Can I bend your ear for a tick?

I just finished reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave for my book club.  Without revealing too much of the plot (the book jacket implores the reader to "please don't..tell what happens.  The magic is in how it unfolds."), there are many life lessons to learnt, but what most struck me was the idea of people wanting to make the world a better place.  It really got me thinking.  Now, I'm not a social activist.  You won't see me at a protest making a big stink about things.  And while I'd love to be a missionary in the field, the reality is that I have a family and a life here, and I'm not going to drag them with me.  I'm just not that kind of person.  But I do want to make a difference somehow.  I thought I might start with what I know.

A few posts back, I wrote about how disappointed I was with the Storytime at Chapters.  Turns out I'm not alone.  I had a park playdate with a friend, and she told me about her ongoing quest to find a good story time.  When I told her I had considered starting my own story time with another actor friend, she thought it was a good idea.  So did another mom in the park who happened to be within earshot of our conversation.  She volunteered to be our first audience.

So I thought - can I really do this??  Can I really marry my three greatest loves of theatre, reading and children and carve out a little space for myself to make a difference in the lives of children?  And I thought about all the things that I could do with this space: read a wide range of interesting kids books, without sticking to the Chapters stock; put on puppet shows and mini kid-friendly theatrical presentations (think Free to Be...You and Me!); involve the kids in the stories by getting them to act it out; or invite "guest stars" - people I know in the industry - to come and read/act/sing.  My head is spinning.

But before I do anything, I need to do some "market research".  I need your help.  If you have a moment, and the inclination, can you please give me some feedback on what is important to you in a good story time?  Here are some questions I need answers for:

1. Do you or your caregiver attend a story time regularly?

2. What do/don't you like about the story time that you attend?

3. What age range of stories would you like to see (ie. should the books be kept for the under 4 set, or would you be interested in a session for, say, ages 5-9?)

4. Is stroller parking, or access to (sweet, sweet) caffeine a must?  Or just a plus??

5. Would you be willing to travel to see this kind of thing, if parking or subway made it accessible?  Or would you only go if it was in your neighbourhood.

6. And, here's a doozy:  If the story time was an hour long, included cookies and juice, and a handout of books read (or activities to do based on books read) -- would you be willing to pay to attend (for example, $5 per child, but parents/caregivers and babies 0-6 mths are free?  Or would you only consider attending if it was free??

I don't know if this could really happen, I have to do some more investigation.  I'm excited by the possibilities, though.  Maybe I can't make the world at large a better place, but I'd be more than happy if I could make a kid's day.

Comments

[Beck]

I LOVE THAT IDEA! So smart! And I would happily attend something like that - and people with little kids are always looking for fun things to do with them, too, so there is DEFINITELY a market.
I think I would rather have an upfront fee for a number of sessions, maybe. Like, $15 a month? I dunno.

[Painted Maypole]

oh, it's such a great idea. i only took MQ to a few story times, in part due to poor timing, and in larger part due to crappy readers. I would DEFINITELY pay for a good, hour long time with snacks and handout with further activities. BRILLIANT! Do it!!!

[Painted Maypole]

oh oh... and you could market to birthday parties. Imagine the fancy nancy birthday parties...

hmmm... maybe I will launch my own venture down here? We could plan together and share ideas? exciting!

[metro mama]

I think it's a brilliant idea. We should talk about books! I would pay to attend.

[sandra]

Great idea. If I had a little one I'd be your first customer!!

[petitegourmand]

excellent idea- I think $5 is more than fair.
let me know when/where and we'll be there.

(currently we do the library reading group and sometimes at a local bookstore- The Flying Dragon)

[petitegourmand]

oh and I'm almost finished Little Bee and really loving it.
looking forward to the discussion next week

[kgirl]

We had the privilege of attending the best story-time ever at our local library. It was absolutely seamless - story to puppets to song to fingerplay to story - and the librarian was confident and comfortable. Sadly, she was no longer at our branch when I was on my second mat leave, but I would indeed pay for something so engaging.

[Alison]

I think I would pay to attend such a great-sounding storytime! The boy and I do not currently attend one due to bad timing at our local - who is it that decides that a great time for an event for under-threes is between 1 and 3 in the afternoon?! But we would both love to...

[kittenpie]

As someone who has both attended an expensive babytime circle and gives storytimes regularly? I will say this:

-people will pay for a good storytime if they feel they are going to get something worthwhile. Try to hook up with a local baby store or something to distribute flyers, it will seem that you come recommended.

-try to attend a few different storytimes to get some feel for how different people do it. I tend to be pretty freeform and laid back about it, others like to have everything scripted.

-think also about how you will handle kids who are not settling, what guidelines you would give parents at the start on how you would like them to proceed (ie I usually tell them that if their child is not managing, we are all moms and understand, but please take the kid out to the hall to calm down, and then return).

-mix it up - a story, then a rhyme, a story then a song, a story then a short puppet play or feltboard, that sort of thing. It keeps them paying attention. At least one or two active rhymes or games in the middle helps, too, a sort of 7th inning stretch for preschoolers.

-you can set the age range where you feel comfortable, but be prepared for people to want to get in with a child who is not in the range, and figure out what your policy on that will be. They can be pushy!

-themes can help limit down the number of options in terms of songs and books to a manageable amount while also suggesting craft ideas, etc., which is why so many people use them. They aren't necessary, but helpful. Or sometimes I will just tie a song or rhyme to a book, but not have an overall theme.

if you want advice or book reco's or a guest reader, email me, since this comment is verging on longer than the original post! (I'm rambly like that.)