Baby storytimes are a unique joy! In addition to sharing the best board books on offer, these storytimes are where we first meet families and set their expectations for what library programs look like. So why do they so often look like the version of storytime that plagues libraries, where children sit in their caregiver’s lap and stare forward at library staff as they read?
Obviously, some of this is a necessity of baby development. Babies aren’t ready to jump up on their feet like toddlers, but caregivers are ready to help babies move. By incorporating more movement, we support caregivers in working towards developmental milestones and learning what a more active and engaged storytime looks like.
Movement for Different Ages
Depending on the age range for your storytime, you’ll see babies at various developmental stages. Offering a variety of movements helps keep all families engaged and prepares them for the jump to toddler storytime. If you are only offering all-ages storytimes, these tips will help you invite caregivers with infants to participate more.
You don’t have to be a developmental milestones expert to encourage bigger movements with babies. (Although you can give yourself a crash course here, or by following infant occupational therapists online.) I like to introduce new movements with “if your baby is comfortable, you can try…” and offer options for younger and older babies. The simple act of sitting in a circle helps set the tone that you’re all trying this together.
If you’re able to set out toys, you invite older and more fidgety babies to engage in self-directed movement. Listening while making up your own moves is welcome at storytime!
Lifting and Rocking Movements
Lifting songs are a favorite of many families! You’re likely already doing them, but you can go beyond just raising a baby straight up in the air and bouncing. These movements help stimulate babies’ vestibular system and develop their balance.
Encourage caregivers to rock their bodies too instead of just moving their baby while they stay stationary. This is a more comfortable way to add in bigger falls backwards and side to side. You can also do rocking songs standing up. This is fun for songs with opportunities to dip a baby down and come back up.
Caregivers can tip babies back over their shoulders to add a new lifting style. This works great with “I’m a Little Teapot”.
Tummy Movements
Even those of us who aren’t parents ourselves have heard of the importance of tummy time! Laying babies down on their tummies helps to develop the muscles needed for rolling, sitting, and crawling.
Tummy time is great for rhymes that you can act out by touching a baby’s back, like “Round and Round the Garden” or “Pat-A-Cake”.
Older babies who are beginning to push up may also enjoy having props like eggs and scarves held in front of them to reach out for.
Back Movements
Flipping a baby onto their back allows caregivers to face their baby. Choose songs to support movements like pulling and pushing the baby’s arms and legs up/down or out/in. These movements encourage working toward rolling and develop core-distal and head-tail movements.
Try full body “Open Shut Them” or “Wind the Bobbin Up”. This position is also great for enjoying a parachute or scarf shaking above them.
Rolling and Wheelbarrows Movements
Babies learning to roll onto their sides and developing strength to support crawling may benefit from rolling and wheelbarrow positions.
Caregivers can support rolling their baby from their tummy to their side and back. To work on wheelbarrows, caregivers support the baby’s pelvis by holding the baby over their leg and encourage them to push up with their arms.
Try “Rolly Polly” or “Rock A Bye Baby”.
Caregiver Directed Movement
Storytime doesn’t all have to be offered sitting down! Choose songs that encourage caregivers to stand and move while carrying their babies. These songs create opportunities for babies to see other babies up close and build their visual tracking skills as they move through the room.
A favorite song for this is “In and Out the Window” with everyone saying hello as they come together at the center of your circle.
Instead of singing, you can also play music and direct caregivers to move through the room in different ways. Prompt them to switch up their speed or how they’re holding their baby.
Move While Reading Too!
Choose books with action words or movement prompts in the text. Describe illustrations and move like them, reaching high like giraffes or swaying like trees in the breeze. Encourage caregivers to move their babies throughout the story.
Get Moving
Being bigger with our movements is fun for caregivers and informative. Experiment with trying your favorite songs in new ways, adding a few more varied motions in at a time.
Did you read any of this and think to yourself, “this sounds a bit more like a music and movement program”? It does! I encourage you to bring some of that fun into storytime too. Music is a huge part of early literacy for infants and engaging for caregivers!
Since I’ve started incorporating bigger movements, I’ve heard from caregivers about hidden benefits like helping them to spot and address developmental delays in their child. Families are more eager and prepared to move up to toddler storytime sooner and are very engaged in the bigger movements that await them there.
Get wiggly, jiggly, and giggly in your baby storytimes!
Eleanor Howell-Shryock (she/they) is the Head Children’s Librarian, managing family and outreach services at Burlington Public Library in Burlington, Washington. They are the Chair Emeritus of the Washington Library Association’s Children and Young Adult Services Section. They are excited to highlight some of the unique challenges and opportunities of working in small and rural libraries for the ALSC blog.
The post Beyond Lap Sits: Movement for Babies appeared first on ALSC Blog.
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