One of my colleagues reported that Mother Goose on the Loose is going strong at her library. However, she likes having 12-15 children and is finding it overwhelming when over 50 people attend a session (even though two sessions are offered on the same day). She has cut out the interactive part of Humpty Dumpty because there were just too many people for all of them to be patient, especially after sitting through the drum name game and Hickory Dickory Dare.
She asked if I had any tips for staying motivated or dealing with large crowds and I will post my answer to her below:
On one hand, it is great that you are getting so many people. On the other hand, it definately compromises the quality. Is there any possibility of adding in another program so you can keep smaller groups?
The question of large crowds has come up a fair amount frequently. One suggestion is to find a volunteer (another librarian or a friend of the library or one of your friends with free time when your program is taking place.) That person would be in front of the crowd, but they would be sitting on the floor on the other side of the flannel board. When it is time to do the drum game or to pass out instruments or scarves, you start at your end, and they start at their end. Go around the circle and you will meet in the middle. Regina and I used to do this and it cuts the time in half!
Rather than skipping Humpty, try skipping Hickory Dickory Dare. You are right; they are both very time consuming. Humpty is at the very end of the program so when there is a big crowd, parents sometimes leave once their child has had a turn pulling Humpty off. I never take it personally — it’s better if they leave just before the end of the program while they are still interested and having a good time, than having them feel obligated to stay when they (and their children) have had enough. By saving your individualized activity for the end, you are giving them choice to leave or to stay.
In terms of staying motivated, look for new rhymes that you can use for standing up that don’t require moving around the circle (i.e. I’m a Little Teapot). Find new illustrations for rhymes you are already using (look beyond nursery rhyme books – picture books can provide some great illustrations for nursery rhymes. For instance, Lucy Cousins has a wonderful fish illustration that I show when reciting “One, two, three, four, five, once I caught a fish alive.” If you don’t already use nametags, put out labels and permanent markers at the beginning of the program so parents can make nametags for their children. Even if you don’t know each child personally, you can still call them by name and this makes for a more intimate environment.
Lastly, if you can, invite everyone to stay for a 30 minute free play session after your program has finished. Take out just a few toys and chat with people who have stayed. Don’t worry, not everyone will stay. Kids are tired, they need to nap, eat, etc. But you will be able to get know those parents and kids who stay afterward on a regular basis, so you can still feel like you have that personal connection.
I hope these suggestions help!
If any readers of this blog have other suggestions, please feel free to post them here or on the Mother Goose on the Loose Fan Club page. It’s great to share and learn from our colleagues!
Well, I had two sessions yesterday with a total of 295!!! – and that has become my norm – same with several other of the libraries in my area. With that many, there are just some parts of the program we have had to drop, and I’ve added others in that have become huge hits. If anyone wants to know more, feel free to email me.
When we do want to do something with a smaller group – we offer it in the half hour before the library opens, and have some sort of registration, or tickets handed out in advance.
Good luck everyone!
Lisa Eck – Roseville Public Library, Roseville CA
leck@roseville.ca.us
Wow, Lisa, That is incredible! Could you write more about it? Which activities do you leave out and what do you find works particularly well with such a large gruop?
Betsy
Hiya Julie, soooooo……here is a brief history of the evolution of my Mother Goose on the Loose Storytimes.
So first, my storytimes used to be about 50 -75 with parents, at that point I dropped :
Drumming out each childs name on the drum.
Hickory Dickory Dare – and pig throwing.
Humpty Dumpty (this made me sad).
What I kept was the Marching to the Drum stuff – and bells, scarves, etc.
Then I had some of my most regular storytime Moms say, that they would like it better if we didn’t March to the Drum, it was just too hard to get everyone up and around. So I dropped that too.
We offered the class half and hour before the library opened, and had registration. We did NOT do any sort of nametags or anything. I always had a HUGE waiting list, we kept adding classes on different days/times and still huge waiting lists.
So then with budget cuts, staff cuts, over a year ago, my boss said, I’ve booked the big meeting rooms out front, we are just going to throw Lisa out there, no registration, and see what happens.
Well 300 people showed up!!! And really it went pretty well, but the room capacity is about 135.
So I added a second class – so I do one at 9:30 and one at 10:30, in a perfect world when the crowd gets to about 135, we close the doors and put up a full sign.
So today for example I had 111 in the first class and 145 in the second, And this is what I did.
Old Mother Goose
Goosey Goosey Gander
Mrs Perky Bird
2 Little Dickey Birds
Five Fat Sausages
Then I do Open Shut them to set up for the story.
Read a book.
Clapping rhyme like Hot Cross Buns
BODY Rhymes
I did three body rhymes – we did not do knee bounces but I do those most of the time too.
Next would normally be Drum Sequence
Instead we all do some standing up “singing”
Today we did I’m a Little Tea Pot, and Hokey Pokey (the other one we do a lot is Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes)
Animal Activities –
I normally do
I went to visit the farm on day, and When the Hen gets up in the morning and skip Hickory Dickory Dare.
Musical Instruments and Scarves.
I normally DO both!! This is a little crazy with all the handing out and picking up – but I have two bags and get a volunteer to help. We ask the kids to stay in their seats as we hand out – they can come up and put the items back in the bags when they are done.
With bells and sticks I have added a couple of favorites – I pretty much always sing the ABC song, and we do a counting song to 100 by 10s. I also have a version of Row, Row, Row your boat that ends screaming about seeing an alligator! We all love that part.
With the scarves, we do the MGOL songs and then I add, counting and throwing them up in the air, first we count from 1 to 10, and then we count from 5 to 0 and throw them up – the kids love this.
Then I add the lullaby to the scarf section we pretend the scarves are our blankets, we cuddle with our big person, and sing. Then we pick up scarves.
I always end with a version of If you are Happy and you know it.
And that is pretty much it.
I have a handful of favorite “puppet” activities in my box.
5 little monkeys – with the 5 puppets
Mr Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun – with a sun puppet And 5 Green and speckled frogs – also with puppets.
If we run out of time, and I have to skip bells or something I go to those.
I no longer use a flannel board. I have to stand during the storytime, and sometime I do use the microphone, usually I don’t use it for the first class, and by the second one I need it, lol.
Hope that helps, I’ve found it works pretty well We have also taking MGOL to the Galleria (that is our mall) and I did it out on the playground this summer – once you have favorite sequences you can pretty much fake it with a bigger group. Hope that helps.
Lisa
Lisa,
Thank you so much for your detailed response!
Betsy