Incorporating movement in baby storytimes boosts engagement and supports early development

Adding movement to baby storytimes transforms traditional passive sessions into active, developmental experiences for infants, helping families connect and support early learning.

Baby storytimes work best when they do more than ask infants to sit still and listen. Eleanor Howell-Shryock, writing for the Association for Library Service to Children blog, argues that adding movement helps families understand that library programmes can be active, engaging and built around children’s development rather than passive observation.

The idea is not to turn storytime into a performance for babies who are not yet ready to stand or walk. Instead, Howell-Shryock recommends matching movement to different stages of infancy, from gentle rocking and lifting to tummy time, rolling and supported wheelbarrow positions. She says librarians can make these activities feel welcoming by offering options such as “if your baby is comfortable, you can try…” and by letting caregivers choose what suits their child.

The approach also gives parents and carers a clearer view of what is happening developmentally. Tummy-focused activities can help babies build the strength needed for rolling and crawling, while back-position songs and scarf play encourage reaching, pushing and pulling. Howell-Shryock also suggests standing songs, carrier-based movement and reading books with action words so that movement becomes part of the whole programme, not an add-on.

That broader mix, she argues, can help children move more naturally into toddler storytime and give families a better sense of how libraries support early learning. It can also make sessions feel more like music-and-movement programmes, which she sees as a strength rather than a drawback. For libraries looking to make baby storytime more inclusive and useful, her message is simple: build in motion, and let families wiggle, rock and explore together.