For over 20 years the children of San Antonio have been calling in to Dial-A-Story to hear a children's story. The children's librarians record new stories every Tuesday and Friday, one in English and one in Spanish.
Just call 210.207.4466 to listen!
Opening Song: Wave Your Towel
Action Song: I'm a Little Dump Truck
Counting Song: 5 Little Trucks
Read Aloud: Puppy Truck by Brian Pinkney
Action Song: Hurry, Hurry Drive the Fire Truck
Action Song: The Airplane Song by Laurie Berkner
Activity: Try having the whole family draw a road map on newspaper or wrapping paper. Maybe incorporate boxes and other materials to symbolize buildings and important places. Encourage your child to drive their car along the pathways and tell you where they want to go. Don't have a toy car? Make believe and use various objects around the house as a vehicle. When you are all done, try putting your cars into a small tub of water with no tear soap to make a car wash sensory experience!
Song: Show Me How Your Hands Can Move?
Action Rhyme: Mr. Turkey & Mr. Duck
Read Aloud: I Can Do It Too! by Karen Baicker
View the recording together. Remember, you can pause the video to have your own discussion.
Fingerplay: 5 Fat Sausages
Closing Song: Little Bunnies Sleeping
Activity: Enjoy a family dance party together and practice different ways to move your body. Silly Dance Contest by Jim Gill is a great way to get the whole family moving.
Hello Song: “Hello Hello Can You Clap Your Hands?”
Read Aloud: Hands Up by Breanna McDaniel
Catalog location of book: https://mysapl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/542788172
Movement Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider with Desmond Dennis
Goodbye Song: Skidamarink
Extension Activity: Ask your children to think of all the things they do during the day that involve raising up their hands. Go on a field trip around the house and let them demonstrate. Larger motor movements like raising arms are important for your child’s physical and brain development.
Opening Song: The More We Get Together
Singable Story: This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt
Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Song: Hickory Dickory Dock
Activity: Making and responding to music allows your baby or toddler to explore creative ways to express feelings. They have fun creating their own music with their body e.g. clapping, stomping, humming, vocal noises or “musical instruments” they make from objects around the house e.g. banging on pots and pans as drums. Give your child pots and pans and wooden spoons and watch him make music.
Opening Song: The More We Get Together
Read Aloud: Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children by Sandra L. Pinkney
Song: If You’re Happy and You Know It
Song: This Little Light of Mine
Activity: PEEKABOO Materials needed: Small toys or books, blanket
What to do: Place a toy or book under a blanket leaving part of the object showing. Then ask your baby or toddler, "Where is it?" and encourage him to look for it. Children will usually grab it and dig under the blanket. After your baby or toddler has mastered finding a partly hidden object, move on to hiding it completely under the blanket.
Skills learned: Fine motor skill development, object permanence (a child's ability to know that objects continue to exist even though they can no longer be seen).
Early Childhood Development Tip: Go to Relationship with Others
Opening Song: Hello, Friends
Read Aloud: Maggie and Michael Get Dressed by Denise Fleming
Check out this book from the San Antonio Public Library to read it together.
Action Song: Baby Put Your Pants On
Action Song: This Is the Way We Get Dressed
Flannel Story: Teddy Bear Dress Up
Extension Activity: Early Learning Color Hunt
Help your child learn his colors by going on a color hunt together!
To begin, show your child an object that represents the color you’re looking for, name the color, then put it in a bag. Do this two or three times, then let your child be the hunter. When you’re finished, empty your bags and name the items together (red sock, red ball, red cup). You can also hunt for colors (without collecting objects) at the grocery store or when you’re driving along together. (from The Toddler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner)
Action Song: Snowflakes, Snowflakes
Action Song: Walrus Washes His Winter Coat:
Read Aloud: Grumpy Pants by Clare Messer
You can check out this book from our collection to read at home: Grumpy Pants by Clare Messer
Finger Play: Two Little Penguins
Action Song: Washing Machine
Activity: In December it should be getting cold outside, so bring out the blankets, pillows, sheets and more for kids to play. Make a fort, stack pillows, or create a tunnel for kids to enjoy. Bring out a flashlight to add even more fun. Get inspired with our SAPL Free Play Friday Blankets and More video.
Opening Song: I’m Thankful
Read Aloud: I Am Thankful by Sheri Wall
View the recording together. Remember, you can pause the video to have your own discussion
Action/Fingerplay Song: Thanksgiving Freeze Dance
Song: Turkey Strut
Extension Activity: Thankful Turkey Hands
You will need paper, pencil & either crayons or markers and scissors. Trace your hand on the paper, using the crayons or markers write what you are thankful for inside each finger or just color them to make your turkey feathers!
Opening Song: Hello, Friends
Read Aloud: Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
View and listen to the recording together. A good pausing place for this story is right before the reader points out the character referenced in the rhyme to see if you and your child can spot it first.
Action Song: Jack and Jill
Song: When Goldilocks Went to the House of the Bears
Literacy Tip: Lap bouncing your child to the rhythm of nursery rhymes/Mother Goose rhymes is a great way to stimulate their future language development by helping them to recognize a steady beat and by making them better able to recognize patterns in language. You can sit in a chair or on the floor with your child in your lap (facing you or facing outward). You can check out books of nursery rhymes collections at your local library for lots of fun, lap bouncing material.
