Planning Resources

The question of whether or not to do storytime themes is not new. Seven years ago Katie posed the question on the ALSC blog and I’ve seen people discuss it on list-serves, Facebook groups, and Twitter since then.  The conversation has probably been going on long before then too! This post is not about telling… Continue reading Storytime Themes vs. Storytime Flow

At our November Library Services for Children Journal Club meeting we discussed executive function.  One of the ways we can help children develop executive function skills is through pretend play.  Stephanie M. Carlson is a professor and director of research at the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota. She wrote an article about why pretend play… Continue reading Guest Post: Modeling Pretend Play at Storytime

What do you do when you’ve got a storytime crowd full of babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and maybe even a few school-age kids too? This, my friends, is the beauty of a mixed-age storytime.  At my library we call them Family Storytimes.  Family storytimes are great because they allow caregivers with multiple children to bring them… Continue reading Mixed-Aged Storytimes

One of the things I’ve been working on with regards to my storytimes is the concept of intention.  Being intentional about the books, songs, rhymes, early literacy messages, and flow of those precious 30 minutes.  I’ve always been a storytime planner, and I started the year by sharing how I incorporated more repetition of stories throughout a 10… Continue reading Storytime Planning: Resource of the Week

I’ve been doing storytimes for about three years now.  In some ways I still consider myself a storytime newbie.  My process for planning is constantly changing and adapting based on articles I’ve read or ideas I see others trying. I’ve written before about how I plan a toddler storytime and how I plan a baby… Continue reading Planning a Storytime Session

It is a common and challenging part of our job and it’s not going away anytime soon: engaging caregivers during storytime. While it got a mention at our Guerrilla Storytime at BCLA 2014 we thought it’s enough of a challenge to warrant its very own post. So here we go, our strategies for welcoming parents… Continue reading Engaging Caregivers in Storytime

Overlooked and undervalued, transitions are the secret superhero of any great storytime. Or heck, anytime you’re trying to help kidlets move from one activity to the next! I for one had no idea how important transitions were until I started doing Toddler Storytimes on the regular and now I collect and admire them like gemstones…. Continue reading Storytime Transitions