I took the two-year-old to his first  Toddler Story Time at the library, just as I took his sister and brother before him.

It has been a while since I had a toddler, nine years to be exact. Long enough to forget that two-year-olds don’t always sit patiently through every story, rhyme, and fingerplay. In fact, my little guy –one of two kids to attend on this blustery and snowy day–was at times more interested in heading out of the reading room and back to the kiddie computer than listening to a stranger read a book about the animals at the pond. He stood up several times while the librarian patiently read, grabbed my hand and said, “C’mon Mommy, let’s go out there.”

The librarian assured both me and the other mom present that our kids weren’t expected to sit in rapt attention, but she did her best to win it, even putting on some music and blowing bubbles.

The session is 20-minutes once a week, and we’ll be back again next week for Round 2.  The more kids attend these readings, the more they begin to enjoy the social practice of reading as a group activity. 

No matter what the age of your children, library storytimes teach them that books and reading are fun and any time you can prompt that, you are building the foundation for life-long readers. They also help develop listening skills and vocabulary, and social interaction skills.