Due to the threat of impending ice, my storytime was cancelled the night before. In fact, all morning programs at my library system were cancelled and a notice was posted on our website. Naturally I was a little mopey about it, but then decided it was for the best. Due to a very wacky cold I had last weekend, I am still a bit snuffly and hoarse.
The morning of my cancelled storytime I wasn't surprised to see two of my storytime regulars pop in. I told them good morning and gave them the sad news. A few minutes later I heard more children approaching and decided to head to the front of the library to investigate. I was surprised to see another gaggle of toddlers and their adults heading toward our meeting room, which is where we give our storytimes. Oh boy, I thought. I have to tell all of these lovely people who battled the cold and ice and wrestled their children into winter gear and car seats, that there isn't a storytime. Yikes!
A coworker who was manning the front desk, suggested I do a popup storytime in our play area in the youth side of the library. That way I could also keep an eye on the desk. What a clever idea!
I didn't have my handy dandy slide show so I couldn't do my planned storytime. Instead, I would have to wing it. I grabbed two books from the pile of books I'm currently reviewing and quickly jotted down the titles of a handful of fingerplays and songs. I also grabbed the tin of shaker eggs and a stamp and pad. Meanwhile everyone was making themselves comfortable in the play area, and thankfully it was just the right amount of people so there was still plenty of space for dancing.
I brought everything out, sat down on my knees, and started singing our hello song. Though I had the hello and goodbye songs and one of the finger plays memorized, I learned that I most certainly did not have anything else memorized. Everyone was good-humored about it though and helped me out when I forgot lines.
I had a terrifying moment when I passed out the shaker eggs and realized I had no idea what we were going to do with them. Thankfully I had a 'Scott' moment. In addition to an exhausting list of skills, my brother Scott, has the ability to think on his feet. Occasionally I can do this too, but because he has a habit of doing it, I think of the moments when I think on my feet as 'Scott' moments.
As the toddlers picked out their shaker eggs, a few curse words fluttered across my mind (but didn't escape). Thankfully my brain started playing Old MacDonald (brains are so fantastically weird), and we had something to shake our eggs to.
Because there were only nine toddlers, I gave everyone an opportunity to pick an animal. It was a lot of fun. A few chose animals that were questionable farm animal choices (lions? frogs?), but nobody seemed to care. Oddly enough, I forgot the lyrics to the song, and had lost most of my voice at that point, so I moved my lips but didn't sing. Everyone carried on beautifully though and had a swell time.
I read the books, which were hits, stamped hands, and we danced the hokey pokey. It went as well as a spontaneous storytime could go. One child even said "that was so much fun!"
It was such a valuable experience for me. I, too, had a good time. But more importantly, it made me realize I need to memorize a few things so I'm prepared to give a storytime anytime.
Hopefully next week the weather cooperates!
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