we will be launching our special program series called Artsy Babies!  I look forward to sharing the process of planning and facilitating Artsy Babies with you.

My first Lapsit Favorites post has all of the songs and bounces that we did for the month of April.  

Can Somebody Please Scratch My Back?  is about an elephant with a terrible itch they cannot reach so they try to enlist the help of various animals.  This book is a bit lengthy, so I paper clipped some of the pages together to shorten it for Lapsit.  I was able to make some parts of the book interactive - like tickling or at the end when the itch is finally scratched.  There is a bit of ironic humor in the ending (the elephant tosses the helpful porcupine over their shoulder), but I decided to end the story with the porcupine helping the elephant.

We read and recited "One, Two, Three, Four" from My Very First Mother Goose edited by Iona Opie and illustrated by Rosemary Wells. 

After using this book for the entire session, I would like to reflect on this aspect of my Lapsit program.  My goal was to incorporate more nursery rhymes into my Lapsit, but I do not think that the caregivers felt confident in using the rhymes at home.  In the future, I think I will write out the nursery rhymes on chart paper so that the caregivers can see the words better.  I also would like to repeat the same nursery rhyme for 2-3 weeks so that caregivers can learn the rhyme and feel empowered to use it at home with their little one. 

As I reflect on my use of this book of nursery rhymes, I should address a stereotypical illustration in My Very First Mother Goose.  I recently discovered a blog entry on American Indians in Children's Literature by Debbie Reese in which she discusses how the illustrations on pages 60-61 are not accurate representations of members of the Native American Indian community. As a future librarian, I believe that it is important for me to constantly reflect on the books that I chose to share in my programming.  Unfortunately, I did not do my homework prior to using this collection.  While I did not use this particular nursery rhyme, I endorsed this book by using it in a program.  I believe that accurate representation matters and do not plan on using this collection of nursery rhmes in future programs. 

Do Cows Meow?  is a fabulous lift-the-flap book with a fun rhyme scheme and provides plenty of opportunities for caregivers to make animal sounds.  

I decided to try a new room set-up for Lapsit this spring.  I am happy with the functionality of the new set-up and felt that it fostered a welcoming atmosphere for the caregivers and babies.

Time flies when you are having fun!  I cannot believe that next week Wednesday is the end of our spring storytime session.  I wish I could say that it feels like spring, but winter continues to hang around.  My poor daffodils have yet to bloom!  

In May, we will have a special series called "Artsy Babies." My colleague and I were inspired by the "Busy Babies at the Library" program from Tales for the Tiny.  I am looking forward to facilitating this new program and sharing the end result here.

Since I forgot to grab the bag of scarves last week, I decided to redeem myself and use the scarves today.  ​
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If you would like to see videos of the songs and bounces, check out my first Lapsit Favorites blogpost.

Say Hello Like This!  is a fun and lively lift-the-flap book featuring animals and the different ways they say "hello!"  I invited caregivers to make the animal noises with me as I read the story.  

This week we read "Dance to Your Daddy" from My Very First Mother Goose edited by Iona Opie.  "Dance to Your Daddy" had a really great rhythm to it so I invited the caregivers to bounce baby as we read it.

Clip-Clop!  is one of my favorite books for storytime.  I invited the caregivers to say "Clip-Clop-Clippity-Clop" with me.  As we read, caregivers bounced baby in their lap.  I did warn caregivers ahead of time that the bouncing will start to get faster and encouraged them to pace themselves.  When I said "Plop!" I had caregivers drop baby between their knees.  

While February and March felt long, April feels like it is on fast-forward.  We have two weeks of Baby Lapsit left, and our spring programming session will be over.  Then, it will be time to gear up for Summer Reading, Riverwalk, (Not So) Happily After Hours, and my favorite annual magical celebration!  

However, I still get to spend some time with my littlest library friends.  ​In May, my colleague and I will be facilitating a weekly program called "Artsy Babies."  We were inspired by  the "Busy Babies at the Library" series from the blog Tales for the Tiny.  I cannot wait to share our ideas for this programming series with you!

Check out my blog post from last week if you would like to see videos of the songs and bounces for this month.  

Baby Parade is such a fun interactive book.  I have some babies that really LOVE to wave, so this was a perfect read for them! 

Our nursery rhyme for this week was an oldie, but goodie--"Pat-a-Cake" (page 46) from My Very First Mother Goose edited by Iona Opie.  

Is Everyone Ready for Fun?  is another great interactive read.  There are three actions in this book that caregivers can do with baby as the story is being read: bounce (it says jump in the book), dance, and wiggle.

This session I have been using "Wake Up Feet" from Jbrary as my hello song.  I like using the same hello song throughout the session because it establishes a routine with the caregivers and babies.  I have also been using "Cool Cat" a bounce from Jbrary all session because my caregivers love this bounce.  We are all obsessed with the "ch ch ch ch ch ch" part.  It's jazzy, fun, and cool.  

You can download my plans from this week and the lyrics to all of the songs that we will be singing and bouncing to this month down below.

Ten Tiny Babies is a fabulous rhythmic counting book.  

This week, we read and recited "Great A" from My Very First Mother Goose by Iona Opie and illustrated by Rosemary Wells.  I have been trying to incorporate more Nursery Rhymes into Lapsit this session.  I like that the pictures and text are large in this book.

Nose to Toes, You Are Yummy!  is a great interactive cuddly book for caregivers and babies.  Caregivers can touch baby's nose, toes, etc. as you read.

Many of the songs that I am using in Lapsit this month hail from a music literacy program that I have been studying for over seven years called Education Through Music (ETM).  The training is led by the incredibly brilliant master teachers of the Richards Institute of Education and Research.  I highly recommend studying ETM if you have the opportunity to do so.  I promise I will get around to writing a blog post about this "working of a work" and how this approach has impacted me personally and professionally.  

I have adapted some of the ETM songs to use in my Baby Lapsit program because these songs are engaging, rich in language, and elicit a playful state of being in adults and children.