Have you been a faithful attendant of babytime for many months now, but your little is starting to walk, and the baby time activities just aren't keeping them engaged as much anymore? I’m sure that your little’s readiness to move up has come long before you are emotionally ready to move past babytime, and to admit that perhaps you have a toddler, not a baby anymore! When my own daughter was 16 months, I didn’t feel ready for toddler time, but I knew it was time for us to move up. Today I’m going to highlight some of our fantastic programs for your littles who are no longer “babies”!
Toddler Time- Thursday 10:30 am (ages 16 mo-3 years)
Lets start with the obvious choice for you and your little: Toddler Time! Lead by the wonderful Ms. Katie, this storytime will continue to build on the early literacy skills you began learning about in Baby Time. The program includes a book, playtime and dance time with an instrument, action rhymes and finger plays, as well as letter of the day and early literacy activities. This is one of our most popular programs, and is often well attended by our wiggliest youngsters. We do not expect that your toddler is able to stay seated on a leaf for the entirety of storytime! Generally there is a lot of movement as everyone engages and learns differently. We encourage you to attend this program even if your little is an active one!
Sounds and Stories: Wednesday 10:30 am (ages 16 mo-3 years)
Did you know that Sounds and Stories is now a weekly program?! This program is also unique because it does not pause during our storytime breaks. Sounds and Stories is targeted to the same age range as Toddler Time, but the program is half storytime and half dance party! We start with our letter of the day, learn an action rhyme, read a story, and do our movement with instruments, but then we break to the dance party playlist. We even finish with bubbles every week- this is a great program for your wiggly little!
Family Steam Lab: Monday and Wednesday 11 am (ages 0-5)
Many of you may already be attending this wonderful program that happens after our storytimes on Monday and Wednesday! This program meets in the Benham Gallery on our lower level, and is an opportunity for your little to engage in a lot of open ended exploratory play. Both programs follow the same themes our weekly storytimes do, and begin with a song and a story. Then you and your little will be able to explore sensory bins with all kinds of fun new elements every week. This program is a perfect one to drop by after storytime for some extra play, but feel free to leave before the designated end of the program if you’re rushing to a preschool pick up, or naptime! This program is a great opportunity for your little to have some extension time and meet other littles their age.
Congrats on your little moving up from Baby Time, we know this is a big deal and we are so grateful to you for being part of our programs!