FINGER PUPPETS!

I love Finger Puppets. They are the easiest way to engage the youngest audience. They are extremely easy to make or if you are not very creative, they are extremely easy to find. The picture above is the "Little Scholastic Old MacDonald" that I got as a baby gift when my son was born and has become a staple in my children's singing routine.

From all my years doing Mother Goose Time at the library, I always made sure to have finger plays and finger puppets dispersed throughout the half hour to keep the children engaged. Babies can stare at fingers for hours and it is so easy to sing along to a hand gesture. Some of my go-tos include "Open, Shut Them", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Where Is Thumbkin?" and "Mr. Sun". For those who are a little more self-conscious, bring on the hand puppet! While babies and toddlers don't really care what your voice (or the caregiver's voice) sounds like, if you feel like it matters then this is the perfect way to have the little ones focus on something else. Puppets are brightly colored and can guide you while you sing (ex: each animal on your fingers), so you can get as expressive as you want. 

If you are arts-and-craftsy, you can make your own puppets for so many rhymes and songs. I personally used the same glove and made adhesive "Green and Speckled Frogs" (five with a speckled log in the middle) , "Five Little Monkeys" (with a mother and and a doctor in the middle) and "This Little Piggy" for each of the fingers. It was easy to do three back-to-back "puppet shows" or just one or two depending on the time and audience. 

Using your fingers and puppets to engage babies and toddlers is a great way to enhance their early literacy skills. Get your hands moving and get singing! 

Bounce Baby Bounce!

Not so into grabbing a book? There are other ways to engage your child, specifically through song and rhymes. Your baby loves your voice, so no need to feel like your tone-deafness will be a problem! The best part about this is that there is no wrong way to do this, and it can be done any time any where.

Singing: Songs teach so many language skills: vocabulary, syllables, rhythm and rhyme.

You can sing ANYTHING - whatever you love from the radio, songs that were sung to you when you were little, your schedule of the day (I am very guilty of singing songs to my kids about getting dressed, feeding time, bed time etc.). The next time you are in the car, sing along to whatever you are listening to. When you are out on a walk, sing about the trees and cars you are passing by (or you can just point them out and make conversation with your little one). My favorite songs to my first child were the ones from his toys that played music. They were so catchy and they were Fisher-Price's versions of songs about the colors, the parts of the body and some bizarre "I Love You" song that has become a staple in my household.

Rhyme Time:

Nursery Rhymes, "Action" rhymes and Bouncing rhymes are different ways of engaging your child when they are just on your lap hanging out. Rhymes like "Pat-A-Cake" or "Hickory-Dickory-Dock" are great because your baby will follow your hand motions and eventually will do it himself. It's very exciting when that happens!!

As a baby gift someone bought me an "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" hand puppet that had five different farm animals on each finger. I would use it every time I sang that song to my babies and they became my child's "friends". Puppets are a great tool to singing rhymes, and you can make them yourself pretty easily. "Action Rhymes" include the songs you use your hands for, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Open, Shut Them, Mr. Sun etc. Babies love to be tickled and this is a great way to bring on the giggles!

My personal favorites are action rhymes with a bounce - I find they excite babies most of all. Some of my go-to's are 1,2,3 OOPS! (bounce your baby 3 times and then open your legs so they "fall") it is a guaranteed pleaser, The Grand Old Duke Of York and Father and Mother and Uncle John. You can always Google songs and rhymes for ideas if you get stuck, or just turn on any music device and dance baby dance! These are actually great because they teach your children literacy skills while also moving around - win win all around!