The room is thumping to a techno beat. The lights are low. Glow sticks flash in the air.
This isn’t a club. It’s the library at 11a on a Tuesday!
Ever since DJ Lenny Pearce burst onto the scene with his remixes of beloved children’s classics, word of Baby Raves and Toddler Technos has been spreading. Pearce, now touring globally, unlocks music fun for the whole family. Young caregivers are invited to share the kind of sounds and dance they thought they’d traded in for the more dulcet (and beloved) tones of a Laurie Berkner or Casper Babypants.
While we can’t match the body-packed club environment, in the library, Baby Raves are the perfect program to highlight early literacy and sensory play in innovative ways.
Early Literacy
Storytime practitioners are no strangers to music as a tool for early literacy. Singing helps children hear elongated word sounds, developing their phonological awareness. Rhythm knowledge is closely linked to early reading success.
Pearce’s music largely sticks to big classics with their associated dances and fingerplays. Many families will know these moves from your storytimes or from their children bringing them home from childcare. This familiarity gives you an easy bridge to promote your formal early literacy programs.
Whether you read as a part of your program, or lean solely into dance and activities, you’re empowering caregivers to try something new and shake off preconceived notions about what literacy looks like in a library.
Sensory Play
Sensory play develops children’s neural pathways and stimulates body systems that are vital for future self-regulation. A focus on sensory play makes this event inclusive and engaging for big wigglers who caregivers often feel uncomfortable bringing into public spaces. Here are some activities to make your Toddler Techno a festival for the senses:
Light Play – If you’re able to dim the lights or turn off select lights, you can really add to the club feel. Light accessories reminiscent of concerts, like glow sticks and foam light sticks are a must for your dance fans. A light table topped with x-rays, Magna-Tiles, or semi-transparent sensory bin fillers, is sure to draw a crowd. Pulling out a black light always adds magic. I’ll aim one at a table covered in white butcher paper and set out glow-in-the-dark paint daubers for neon art.
Sparking Sensory Bins – I fill kiddie pools with large pieces of tinsel to catch light bouncing throughout the room. To these, you can add letters, other light toys, toddler-safe magnet toys, and more! Toys that illuminate when submerged in water are a great addition to a water play station. Add signs around bins that feature prompts to help caregivers interact in vocabulary-expanding ways!
Sensory Toys – Balance beams and stones, tiles that squish when you step on them, and foam tumbling blocks all support big-body play while creating a vibrant and colorful space.
Balloons and Bubbles – Plug in that bubble machine! Now and then, I’ll declare a song a bubble song and guide little dancers with prompts that encourage them to use different body parts and actions to pop all the bubbles. Balloons can be bounced around all program long.
*Sensory seekers will find much to love in this program, but the lights and loud music can be overstimulating. I like to offer headphones and sunglasses at a table near the entrance.
The Perfect Program Playlist
No matter what you put out for your Baby Rave, families are sure to have a blast. Beyond Pearce, the Wiggles and other children’s artists have entered the rave remix game. Many curated playlists are ready to play.
The success of this program is a reminder that storytime can always use a shakeup. How can you use new music to catch caregivers’ ears and make storytime more responsive to their interests?
Eleanor Howell-Shryock (she/they) is the Head Children’s Librarian, managing family and outreach services at Burlington Public Library in Burlington, Washington. They are the Chair Emeritus of the Washington Library Association’s Children and Young Adult Services Section. They are excited to highlight some of the unique challenges and opportunities of working in small and rural libraries for the ALSC blog.