Tandem CLS Kelsey Gottschalk and VISTA volunteer Hannah Johnson share free giveaway books, book-sharing tips, and other resources with expecting mothers and their families at the Community Baby Shower on June 4th, 2016.

Children played, families chatted, and pregnant bellies populated the room at a unique event put on Saturday, June 4th, by San Francisco Black Infant Health. Aptly called a Community Baby Shower, the celebration was targeted at expectant mothers and families and provided useful gifts in preparation of caring for the newest, up-and-coming little members of their households.

Besides the delicious cupcakes and baby food flavor guessing games, the event included a full meal, a family photo booth, face painting for kids, a raffle of gifts for expectant mothers, and tables set up to provide informational resources. Tandem, Partners in Early Learning, the sole external family support organization present at the event, gifted a free book to each child in attendance, including those children still within the womb!

Along with the spread of free, age-appropriate board books, Tandem’s table set-up included an activity that prompted adults to list ways to read with infants. Popular suggestions included:

• Singing, rapping, and reciting poetry
• Acting out the story – get silly! Have fun!
• Use plenty of sound effects
• Repeat the words and the titles
• Read to babies while still in utero – they can hear your voice!

“The whole event was so well organized,” said Tandem Community Literacy Specialist Kelsey Gottschalk, who represented Tandem at the event. “Everyone seemed to be having a good time.”

As we watched adults smelling baby food out of diapers, children blowing bubbles, mothers-to-be excitedly claiming raffle prizes, and families beginning to share books together, I think that we can safely look back and say that the San Francisco Black Infant Health Community Baby Shower was a fun and uplifting event for all those present.

For more information on sharing books with children and to access free downloadable content, please visit our Family Resource page (also en español and 繁體中文).

To see more photos from this event, check out San Francisco Black Infant Health’s Facebook photos!