what if they threw a storytime and no one came? pt. 1

Our library had a little mandatory furlough during the holidays, which was nice for some folks, but not nice at all for lots of others. The folks who bore the brunt of it of course were the patrons, and (from my viewpoint) children in particular. But the point is that we did open back up, and that was great! Problem was, I think it took a while for folks to figure out that we were in fact open for business. As in, the first morning back was hecka slow.

Which would normally not be the biggest problem in the world: lots to catch up on, nice to have a little room to breathe, etc. But when I came to work on that frst Wednesday, I was asked if I could help out and do both storytimes that morning. Yay! Both bilingual storytimes: double yay!

Long story short, nobody showed up for either of them. Lame. Well, one little guy showed up right around toddler storytime but I'm not sure he was there for storytime. I gave him the option of that or toys, and he (probably wisely) took the toys. Not that it wouldn't have been fun, but hey - toys. I think it really was a case of folks not being sure about our schedule, plus some schools not being back in session until next week.

Here's the bilingual toddler storytime plan I whipped up on very short notice.

1. Opening: The Hello Song [with Gareth]
2. Song/Activity: Open, Shut Them
3. Stretch: Way Up High In the Apple Tree

4. STORY: Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones / Byron Barton

5. Fingerplay: Two Little Hootowls
6. Song; Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
7. Activity: Hickory Dickory Dock
8. Fingerplay: La Pequena Araña

If you are interested, here is the version I use, taken from... somewhere.

La pequeña araña
subió, subió, subió
vino la lluvia
y se la llevó. 

Salió el sol
y todo lo secó
y la pequeña araña
subió, subió, subió.

9. Song/Activity: Wheels on the Bus

10. STORY: Freight Train (Tren de Carga) / Donald Crews
11. Closing: Let’s Make A Band! [using “Can You Shake Your Egg With Me?”]

I definitely went with some more familiar elements, seeing as I had very little time to pull this together. But it would have been super-fun, I think, because old favorites usually are. And new storytime elements are just old favorites you haven't had a chance to get to know yet.