9 Weeks of Pop-Up Programming for Summer

This summer, we offered weekly pop-up programs in the main entryway to the youth services department at my library. We changed up the activities each week and harnessed the power of summer teen volunteers to keep the pop-ups running smoothly. Full details ahead!

What activities did we offer?
Over the course of our 9-week summer reading program, we offered the following activities:

• Monster page-corner bookmarks
• Materials: colored paper printed with a bookmark form template I created, scissors, glue sticks, and markers
• How-to: page corner bookmarks from Tally's Treasury
• Catapults
• Materials: popsicle sticks, rubber bands, plastic spoons, and pom pons for ammo
• How-to: Marshmallow Catapults from Mommy Poppins
• Card Making
• Materials: assorted colors paper and card stock, assorted die cuts, markers, glue sticks, and joke books
• How-to: Invite kids to make cards for time-appropriate occasions; for us, that was Father's Day and/or graduations. We also had plenty of joke books on hand for kids who wanted to just make "anytime cards."
• Fingerprint Art
• Materials: white paper and washable ink pads
• How-to: I've documented my prior forays into this activity at my previous job
• Origami Dinosaurs
• Materials: origami paper and origami how-to instructions and books
• How-to: Origami Dinosaur from Origami Voor Kinderen
• Balloon Rockets
• Materials: twine, drinking straw, scissors, tape, party balloons
• How-to: Under Pressure: Launch a Balloon Rocket from Scientific American
• Postcard to an Author/Book Character
• Materials: postcard-sized paper and markers
• How-to: Encourage kids to write a postcard to their favorite author or book character. If you're able to, take photos of the kids' cards and tweet them at the authors and/or publishing houses.
• Planet Buttons
• Materials: button maker with appropriate button-making tools and materials as well as images of the planets sized to fit the button maker
• How-to: Encourage kids to choose their favorite planet (we did this activity to celebrate New Horizons and the first clear photos of Pluto) and then make a button to share it proudly.
• Optical Illustions
• Materials: paper, scissors, drinking straws, tape, and coloring pencils
• How-to: Thaumatrope Illusion from Teachers Try Science

When did pop-ups take place?
Based on the calendar of scheduled programs and a rough guess at general patterns of foot traffic in the summer, we opted to offer pop-up programs on Thursday afternoons for approximately 90 minutes. After a few weeks of running the pop-ups from 4-5:30, with seriously dwindling numbers for the last half hour, we adjusted the time to 3:30-5 p.m.

Who ran the pop-up programs?
While I (or another staff member, the week I was out of town) was present in the youth department for the duration of the pop-up programs, a team of teen volunteers actually facilitated the pop-up activities from start to finish. I had a team of 5 teens who took turns rotating roles: one would be designated in-charge; one would make sure to take count of participants; one would move about the department to alert kids and families that an activity was taking place; and everyone would assist kids in completing the activity.

Who was the target audience for the pop-ups?
We wanted to offer activities that were accessible to children ranging in age from preschool through early junior high. Recognizing that that is a really huge range in age and ability, the litmus test for a program activity was whether a first grader might be able to complete the activity on their own/with little mediation. The volunteers were more than happy to assist kids who needed it, but we didn't want activities to be frustratingly complicated.

How were the pop-up activities received?
Really well! While there were some fluctuations in the number of attendees from week to week, we had a solid number of participants for every activity, and always a handful of kids at minimum who expressed really enjoying the activities.

Would we offer summer pop-ups again?
You bet! For next summer, I'll be considering not only what activities might be well suited to pop-up times, but also the best possible strategies for staffing them (volunteers? or part-time programming staff who can spend some work time making activities as well as leading them?) and when we offer them (scheduled? or truly pop-up, when we see lots of bodies in the department but no program on the calendar?). Lots to think about, including potential implications for school-year pop-ups.

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What have been your most successful pop-up programs and activities for kids?

The Second Annual Summer Reading/Picture Book Walk Kickoff Event

Summer reading is in the air here in St. Charles County; despite my local school district still being in school until Friday (thanks, snow days!), we're off and running with our annual summer reading program.

For the second year in a row, my branch helped kicked things off through our partnership with St. Charles Parks & Recreation. This summer marks Year Two of our Picture Book Walk at Quail Ridge Park, a local county park with a number of paved trails, one of which boasts 17 beautiful, handmade signs displaying the entirety of a picture book, spread by spread. For details on the "hows" of the project, check out my post on the topic from last summer.

This year, the book around the lake trail at Quail Ridge Park is the immaculately illustrated Berlioz the Bear, by Jan Brett. The introductory sign encourages wandering readers to pay special attention to what's going on in the illustrations around the edges; Brett is known for fitting intricate visual storytelling in every space of the page. While this book doesn't have as explicit a connection to nature as last year's choice (The Curious Garden by Peter Brown), I chose it for the walk because it invites leisurely reading. The buildup of the story, the visual interest, the climax of the story--they all lend to a relaxing stroll along the trail while enjoying a great book.

The library and parks department team up to put on a festive kickoff event in the lodge adjacent to the Picture Book Walk trail. After some introductory remarks at sign #1, as well as the option of "guided walks" (in which a library staffer or volunteer leads a group and reads from the pages), children and families are invited into the lodge for a range of activities. This year, we offered the following slate:

• light refreshments of a cake (donated by Sam's Club) and cookies, along with plenty of water (all outdoor activities require continued hydration!)
• summer reading signups for children, teens, and adults
• a memory game involving matching overturned pictures of instruments (many corresponding to those played by Berlioz and his friends in the book)
• summer reading tattoos
• shaker instrument craft station (decorate and attach a colorful strip of paper to an empty plastic water bottle, use a funnel to add ½ cup rice, top the contents off with a pretty bead, and duct tape the whole thing shut; voila, recycled shaker!)
• tree cookie necklace craft from the Parks Department (using wood from invasive cedar that has to be removed from the parks)
• Parks Department information
• St. Louis Lions soccer team information and ball drills with real players

These eight activity stations were ongoing throughout the two-hour event, with a special performance halfway through the kickoff by one of the park rangers. He shared and passed around a huge range of animal pelts of creatures indigenous to Missouri. Kids had a great time feeling the different furs and seeing the range of sizes of these animals. Most recognizable by far: the skunk.

I had teen library volunteers to help staff the library's activity stations, as well as some assistance from my colleague Miss Melanie at the summer reading signup station. The library could not have offered so many activities at the kickoff without their help.

In the course of the two-hour kickoff event, we shared reading and recreation with just over 200 people, mostly children and their families. We got tons of folks signed up for summer reading, and we generated a ton of excitement about returning to the park to experience the Picture Book Walk again. The Berlioz the Bear installation will be up for several months, hopefully giving every interested family a chance to experience it.

If you happen to be in the Wentzville, Missouri area this summer, I do hope you'll stop by!

Thinking Outside the Book: Partnering to offer a Picture Book Walk

Picture Book Walk at Quail Ridge Park

With all the hullabaloo that is summer reading, it can be easy for youth librarians to forget about anything else that happens in the summer months. The sun is shining! The weather is warm! It's a perfect time to wander about outside!

Translation: It's a perfect time for a Picture Book Walk.

Around this time last year, Angela Reynolds shared her Nova Scotia library's StoryWalk™ on the ALSC Blog. The whole idea, I later learned, actually traces back to Anne Ferguson from Montpelier, VT, who came up with the first StoryWalk® in 2007. Since then, Anne has created a slew of resources for libraries with all sorts of funding situations to offer similar installations. The basic premise of a StoryWalk® immediately struck me as wonderfully boundary-breaking: a library/parks joint effort to give the community an opportunity to move and read outside. Brilliant! And so I started getting things in order to be able to offer a similar program in my community.

Today, June 3, is the official start date of our Picture Book Walk at Quail Ridge Park. We have opted to call our installation a Picture Book Walk because we are focusing specifically on the picture book as a visual and literary art form; we want people to engage with the entire book. All summer long, we're featuring Peter Brown's The Curious Garden--a book that seemed perfect to be read and enjoyed in a natural setting--on rustic handmade cedar signs at a county park near my branch. Brown's beautiful story and illustrations are featured in 17 signs, enough for an introductory sign in addition to the 16 full-page spreads of the book. The signs are spread along a 0.75-mile long paved trail; it's fully accessible to wheelchairs, strollers, and walkers of every age. A person who walks the trail will be able to read the entire book surrounded by bright green foliage. The whole experience, minus any extra time for contemplating the beauty of nature, takes about 20 minutes. A reasonable and restful interlude for a summer's day.

There are many reasons I love this project. Let me name a few:

A particularly picturesque view

1. It promotes literacy and wellness for families in the community. Sharing a story and a stroll can feel luxurious, but it is simply healthful for mind and body.
2. It allows the library to engage with a larger community than just those folks who already visit our branch. By offering a fun, family-friendly, and aesthetically lovely activity outside of the library, we're demonstrating that the library is truly a community treasure. We value the people we serve, whether we serve them directly or have yet to see them in a branch. We want their lives to be rich and interesting.
3. We now have a partnership with our county parks department. This Picture Book Walk has truly been a joint effort, with the library and the parks department sharing ideas and tasks. The library procured permission from Little, Brown and Peter Brown to use the book; secured funding for the purchase of the sign post materials; and prepared the book pages for mounting. The parks department provided the location for the 3-month-long event; built the sign posts; and got the word out to media outlets across the metro St. Louis area. We both put in time and resources for a big ribboncutting and kick-off event (more details on that in a future post). As a result, we now have a working partnership. We know how to work together to get things done. The potential in this new relationship is vast.
4. Summer reading has a new dimension. When reluctant readers complain about not knowing what they should read for summer reading, we can tell them about the Picture Book Walk at Quail Ridge Park. Enjoying the walk once counts as one step closer to meeting the summer reading goal for any age child. When the library is particularly busy and crammed full of people, we can offer the walk as an alternative for spending some time engaged in reading. It's an ultimate passive program.
5. It's just beautiful. Really, isn't that sometimes sufficient?

I am thrilled to be able to offer the people in our community the chance to engage in reading and nature with the first ever Picture Book Walk in Quail Ridge Park. If you find yourself anywhere near the St. Louis area between now and the end of August, please stop by.

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Curious for more details on how we got the walk up and running in the logistical sense? Here are some tidbits on what we did. Feel free to contact me if you'd like more specifics.

Laminating the picture book spreads

• I contacted Peter Brown and Little, Brown before Christmas to get initial approval to use The Curious Garden. Technically, if the library owns the book and the picture book walk is free, formal permission isn't necessary. I think it's always better to have it, though.
• The picture book pages that are mounted in the signs are physical pages from print copies of The Curious Garden. To get them walk-ready, I first took apart the binding and individual pages with the help of a colleague. Next I matched up the appropriate pages to maintain the order of the book; I attached them using book tape. I affixed the pages to matting with a walk footer on it (designed by my library district's graphic designer); this strip at the bottom of each spread includes logos for the library district, parks department, and library foundation, who funded the signs. Finally, I laminated the spreads to keep them weatherproof.
• The cedar sign posts are sturdily fixed in the ground. The display portion is painted plywood with a plexiglass cover. Weather stripping seals the top and sides of the display portion, leaving the bottom open so moisture can escape.
• The first and last signs, with the title page and final wordless two-page spread respectively, also feature some text from us, the organizers. An introductory statement explains the walk, and a closing paragraph encourages continued enjoyment of books and nature.

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Has your library offered a similar event? What stories have been most successful?

SWAB Book and Activity Bundles & the Blog Tour Wrap-Up: Start with a Book Blog Tour

Welcome to the final entry in the Start with a Book Blog Tour! Don't forget to check out the rest of the posts from some fabulous youth services bloggers; links are in my opening post. And now, without further ado, I'll share how I'm using Start with a Book and its resources now.

I blogged last year about my Take-Home Story Time Kits, neat little bundles of stories and music for caregivers to engage in story time at home. Caregivers (and other librarians!) love them, and guess what? Start with a Book, with their 24 Summer Learning Themes (many of which contain great STEAM tie-ins), offers some great resources for a new twist on those bundles.

Right now in my library, I've got two types of bundles: Take-Home Story Time Kits for pre-readers, and Read and Do Bundles for readers (elementary-aged children). Almost everything about these bundles (save my tags, the music CDs, and the ribbon to tie them) comes from the resources on the Start with a Book 24 Summer Learning Themes. Here's what the bundles include:

Take-Home Story Time Kits - for pre-readers

• 2-3 books from the 3-6 year-old age level section of a SWAB theme
• a children's music CD from my library's list of favorites (e.g., Laurie Berkner, They Might Be Giants)
• a Growing Readers activity sheet that pairs with the theme -- SWAB theme pages include these links in section 2 - Growing Readers: Parent Tips
• a Start with a Book flyer -- so caregivers who enjoy the bundles have a pathway to finding more theme-extending activities, websites, and apps
• an eye-catching tag that does three things: 1) connects to summer reading ("Dig into..."); 2) advertises the kit's theme; and 3) gives a brief explanation of the kit and how to use it

Read and Do Bundles - for readers

• 1 book from the 9-12 year-old age level section of a SWAB theme
• printed instructions for a theme-related activity -- SWAB theme pages include these links in section 2 - Hands-on Activities and Crafts
• a Start with a Book flyer -- so readers and their caregivers have access to more activities, including the SWAB theme recommendations of Great Websites for Kids and Mobile Apps
• an eye-catching tag that does three things: 1) connects to summer reading ("Dig into..."); 2) advertises the bundle's theme; and 3) invites the reader to read and do an activity on the topic

One of the things I love love love about the Start with a Book themes--and the bundles I can create with them--are the great STEAM options. There's STEAM at a basic level: the book lists include lots of great non-fiction titles. There's also the fact that so many of the themes, even the less obviously STEAM ones, have science tie-ins. Think dinosaurs and activities involving paleontology; explorers and related navigation and astronomy sciences; nature and books, activities, sites, and apps that explore life sciences. I love any opportunity to get families involved in STEAM concepts at home, and the resources in each of the 24 Summer Learning Themes certainly encourage that. As a result, my bundles encourage STEAM learning, too.

These bundles initially took a bit of time to assemble; I needed to find the books from the SWAB theme lists, then choose and print the appropriate activity sheets and print tags. Once I had done the groundwork for the bundles, however, I made extra copies of the resources so that replenishing bundles as they check out is easy peasy (see my 2012 post for the check-out logistics of bundles).

There you have it--that's how I thought to use the resources on the Start with a Book website immediately after checking it out. Thanks to this blog tour and its bloggers, however, I now see so many other avenues for using the site. I hope you do, too, and I hope you'll consider Start with a Book as a resource to support you in your summer library services. Please share in the comments any ideas for how you are using/will use the content on Start with a Book in your library!

Don't forget to scroll down and enter the giveaway for one of the tremendous book bundles that the folks at Start with a Book have assembled--each on one of the 24 Summer Learning Themes. The giveaway entry form will only work until noon Eastern time on Tuesday, May 21, so get your entry submitted before then! Winners will be contacted via e-mail to arrange delivery.

In wrapping things up, I want to say thanks: thanks so much to Tina and Rachael at Start with a Book for first introducing me to this rich literacy resource, and thanks to my fellow bloggers for sharing their ideas on their blogs. And, of course, thanks to you readers for your commitment to always developing professionally.

I'm wishing you all summer sunshine and happy reading!

Why We Offer an Early Literacy Calendar

When I got my job here in Missouri back in the summer of 2011, I had just attended the 2011 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans; I was bubbling over with enthusiasm, especially for early literacy. That energy, my now-boss says, came across in my interview. I was so gung-ho in my interview, in fact, I even used the phrase, "Even if you don't hire me, you have to do this."

I was referring to creating an early literacy calendar.

It's now over a year and a half later, and my library district does indeed have an early literacy calendar. Each month, we create and make available a calendar full of simple suggestions for early literacy activities that caregivers and their children can do almost anywhere--non-intimidating activities that build pre-reading skills. The activities are based around the ECRR five practices with some math thrown in. The children's staff across the library district take turns filling in the monthly templates I've created; each branch is tasked with populating a calendar with activities every 9 months. For that relatively small amount of work on the part of our children's staff, the benefit to our communities is significant.

We hand out early literacy calendars at our baby, twos, and preschool programs. We have copies of the calendar available at the check-out desk. We share the calendars with local preschools and day cares, encouraging them to make photocopies for the parents of their charges. We post a link to the current calendar on our website, and I have started sharing the pdf on our Library Foundation's new blog. We pass it out when we register pre-readers for summer reading. When workloads and budgets allow, I want our graphic design guy to rework the look so we can make the calendars available at grocery stores and doctors' offices.

If dreams came true, our early literacy calendars would end up in the hands of every caregiver in our county who spends time with a pre-reader. We librarians know how seemingly simple activities can have a great impact--and we often have thousands of potential activities bouncing around our brains, ready to meet the needs of our communities. Now those activities and tips can reach a wider audience. That's why we offer an early literacy calendar.

The "What We're Reading" Wall

When I recapped the 2012 YALSA YA Literature Symposium last week, one of the conference ideas I mentioned liking was the "What We're Reading"board. I'm excited to say that, with just a small amount of supplies and staff time, we have a version of the board up in our children's area.

I have a relatively open wall above a table that will (in the next few months) feature my branch's early literacy computers. Until then, the table houses a rotation of things. Previously it was where you could find some play dishes and food. Now it is home to a bin containing markers and colorful Post-It notes. These are the only supplies necessary for the "What We're Reading" Wall.

I made a title for the wall using those same Post-Its and markers (use washable!), and I also put up a few demo Post-Its to give customers the idea of how to add to the board. In just a few days, the number of What We're Reading notes multiplied significantly. I love the reader response; not only are they reading socially, something I always think libraries can seek to facilitate more, but they are also showing me, the librarian, what they like to read--at least in the branch. I knew Dora and Dr. Seuss were popular, but I appreciate seeing that other less-obvious titles, like some of our horse books and past years' state award nominees, are still being enthusiastically enjoyed.

A "What We're Reading" wall has already proved to be a simple, engaging reading activity in the branch. It's beneficial for readers and library staff. Grab some markers and sticky notes and give it a try!

What to do on a programming off-week: Take-Home Story Time Kits

Today marks the beginning of two story time program off-weeks in my branch. It's not unusual for us to have an off-week about once a month--that week off provides time for staff to regroup, recharge, and plan for the next three-week story time series. We're taking two full weeks off this time, though, for a number of reasons: summer reading was hectic and requires time to recover; we've got some early literacy trainings this week; and Labor Day closures affect the library's schedules. All good reasons to take a little break, I think.

But just because library staff are living by a different schedule for these off-weeks doesn't mean that our customers are. How do you meet customer demand for librarian-mediated story times when you're giving your staff a much-needed rest? Enter the take-home story time kit, available for regular check-out during programming off-weeks.

Every take-home story time kit I assemble includes two or three books loosely on a theme--think farm animals, things that go, princess stories, etc., whatever your kiddos are into. To top off the stories, I include a children's CD that includes music similar to what we might include in our traditional story times. These stacks of materials get bundled together and tied with a pretty bow. To finish off the whole appealing package, I add a bright label that gives the kit's theme and simple instructions: "Take twenty minutes to read these books and listen to or sing songs on this CD with your child. Talk about the books' pictures and what happens in the stories. Draw a picture about the theme when you're done!" Ta-da! Brief, simple instructions for an at-home story time.

I love several things about these take-home story time kits. First, they meet some of the demands of our customers for programming during those weeks when we're taking breaks from traditional story time programs--there's never complete radio silence between customers and story time providers. Second, they emphasize the importance of having story times at home, be they formal or informal. Third, they entreat caregivers to engage in ECRR-recommended practices with their children without ever sounding pedagogical. Fourth, they are pretty quick to assemble. And lastly, they are so pretty! Don't you think they're pretty?

Caregivers who frequent my branch enjoy knowing that they can rely on the library to equip them to provide literacy-positive activities for their young ones even when our program room doors are shut. And that's part of the whole goal, right? To empower readers and those who raise readers. My staff may be resting over the next two weeks, but the library kiddos are still very much engaged with stories.

Movies @ the Library

It's hot in Missouri in the summer. I was aware of that weather fact when, in late spring, I was finalizing my summer programming plans and scheduled four movie events. I had no idea, however, just how perfectly I had named these events until we had twelve consecutive days of 100+ temperatures. You see, I call these movie programs "Beat the Heat Movie Treat." How perfect.

On four Fridays during summer reading--two in June, two in July--I host the Beat the Heat Movie Treat programs. The premise is simple: show a movie from the library's collection for a program. This program format is directly in line with one of our programming goals, which is to utilize and promote the library's diverse collections. Just because movies are already popular, high-circulating items doesn't mean they shouldn't get a bit of programming time, too, I reason. Also, movie events like this make for some solid passive programming: minimal work, solid engagement and use of the collection.

To maximize the appeal of these programs, I chose to screen the four children's movies with the highest numbers of reserve requests (That's Puss in Boots, Hugo, The Adventures of Tintin, and Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked for us). My rationale in choosing these movies is twofold: 1) they are obviously popular and are thus recognizable, easy-to-promote titles; and 2) with so many reserve requests, a family can expect to have to wait a month or more before getting to borrow the movie from the library. Beat the Heat Movie Treat provides a way to see some popular movies without the wait time (so long as the movies are covered by your public performance license, of course!).

Yum.

Another big draw: we show the movie in a nicely air-conditioned room during the hottest part of the day. The large projection of the movie onto a big white wall makes the program akin to visiting the movie theatre, albeit for free. The movie is bigger than a viewer would get at home, the space is cool after a hot, humid morning... And we provide some snacks. Popcorn is a must, and lately I've been offering some small individually-wrapped candies or snack cakes, too, along with water and juice. As for seating, kids and their grown-ups decide whether they want to sit in chairs or stack sit-upon cushions on the ground in front of the screen. I also provide a selection of watch-alike films for check-out following the main attraction. Then, when the lights go down and the movie begins, it's 90-120 minutes of visual story, tasty snacks, and cool relaxation. Not a bad way to spend a library visit, I'd say.

Thinking Outside the Book: Summer Seek and Finds

Tons of kids come through the library over the summer. Sometimes, they are literally running around the library--the children's section in particular. Lots of librarians have great ideas on how to capitalize on this captive summer audience of library kids. At some point in the past, one of the women who held my job before me decided that if the kids are going to be running amok in the library during the hot summer months, they may as well acquaint themselves with where things are located. Thus was born the Summer Seek and Find, now a much-loved summer tradition at my branch.

During each of the nine weeks of summer reading, families who come into the library are greeted with our Summer Seek and Find sign. On that sign, a large picture of a children's book character is displayed. The goal, then, is for kids to find the corresponding small picture of said character somewhere in the children's area of the library. When they find the character, they report its location to the reference desk for a small prize (a piece of candy, a Dream Big READ tattoo, etc.). Keep in mind that my branch doesn't have a huge children's section; we've got a 15'x15' area with picture books on three sides, four aisles of juvenile fiction, an aisle of juvenile audiovisual, and three aisles of juvenile nonfiction. What I'm saying is, there aren't too many places that these characters can hide. This activity is not meant to be particularly difficult.

It is, however, meant to introduce kids of all ages to the various collections housed in the children's area. For our first week this summer, Kipper was hiding out in the juvenile biographies. Last week the Man in the Yellow Hat was hanging out by our holiday picture books. That's two collections kids might not have known about! And, after completing the Summer Seek and Find, now they do. Bam! Library skills.

This week kids are searching for Martha the dog, and while you can see she's hiding amidst the chapter books, we don't let kids get the prize just for sharing that general piece of information. We ask for a more specific description--what books are nearby? what are some of the authors around her? what does the aisle sign read for that row of shelves? The goal is for kids to become more acquainted with the library's set-up and variety of resources, and we try to encourage seekers to look at their surroundings as they seek. Sure, a few kids grumble as we send them back into the stacks to take more notice of a character's location, but plenty more kids end up choosing a book from the area around a hidden character. There are even more young pre-readers who are thrilled to look for a much-loved character somewhere in the library. Everyone who participates in the Summer Seek and Find gets something out of it.

I highly recommend giving the Summer Seek and Find a chance at your library. It doesn't take a whole lot of work--print the signs and pictures, create tally sheets if you want to keep statistics, and change the character and hiding place every week. Ta-da! Now you've got 400+ kids who learn something new about the library each week. Add that to all the reading they're doing for the SRP, and the library is definitely keeping kids' brains engaged during these hot summer months.

Father's Day at the Library

Let me confess something: I love when dads bring their kids into the library. Of course, I love it when anyone brings kids into the library. Since dads joining their children for a library outing happens much less frequently than, say, outings with moms or grandparents, though, I really love seeing kids' excitement as they get to share the library and their favorite stories with their dads. For this very reason, I try to encourage male role models to bring their children into the library. I always mention moms and dads when talking about interacting with little ones in my baby programs, and I offer programming that kids and dads tend to enjoy: science, for one; a monthly Lego club; and Star Wars. The possibilities are many, and the benefits of involving all members of the family at the library are even greater.

Even when dads can't make it to the library, though, I've noticed that kids LOVE talking about them. After many a story time and craft, children have come up to me to report how excited they are to tell Dad what they did at the library. Dads are a part of the library no matter what. Thus, in this week leading up to Father's Day, we're giving kids ways to celebrate their dads at the library. One fun, secretly-educational way to celebrate: our June take-home activity. Like our Mother's Day activity, it is a connect-the-dots/coloring/writing activity. The goal, besides being fun, is to reinforce some pre-reading skills: sequence, writing, holding a writing/coloring implement, expressing one's ideas in words, etc. Plus it makes for a nifty little card to give to Dad on Sunday!

On the story side of things, my colleague is offering a whole Father's Day-themed preschool story time this week. And while I'm not sure of all the details of her program, I want to share one of my favorite books to celebrate Dad. My Dad, My Hero by Ethan Long is a brightly-illustrated picture book, narrated by a young boy, that enumerates the many ways in which his dad is decidedly NOT a superhero. He can't leap over buildings (blocks, of course), or open the tightest pickle jar lid--as demonstrated both by the text and, hilariously, by the illustrations. Despite Dad's lack of superhero powers, though, the boy concludes that his dad is still his hero. This book really touches on a feeling that is true for so many children: Dad is awesome and heroic.

How will you be helping kids celebrate dads at the library this week?

Mother's Day at the Library

My library will be closed this Sunday for Mother's Day, but that doesn't mean we've been skimping on the mom-centered activities this week while the library is open! We've been making an attempt to hit all of our children's populations: in-house preschool story times, outreach story times, school-age craft programs, and take-home activities are several of the areas in which we've been encouraging kids to celebrate their moms.

A great Mother's Day book I've been sharing during story times is Vivian French's picture book A Present for Mom. In the story, young Stanley has a hard time coming up with a Mother's Day gift on par with his siblings' bouquet of flowers, box of candy, and homemade cake. After all his initial ideas fail, he finally figures out the perfect gift: a box full of kisses! What mom wouldn't want a box full of kisses from her little one? This is a great story with tremendous versatility in terms of audience, telling, and programming. It works well as a read-aloud, but it would also translate well to a felt story. If you're inclined to include a craft with your story time, you can have kids decorate a box that they will fill with kisses for their own moms. Simple and meaningful!

To engage young kids who come to the library but who don't necessarily come to programs, my library's May take-home activity is focused on Mother's Day. Kids have the opportunity to connect the dots to complete the flower, color the flower however they like, and write what they love about their moms on the lines. I'm big on early literacy activities, and this one works on multiple levels. The connect-the-dots exercise reinforces order and going from start to finish; the coloring gives an opportunity for asking questions about why a child colored the flower a certain way; and the writing activity encourages both the mechanics of writing (holding the writing implement) and the process (deciding what to say and how to say it). A celebration of mom and an early literacy exercise, all on one page.

We didn't forget our school-age program-goers when planning our Mother's Day fun. Last week we had a "Make Your Own Paper Bouquet" program, where kids from kindergarten through the fifth grade created a variety of tissue paper flowers to arrange into their own bouquets. You can find all sorts of tissue paper flower craft instructions online (note: some are simpler than others!), and after a short step-by-step explanation of how each flower is constructed, most kids are content to get to work on their own. There were some gorgeous bouquets leaving my library that evening!

How is your library celebrating moms this Mother's Day?

Dr. Seuss Seek-and-Find

In recognition of Dr. Seuss's birthday and Read Across America, my library offered a passive program. Throughout the entire month of March, anyone who came into my branch library saw our Dr. Seuss-themed sign.

See those snazzy Cat in the Hat hats? We stuck some up all around the children's section of the library and encouraged kiddos to try to find and count them all (I put up eleven in total). Every child who reported the number of hats he or she found, regardless of the number reported, got to choose a Dr. Seuss-themed reading sticker and a Read Across America bookmark. It was simple, it was cheap, and it impacted a lot of library customers.

This seek-and-find was a great opportunity to mix simple math skills into a passive library program--at least twice a day I heard hat-related counting going on throughout the building. Kiddos got really excited at the prospect of a treasure hunt in the library, too, and they loved that the theme was something as recognizable as Dr. Seuss.

Give a seek-and-find a try at your library! I'd love to hear what themes and activities work for you.