Baby Story Time - Choo Choo!

I've really wanted to read the board book, "Trains Go," by Steve Light, in Baby Story Time, so I went all out with trains this week! Who doesn't love pulling that imaginary whistle and shouting, "Choo-choo!!"?

Books We Read:

Freight Train by Donald Crews

I really like this book for babies and toddlers.  It's really a 'colors' book, with train cars in every color of the rainbow.  The text is simple and direct, and very small children always seem a little entranced as they watch the freight train travel throughout the book.

Trains Go by Steve Light

I'm loving this board book!  It's extra wide so when you open it up you get a great view of the train passing by! And the sound effects are so much fun to read aloud!

Peek-a-CHOO-CHOO! by Marie Torres Cimarusti

All of these 'Peek-a' books by Cimarusti are great books to fall back on in any baby or toddler story time.  The bright colors and big flaps make them fun and easy reads.  I will often end with one because the guessing element (what's under the flap?) helps to keep those little ones' attentions for just a few more minutes!

Activities:

Our Wake-up Rhyme today was kind of a classic lap bounce - "Mother and Father and Uncle John."  The characters aren't riding on a train, but they're going somewhere! I learned this from the fantastic book, Baby Rhyming Time by Linda Ernst - such a great resource book to have in your collection!

Mother and Father and Uncle John
Mother and Father and Uncle John
     (bounce baby)
Rode to town, one by one.
Mother fell off and Father fell off,
     (tip baby to one side, tip to the other)
But Uncle John rode on and on and on...
     (bounce faster and faster!) 

After our first book, we did this "Choo-Choo Train" fingerplay, except I turned it into a lap bounce, since most of my babies right now are pretty little.  I often find myself turning rhymes into lap bounces, because babies don't have a lot of dexterity in their little hands yet!

Choo Choo Train (adapted from http://www.childfun.com)
This is a choo-choo train
     (bend arms at elbow)
Puffing down the track.
     (rotate arms in rhythm)
Now it's going forward.
     (lean baby forward)
Now it's going back.
     (lean baby back)
Now the bell is ringing.
     (pull the imaginary cord)
Now the whistle blows.
     (hold fist at mouth and "toot toot")
What a lot of noise it makes
     (cover ears with hands)
Everywhere it goes!
     (stretch arms out wide)

Next we sang "Little Red Caboose"!  I learned this song by watching Kidsongs with my toddler! (Anyone remember Kidsongs???)  Trust me, once you get this song into your head, it'll be stuck there all day!  I also added simple motions to this song:

Little Red Caboose
Little red caboose, chug, chug, chug,
     (chug chug with arms)
Little red caboose, chug, chug, chug,
Little red caboose behind the train.
     (thumb over shoulder)
Smokestack on his back, back, back. back.
     (pat baby's back)
Chugging down the track, track, track, track,
     (chug chug with arms)
Little red caboose behind the train.
     (thumb over shoulder)

After our second book, it was Rhythm Time - this week we used bells!  The babies gently shook their bells while I played "Down by the Station" on my guitar.  I seriously taught myself how to play it about two hours before story time!  There were only three chords, so it was actually quite easy - whew!  If you'd like to try your hand, I found the guitar tabs here.  I slightly adapted the lyrics:

Down by the Station
Down by the station, early in the morning.
See the little pufferbellies all in a row.
See the stationmaster blow his little whistle.
"Puff! Puff!" "Toot! Toot!"  Off we go!

Down by the station, early in the morning.
See the little pufferbellies all in a row.
See the engine driver pull his little lever.
"Puff! Puff!" "Toot! Toot!"  Off we go!

Down by the station, early in the morning.
See the little BABIES all in a row!
See the engine driver pull his little lever.
"Puff! Puff!" "Toot! Toot!"  Off we go!

And one more rhythm song - "Ring Them on the Floor" from Kathy Reid-Naiman's music cd I Love to Hear the Sounds.  I've used this song a few times and I really like it, but the recorded version is sooo long, so I just sing it myself.

Ring Them on the Floor
Ring them on the floor and ring them in the air,
Ring them on the floor and ring them in the air,
Ring them on the floor and ring them in the air,
And ring them all day long!

Ring them quietly, ring them loud,
Ring them quietly, ring them loud,
Ring them quietly, ring them loud,
And ring them all day long!

How it went:

I really liked this story time, but I think too many of the songs were unfamiliar to the parents, so I was often singing alone.  That doesn't really bother me, but I do strive to use tunes that sound familiar so they can continue singing them at home.  But I had 17 babies and no major breakdowns (from them or me!) so I think everyone was happy!  Until next week!