Mother's Day Bouquets

You've already seen the Mother's Day craft we did with the story time babies, now take a look at the drop-in Mother's Day program for the elementary school kids.

I taught seven kids and two volunteers, including one special needs child and one physically handicapped volunteer, how to fold origami flowers. We folded two flowers, a simple tulip and a much more complicated lily. The tulip and simple stem instructions are here and I learned how to do the lily from this youtube video. 

Alex added a paper vase
to showcase his bouquet

   

Asia decided a baby blue
stem would go well with
her pink flower

My teaching technique differed with almost every child. I'd shown one volunteer how to fold the tulip before anyone else showed up and he was able to float around, correcting little things here and there. The youngest one there was maybe 4, she'd come with her older sister and cousin. With her, I sat next to her and essentially folded the flower, slowly showing her every step I was taking and asking her to press down and crease the folds. The oldest were two girls in middle school who caught on pretty quickly and were able to help the smaller kids. 

I ended up making a lot of extra flowers myself as I folded a sample one every time a new kid showed and wanted to learn and so the kids used those to supplement their bouquets and ended up with a lot of healthy and colorful blossoms to give their moms, aunts and grandmas on Sunday.

When the little kids had finished their tulips, lost interest and wandered over to the computers, the older kids and I got down to business with the lilys. We ended up working on them right up until closing. I was actually kicking them out as they were still rolling down the petals. For a room that's essentially dead in the last 15 minutes of the day after the computers have turned off, this was a great problem to have.

At least one girl showed a real aptitude and interest in origami; I told her, and everyone else who would listen, to come back and we'd go through some of our great origami books together and look for more projects that they might be into.

Our volunteer, a 21 year old trying to get enough service hours to graduate from an alternative high school program, also took to the folding. He made a huge bouquet for his mom and got overly excited when he found black origami paper and was able to make a black lily. It was pretty metal. And when a much younger boy made fun of him for making flowers, he just shrugged it off and showed the little boy how to make his own.

This was by far the most successful elementary age program I've run since starting at this branch, and I didn't even have to give the kids sugar to get them to participate. Looks like New Year's Resolution #2 is off to a good start!

Flannel Friday: Book! Book! Book!

I'm a huge fan of reusing flannel pieces whenever possible. No need to reinvent the wheel and all that. Half of my sets have notes in them saying that one piece or another is filed with another set.

For my flannelization of Deborah Bruss' book Book! Book! Book! I reused the pig, cow and duck from my I Had A Rooster set.

Then I added a blue horse (just in case I ever decide to do anything with Eric Carle's The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse. You always want to be thinking ahead.)

An adorable goat

A hen

And finally, the frog who says "Read it! Read it!" instead of "Ribbit, Ribbit"

I use the flannel pieces in conjunction with the book since the book by itself is a little long for a preschool crowd. Before I start I ask for help and pass out all the flannel pieces to kids in the crowd. When their animal shows up for the first time I ask them to come put it up on the board and tell me what sound their animal makes. Then the story of the animals who want something to do and the librarian who only understands people-talk really begins.

Theme Thursday: Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! We were perfectly on time in the real world, but on the blog we're celebrating just a little bit late. That's okay, mom's deserve as much praise as they can get!

Song: Good Morning Dear Earth

Flannel: Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone

Alphabet Soup: MOMMY

Song: M-O-M-M-Y

 To the tune of Bingo:

There was a lady, loved me so, and Mommy was her name-o

Book: Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Ann Dewdey

Rhyme: 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Song: Move Your Body Along

Clap, Clap, Clap

We're gonna clap, clap, clap

We're gonna clap our hands

And sing this song,

So move your body right along

Stomp... Feet

Stretch... Arms

Twist... Wasit

Jump... Up High

Sway... So Slow

Flannel: 5 Little Ducks

Book: Mommy Loves Her Baby/Daddy Loves His Baby by Tara Jaye Morrow

Song: Turn Around from Getting to know Myself

Make and Take Craft: Hand Print Bouquets (Inspiration Here)

Supplies:

-paint

-sponges

-construction paper

-crayons

Process: Whew, my first attempt at finger/hand painting with the babies and toddlers. It will be a while before I try it again. Or at least a much smaller group. For prep I drew stems with bows tied around them on several sheet of construction paper and left others blank. After story time I laid out long sheets of butcher paper in the hallway and spread out paper plates with paint and a sponge on each one. Crayons were also spread about. I had plenty of paper towels on hand, but this craft still required lots of parent/caregiver help.

The one big stroke of genius, and I forgot where I read about it, is to use the sponge to put just enough paint on the baby or toddler's hand. If they just stick their hand straight in a bunch of paint, it's too much and becomes way too messy too quickly. But with a sponge, you can control how much goes on in an even manner.

After the paint is applied to the hand, you just make hand prints near or around the stems and it comes out looking like a bouquet. An abstract bouquet, maybe. But a bouquet nonetheless.

Time: Prep took about 20 minutes, 10 to draw the stems/bows, 10 for set-up. The craft took about 30, since people had to wait their turn for the paint.

A few kids refused to get paint on their hands, in that case we just gave them crayons and let them go crazy. Tracing their hands is another option. The moms in the crowd seemed to really love the end results and the caregivers were pleased with having something to take home to the parents as well.

Summer Reading Decorations

It's summer reading time! And since it's my first summer at the branch and my first summer as a real live public library librarian, I want it to rock extra hard. There'll be program updates throughout the summer as they happen, but for now check out what I've done to make the room a little more special.

There's a loooooong wall in the back of the room that leads to the restrooms. I've been wanting to do something with it since I showed up, but I just wasn't sure what. The very pleasant surprise find of 12 rolls of different colored butcher paper in a back room gave me the means and the summer reading theme "Dream Big. Read!" gave me the inspiration.

As the summer goes on and the kids turn in their completed hour sheets, they'll get a di-cut star to write their name on. Then we'll use the stars to finish the background of each picture.

Downstairs, I've also been working on the big, plate-glass window behind the circulation desk. In addition to providing a preview of what one can expect with the summer reading program, it cuts waaaaaay down on the 5:30 glare that's so obnoxious.

The tempera paint I used is already beginning to crack and flake. I'm not sure if the problem is the age of the paint (super old), the heat that's hitting the window (we've had some scorchers) or how thick the paint is, but I think I'll be doing touch up through-out the summer.

And lastly, we have two night themed book displays to start off the summer. Every children's librarian can tell you that one of the most common questions that get asked is "Where are the scary books?" The first display is "Books that Go Bump in the Night." There's a collection of scary picture and chapter books, as well as a few graphic novels.

                       

I'm calling the second display "Sweet Dreams" and it's a collection of bedtime stories, fantasy and night time books. There's no signage, but I love the hanging garlands and think that they get across the general idea pretty well.

Flannel Friday: From the Way-Back Time Machine, Alphabet Soup

I have been falling down on this whole Flannel Friday thing lately. I don't even have the camera cord or the Arkansas excuse this week. It has been insanely busy at the branch though, as we gear up for summer reading which launches this coming Monday. Yup, you read that right, our system is starting summer reading a full month before the kids get out of school. I'm even more behind than I thought I was.


So I thought I'd repost an old entry that I don't think ever made it to the round-up. I used it on Thursday in fact, with the letters M-O-M-M-Y for our mother's day themed story time. After story time was over, one little girl who is just now becoming verbal came over, pointed out each letter, told me it spelled "mommy" and pointed out her Mom and said "match!" My cold dark heart melted and all was right with the world again.


Originally posted on January 6, 2012.

This is the easiest flannel in the world. For reals. I started with one set of the alphabet di-cut from various colorful flannel pieces and glued onto contrasting background squares.

The rhyme goes like this:

Alphabet Soup 

A through Z

Let's take a look

What do we see?

And then I put up a one letter on the board. Repeat until you have a word spelled out. Like so:

I don't usually do themes for my story times, but this would work particularly well to introduce the day's theme. I also do it as a transition, using a word or animal sound that will appear in the next story/song/rhyme. It works well for toddler through preschool and in addition to talking about what the word spells, you can have discussions about capital v. lowercase letters and the colors and size of the letters.

I started with 26 and then make additional letters, like the extra L, on the spot when I need them for whatever word I'm using. So far I have an extra P,O, and an L. Keep the words short and sweet and Alphabet Soup works every time.

Theme Thursday: I Love to Read

Reading is awesome. And there are a surprisingly high number of books about how awesome it is. It's very meta of the authors, I guess they know the audience they're going for and don't mind the low hanging fruit of people who already love books.

Song: Good Morning Dear Earth

Flannel: Alphabet Soup READ

Song: If You Want to Read a Book 

Book: The Wonderful Book by Leonid Gore

 

Song: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Poem: I Had A Little Turtle

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Fingerplay: 10 Little Fingers

Song: Shake the Sillies Out

Song: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Book:  Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss

 

Rhyme: Big, Big, Big

Song: Turn Around from  Getting to know Myself 

Make and Take Craft: Mini-Books

Supplies: 

-glue sticks

-crayons

-mini books (pre-made)

-small cartoons to be colored (pre-cut)

Process:  I made the mini books before story time by cutting stacks of construction paper in half horizontally and then folding 3 half-sheets in half (6 pages total) and stapling down the center. After the Turn Around song we met at the craft table where I gave each kid a book and spread the glue sticks, animal cut-outs and crayons around the table. I used animals that were in Book! Book! Book!, the last book we read during story time, but you could do anything. A lot of parents used it to help their kids practice writing their ABCs and others wrote the animal sounds above the pictures of the animals. 

The cutest thing I've ever seen happened when I was helping one little girl glue a goat to one page and looked up to see a 19 month old sitting in a chair by himself, flipping the pages of his still empty book, looking like he was reading it. And my heart did a big "EARLY LITERACY!!!" cheer and a victory dance and all was right with the world.

Time: Prep took half an hour before story time and the craft took about 40 minutes for the kids to complete.

The Book That Eats People, John Perry

The Teaser: Like the title says, this is a book that eats people. So watch out or you could be the next victim. Do you want your bones to clatter across the floor like wooden blocks, or to be gobbled up starting with your pink, polished toenails, have YOU ever heard a book burp? Part cautionary tale, part treatise on the correct way to treat books, The Book That Eats People is the perfect amount of scary mixed with a touch of funny for a completely entertaining book.
What Stands Out: This book is my favorite read aloud book for class visits. It has cult followings at the two elementary schools where I routinely do outreach and kids always stop me in the hallway to ask me if I've brought it. Mark Fearing's collage and photoshop illustrations are top notch and fit the book perfectly; there are enough Easter eggs that you can find something new almost every time you flip through the book which means that you as the reader never get bored. It also lends itself to dramatic readings very, very well. 
What Didn't Work: This is such a perfect read aloud or group book that I can't imagine a single child reading it alone. So much of its appeal is the mob mentality or it, each kid's reaction building on top of the other children's. If read to too small of a group it would either fall completely flat or be too scary.
Anything Extra Special?: In addition to being a wonderfully illustrated, perfectly frightening book, it also teaches some subtle lessons about how to properly handle books. No one wants to scare kids into respecting books by telling them that the book will eat them if they don't, but I can't tell you the number of times I've seen kids wipe off their hands or quickly check their pockets or desks for food before asking if they can handle it.