What I did at work today...

I'm in the process of changing my storytime format for toddler.  I'm trying some new things for summer to get them use to the changes I'm going to spring on them in the fall. (Just realized I used 3 of the four seasons in that last sentence) I'm keeping some of the same themes and books from years past, but working on doing more repetitive songs and activities as well as incorporating more flannel boards and a puppet!

One new thing I'm getting rid of my storytime booklets! When I first started, I was so proud of them. The rest of my department made plain two sided handouts with songs and books which ranged from decent looking to cluttered clip art monstrosities (sadly more of the latter). I decided to make a booklet and came up with a design that I could cut and fold a 8 page booklet. That way the child could always take home a book from storytime that they could color, tear, fold or chew (it mattered not to me!)

It worked out well at first. Now I just see these little booklets being shoved in couch cushions and worst being fought over at storytime. I had one child who would grab all the booklets from the table, than pushily give them to the other kids, only to change her mind and steal them all back. Plus I realized when you have a wiggly toddler, your hands aren't always free to look down and read what song it coming next. Plus paper cuts, and wasting paper and more cons that are outweighing the pros.

So I'm switching to large format song sheets on poster board for the crowd to read from and follow along. Ideally, I would have a storytime area with a projector so I could flash them on the wall. Alas, I do not, but its' one of my request for our new library. Fortunately, we have a ton of old poster board and colored paper in our craft hoard. I'm also narrowing down the number of songs we sing in storytime, so we will repeat the same songs. It also saves me from trying to find 4 new songs that work with out theme and are suitable for toddlers, not always an easy task.

I found my self reliving a bit of nostalgia when making this. When I got my first job at a library almost 7 years ago, one of my first tasks was helping the program specialist make song sheets for her storytime. I was a great excuse to get away from the circulation desk!