Fall is in the air–I love the crisp days and the smell of leaves and the change in routine.  It’s the time librarians everywhere start up storytime with a new crop of pre-schoolers and say hello to their old friends (4-year olds love being called old!).

Hopefully you are feeling as inspired about storytime as Georgia in New Richmond–her recent blog post about still getting excited about the start of storytime season is beautiful.

If you are not as excited about the start of the new season, maybe you need some inspiration?

A new blog I’ve been following, No Time for Flashcards, is written by a mom who has a lot of child development knowledge.  She regularly posts ideas for activities, games, art projects, and books that would fly just as well in storytime as they would in a home environment, like this terrific gross motor alphabet jumping and dancing game!

 Another IFLS blogger, Jenna Gilles from the Fall Creek Public Library, often puts up her storytime plans for parents to look at after the fact, including this one about a National Chicken Month storytime.  This is a great idea, it encourages families to follow up on favorite stories and music, among other things.  And it gives other librarians more ideas!

I hear about a lot of librarians who use Pinterest as an inspiration for many different kinds of programs, including storytime.  And thanks to Jill in Eau Claire for filling me in that you no longer need a Facebook account or an invitation to participate in Pinterest, so if that has been holding you back, it doesn’t need to any longer!

Last idea for now:  We will be having an idea-swap in St. Croix Falls on Thursday, September 27 from 8:30-10.  The topic?  Multi-age storytimes.  Bring your ideas for how you manage family storytimes, or the two year old brother in your preschool storytime, or whatever else you are doing with wide age ranges.  Sign up here.  Save time for a meeting afterwards (10-11) to talk about Reach Out and Read –a program to bring early literacy efforts to pediatricians’ offices.