These are the songs and books I used for a 30-minute babytime. You can hear all of the songs and rhymes by clicking on the Watch Here links.
Books I Shared:
Counting Kisses by Karen Katz
Old MacDonald Had a Farm by Jane Cabrera
I tend to focus more on songs and rhymes in babytime, so I only used these two highly interactive books. The caregivers helped me sing Old MacDonald and I snuck in an early literacy aside about using animal sounds to develop phonological awareness. Anything by Karen Katz is great and this one encourages caregiver-baby interaction, a great choice for supporting print motivation as the babies grow older.
Rhymes and Songs:
1. Welcome Song: Wake Up Feet
Wake up feet, wake up feet,
Wake up feet and wiggle, wiggle, wiggle,
Wake up feet, wake up feet,
Wake up and wiggle in the morning.
I start at the bottom of the body and work my way up with knees, hips, arms, head, and ears.
2. Lap Bounce: Cha-Cha-Chabogin
Cha, cha, chobogin
Cha, cha, chabin
Watch out little baby
You might fall in! (Swing baby between legs or lift baby up)
3. Lap Bounce: This is the Way the Ladies Ride
This is the way the ladies ride.
Nim, nim, nim
This is the way the gentleman rides.
Trim, trim, trim
This is the way the farmer rides.
Turot, turot, turot
And this is the way the hunter rides,
Galop, galop, galop, galop.
4. Lap Bounce: Pudding on the Plate
Pudding on the plate, pudding on the plate
Wibble wobble, wibble wobble (gently bounce baby)
Pudding on the plate.
Candies in a jar, Candies in a jar
Shake them up, shake them up (lift baby)
Candies in a jar.
Sausage in the pan, Sausage in the pan
Turn it round, turn it round (twist baby back and forth)
Sausage in the pan.
5. Song: I Wish I Were A Little Bar of Soap
Oh I wish I was a little bar of soap.
Bar of soap! (lift baby)
Oh I wish I was a little bar of soap.
Bar of soap! (lift baby)
I’d slippy and I’d slidy over everybody’s hidy,
Oh I wish I was a little bar of soap.
Bar of soap! (lift baby)
6. Diaper Changing Song: Sign Language Song
Make sure to check out the video to learn the signs and how I teach them to caregivers.
When my diaper’s on I like it dry,
And when it’s wet, I get upset.
When my diaper’s on I like it dry,
And when it’s wet, I get upset.
I want it off,
I cry, “Please change me!”
7. Diaper Changing Song: You Roll It
You roll it, you roll it, you roll it, (rock baby back and forth)
And then you put the raisins in. (poke baby’s belly)
8. Diaper Changing Song: Charlie Chaplin Went to France
Charlie Chaplin went to France
To teach the ladies how to dance.
First he did the rumba, rumba, rumba (move baby’s legs in a circle)
Then he did the kicks, the kicks, the kicks (kick baby’s legs back and forth)
Then he did the samba, the samba, the samba, (move baby’s legs in a circle, the opposite direction)
Then he did the splits, the splits, the splits. (move baby’s legs apart)
9. Movement Song: Go In and Out the Window
For the first part of this song, I ask caregivers to swing baby into the center of the circle so they get to see each other up close. For the second part, they turn and face another baby.
Go in and out the window,
Go in and out the window,
Go in and out the window,
As we have done before.
Stand up and face your partner,
Stand up and face your partner,
Stand up and face your partner,
As we have done before.
10. Movement Song: The Elevator Song
Caregivers lift baby up and down as the elevator moves.
Oh the city is great and the city is grand.
There’s a whole lot of people
on a little piece of land.
And we live way up on the 57th floor
and this is what we do when we go out the door.
We take the elevator up and the elevator down,
take the elevator up, take the elevator down.
Take the elevator up and the elevator down
and we turn around.
How It Went:
Wake Up Feet is an excellent welcome song as caregivers are able to pick it up quite easily. I asked for a few suggestions on what body parts to wake up and added in shoulders and nose. Many of the songs we did 3-5 times, especially the ones that had babies laughing. You Roll It was a baby favorite. I wasn’t planning on doing two movement songs, but I asked for any caregiver requests that they really wanted to do The Elevator Song so we added it in at the end. Last thing to note is that although the caregivers don’t tend to check out many books, they were all over the CDs I talked about featuring pop music (Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, you get the idea). Definitely going to keep having those ones out at babytime!
Hi Lindsey! I wanted to ask you about how you incorporate the music you mentioned into your baby storytime. I usually play a song at the end of storytime and encourage parents to dance and wave their scarves with the babies. I’ve been using music from children’s cds. Have you had success playing good ole’ pop songs and hits in this setting as well? I’d like to mix it up if it works and I think the parents would enjoy it. Thanks!
Hi Heather – thanks for your comment! In this particular outline, all of the songs I mentioned are ones we sang out loud. However, I love playing music from CDs during storytime too! Babytime is a great place to play pop songs because the parents will be familiar with them and they add a sense of fun to the storytime. Plus, you’re teaching them that any kind of music is good for their baby, not just the stuff aimed at kids. I played Happy by Pharrell Williams when it first came out and it was a huge hit. I’ve also played some oldies like Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) and we dance around or the parents sing to their babies. So to answer your question – yes, I think it totally works and I highly recommend it!
Hello, I’m a new/returning children’s librarian, and I am so happy that someone mentioned your super informative and helpful site on one of the FB groups! What order do you use for your storytimes in terms of bounce/storytime/song? Does it vary each time? I’m pretty spontaneous and flexible, so I’m just looking for a basic guideline especially in the beginning.
Thanks!
Hi Kat, thanks for stopping by! Everyone is a little different with how they structure their Babytime but it seems like Lindsey started with a welcome song, used a couple bounces, moved onto diaper changing songs and then finished with some movement songs. Like you said it’s all about being flexible and responsive to your group and learning what works best for you. If you’d like more ideas for Babytime we’ve got more posts which can be found here: https://jbrary.com/category/storytime-resources/ Hope this helps and all the best!
Flexibility is great to have for baby time! The structure of my baby time has changed a bit over the years. I always try to take into account how the babies are feeling that day. I usually start with 2-3 welcome songs, then 3-4 lap bounces, then read a book, then 2-3 dancing songs, and then 10 minutes of playtime and songs with either scarves, egg shakers, or a parachute. I’ll be writing a blog post on this very topic at the end of our baby storytime blog post series so stay tuned. ☺