Last Storytime of Summer

Well, I had a lot of fun today with Eric Litwin's books and songs today. We read Pete the Cat. We danced to his songs- The Fun Thing, Mr. Eric's Jumping Song and Super Silly Tango.

We went outside and had a freezy treat and played with bubbles and chalk! Hope all my LLFs and BLFs enjoyed storytime this summer!

Lapsitters- Friends

Friends- library friends, new friends, old friends, family friends...we can never have too many friends!

We read stories about friends- Forever Friends by Carin Berger and Little Quack's New Friend By Lauren Thompson.

We sang songs- The More We Get Together and Make New Friends.

We danced to "If You're Happy and You Know It!

I hope all my library friends had fun!

Storytime- Folktales

Hola, Amigos! Bailar conmigo! Come and dance with your library friends!

We had fun trip-trapping across the bridge while the mean troll growled, "Who's crossing my bridge?".

Our volunteers did and AWESOME job pulling out the ENORMOUS turnip.

We learned to be careful when we are granted 3 wishes and never to cry wolf, wolf, wolf!

It was HOT, HOT, HOT today in storytime!! Hope you had fun!

Fantastic Friday (Gr. 3 and younger) - July 8th

We will be doing different art activities than what we did the last Fantastic Friday, so I hope you can join us!

Kids love to get messy, generally. I have seen a lot more kids lately that don't and it worries me! Open-ended messy art allows children the freedom to create, the control to make their own choices and the ability to explore possibilities without the threat of mistakes. Children that are allowed to create on their own develop self-esteem, problem-solving skills, confidence and perseverance. I have often seen a child breakdown and cry because they made a "mistake" with their art project or because their project didn't look like the sample or another person's project. I have seen many parents "take over" the art project or direct the child in what the project should look like. It is very, very tempting for parents to do this because as parents we want our children to be the best they can be and we want to help them. Sometimes the best thing for them is difficult for us!

I absolutely loved our first Fantastic Friday! It was the best program ever! There were so many wonderful parents there that allowed their children to get messy and the kids had fun! Next Friday, we will do some Fizzle and Sizzle Sidewalk Painting, Flyswatter Painting, Potion Making, Koosh Ball Painting and more! 

Make sure to dress so you can be a mess from your head to your toes!

You're a Grand Ole Flag!

We made a special red, white and blue treat today to celebrate America! With our theme, 'One World, Many Stories' we definitely had to include our wonderful country!

We waved our flags and marched around and even had a few 'fireworks'- ooh, aah, ooh, ahh!

Hope you had fun! It's always great to see my LLFs!

Especially with your blue, red and purple tongues!

Fantastic Friday was FANTASTIC!

We made mud pies and mud sculptures and squished our toesies in the mud! We threw paint ball sponges and rolled cars and trucks through paint. We used our fingers to paint and our feet to paint. We used ice cubes to paint and colored water to paint! We even had bubbles!

It was the best program ever for me because I saw so many children just be totally free to be messy and creative! Loved it!

Checkout the pictures on the Children's Department Facebook Page by clicking the Facebook Badge on the right side of this blog. The pictures will tell you the whole story! Love them!

Fantastic Friday will be back Friday, July 8th at 10:30 (Gr. 3 and younger)- weather permitting. Remember- messy from head to toes and everywhere in between- so come dressed appropriately!

Storytime Week 3 - America! Red, White and Blue!

Flag of America, red, white and blue

Flag of America, I love you!

We will start out with a get on your feet and get moving song! Then we will read Scrambled States of America and Tulip Sees America. Using our scarves, we will march around to You're a Grand Ole Flag. We will read I Am America. We will finish with a special American treat and working together to create a beautiful American mural! Hope you can join us!



Lapsitters (Age 2) Week 2- Walking

I had a lot of fun with my LLFs this week. We counted some more with Alice the Camel.
We read I Went Walking and Rosie's Walk. We matched the feet of animals with the correct face. We had fun moving to 2 fun songs- The Walking Song (fun, fun, fun!) and Eric Litwin's Walking Through the Park One Day.

Next week our theme is Families! Hope to see you there!

We Are the Same and We Are Different

My LLFs did a great job today working together to create their World Mural with all the different colors of the skin we live in.

The brown egg and the white egg are the same- smooth, egg-shaped, come from a chicken and different- one is brown and one is white. BUT- take a look inside! They are the same inside.

We tried on other 'skins' and went around the room to meet new friends- some with the same skin and some with different skin and we shared something about what we like to do. It's great to meet new library friends!

I like you, just the way you are.

2nd Week of Storytime- Ages 3-5

We Are All the Same, We Are All Different!
We started off by discussing how people are alike and how people are different. Miss Christina has blonde hair and blue eyes. Miss Debbie has brown hair and brown eyes. We looked at how brown eggs and white eggs are alike and different. We cracked them open to see that they are the same inside!
Then we danced and learned to say Hola, Namaste, Jambo-sana while we listened to Hello, Hello, Hello by Cathy Fink from her cd, Nobody Else Like Me- Celebrating the Diversity of Children.

We read- The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler, Whoever You Are by Mem Fox and One World, One Day by Barbara Kerley.

Jack Hartmann's cd, Hip-hop, AlphaBop, has another wonderful 'hello' song, Hello Around the World. Then, of course, we did our My Aunt Came Back song!

I loved the art work the kids did together- checkout some pictures:

Che Che Kule- Faster Version!

On Tuesday we sped it up a little!

Storytime- Jambo! Africa

Well, we visited Africa this week.

We read these books:
Africa Calling Nighttime Falling by Daniel Alderman
Kente Colors by Debbi Chocolate
What the Animals Were Waiting For by Jonathan London

We learned these animal names in Swahili:
Giraffe- Twiga
Hippo-Kiboko
Monkey-Tumbili
Zebra-Punda Milia
Elephant-Tembo
Lion-Simba
Crocodile-Mamba

We learned to count from 1 to 10 in Swahili:
moja
mbili
tatu
nne
tano
sita
saba
nane
kumi

We sang Che Che Kule and My Aunt Came Back.

Week 1 Lapsitters- Beep, Beep! (Age 2 with adult)

Let's go! We can go in a car, a train, a boat, a helicopter, an airplane or maybe by foot! Vroom, vroom! Beep, beep! Here we go...

We are going to practice our counting with Alice the Camel each week.

We are going to read some great books...do some fun activities with our adult and of course, sing the best transportation song known to preschoolers everywhere- "The Wheels on the Bus".

Hope to see you there!

Week 1 Storytime- Jambo! Africa (Ages 3-5)

We are going to begin our storytime with a great echo song with lots of rhythm- Che, Che, Kule! Let's get the drums pounding and our feet moving!

YouTube video of song

We will go hunting for some rhyming words...Read some great stories... Learn how to count in Swahili from 1-10 and learn animal names in Swahili, too!

We will learn another fun echo song- My Aunt Came Back!

YouTube video of song

Then we will end with some open-ended group art actitivity!

Hope to see you there Monday or Tuesday!

Drop-In Storytime (3-5 years)

Storytime is designed for ages 3-5 and a caregiver. This programs lasts approximately 45-60 minutes and consists of stories, music, fingerplays, puppets and other early literacy activities.

During our Summer Reading Program, storytime is offered Mondays at 10:30am or Tuesdays at 1:30pm.

The themes for this summer:

• Jambo!Africa
• We Are All the Same, We Are All Different
• America, Red, White & Blue!
• Folktales From Around the World!
• Aesop's Fables
• Let's GO!

Hope to see all my LLFs and BLFs at the library this summer!

Drop-In Lapsitters (24-35 months)

Lapsitters is designed for children 24-35 months and a caregiver. This program lasts approximately 30-45 minutes and consists of stories, music, fingerplays and early literacy activities.

During our Summer Reading Program, Lapsitters will be offered on Tuesdays or Wednesdays at 10:30am from June 14th through July 27th. (There will be no program the week of July 4th)

These are the themes:

• Beep, Beep!
• A Walking We Will Go!
• My Family
• Friends Forever
• Who Is Your Neighbor?
• The One, the Only, Magnificent Me!

Hope to see all of my LLFs and BLFs there this summer!

Celebrate the Family Kick-off to the Summer Reading Program!

Monday, June 13th from 6:30-8:00pm

World Dances with Elaina Qureshi

 

All ages welcome! No registration required!

Summer Reading Clubs

Every summer we have reading clubs for every age! For children, it is to encourage them to read over the summer and not lose essential skills learned over the course of the school year. So, we would love to encourage all families to register their children from birth to 17 for an appropriate reading club.

Registration for the Children's and Young Adult Reading Clubs begins Monday, June 13th! Each participant will receive their own Reading Record to keep track of their reading. They can earn chances to win prizes!

Articles supporting the importance and value of Summer Reading programs:
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3

What Family Has Traveled the Farthest?

We are looking for the family that has traveled the farthest during one trip- any trip ever taken by you family.
Please submit a picture from your travels and/or an index card with your family name and the location of your trip. Calculate and include the distance traveled from your home and a brief description of your trip or the favorite thing you saw or did.

All travel locations will pinpointed on a map of the world located in the children's department. A special prize will be awarded to the family that has traveled the farthest! Start bringing in your pictures now!

Nursery Rhyme Challenge

"Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children
know eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they're four years old,
they're usually among the best readers by the time they're eight."
--Mem Fox

This challenge is for children ages 5 and younger and their grown-ups. Beginning June 6th, stop in the library and pickup the week's nursery rhyme and activity sheets. Practice the rhyme with your child during the week. Do the activities together. There will be a new rhyme each week for 8 weeks.

Aug.5th at 10:30 we will all meet together and have a Nursery Rhyme Party!

Will you meet the challenge? You can do it!