Music Makers: Sign Language

Music Makers is a thirty minute registered program for 2 and 3 year olds and their caregivers. The focus of the program is music and each storytime concentrates on music, singing, and movement. I usually read two books during the program, but they are all "sing-a-book" titles so I actually end up singing the books instead of straight reading.

I don't normally use a theme when I plan Music Makers. After I planned this current session I noticed that each week had some vague similarities/theme qualities so I went ahead and labeled them. Just remember that it's a very loose theme and not everything pertains to it.

Dewey Bear

Dewey Bear greets everyone on the way in with hugs and high fives.

Opening Song:

"Tony Chestnut" by Carol Hammett from Toddlers on Parade

Book:

Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort

I used the big book version of this title and the children just couldn't get over how BIG the book was.

Prop Song:

"A Piece of Paper" by William Janiak from Songs About Me

For this song I give each child a piece of scrap paper about the size of half a page of computer paper to use as their prop. They LOVE it.

Movement Songs:

"Bicycle Bicycle" by Carole Hammett from Toddlers on Parade

"Three Little Kittens" by Georgiana Stewart from Nursery Rhyme Time

During "Bicycle Bicycle" we lay down on our backs and stick our feet in the air and kick them around like we're riding a bike. It's a great work-out!

Jazz It Up Moment:

"Get Up and Shake" by Sign2Me from Pick Me Up: Fun Songs for Learning ASL Sign

Signs Learned: Shake, Jump, Reach

"Pick Me Up" by Sign2Me from Pick Me Up: Fun Songs for Learning ASL Sign

Signs Learned: Up, Mommy, Daddy, More

I introduced sign language in this storytime. I explained it's importance to parents and how it is a great way to enhance early literacy skills. I showed off some of the resources the library has, but specifically highlighted the Pick Me Up: Fun Songs for Learning ASL Sign kit from Sign2Me that I used for this program. 

If you're unfamiliar with this kit, get familiar with it! It's great for sign language beginners. It's a spiral bound book that comes with a CD. The book shows all the lyrics and signs to each song on the CD and gives a difficultly level. That way you know what signs to introduce first and it gives you a foundation to build on as you learn the song and teach it to the kiddos. 

I have used this kit in previous toddler programs and used the same song 3-4 weeks in a row adding new signs each week. It's always been highly successful.

For this particular storytime I decided to stick with two of the easier songs. One that only has a few signs ("Pick Me Up") and the other that is basically just a dance song with very simple signs ("Get Up and Shake"). The children really responded to the movement and picked up on the sign language quite fast. It looked like the caregivers were really interested as well. The sign language section of the program was when I had the most adult participation.

Shared Board Book:
Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani

Closing Song:
"Skinnamarink" by Carole Peterson from Stinky Cake

One thing I haven't mention about this song is that I always have the children find their elbows before we sing the song. It's a great exercise in body identification. I further the activity by never being able to find my elbow. I point to my knee, head, leg, tummy, etc and have the children correct. This activity NEVER gets old to the kids. When I don't do this and find my elbow right away I get yelled at, "But your supposed to need help finding your elbow!!".

Dewey Bear

Dewey Bear says goodbye to everyone on the way out with hugs and high fives.

How It Went:

This was a great storytime! I ran out of time and we didn't get a chance to sing "Three Little Kittens", but that's okay. I really wanted to focus on the sign language in this program. I'm thinking about bringing back "Pick Me Up" in the next couple of weeks just so that the adults and children can learn more signs. It's not in my plans, but I'm going to try and squeeze it in I think, that's how much they enjoyed it.

Another element of the program that took a little bit more time then I anticipated was Itsy Bitsy Spider, it's actually a little on the long side (as are a lot of Trapani's works). It was really well received and I had some parents asking for more books by her on the way out the door.