Little University

Little University has been a dream of mine ever since I started 2 years ago. We are a small library. And when I say small, I mean SMALL. In the last, we've had storytime once a week and have only been able to cater up to 15 children due to our space issue. I knew something had to change. Little University derived from me seeing a need in our community that we weren't filling. Babies, Toddlers and Elementary kids wanted programming, too! So, here's what I've come up with. 

Keep in mind, I am a one person children's department, so I am the only one who runs programs. 

-Brilliant Babies. Held every other Monday morning at 9:30. Singing, bouncing, playing, rhyming, giggling and ticking! 

-Talented Toddlers. Held every other Tueaday morning at 10:00. Sensory play, art, grooving, moving, singing, playing! 

-Junior Geniuses. Held every Wednesday morning at 10:00. This group is for ages 3-5 and my plan is to alternate with STEAM elements. So, we'll do regular "storytimes" and then do science experiments the next week or an art project. 

-Preschool Prodigies. This group is also for ages 3-5 that are currently enrolled in any preschool. I had a few parents whose children attend preschool that reached out to me for handwriting and early reading advice. That's what this program is all about. Enforcing handwriting skills and early literacy. 

-Elementary Einsteins. This is for grades K-5 and all about STEAM! Making volcanoes, making art projects, glow stick geometry, ect. 

I have also started Art Academy, which is a monthly art program for all ages. I'm super excited about it! 

I worked on my bulletin board for Little U this afternoon. My plan is to use my Polaroid camera and take pictures at each class and then post them on the bulletin board. 

I don't know how it will go, but I have 64 kids signed up across these 5 programs so it's already a big improvement from last year! Wish me luck! 

Summer Reading 2016 - tentative plans

For some reason, when I got the catalog for the 2016 Summer Reading Program, I was seriously underwhelmed. I wanted to get excited about it, but I just couldn't. There was just something about the graphics that didn't catch my eye. For a few weeks, I just didn't think about it. We still have a long time, right? 
Well, this week, I got my first few emails from performers and having to go ahead and book them since they are already getting filled up!!!! What? Yikes! 
So, I revisited the theme and starting to think about what I could do to enhance this theme. Here's what I've come up with so far: 
-I went ahead and ordered the generic book bags from our state wide system, since we get them for free. I can't justify ordering bags that cost if we get those for nothing. And they really aren't that bad. 
-I have NEVER been happy with the reading logs that we can order from the catalog, so today, I sat down and made my own. I'll attach a photo at the bottom. If you'd like the word document, just shoot me an email: storytimelindsey@gmail.com and I'll send it over. No need to credit me or anything, it's just something I put together. I decided on 15 chapter books for my age range OR 100 pages. They can color in a circle for each/either one. I'm hoping this simplifies the whole process for everyone. Last year, we didn't have a good completion percentage, so I'm really working on getting that up this year. 

WEEKLY ACTIVITIES: 
IN THE PAST: Last year, I did a Superhero Training Camp, once a week for 8 weeks. I could only take on 30 kids because we have no room and it's just me who does all the programming. The kids and parents LOVED it, but I still wanted to figure out a way to get more people involved. 
THIS YEAR: This year, I have 7 weekly activities planned that will be open to everyone who registers for the summer reading program, they are: 
1. ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, STORYWALK! We are working with our Parks & Rec department to get a StoryWalk in one of our parks. We will hopefully have it finished by the time Summer Reading rolls around. I thought this would be a great way to introduce it and have a little celebration. 
2.  ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, PAINT! One of the most popular events we've had at the library is an Art Day. We're doing it again for this year and making it even bigger than last!
3. ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, BUILD! Lego Club has been ridiculous popular here, so for this week, I'm just going to throw out the Lego's and have them build like crazy! Might even put on The Lego Movie, too.
4. ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, PLAY! We have a really awesome rec department that lets us use all of their facilities. We have a track area that is just screaming for us to have family Olympics there! Pool noodle javelin, sprints, soccer, THE WORKS! 
5. ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, GIVE! This week, my plan is to have pre-filled bags of candy with our logo on it to give out to patrons, for them to give to their neighbors. A little way for us to give back and also some advertising! 
6. ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, SWIM! Again, our rec department is amazing and we'll rent out the pool for a few hours to have a swim party for our summer readers! 
7. ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, PARTY! This will be out last week of events, and my plan is to have a party outside. Sno-Cones, hot dogs, games, and FUN to celebrate our hard work! 

OTHER ACTIVITIES: 
-We usually always have crafts bags each week that parents can pick up and they can do at home with their kids. We will probably do it again this year, unless I come up with something else. 
-Yoga days with our amazing yoga center (for kids & adults!)
-Baby and toddler sensory play days (hoping to aim for one or two of those a month!) 
-I have mentioned to our Parents of the Library group (who put on fundraisers for us) that it would be super fun to do a Kid-K. Like a combination of a color run and a 5K. I think they'll be doing that this summer and it will be awesome!!!! 
-We will probably have a pajama party somewhere in there too. Last year, I did a Big Hero 6 Pajama Party and it was HUGE. They loved it. 

PRIZES: 
-I absolutely hate the little plastic toys that we used to hand out and have done away with them. When a child finishes summer reading this year, they will get a reading buddy (little stuffed owl) that has a bandana with our logo on it, a book from Scholastic, and the coupons that we get from local businesses.

Still in the planning stages, but I'm really happy with how it's coming together so far. Summer Reading comes around SO FAST, and I want this year to be extra fun! 

Picture of the reading logs so far: (Note: they need to be cut out around the blue lines, so just imagine this one is) 

StoryTime - FUN

I know I haven't posted for a while...OOPS! August and September always seem to be so busy. Not sure what it is, but I can't seem to have free time during these two months. 

Things have been going well in our fall StoryTime session. It's always difficult in the beginning adjusting to new kids and them adjusting to me. We are on week 5 and I think we are going strong now. Today, I wanted to change things up. I love themes, don't get me wrong, but they can't get tiring and restrictive. So today, we just had fun. I read The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin. We sang A LOT, used scarves, shakers and danced like crazy. The kids had A BLAST. They giggled and laughed the whole time and that's exactly what I wanted. Afterwards, they got to paint a picture with their parents. It was awesome! 

CAPTAIN AMERICA CRUNCH:RECIPE

I'm going to preface this with saying that I really love to bake and cook. If I didn't, I totally wouldn't put much effort into snack time for storytime/camp. But, even if you don't enjoy it like I do, if you're looking for a fun snack to serve this summer, this is pretty easy. It took about 30 minutes from start to finish with all the different colors. 

Supplies: 

1 bag of red, vanilla flavored candy wafers

1 bag of blue, vanilla flavored candy wafers

1 bag of white, vanilla flavored candy wafers

Vegetable oil 

1 box white cake mix

1 box strawberry cake mix

1 package powedered sugar 

2 family size boxes of Rice Chex

M&M's (optional) 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

For each color, measure out 1 cup of the colored wafers into separate bowls. Melt them in the microwave until smooth. Usually takes about 1 minute, so I do  two 30-second intervals to mix. 

Mix in 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil to each color mixture and stir until well combined. 

For the red wafers, measure out 3/4 cup of the strawberry cake mix. Mix in the cake mix with the wafer/oil mixture. Stir well.

For the blue and white wafers, measure out 3/4 cup of the white cake mix. Mix in the cake mix with the wafer/oil mixture. Stir well. 

In 3 separate medium sized bowls, measure out 3.5-4 cups of Rice Chex. Pour colored mixture on top and mix until the cereal is evenly coated. 

Once all colors have been mixed with the cereal, mix them all together in a large bowl with 1 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Mix until evenly coated. 

I put red and blue m and m's on top of mine for decoration, but those are totally optional! 

Enjoy! 

Finished product: 

SUPERHERO TRAINING CAMP: WEEK 2

SUPERHERO TRAINING CAMP: WEEK 2; HELPFUL
Man, I am sure struggling with tomorrow's training camp!
It has been unusually rainy for this time of year and it is bringing all of our attitude's down a notch. My plan for this camp session was to go outside and plant flowers in our flower beds. However, there's a pretty high chance of rain tomorrow so I had to do some adjusting.
I decided, after much debate, that I would go ahead and go forward with the session and bring it inside if I had to. So, I went today and purchased all the flowers and potting soil and I'm just going to have the kids plant them in biodegradable peet pots and plant them at a later date when it's not so rainy.

THE BOOKS:
I went with a gardening theme for this one. I thought what better way to be helpful to our environment than to plant flowers for all of our creatures to enjoy? I wanted to emphasize that there are lots of things, every day things, around them that are helpful, not just people. A tree is helpful to us because they provide oxygen, a flower is helpful to a butterfly, a butterfly is helpful to pollinate and in turn, is helpful to other bugs, ect.
We are reading:
My Garden by Kevin Henkes
Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert
A Leaf Can Be...by Laura Purdie Salas
After we read books and before we start planting, I'm going to do one of my favorite science experiements. I did this last year for Fizz!Boom!Read! and the kids were crazy for it. I'm going to set out four different cups and plant four different seeds in each one. Each seed will be watered with a different liquid to see which ones grow: vinegar, sugar water, regular water and salt water. I thought this would tie in with being helpful, since we are going to see which ones help the seeds to grow. I'll have each child make a prediction about which seed will grow the fastest and will check on them each week. 

THE PLAN:
If we are inside, I'm going to lay down plastic tablecovers on the floor and split my group of 30 up into 3 teams. Each team will be at a table and they each get to plant a flower of their own. It will be relatively the same if we are outside, just a whole lot less crowded!

THE SNACKS:
I did not realize how much children love carrots until I started my job here. EVERY time I have served carrots, they have been gobbled up! I wanted to serve them this time because in My Garden, the little girl says that if she had her own garden, carrots wouldn't exist because she didn't like carrots. I always make a fruit tray, so I'm using mangos and some summer fruits to try and lift our spirits a little bit. Lastly, because I always have to keep with the superhero theme, I'm going to be making Captain America Puppy Chow, which I will post a picture of and instructions for how to make on a separate post.

WISH ME LUCK!!!

UPDATE WITH PICTURES!
So, I have to admit, this was one of my favorite "story time" sessions I have ever done. The kids were so responsive to learning about how flowers and nature are helpful to us that all they wanted to do was help them in return. It was the sweetest thing and so heartwarming to see their concern for our environment.
We planted flowers in peet pots indoors because the ground was so wet. They loved it and all took such care in planting them. I didn't get many pictures, so here's just a few:

The blue team with my wonderful summer assistant, Whitney!

Flowers the kiddos planted. We were able to plot some this afternoon!

More flowers!

They were being so careful. The cutest!

SUPERHERO TRAINING CAMP: WEEK 1

This year, for Summer Reading, I decided to take a new approach to a Summer StoryTime session. Our SR theme is Every Hero Has A Story, and to go along with it, I decided to do Superhero Training Camp. Every Friday for 8 weeks, we focus on a different character trait that makes a superhero super.
Week 1: Creative
Week 2: Helpful
Week 3: Imaginative
Week 4: Generous
Week 5: Healthy
Week 6: Physically Active
Week 7: Super Readers
Week 8: Fair

BOOKS FOR WEEK 1; CREATIVE:
Eliot Jones, Midnight Superhero by Anne Cottringer
Not A Box by Antoinette Portis
What Do You Do With An Idea by Kobi Yamada

ACTIVITIES FOR WEEK 1:
There were 4 stations and we broke out into 3 separate groups. I registered 30 for camp, so I knew ahead of time how many to expect at each session. Each group had 10 kids in it with a group leader led by my summer assistant and a volunteer.
Station 1: Masks
Station 2: Capes
Station 3: Top Secret Superhero Worksheet (each child got to pick their superhero name, powers and what their costume looks like.)
Station 4: Snacks
They also each got to take home a Top Secret Identity Kit. I made the boxes out of scrapbook cardstock paper and ordered the TOP SECRET stickers from Zazzle.com.  Inside each box was a pair of Clark Kent glasses (Oriental Trading) and mustaches. Attached to each box was a kryptonite stick (rock candy) just for good measure. Overall, our first week went VERY smoothly. They kids listened so well and they loved all the activities!

 Creating their capes.

 Hulk SMASH green Jell-O

 THOR Hammers

 Captain America fruit shield

 PACKED house! You can totally tell how small our library is in this picture.

Top Secret Identity Boxes

Creating their masks

STUFFED ANIMAL SLEEPOVER 2015

In May 2015, we had our first Stuffed Animal Sleepover.
I asked the parents and kids to register ahead of time so I would kind of have a rough idea of how many I would be looking after. I had 25 register, which I thought was really awesome for our first one. When they dropped off their friend, they made a tag for them so I would know who they belonged to and then they painted a picture frame and left it at the library to dry overnight.
I took photos of each stuffed animal posed a different way. The next morning, I went into Walgreens and printed off all the photos and put them in their owner's frame. When they came to pick up their friends, I had breakfast out and they were all so excited to see the pictures.
Definitely will be doing this one again. The cost was almost non-existent. The frames were .50 cents each on sale at Michaels, I already had the paint and brushes, so the only other cost was some mini donuts, drinks, and the pictures, which ended up costing about $6. I think all together, it was maybe $45-$50, but that's way on the high side. I didn't attach every picture of each stuffed animal since that would be a little redundant!

 Picture Frames

 The whole gang tucked in for the night.

 Drop-Off

 Clifford

 Dino pushing his owner's favorite truck.

 These three had to stay together, so they built with some blocks.

 This one had to work into the evening.

 Bubbles!

 Little puppy needed some water.

 Drawing a picture for her owner.

 Making an important phone call.

 Penny found her book!

 These two were putting on a puppet show.

 This giraffe, creatively named, Karefurmice, was checking out some books to read.

 This one had to go potty!

 Minnie reading Minnie.

 This one was taking a silly photocopy!

 All watching a movie. And, yes, I really did put a movie in. Lol!

 I read them my new favorite bedtime story.

Ready to be picked up the next morning!