Just got back from the storytime at Winter Park Public Library, grateful for the free indoor fun that it offers my active 19-month old and I. To me, a great storytime for this age includes easy-to-follow stories with big pictures, songs, dancing, and hand motions. Sound effects like animal noises and stomping are big winners too. I think the WPPL (Winter Park, FL) dishes these out in the right doses to get toddlers interested and having fun. Plus, there's the big finale of either bubbles or playing with a big basket full of animal puppets. That spells 'instant party' to Samantha.
Yes, I know there are music, movement, and gym classes where kids can learn and explore. I'd love to try one with Samantha sometime. However, for families tightening their budgets or who like the flexibility of only coming when their schedule permits, library storytimes are big winners for interaction with other kids and a variety of learning situations. Not all storytimes are created equally though, so it's worth going to all the storytimes in your area to see which one your child likes the best.
A big bonus is a library that has a play area or cozy reading corner in the childrens' section for pre- or post-storytime activities. It's easy for kids to pick out books from the shelves and want to read with Mommy or Daddy when there's an easy environment to relax in.
I have a song stuck in my head. You know how it goes; you either hear a song or are reminded of it, and it replays in your thoughts until something else (sometimes another song) finally kicks it out. I've had some pretty useless songs caught in my head, but I'm glad to have the one up there now. It's the theme song to the Baby Signing Time Vol. 1 DVD where all the songs help you and your baby learn signs in American Sign Language (ASL) that a young child would be most likely to use.
I'd wanted to teach my daughter Samantha how to sign because I'd heard how much it helped child/parent communication and lessened frustration on both sides, but I felt intimidated by how to actually learn ASL myself and how to help a baby learn it too. Plus I wondered if it really did work.
Enter the Baby Signing Time DVDs. My library had them, and once Sam and I started watching, I was hooked. Watching the teacher, Rachel, we saw how to do the signs for words like eat, drink, milk, water, cracker, mommy, daddy, dog, cat, diaper and more demonstrated in easy and memorable ways. Each song that taught the signs showed several toddlers signing each word and showed kids doing something having to do with the sign, and adorable cartoon intros to each song made my daughter giggle. Sam's not a girl to get into videos, but she liked these.
Here's an example of how the sign for 'bird' is taught:
Baby Signing Time made the signs so easy for me to remember, I was pleased at how quickly I could integrate them in how I talked with Samantha. When it was mealtime, I would tell her that it was time to eat and sign 'eat' at the same time, or ask her verbally 'would you like to eat?' while doing the 'eat' sign. As I'd give her bites of food, I'd say things like 'you're eating!' and sign 'eat', and 'yes, we eat cereal' (of course signing 'eat'). At first, this was a very deliberate action on my part to help reinforce my memory too, but after awhile I started signing 'eat' more naturally as I talked with my daughter. After awhile, she caught on, and she started signing 'eat' when she was hungry or in response to my questions of if she'd like to eat.
When she learns each sign, Samantha smiles and seems very happy with herself for learning how to do it, and that mommy and daddy understand her. Of course, sometimes she's happy because the sign gets her food or a toy more quickly, but who can blame her? ;)
Want to learn more about signing? I created a website about teaching your baby/toddler to sign that also includes more info about the Baby Signing Time and Signing Time series and other helpful resources.
Just have to show how my little cutie pie signs. Here she is signing 'more' to ask her grandpa to keep bouncing her in the water:
A big bonus is a library that has a play area or cozy reading corner in the childrens' section for pre- or post-storytime activities. It's easy for kids to pick out books from the shelves and want to read with Mommy or Daddy when there's an easy environment to relax in.
