30
Jan
Nature Center Snowflake Study
In December, right before the Winter Solstice, I winterized the library Nature Center with one of nature’s exquisite cold weather wonders: Snowflakes. Learning about snowflakes, or snow crystals, is a terrific exploration of science, math, and art. It also doesn’t hurt that the craze for the movie Frozen has sparked even more curiosity into these teeny […]
27
Jan
Photography Fun in the Library
As an ongoing effort to incorporate various opportunities for creative forms of documentation and self expression for children in the library, I recently added a photography provocation that can be used anytime by kids during regular library visits. Fun, right? Here’s how it works. Young library visitors can ask to be the “Official Kid Photographer” […]
20
Dec
Draw a Yeti
When I saw this tweet floating around the DC Public Library Twitter feed the night before Thanksgiving, I thought it would be a great project for our Kids’ Room craft station. So that night, during a blimp of down time, I whipped up this document and that was it! Since then, a flurry of yetis […]
18
Dec
Mentor Me! Assistance for Young Readers in the Library
Before arriving in Chattanooga I polled several local parent Facebook groups and asked what program or services they wished their public library provided. The dominate response was “free tutoring”, specifically for beginning readers, Or, a program to help their child learn how to read. It was also a common response after I started working […]
3
Dec
The Beedle Society
Ever since reading A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd, I’ve been inspired by the mysterious “Beedle” character to create a club or secret society of kids that perform random acts of kindness. It isn’t a program or an event. It’s a small effort to encourage positive vibrations, giving without reward, a connection with one […]
2
Nov
Trick-or-Read: A Halloween Storywalk Exhibit
For a fun twist to trick-or-treating, the Wednesday before Halloween my coworkers and I created an interactive storywalk experience inside the library using five favorite Halloween tales. If you’re not familiar with storywalks, typically outside, they’re replicated picture books taken apart and plotted along a path for kids and their families to read. I thought […]
20
Oct
No Such Thing
Halloween is my *favorite* holiday of the year, which means of all the holidays I have soft spot in my heart for Halloween picture books. This year, I fell hard for No Such Thing, by first time picture book author, Ella Bailey. As Halloween nears, young Georgia notices bizarre happenings around her house. A vase falls out […]
18
Aug
Speedy Delivery! Post Office in the Library
Ever since I read this post by Anne Clark from So Tomorrow about the writing center in her library (so smart) AND watching my own child create notes and letters at a provocation station in preschool, I’ve been itching to try this out… A Post Office! In the library! For kids! The Post Office is […]
15
Aug
The Picture Show: An Exploration in Oral Narrative
Last week I conducted an experiment. I set up an overhead projector on the floor of the storytime room , I attached overhead transparencies to clipboards, and sprinkled colorful dry erase markers about the room. What happened next could have been a complete flop on a late Saturday afternoon, but I went for it and […]
1
May
Using Storybird as a Storytelling Prompt in Libraries
A picture is worth a thousand words. Storybird is a new social media platform that prompts writing by allowing users to sift through a catalogue of illustrations (both amateur and professional) to select and pair with their stories. Here is the rundown from the Storybird website: “Storybird lets anyone make visual stories in seconds. We curate artwork […]
