Kids Art: Hearts!

“Kids Art” was a program created to pair a book with a larger art project for ages 3-7 (and occasionally a few 2-year-old siblings). The library already hosts a monthly craft program for grades 1-6, but I wanted a messy art club for my littles. In the program, I stress a lot about how process is more important than product. Since that’s the goal, I don’t show parents a “sample” completed picture and just explain what the kids are using that day to create. Particularly since we’re almost always painting or getting messy, the goal is for everyone to have a good time!

Way back in February, I did Kids Art the day before Valentine’s Day and we worked on two different painting projects, both from Pinterest.

For the first half of paint time, the kids painted with toilet paper rolls that I had bent to create heart stamps. I got this idea from this pin, and the original post links back to Hands On As We Grow.

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The kids really enjoyed this, and to keep it Valentine’s Day themed, I only brought out pink and red paint at this point. (Also, black washable markers for them to write their names. You can see that the markers sometimes became a part of the project, too.)

For the second project, I brought out way more colors and Q-tips for the kids to use as paint brushes. This was inspired by this pin, and was originally from Practical Paleo.

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I did provide a heart template on their paper since I knew that getting them to freehand their own hearts might be problematic. I love how this turned into a lesson on color mixing!

While their paintings dried, we read some Valentine’s Day books:

kidsart-heart

A Kiss Like This by Mary Murphy
The Perfect Hug by Joanna Walsh & Judi Abbot
10 Valentine Friends by Janet Schulman

It was a wonderful day and the kids were thrilled to take their paintings home. I hope it ended up as Valentines or displayed on the fridge!

April 22, 2013 1 Comment Short URL, Special Programming

In Case You Missed It

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(Or as this installment should be known, Katie continues to go through starred posts in Google Reader from the last two months since Google Reader is leaving us, and is absolutely determined to not let this happen again no matter what.)

    Books & Collection

  • 3.27.13 Amy asks a question about weeding: is it better to have *something* rather than outdated information? Great comments here, too.
  • 4.3.13 Abby in her monthly ALSC blog reminds us that summer is super close and NOW is the time to stock up on our popular series so that we’re ready for Summer Reading.

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    Libraries & Librarianship

  • 3.25.13 Anne shows up how a minor tweak in how she shelves kits at her old library can make a big difference!
  • 3.25.13 Sarah talks about feeling out of her depth when visiting a bike shop earlier in the week. (Don’t worry, things worked out for her!) Are our patrons feeling the same way about libraries?

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    Kids Programming

  • 3.26.13 Mollie did one of my very favorite programs that we do annually in my library, Life-Sized Candyland! At the end, Mollie talks about what she learned and what you absolutely need to run this program yourself.
  • 3.27.13 Amy gives you every tool you need to make sure that your next Star Wars party is rocking the library! And I can second her recommendation of contact the 501st Legion; our volunteers at our library were amazing and are STILL talked about three years later. “Miss Katie, remember the STORM TROOPER who used OUR COMPUTERS?”
  • 4.9.13 Sara has embraced the word “Makerspaces” and is pressing on with some awesome activities for kids using LEGOS.

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    Storytime

  • 3.20.13 Kendra breaks down Parachute Play for our youngest patrons — babies and toddlers! A great post to read, with tons of song and rhymes suggestions.
  • 3.21.13 Melissa made me want to run out to Target and buy a small rug immediately after she introduced the Blue Carpet No Fly Zone rule in her storytime. If you have had issues with parents knowing when to grab their kid or with little ones standing right in front of you, blocking everyone else’s view — get thee a blue carpet. (Or whatever color you like best!)
  • 3.25.13 Kendra responds to several Baby Storytime tours by giving us a tour of her own space! I love the magnetic wall.
  • 3.27.13 Melissa responds about singing and using CDs in storytime and really gave me a lot to think about. (Last week, I used recorded music in my storytimes for the FIRST TIME EVER because of her post!) Also, make sure to check out the comments section where the discussion continues.
  • 3.30.13 Sarah, in a guest blog for the ALSC blog, wrote up a fabulous post all about her Caldecott storytimes this spring. I love this idea and think that it is a phenomenal way to introduce kids to award-winning books!
  • 4.4.13 Anna gives a great overview about using scarves in storytime!

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    Flannel Friday

  • 3.29.13 Mollie has the round-up available at her blog.
  • 4.5.13 Lucy has the first April round-up!
  • 4.12.13 Kendra has this past week’s round-up!

April 21, 2013 0 Comments Short URLAnnouncements

Flannel Friday: Farm Pack

Another flannelboard from the Storytime Katie archives. This was the second or third flannelboard that I ever made, way back in 2010! I made a farm pack that I could use pieces for Old MacDonald, Farmer in the Dell, and BINGO. I store all of these pieces together.

The template for these pieces came from DLTK, except for the cat — which I used a cat piece we already had in the library and made a second one for this set since I didn’t like the DLTK cat. If I were making it now, I might make a mini Pete the Cat!!

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Courtney is hosting the round-up today! You can also check out our website, Pinterest, or Facebook!

April 19, 2013 24 Comments Short URLFlannels

Signs in Picture Book City

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One of my biggest concerns and thoughts about re-organizing the picture book was that I really wanted to make it very clear to patrons that this change was about them being able to find their own materials. To help them in that endeavor, I knew that we needed to put up lots and lots of signs.

Here’s a few pictures of the different kinds of signs we’ve done:

Our overhead sign, hanging from the ceiling.

I made this sign in Publisher and my fabulous co-worker backed it with poster board. It looks beautiful (despite the awful fluorescent lights in the picture) and it really pops in the department.

Signs in the bookcases, at the beginning of each neighborhood.
This one is from the Bedtime neighborhood.

Another Publisher file that I worked on. I color-matched the heading to the color of the label, hoping for good color recognition by our patrons.

Right now, we’re working on more signs for Picture Book City after sitting with it for a month to make sure we weren’t moving everything all over again. This week at the library, I’m making endcap directions and my co-worker is working on individual shelf labels.

I’ll post pictures of those next week!

April 18, 2013 9 Comments Short URLHow To

Number Nine!

The Plan

Books

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Nine Ducks Nine by Sarah Hayes
Nine O’Clock Lullaby by Marilyn Singer
The Planets by Gail Gibbons
This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Nine Planets”

Song: “Nine Little Ducks Went Out to Play”
Nine little ducks went out to play
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack”
But only seven little ducks came back
(Count down by twos until one)
One little duck went out to play
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack”
And none of her nine little ducks came back
Sad mother duck went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack”
And all of her nine little ducks came back
Credit: Childhood

Song: “This Old Man”
This old man he played one,
He played knick-knack on my thumb
With a knick-knack, paddy-whack
Give a dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home
Credit: Childhood

Craft

We continued with our numbers coloring book today, working on number nine!

How It Went

Nine was the hardest number. SO HARD. Now, I know that Pluto isn’t an official planet anymore, but in Illinois…it is? I took a minute of two in storytime to talk about this (look, STEM!) and the kids were just happy to see pictures of the planets in general. “This Jazz Man” — featuring nine famous jazz musicians — was a huge hit for both teachers and kids. They all sang along with me, as much as they could!

April 17, 2013 3 Comments Short URLOutreach Storytime

Growing Readers Revamp!

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It is more than time for an update on how “Growing Readers” is going!

(You can find my first outline of the program available here: Growing Readers Outline.)

Towards the end of December, kids were rushing through the activity stations to try and finish first! After that, I let them take books from the storytime collection to the rug independently. It worked for the first week. The next week, everyone went faster and fought over the pop-up edition of “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” I knew that things had to change.

I took a break from “Growing Readers” in January to order more supplies (different literacy stations and activities), to deal with low registration (likely due to flu season), to avoid snowstorms and emergency closings, and to work on tweaking the program. I also spent some time re-training my teen volunteers to be more engaging with the children.

After the races towards the end of the program, I began to think that kids were getting more out of the storytime aspect than the activity stations. Which is totally fine! (And I’m going to take as a giant compliment, right?) The activity stations are supposed to supplement the storytime — not the other way around! I needed to add more to my storytime, and I really wanted to increase the interactivity.

Now, I read two to three books (depending on time), and include two apps on the iPad. I’ll be doing some write-ups on which apps were successful for us and which ones didn’t go over so well.

Which leads me to the activity stations — we only have about twenty minutes for activity stations now, and that seems to be working much, much better because the kids do not have enough time to race through and finish even if they tried. The teens are much better at asking follow-up questions and interacting with the kids. All in all, I made the right decision by working through a re-vamp.

I’ll start the activity stations again next week (Tuesdays, baring complications!), and app reviews as I find the time to write them up properly!

April 16, 2013 4 Comments Short URLGrowing Readers Storytime

Manners!

The Plan

Books

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Bears on Chairs by Shirley Parenteau
The Ducking Gets a Cookie by Mo Willems
Llama Llama Time to Share by Anna Dewdney
Oh No, George! by Chris Haughton

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “All the Little Germs”

Flannelboard: “Thanks a Lot”

Action Rhyme: “Thank You”
My hands say thank you with a clap, clap, clap.
My feet say thank you with a tap, tap, tap.
Clap, clap, clap. Tap, tap, tap.
I turn around, touch the ground,
And with a bow, I say…thank you, now.
Credit: The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays, & Chants by Jackie Silberg

Action Rhyme with Puppets: “Ah-Choo! Ah-Choo!”
Farmer’s nose tingles (point to nose)
Farmer’s nose twitches (wiggle puppet)
And he is going to sneeze!
Ah-choo, ah-choo, ah-choo!
Ah-choo, ah-choo, ah-choo!
(Cow, moo-choo / pig, oink-choo / chicken, bawk-choo)
Credit: Modified from SurLaLune Storytime

Fingerplay: “Thumbkin”
Credit: Childhood

Craft

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I got this craft from a fellow librarian at Confessions of a Real Librarian! The kids had a great time coloring and their moms loved the reminder to cover our mouths!

How It Went

This was a wonderful storytime theme. I loved all of the extension activities and the books — and it really, really showed by how the kids responded to them. The “Thanks A Lot” flannelboard got a lot of parents all misty-eyed and it took me a few listens to not get misty-eyed, myself! The action rhyme I last used in “Sick” storytime was remembered by a few patrons and the kids were more than happy to help me make animal noises. Their favorite book had to be “Oh, No George!” I think they were delighted to be watching George try to be good.

April 15, 2013 4 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

In Case You Missed It!

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(Or as this installment should be known, Katie goes through starred posts in Google Reader from the last two months since Google Reader is leaving us, and decides there is way, way, WAY too many posts of awesome that she saved and she now needs to split it up for the next two weeks.)

    Librarianship!

  • 2.26.13 Amy wrote about how she uses peer-sourcing in the library. How lucky we are to work in a field where sharing and collaboration are happening constantly online and (I hope) in person as well!
  • 2.27.13 Sarah wants to know why a storytime librarian and a teen librarian cannot be the same person — why can’t we be interested in both parts of the career?
  • 2.28.13 — 3.3.13 Julie began a dialogue about gender and librarianship months ago and continues it with another thought-provoking post, which has been answered by Marge and Kelly and Marge again and many more.

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    Books!

  • 2.28.13 Anne and Amy revealed the results of their Middle Grade series survey! It came as no surprise to me that the top three were Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries, and Big Nate.
  • 3.15.13 Angie shows you how to do a simple but wonderful and effective winter reading program! I’ve never done a winter reading program at my library, but I’m thinking about it for next year for sure!

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    Tech!

  • 2.18.13 Cen announced that LibrarianAPProved.com — a librarian-curated database full of apps for kids! I cannot wait for this resource to arrive since my library just got an iPad for storytime.
  • 3.5.13 Melissa, in a guest post at the ALSC blog, wrote about using Evernote to keep her storytime archive together.
  • 3.11.13 Amy shared her favorite apps for presentations! Everyone getting ready for Summer Reading school visits? Take note!

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    Training!

  • 2.21.13 Melissa gives us a run-down about the ECRR Parent Program that she has done before. I am head-over-heels in love with this idea and have some feelers out to Adult Services about coordinating this type of programming at my own library!
  • 3.11.13 And also, Melissa shares how her staff learns to do baby storytime. This sounds like such an amazing gift to staff members, I am just floored.

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    Storytime!

  • 2.19.13 Beth shows us the Storytime Song Bucket! I use a Song Cube, but the concept is still the same and my patrons love it! I bet yours will too.
  • 2.28.13 Sarah is using SHOW AND TELL in her storytimes! I freaked out when I saw this idea and I’m going to find a way to incorporate it into Growing Readers storytime.
  • 3.5.13 Julie, Anna and Kendra wrote about singing in storytime! I love singing in storytime, it is one of my favorite things to do, and really the children do not care what you sound like!
  • 3.10.13 Mary is singing again with the ukelele! I’m still trying to get motivated to learn and these posts are really helping me out.
  • 3.11.13 Amy asks about using beach balls in baby storytime. This post makes me wish with all my might that I had enough interest to do a dedicated baby storytime at my library.
  • 3.19.13 Sarah did a round-up of her ABC storytime crafts. Crafts are the hardest part for me to do in storytime, so I’m glad to see round-up like this for future plans!
  • 3.20.13 Brooke showed off her Baby Storytime set-up and I immediately wanted to volunteer to do another storytime at my library because of it! I can do Baby Storytime, I can, I can!
  • And some storytime themes/plans that I’ve especially liked: Kendra’s Going to the Zoo, Anne’s On the Move, Erin’s Rainy Days, and Anne’s Crayons.

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    Flannel Friday!

  • 2.23.13 K has the round-up at her blog!
  • 2.26.13 Lisa has the “Dig Into Reading” Summer Reading Program Extravaganza!
  • 3.6.13 Sharon hosted the incredible “What Flannel Friday Means to Me” round-up, which includes stories and flannels.
  • 3.15.13 Melissa has the Flannel Friday birthday round-up. (The second part of the celebrations can be found here, while Amy unveiled the official Flannel Friday map at her blog.) I can’t believe it’s already been TWO YEARS of Flannel Friday joy!
  • 3.22.13 Amanda has the last round-up for this In Case You Missed It!

And that’s it for this massive round-up. Stick around for next week when I’m sure it will be just as large and just as awesome!

April 14, 2013 2 Comments Short URLAnnouncements

ALSC: Opening & Closing Storytime

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Click on through to the ALSC blog where I’m talking about creating opening & closing routines at storytime. Come check out my storytime rules sign, as well as get the story about the songs I sing each week!

April 13, 2013 0 Comments Short URLALSC Post

Flannel Friday: Maisy Mouse

This is an old flannelboard, but one of my favorites! It’s always one that I get a lot of email questions about.

Presenting…a Maisy-based take on the “Little Mouse, Little Mouse, what house are you in?” flannelboard game.

I originally got the template for this in CSLP’s “Make a Splash” Summer Reading Programming binder. There was a template for the house and Maisy in black and white. My library’s copy of the programming binder was lost in a basement flood, so I do not have the original, nor is it available online.

But there are tons of clip art houses for you to substitute. A great place to look is here where there are houses of all different kinds — you could even do different houses if you want to!

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Kendra is hosting the round-up today! You can also check out our website, Pinterest, or Facebook!

April 12, 2013 30 Comments Short URLFlannels

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