™ Storytime Event Kit

®

Copyright © 2013 American Girl. All rights reserved. All American Girl and Bitty Baby marks are trademarks of American Girl. ™ Bitty Baby Storytime Event Kit Based on our line of Bitty Baby books, this easy-to-use planner provides everything you’ll need to host an engaging event. Girls will be entertained by the storytime and activities we’ve included for your store’s use. Start planning an event today!

Printable Activities Components • Includes tips on what to do before your event, • Instructions for reproducibles that girls can do speaking prompts for each book and activity, after the main activities or take home: and information about the following activities: • Bitty Baby Wish Star Activity • Simon Says Icebreaker Activity • Bitty Baby coloring sheets • Interactive Reading Activity • Butterfly Maze • Hop Along with Bitty Baby Activity • Bitty Baby Animal Friends Activity

Getting Started • After reading through the planner, choose the mix of activities that suits your store and customers. • Place signs in your children’s section or near the cash register to promote the event. Post a sign-up sheet in your store and encourage girls to bring their dolls to the event. • Advertise the event with announcements in your store’s newsletter, on your website, and in your local newspaper. You can also distribute event information to local nursery schools, libraries, and day-care centers. • Make a copy of each of the reproducibles you plan to use for each girl you expect to attend. Gather the supplies you’ll need, such as crayons, for the activities. • Consider merchandising all of the American Girl Bitty Baby books in or near the area where you’re hosting the event.

® Activities and Games Here’s a selection of activities you can use to promote Bitty Baby and Me, Bitty Baby at the Ballet, Bitty Baby Loves the Snow, Princess Bitty Baby, and Bitty Baby the Brave—five titles from American Girl’s Bitty Baby line of books. Create an event with the mix of activities that suits your customers’ interests and the space, time, and staff you have available.

Story Synopses Talking prompt: Welcome to American Girl’s Bitty Baby Storytime Event. Through the activities we’ll be doing, you’ll get to know Bitty Baby and her animal friends. When you read a Bitty Baby book with your parents, you get to go on exciting, imaginary adventures and meet all kinds of fantastic creatures! Today we’re introducing five new Bitty Baby books—Bitty Baby and Me, Bitty Baby at the Ballet, Bitty Baby Loves the Snow, Princess Bitty Baby, and Bitty Baby the Brave. Bitty Baby and Me introduces Bitty Baby. A little girl, just like you, finds a fun new friend in her doll. When the girl’s big sister doesn’t want to play with them, the little girl and Bitty Baby go on an imaginary adventure, where they swim with mermaids and eventually figure out a creative solution to win over the girl’s sister. In Bitty Baby at the Ballet, a little girl has been practicing for her big dance recital, but when the curtain goes up, she has stage fright. So she tells her Bitty Baby doll a story about a ner- vous bunny in a hopping contest and learns that you shouldn’t be afraid to be yourself and do your best! Bitty Baby the Brave tells the story of a little girl and her Bitty Baby doll who encounter a scary noise in Grammy and Grampa’s basement. After an imaginary jungle adventure involving a gorilla, a boa, and an elephant, Bitty Baby and the little girl learn that friends can help you face your fears. In Bitty Baby Loves the Snow, a little girl and her older brother go outside to enjoy a beauti- ful, snowy day. The little girl and Bitty Baby want to build a snowman, but the brother keeps sledding. Making a snowman on their own is too hard, but with a fun story and a little help from an imaginary polar bear, they use their talents and build something even more special! Princess Bitty Baby is a story about a little girl and her Bitty Baby doll who are all ready for bed and can’t wait for a bedtime story. So the girl tells one of her own—about Princess Bitty Baby, a dragon, and an enchanted frog—and discovers the power of her own storytelling.

Simon Says Icebreaker Activity Talking prompt: This event will help you learn a little bit about Bitty Baby and about the girls around you. We’ll start with an activity just like the game “Simon Says!” so that you can get to know each other better and have a great time. No supplies necessary. No pre-event preparation necessary.

® Instructions: 1. Use the talking prompt above. Then explain to girls that the new Bitty Baby books are all about ways that little girls can have lots of fun with their friend Bitty Baby, but also how Bitty Baby can help little girls. Tell the girls that you’re going to help teach them how to have fun with their doll with a game of Simon Says. 2. Going around the room, ask each girl to say her name. 3. Ask all the girls to practice imitating the actions you use for Simon Says as a group. Use actions such as, “Simon says play patty-cake with your doll,” or “Simon says do a fun dance with your doll.” If there are girls without dolls, make sure to include actions such as, “Simon says spin around in a circle,” or “Simon says touch your toes.” 4. Once the girls have practiced the motions, go around the room and individually ask each girl to copy one action. You can go around the group multiple times, depending on the number of guests and their attention spans.

Interactive Reading Activity Talking prompt: Now we get to meet Bitty Baby! I’m going to read you the storybook Bitty Baby and Me. But you’re not just going to sit quietly and listen. We’re going to have much more fun than that! Supplies: • Copy of Bitty Baby and Me No pre-event preparation necessary. Instructions: 1. Use the talking prompt above and gather the girls in a semicircle on the floor around you. 2. Read the book aloud to them, using the following action prompts: • On p. 7, after reading the breakfast scene, ask the girls to feed their baby dolls pancakes or to eat some pancakes themselves. Yum! Does everyone like pancakes? • On p. 9, ask the girls to twirl like ballerinas. They can dance with their dolls, if they have them. • On p. 18, tell the girls to snuggle up for a nap with their Bitty Babies. Or tell them to just snuggle in for a comfy rest. • On p. 24, ask the girls how a mermaid swims. Let them have the time and space to get creative. • On p. 29, encourage girls to get together in a group tea party. Remind them to share with each other and with Bitty Baby!

® Hop Along with Bitty Baby Activity Talking prompt: Next, we’re going to get a little bit hoppy! In Bitty Baby at the Ballet, Bitty Baby helps a scared little bunny through a hopping contest. We’re going to have our own hopping game! No supplies necessary. No pre-event preparation necessary. Instructions: 1. Use the talking prompt above. 2. Gather the girls back into a semicircle, and ask them to follow you as you demonstrate the kinds of hops the little bunny could have done. Some examples of different types of hops are: on one foot, in a circle, with one eye closed, holding hands with another girl, sideways, or skipping. 3. Allow girls to sit out the activity if they choose.

Bitty Baby Animal Friends Activity Talking prompt: Bunnies aren’t Bitty Baby’s only animal friends. She loves all kinds of critters, and they play a part in each of her books. Let’s mimic some of the sounds and movements of all of the animals Bitty Baby comes across. No supplies necessary. No pre-event preparation necessary. Instructions: 1. Use the talking prompt above. 2. Keep girls in the semicircle from the previous activity. 3. First talk about the elephant, gorilla, and boa from Bitty Baby the Brave. Ask girls to make trumpeting elephant sounds and use their arms as a trunk. They can lumber around like an elephant. Next, ask girls to imitate a gorilla with hooting ape noises. They can walk with their knuckles on the ground the way a gorilla moves around. A boa can be imitated by lying on the floor and “slithering” while making hissing noises. 4. Call out the frog Bitty Baby helps in Princess Bitty Baby. Girls can ribbit and hop like a frog. She also meets a dragon. Ask the girls to roar as a dragon might. 5. Finally, ask girls to mimic the polar bear in Bitty Baby Loves the Snow. Girls can walk like a bear around the room and make grumbling bear noises.

® Bitty Baby Wish Star Activity Cut out the Wish Stars along the dashed line. Give one to each girl. Tell the girls they can write their wish (with the help of a parent, if necessary) on the star and decorate it with crayons. Then they can take it home and have a parent hang it as a decoration. Wish Star Activity Talking prompt: Let’s think back to the first story I read to you, Bitty Baby and Me. Remember how the little girl eventually convinced her older sister to have a tea party with her? She made a sparkly star and wrote her wish on it—a wish that she and her big sister could play together. Now we’re going to make our own Wish Stars! Supplies:

For more fun and games, ® Copyright © 2013 American Girl. ™ All rights reserved.All American Girl and visit americangirl.com/play. Bitty Baby marks are trademarks of American Girl. 3 • Wish Star activity sheets AG_BB_WishStar.pdf • Crayola® crayons Pre-event preparation: Download the reproducibles. Make a copy for every girl you expect to attend. Cut out the Wish Star shapes. Instructions: 1. Use the talking prompt above, and then give a Wish Star to each girl. 2. Pass out crayons, or have girls gather around bundles of crayons. 3. Ask girls to color in the stars however they’d like and write a favorite wish on the star. They can ask for help from you or a parent, if they need it.

® Copyright Questions orcomments? Call 800-845-0005,visitamericangirl.com, orwrite to Customer Service, American Girl,8400Fairway Place, Middleton, WI53562. directions. includes reproducibleEach girls. the with home Yousheets occupied. the them keepsend alsowill canpagesgroup, these the beforerestactivity of the an finish girls If event. the during out pass to maze and pagescoloring these of copiesMake visit americangirl.com/play. For more funandgames, visit americangirl.com/play. For more funand games, visit americangirl.com/play. For more funand games,

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