Storytime @ Whole Foods: Let's Get Messy!
For more information on my Whole Foods Storytime series, read the first entry.
Hello song: I'm in the Mood for Singing...
I love the different verses you can use with this song. We did singing, reading, and listening. I think it definitely helps everyone get into storytime mode!
Warm-Up: Give Me 5!
I've started using this warm-up at the beginning and often times throughout storytime, when the children get wiggly and need to refocus on listening to a story (especially after a song)! It goes like this: 1. Eyes watching (make glasses around eyes with your hands) 2. Ears listening (put hands behind ears) 3. Voices quiet (point to mouth) 4. Body calm (Give yourself a hug) 5. Caring hearts (Put hand over heart)
I found this idea on the Jbrary blog (where, well, I pretty much learn about everything cool and awesome, and end up borrowing everything!), in a post that talks about kindergarten teacher wisdom, and one of the kindergarten teachers uses this "mantra" with her kids. It really works well for calming everyone down, and my regulars have just about got the hang of it so that I only need to ask them for numbers and they know what to do!
Book: Say Hello Like This by Mary Murphy
Usually I don't read "hello" books - I find that my "hello" song is usually enough to get us started off. However, I stumbled upon this book when planning for this storytime, and had to use it. It is simple, bold, colorful, and has lots of opportunities to get kids interacting with the book. They can all meow, chirp, and hee-haw to say hello, and also point out which animal says what! It was great for getting the kids engaged and opening up at the beginning of the storytime.
Song: Bubble Bubble POP!
I adore this song. The kids can help you call out what color we should do for each fish. It also involves counting! So good.
Book: Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
This book is, of course, a favorite. With many chances to shout out colors, it gives kids a lot of chances to interact with the book. I have done the flannel version in the past, but I haven't yet ventured into flannels with my outreach storytimes at Whole Foods. The flannel that goes with Dog's Colorful Day is usually more fun to use with smaller groups, because everyone can come up and put a color on dog when you get to each color in the story!
Stretcher song: We Wiggle and Wiggle and Stop!
This is such a good little tune for getting the wiggles out. I've learned that by mid-storytime, it's a must! As Dana and Lindsey (Jbrary) mention in their video, it's a great song to teach kids how to follow directions. It took everyone a few tries to get the STOP! down, but they did eventually get it! Many giggles during this little wiggle release.
Stretcher/Activity: Paint Way Up High!
You may remember this little activity/stretch from my very first post, in which I used shaker eggs to go along with this little mantra. The mantra originates, to my knowledge, from a storytime video posted by the New York Public Library in which the librarian did a little wiggle release that goes: "wiggle your hands way up high / wiggle them way down low / wiggle them side to side / wiggle them on your shoulders / wiggle them on your head / wiggle them on your belly / and then put them all to bed".
Now, for this "messy" storytime, I handed out paint brushes and we used those. So it went like this: "paint way up high / paint way down low / etc..." It worked well. We did the exercise twice. It's a great stretcher!
Book: I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont
This book was a good follow up to the above stretcher/activity, Paint Way Up High! because it involves a character who is painting different parts of her body! So you can ask the kids to find their heads, back, arms, etc. One thing I will mention about this book is that I had a concerned parent approach me after storytime because it has the word "ain't" in it, and "ain't isn't taught to kids in school, so why would you want to teach it to them now?" - So, I explained that it is just silly, and that the book is a play off of the old folk tune "ain't gonna rain no mo'", but the parent was bemused and left with their opinions still in place. Oh well, what are you going to do? This is a part of storytime; sometimes people just want to share their opinions.
Song: Swipe Your Brushes
I made this song up to the tune of Frere Jaques. This is the first song I've written for storytime, yay! However most of it is adapted from "Tap Your Sticks" that I borrowed from Jbrary. Heh heh. We used brushes as our props, instead of rhythm sticks, as you probably have already guessed. Anyway, my version goes like this:
"Swipe your brushes, Swipe your brushes / 1 2 3, 1 2 3 / Can you paint a picture, Can you paint a picture / Just like me, Just like me / Swipe your brushes, Swipe your brushes / way up high, way up high / now let’s all bend down, now let’s all bend down / and paint the ground, paint the ground"
Song: Classic Alphabet Song (you know how it goes!)
We sang this song in preparation for the next activity...
Activity: Alphabet "Painting"
We pretended to paint letters of the alphabet with our brushes, as I called them out, on the floor in front of us. It was just a little activity I wanted to try, to see how the kids would handle it. They were pretty good! Parents really got involved in this one, which was nice. Who knows if everyone knew how to paint a letter G? I told them uppercase letters. But we ended on letter "O" so that everyone could feel good about at least painting one letter. ;)
Book: I’m Dirty! by Kate and Jim McMullan
Moving on from painting, this is a messy book that everyone is sure to love. The truck in the book gets SO dirty and the sounds of the mess and the truck are just so fun to have everyone call out together! I put this one toward the end because it really helped to pull their attention back in.
Action Song: This Is the Way...
Well, we sure got messy. Now it's time to clean up! This song was great for drawing our messiness to an end. I saw it on Jbrary, but I know it is a pretty popular tune. It goes like this: "This is the way we wash our arms, Wash our arms, wash our arms / This is the way we wash our arms, So early in the morning (other verses: tummies, elbows, heads, toes...)
Goodbye Song: Bread, Butter, Marmalade & Jam
Instead of "hello" we simply substituted "goodbye". Definitely turning into a favorite -- I get lots of giggles with this one!!
Handout:
- storytime plan / song lyrics
Let's Get Messy!
Note: I have learned a few things since I began these outreach storytimes. One of the major lessons I learned is that I need to do LESS books, and longer books towards the beginning. More songs, fingerplays, and other activities involving props are a good way to mix things up and get the wiggles out. Enjoy!
Hello song: I'm in the Mood for Singing...
I love the different verses you can use with this song. We did singing, reading, and listening. I think it definitely helps everyone get into storytime mode!
I've started using this warm-up at the beginning and often times throughout storytime, when the children get wiggly and need to refocus on listening to a story (especially after a song)! It goes like this: 1. Eyes watching (make glasses around eyes with your hands) 2. Ears listening (put hands behind ears) 3. Voices quiet (point to mouth) 4. Body calm (Give yourself a hug) 5. Caring hearts (Put hand over heart)
I found this idea on the Jbrary blog (where, well, I pretty much learn about everything cool and awesome, and end up borrowing everything!), in a post that talks about kindergarten teacher wisdom, and one of the kindergarten teachers uses this "mantra" with her kids. It really works well for calming everyone down, and my regulars have just about got the hang of it so that I only need to ask them for numbers and they know what to do!
Usually I don't read "hello" books - I find that my "hello" song is usually enough to get us started off. However, I stumbled upon this book when planning for this storytime, and had to use it. It is simple, bold, colorful, and has lots of opportunities to get kids interacting with the book. They can all meow, chirp, and hee-haw to say hello, and also point out which animal says what! It was great for getting the kids engaged and opening up at the beginning of the storytime.
Song: Bubble Bubble POP!
I adore this song. The kids can help you call out what color we should do for each fish. It also involves counting! So good.
This book is, of course, a favorite. With many chances to shout out colors, it gives kids a lot of chances to interact with the book. I have done the flannel version in the past, but I haven't yet ventured into flannels with my outreach storytimes at Whole Foods. The flannel that goes with Dog's Colorful Day is usually more fun to use with smaller groups, because everyone can come up and put a color on dog when you get to each color in the story!
Stretcher song: We Wiggle and Wiggle and Stop!
This is such a good little tune for getting the wiggles out. I've learned that by mid-storytime, it's a must! As Dana and Lindsey (Jbrary) mention in their video, it's a great song to teach kids how to follow directions. It took everyone a few tries to get the STOP! down, but they did eventually get it! Many giggles during this little wiggle release.
You may remember this little activity/stretch from my very first post, in which I used shaker eggs to go along with this little mantra. The mantra originates, to my knowledge, from a storytime video posted by the New York Public Library in which the librarian did a little wiggle release that goes: "wiggle your hands way up high / wiggle them way down low / wiggle them side to side / wiggle them on your shoulders / wiggle them on your head / wiggle them on your belly / and then put them all to bed".
Now, for this "messy" storytime, I handed out paint brushes and we used those. So it went like this: "paint way up high / paint way down low / etc..." It worked well. We did the exercise twice. It's a great stretcher!
This book was a good follow up to the above stretcher/activity, Paint Way Up High! because it involves a character who is painting different parts of her body! So you can ask the kids to find their heads, back, arms, etc. One thing I will mention about this book is that I had a concerned parent approach me after storytime because it has the word "ain't" in it, and "ain't isn't taught to kids in school, so why would you want to teach it to them now?" - So, I explained that it is just silly, and that the book is a play off of the old folk tune "ain't gonna rain no mo'", but the parent was bemused and left with their opinions still in place. Oh well, what are you going to do? This is a part of storytime; sometimes people just want to share their opinions.
I made this song up to the tune of Frere Jaques. This is the first song I've written for storytime, yay! However most of it is adapted from "Tap Your Sticks" that I borrowed from Jbrary. Heh heh. We used brushes as our props, instead of rhythm sticks, as you probably have already guessed. Anyway, my version goes like this:
"Swipe your brushes, Swipe your brushes / 1 2 3, 1 2 3 / Can you paint a picture, Can you paint a picture / Just like me, Just like me / Swipe your brushes, Swipe your brushes / way up high, way up high / now let’s all bend down, now let’s all bend down / and paint the ground, paint the ground"
Song: Classic Alphabet Song (you know how it goes!) We sang this song in preparation for the next activity...
Activity: Alphabet "Painting"
We pretended to paint letters of the alphabet with our brushes, as I called them out, on the floor in front of us. It was just a little activity I wanted to try, to see how the kids would handle it. They were pretty good! Parents really got involved in this one, which was nice. Who knows if everyone knew how to paint a letter G? I told them uppercase letters. But we ended on letter "O" so that everyone could feel good about at least painting one letter. ;)
Moving on from painting, this is a messy book that everyone is sure to love. The truck in the book gets SO dirty and the sounds of the mess and the truck are just so fun to have everyone call out together! I put this one toward the end because it really helped to pull their attention back in.
Action Song: This Is the Way...
Well, we sure got messy. Now it's time to clean up! This song was great for drawing our messiness to an end. I saw it on Jbrary, but I know it is a pretty popular tune. It goes like this: "This is the way we wash our arms, Wash our arms, wash our arms / This is the way we wash our arms, So early in the morning (other verses: tummies, elbows, heads, toes...)
Goodbye Song: Bread, Butter, Marmalade & Jam
Instead of "hello" we simply substituted "goodbye". Definitely turning into a favorite -- I get lots of giggles with this one!!
Handout:
- storytime plan / song lyrics
Storytime @ Whole Foods: Let's Play Pretend!
For more information on my Whole Foods Storytime series, read the first entry.
Hello song: I'm in the Mood for Singing...
I love the different verses you can use with this song. We did singing, reading, and listening. I think it definitely helps everyone get into storytime mode!
Book: Joey and Jet in Space by James Yang
We're going to play pretend... pretend that Joey and Jet are in outer space! We follow these two as they soar through space... right up until lunch time, when they get paged back to Earth. Encouraging the kids to suspend their disbelief a bit is the most fun -- my age groups (approx. 3-5) play pretend to help them better understand the world around them and build empathy.
Song: Zoom Zoom Zoom
I can't take credit for any of my songs. The credit usually always goes to Jbrary. This is one of the most successful songs I've ever used in a storytime. The kids LOVE it and I've had many parents tell me that their kids ask to sing it at home! (I think it is the blast off at the end that really gets them excited!) Recently, I found that Jbrary had posted some alternative verses for this little song, so I used those in this storytime in addition to the original. Again, overwhelming success!
Book: Higher and Higher by Lisa Patricelli
The little girl in this book is playing pretend; she pretends that she swings as high as a giraffe's neck, to the tops of buildings, to up where the airplanes fly, and eventually as high as outer space! The kids loved chanting "higher and higher!" with me throughout this simple, yet fun and colorful book.
Stretcher song: We Wiggle and Wiggle and Stop!
This is such a good little tune for getting the wiggles out. I've learned that by mid-storytime, it's a must! As Dana and Lindsey (Jbrary) mention in their video, it's a great song to teach kids how to follow directions. It took everyone a few tries to get the STOP! down, but they did eventually get it! Many giggles during this little wiggle release.
Book: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
A classic "pretend" story. We all want to pretend to drive the bus, too. But this time we must be the ones in charge! Always a hit.
Song w/ Rhythm Sticks: Tap Your Sticks
This was my first time EVER using rhythm sticks in a storytime! Surprisingly, it wasn't so bad! Handing them out was a bit crazy. But so far I haven't come across any magical solutions to easing the chaos of that situation. I was pleasantly surprised when the kids handed them in, though. Perhaps it is the soothing tones of "Clean up, Clean up, Everybody do your share..." that helped? Who knows! This is a great song, though. It's to the tune of frere jacques. Check out Jbrary's brilliant video of it!
Song w/ Rhythm Sticks: Count to Ten
Another Jbrary gem. This rhythm stick song just counts to 10, to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus" - easy peasy! I'm glad we did 2 songs with the rhythm sticks, so they didn't feel jipped on how much time they got to spend using them. Sometimes I get that sense with props, that we don't let the kids really use and explore the props long enough, or with enough songs/activities. So, two seemed to be a good number of songs to use the rhythm sticks with. (Hint: As mentioned in the Jbrary video, a good way to corral rhythm stick noise when we're in between song/activity is to have the kids rest them on their shoulders!)
Book: Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert
After I got the kids counting in song form, we segued into a book about counting fish. We were able to "pretend" we were a fish, and we met lots of other fish as we swam along in the book. I like this book because it sneaks a little math in there, too (one red fish plus me makes two)! This also set the tone up for our next song.
Song: Bubble Bubble POP!
I adore this song. The kids can help you call out what color we should do for each fish. It also involves counting! So good.
Book: One Spotted Giraffe by Petr Horáček
I've learned my lesson now: No long books at the end of storytime! Pop-ups seem to work best, because kids are just utterly fascinated by them, and most of the times you can find a short one. This one just involved counting animals. I encouraged kids to tell me what number comes next, and to tell me what kind of animal it is. They oo-ed and ah-ed at the pop-ups in this one - and they weren't even that big! Love it.
Goodbye Song: Bread, Butter, Marmalade & Jam
Instead of "hello" we simply substituted "goodbye". Definitely turning into a favorite -- I get lots of giggles with this one!!
Handout:
- storytime plan / song lyrics
Let's Play Pretend!
Note: I have learned a few things since I began these outreach storytimes. One of the major lessons I learned is that I need to do LESS books, and longer books towards the beginning. More songs, fingerplays, and other activities involving props are a good way to mix things up and get the wiggles out. Enjoy!
Hello song: I'm in the Mood for Singing...
I love the different verses you can use with this song. We did singing, reading, and listening. I think it definitely helps everyone get into storytime mode!
We're going to play pretend... pretend that Joey and Jet are in outer space! We follow these two as they soar through space... right up until lunch time, when they get paged back to Earth. Encouraging the kids to suspend their disbelief a bit is the most fun -- my age groups (approx. 3-5) play pretend to help them better understand the world around them and build empathy.
Song: Zoom Zoom Zoom
I can't take credit for any of my songs. The credit usually always goes to Jbrary. This is one of the most successful songs I've ever used in a storytime. The kids LOVE it and I've had many parents tell me that their kids ask to sing it at home! (I think it is the blast off at the end that really gets them excited!) Recently, I found that Jbrary had posted some alternative verses for this little song, so I used those in this storytime in addition to the original. Again, overwhelming success!
The little girl in this book is playing pretend; she pretends that she swings as high as a giraffe's neck, to the tops of buildings, to up where the airplanes fly, and eventually as high as outer space! The kids loved chanting "higher and higher!" with me throughout this simple, yet fun and colorful book.
Stretcher song: We Wiggle and Wiggle and Stop!
This is such a good little tune for getting the wiggles out. I've learned that by mid-storytime, it's a must! As Dana and Lindsey (Jbrary) mention in their video, it's a great song to teach kids how to follow directions. It took everyone a few tries to get the STOP! down, but they did eventually get it! Many giggles during this little wiggle release.
Book: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo WillemsA classic "pretend" story. We all want to pretend to drive the bus, too. But this time we must be the ones in charge! Always a hit.
Song w/ Rhythm Sticks: Tap Your Sticks
This was my first time EVER using rhythm sticks in a storytime! Surprisingly, it wasn't so bad! Handing them out was a bit crazy. But so far I haven't come across any magical solutions to easing the chaos of that situation. I was pleasantly surprised when the kids handed them in, though. Perhaps it is the soothing tones of "Clean up, Clean up, Everybody do your share..." that helped? Who knows! This is a great song, though. It's to the tune of frere jacques. Check out Jbrary's brilliant video of it!
Song w/ Rhythm Sticks: Count to Ten
Another Jbrary gem. This rhythm stick song just counts to 10, to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus" - easy peasy! I'm glad we did 2 songs with the rhythm sticks, so they didn't feel jipped on how much time they got to spend using them. Sometimes I get that sense with props, that we don't let the kids really use and explore the props long enough, or with enough songs/activities. So, two seemed to be a good number of songs to use the rhythm sticks with. (Hint: As mentioned in the Jbrary video, a good way to corral rhythm stick noise when we're in between song/activity is to have the kids rest them on their shoulders!)
After I got the kids counting in song form, we segued into a book about counting fish. We were able to "pretend" we were a fish, and we met lots of other fish as we swam along in the book. I like this book because it sneaks a little math in there, too (one red fish plus me makes two)! This also set the tone up for our next song.
Song: Bubble Bubble POP!
I adore this song. The kids can help you call out what color we should do for each fish. It also involves counting! So good.
I've learned my lesson now: No long books at the end of storytime! Pop-ups seem to work best, because kids are just utterly fascinated by them, and most of the times you can find a short one. This one just involved counting animals. I encouraged kids to tell me what number comes next, and to tell me what kind of animal it is. They oo-ed and ah-ed at the pop-ups in this one - and they weren't even that big! Love it.
Goodbye Song: Bread, Butter, Marmalade & Jam
Instead of "hello" we simply substituted "goodbye". Definitely turning into a favorite -- I get lots of giggles with this one!!
Handout:
- storytime plan / song lyrics
Storytime @ Whole Foods: Let's Have a Picnic!
Let's Have a Picnic!
Hello song: Hello Friends
Again, I ended up borrowing most of my songs from Jbrary. This song incorporates some American Sign Language (ASL), so it added another learning dimension to the song. To encourage all children to do the signs with me as I sang, I went over each individual sign and what it meant before we started singing. I also tried to explain a little bit about ASL, what it is used for (communicating with those who are deaf), and how it can also help little ones who aren't speaking yet communicate their needs and wants.
Book: The Best Picnic Ever by Clare Jarrett
This book is about a boy, Jack, who is waiting for his mom to set up a picnic. As he's waiting, he meets a bunch of animal friends, and they all ask him to play. This gives me an opportunity to ask the children to identify each animal as they play with Jack. At the end, all of the animals are invited to the picnic, and the children help me identify the foods they are eating.
Song: Fruit Salad
This is another fun tune I borrowed from Jbrary. As they mention in their video, it is a great way to practice breaking words down into syllables and hearing the small sounds of each word. It is also great for building vocabulary, because you can use it with so many unique and obscure fruits!
This is one of the silliest books. I usually get some good giggles out of it. Our main character, the watermelon-obsessed crocodile, can't help but get woozy when he swallows a seed. He imagines it growing inside of him, even worrying his skin will turn pink! (The grown-ups often laugh as much as the kids do!)
Thanks yet again, Jbrary! This song is fun because it uses scarves. I had to DIY my own scarves since I realized our library actually doesn't own any! (I just started doing storytimes at this library, where I've worked since May.) I love the fingerplays you can do with the scarves - it is especially good for little hands working on fine motor skills as you put the kernels in the pot (ball up the scarf in your fist) and then shake it -- but of course the most fun is the end where the kernels POP! and they get to throw their scarves up in the air!
A hilarious story about some wild boars who decide to make a massive pudding! This is a great book for talking about table manners.
Song: If you're happy and you know it...
We went through many emotions: happy, sad, tired, and... hungry. We ended on that last verse, appropriately!
As we were getting towards the end of our storytime, I realized I shouldn't have saved this one for last. It's a fun book, and kids can say "Hooray for bread!" with you, but it does drag on a little when it is placed towards the end. I'm thinking maybe it would have been better as an opening book.
This song can be really successful in your crowd, once everyone gets the hang of what to do! The kids first crouch down on the floor and when I say "POP! go the berries..." They jump up. Luckily, you can substitute different berries in each time you sing it, and so you can go about 3-4 times, and by the end everyone has the hang of it.
A great book to learn counting skills. The pop-ups really pull your little audience in! Good to use at the end of storytime, to catch all of those wigglers' attention.
Goodbye Song: Bread, Butter, Marmalade & Jam
Instead of "hello" we simply substituted "goodbye". This is getting to be a favorite!
----
Handouts:
- plan & song lyrics
Storytime @ Whole Foods: Let's Eat Together!
For my first storytime at Whole Foods, I decided to kick things off with a food-related theme. I called it "Let's Eat Together!" The original idea was to move through breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but that got to be too much, so we just loosely focused on breakfast, lunch, dessert, and a few table manners. The entire storytime timed out perfectly, at 30 minutes.
The storytime took place at one end of their cafe/eating area, in a little nook. They had some mini-kitchen cabinets/toys set up, which we had to block off with a table, and I picked up some of the toys that were out and but them in the little cabinets. But this still didn't do enough to deter kids, a few were quite distracted by it being right behind me. Next time, Whole Foods has agreed to put up some kind of partition between me and the toys, to minimize distraction. They set out a rug in front of me, which kids sat on, and chairs behind that for the grown-ups. Overall, it's a great little set-up, and I was surprised at how much noise it really blocked out (although I still had to project my voice more than normal). At the end, Whole Foods had free snacks set up on a table in their cafe area for the families to munch on.
Let's Eat Together - Storytime Outline
Hello song: Bread, Butter, Marmalade & Jam
I ended up borrowing most of my songs from Jbrary. Frankly, singing songs makes me a little nervous (I'm always afraid I'll forget the lyrics, even if I have them right there next to me), but Jbrary usually has very simple and interactive songs for this age group (0-5). Plus, the lyrics are always easy to learn for both me and parents/children who want to sing along.
I used the "reader" version of this book, which is abridged. The regular version just has too many words to keep the 0-5 attention span going. The only downside to this version of the book is that it is smaller, so you have to really pause to make sure every one can see the pictures. In general, the book doesn't get great reviews, but I think if you add your own voices and emotions to the story, and make a comment about how they're doing things "old fashioned" in this book (like churning their own butter, for example) - you'll enjoy it a bit more.
Song: Bananas Unite!
Yet another Jbrary tune...
This one ended up being a little long for my group's attention spans. Next time, I'd omit it and add in my alternative choice that I should have gone with, Hooray for Bread. However, I really do like this book and felt like in theory, it was the perfect book to read at a grocery store. Nolan goes through the whole process of how your food gets to your kitchen, from the delivery trucks docking and unloading at your grocery store, to the grapes and peanuts growing on farms. Maybe better for grades 1+, possibly kindergartners too.
This book was based on the song, so I "sang" the book to them. I tried to get them to sing along, but the song has kind of an awkward tune (IMHO). They did the hand movements pretty well though (crush the peanuts, smooth the peanut butter on the bread, etc).
I saw a storytime video posted by the New York Public Library in which the librarian did a little wiggle release that goes "wiggle your hands way up high / wiggle them way down low / wiggle them side to side / wiggle them on your shoulders / wiggle them on your head / wiggle them on your belly / and then put them all to bed" - but for this food-related storytime, I had everyone take two shaker eggs and "fry" their eggs way up high, way down low, etc. It worked well. We did the exercise twice. It's a great stretcher.
A good book for talking about table manners.
Song: Table Manners
We followed up our table manners book with this repeat-after-me song (to the tune of Frère Jacques) also from Jbrary.
I read the giant version of this book, to mix things up a bit. Always a fun classic, and the grown-ups always enjoy it, too!
I had everyone clap / pat their knees to give me the classic rhythm for this song. I had to pause once in the middle of singing/reading the book (it was a pop-up version) to encourage everyone to keep the rhythm going. I was thinking about using puppets of different animals during this song, but the book just seemed easier to sing along with, and it was, so I'm glad I made that decision.
Goodbye Song: Bread, Butter, Marmalade & Jam
Instead of "hello" we simply substituted "goodbye". Because they were familiar with the song from the opener, I definitely had more kids sing along and participate this time!
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Handouts:
- flyer
- plan & song lyrics
Art in the Library
Last Monday night we had the opening reception night for our elementary school's art exhibit. Concurrently, I had a drop-in card making program going on, for families to participate in if they wanted. I had a great turnout, with approximately 65 people coming through to check out the art and/or make cards. I'll make a separate post for the card making activity.
After realizing that one of our walls in the children's department at the Addison Public Library was blaringly empty, I envisioned a display of children's artwork. From there, I worked together with local elementary art teachers to create a new partnership that would allow for children's artwork to be displayed in the library.
The "Art in the Library" program started in December 2014 and ran until May 2015. Each month, a different elementary school had the wall; the art teachers choose the art, dropped it off to me, and then I hung it on our wall.
Additionally, I hosted an "Opening Night Reception". The children whose art is up on the wall could come to the reception and get a goodie bag, which included a small art prize and a certificate. The students who came to the reception received the bonus of entering a grand art prize raffle, for something special like an oil pastel or watercolor pencil set. Students were encouraged to bring family and friends to show off their achievement, and snack on light refreshments.
This project was more than a partnership, it was also a very successful community outreach effort. Families who had never been to the library before often visited for the first time with their children who had their art up in our exhibit. Several times I witnessed these families getting new library cards, checking out materials, and staying to play in the library after the exhibit.