Kids like instruments and making noise with them. And, perhaps ironically, they get really quiet and attentive when you start playing an instrument.
I play guitar in a lot of my storytimes. Always starting out with what it is, how many strings it has, what it is made of… etc. After the storytime I let kids play the guitar a bit, holding down the chords as they strum.
The children’s songs I’ve posted on this site so far are extremely simple. Plenty of sites (and books) are dedicated to guitar chords. Even Youtube has videos on how to play simple guitar chords.
Even having one song you play every storytime as either a goodbye song, or just a song you always play, works well. Children at your storytimes will get to learn the songs you repeat, and always look forward to you playing the guitar at storytime.
Josh Jubinsky
