Submitted by Susie Menk, Youth Librarian, Manitowoc Public Library
Ever wish you could get
parents more involved when their kids are on screens? I recently did an “app” story time for our
toddler times. Last spring I took a
class on Media Mentorship with Claudia Haines.
It was a wonderful class and I gained a lot of insight as to how to help
adults use digital media wisely. One
idea that Claudia shared with us was an app story time. She called it “App-ily Ever After.” I used this as the basis for my story time
and it went super well! Parents and
caregivers were excited to get recommendations about apps and to learn the
difference between book apps, game apps and creative apps.
I put together a handout that highlighted the apps I used
during story time, as well as putting apps into the various categories of
books, games and creative apps. Additionally, I added a section of recommended
app developers and places to get good app reviews. I also put out the RIF Early Literacy
calendar and reminded the adults that face to face time is still the best for
little ones.
Sandra Boynton is always a favorite and the story time
starts with her Blue Hat, Green Hat
book app. The kids just love how the
characters move and the turkey is always getting things backwards...OOPS!
We followed this up with Peekaboo
Barn, an app where an animal sound is heard and then you touch the barn
door to reveal the animal along with the written name of the animal. The kids had a great time guessing what
animal was behind the door!
A Frog Thing was
another awesome book app. The story by
Eric Drachman follows a frog who wants to fly, but his parents tell him that
flying is not “a frog thing!” It’s a
wonderful story with lots of sound effects like splashing water and different
voices for the characters. As a bonus to
this app, you can record yourself or someone else reading the story.
We then used the app Felt
Board to do the song “Five Green and Speckled Frogs.” Felt
Board allows you to create a picture or words or background for any kind of
flannel story or song. There are all
sorts of options for backgrounds, people, accessories, colors, shapes and
letters. I was able to prepare the frogs
and log at the pond and then during the song, I moved the frogs so they looked
like they were jumping into the water!
So much fun!
The last app was by far
everyone’s favorite. It’s called Don’t Let the Pigeon Run this App! by Mo
Willems. This app allows kids to be a
part of the story line. The bus driver comes
on screen and asks questions that the kids can answer by talking into the
app. The app records their answers and
then those answers become part of the story line. It was a total blast! The kids wanted to do it again and
again. There is also a section where Mo
Willems walks through how to draw the pigeon.
Lots of fun!
All in all a wonderful
opportunity to share early literacy tips.
Claudia Haines can be reached at
the Homer Public Library or through her website https://nevershushed.com/ .
