TinkerLab, Reverse Engineering, STEM Saturday...

So, this happened...

                                                                                 

Old computers, laptops, and various electronics, screwdrivers, curious kids, a couple helpful parents, and lots of fun!

Hooray for Audiobooks!

What have I been up to? Well, for starters...reading listening to many great audiobooks. I'm in the car 1-1 1/2 hours 5 days a week. That can be a lot juvenile fiction listened to. Here's some faves for upper elementary to middle grades that will make it onto my next "Staff Picks" list, check 'em out:

Bridge to Terrabithia by Katherine Paterson
 

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander


Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath
 

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle


The Nest by Kenneth Oppel


First Light by Rebecca Stead


A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck


A Night Divided by Jennifer Nielsen


Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli


And these are only the ones I loved!

Be My Valentine Party!

 

So much fun packed into 45-60 minutes! The line-up for this successful party program started with a story and a song. Because about 1/2 the children attending were between 2-4 I went with a slightly younger picture book: The Shape of my Heart by Mark Sperring and Alys Paterson. Colorful pictures and having the kids name different shapes in the book made it a great interactive book with a big AWE...at the end. 

Next up: H.E.A.R.T. song (to the tune of BINGO). I made a Valentine for you. The heart shape says I love you. H.E.A.R.T. It took a couple verses to get into the swing of it because we were so used to singing BINGO. :)

Activity stations: 

• Scratch art, I SPY Valentine sheet 
• decorate your own bookmark (stickers, variety of hole punchers, and ribbon to go with the pink, red, and purple paint sample strips)
• bubble station with a bunch of different shaped wands 
• minute to win it games (stack the hearts and transfer the marshmallows with straws)
• giant floor tic-tac-toe with purple vs. pink hearts and a heart toss game - Bozo bucket style
• a "kissing booth" that was actually guessing how many Hersey kisses were in a jar
• a cookie decorating table (very messy, but yummy) and finally,
• a "Kind Bomb" area to make a sweet note to put in a book for someone to randomly find.

Bedtime Storytime

     

There are so many great books to choose from to do a bedtime storytime. I had all 5 of these on deck ready to go for my 2's and 3's toddler storytime. I knew I wouldn't make it through all 5 but advised the grown-ups about all the great picture books out there with a edtime theme. What are some of your favorites?

I made little dinosaur stickers for each child to wear that said "ROAR!" And while I read Dinosaur vs. Bedtime, each child started to ROAR! when the word came up on the page. It was very exciting and one of the highlights of the story time. I love repetition in storytime!

I also read Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late and Llama Llama Red Pajama. Our craft was based on Llama Llama Red Pajama. I printed the Llama sitting in bed on card stock and provided bits of tissue paper in all kinds of colors for them to make their own custom quilt for Llama. 

A great activity song was My Engery by the Laurie Berkner. A lot of movement and then tiredness when done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKcs_oefYyk

My transition between craft and the good-bye song is turning on the bubble machine. Usually the kids jump around and try catching the bubbles. Because today's theme was bedtime, I had them lay down on the storytime rug and imagine stars in the sky and wait for the bubbles to come to them. It was a nice peaceful version of bubble-time. (The following week, several children decided they preferred laying back down and make themselves at home on the floor...quite cute!)

Holiday Storytimes

Thinking ahead to the next session of toddler storytimes and reviewing the past seems appropriate for this week between Christmas and New Years. What I've learned is that over planning gives me confidence that I will always have materials/activities no matter the flow of the kids attending. I rarely have time to read more than 2 books, but having the extras there always gives me hope that I can squeeze in 1 more and sometimes I do! And 2, no one has covered their hears and run screaming from the room when I start singing ABC's or the Hokey Pokey(although I wouldn't blame them if I did), so sing on I will!

My last 2 storytimes of the year were themed "Gingerbread" and "Holiday Trees". I wasn't that happy with the selection of gingerbread books to pick from, not because they weren't good books, but most were too long for 2-3 year olds to sit through and be engaged. The two I used were Gingerbread Mouse by Katy Bratun and Maisy Makes Gingerbread by Lucy Cousins which worked perfectly. The kids loved our activity song: Jingle Bells and Stop! by Miss Carole on her Season Sings CD. So glad we had lots of bells for everyone! The decorate your own gingerbread (paper) cookie was a super cute craft.

   

Our Christmas Tree storytime involved a repeat of Jingle Bells and Stop! song...did I mention they LOVED this song? The books I will use again because the kids participated in both. And we made popsicle stick Christmas Tree ornaments with a little help from the moms and dads. (Lesson learned...pre-glue the trees together and tie on the string so all they have to do is glue on the decorations!) Candy canes and special stickers were also handed out at the end.

I can't wait to get back to our next session of storytimes!

Blast-Off! Fun! And a little science too.

This program was a fun Saturday morning. I took over for someone who was no longer at the library, but added my own programming expertise to the line-up. We did the regular station structure I'm familiar with and although not a STEAM program, I couldn't help myself and added a couple science related activities to the mix.

First up, I read the book Mousetronaut by Mark Kelly. And as it states, it's based on a (partially) true story. Some of the truths are listed in the afterwards and there are also internet sources for more info.

The kids actually clapped with enthusiasm for the story at the end. A big thank you to my co-worker who recommended the book.

Second, making mini rocket launchers (already on the agenda, but something I recently did for another STEAM program on force and motion, so I knew it would be a hit). 

Third, the screaming (orbiting) penny trick in a balloon. I've previously posted about this.

Fourth, the game stations included names such as Ring Around Saturn (hula hoops and beach ball), Moon Rock Toss (tin foil wrapped candies in planet labelled buckets), Alien Blast (knock down the stacked cups covering a silly looking alien), and Zero Gravity (keep the balloon in the air as long as possible).

Fifth, Rocket Races.

Sixth, snacks included Star Crunches and Capri Suns. Milky Ways and Starbursts were prizes.

Lastly, I made a rocket out of an appliance box by cutting a round hole in the front to look out and a little door on the side to enter. I covered the front with white paper and painted the rocket. It was a big hit. 

Finally, due to my past STEAM programming experience, I provided take home activities for the kids and/or families to continue the education and/or fun at home. This time I provided star gazing activities and a hidden picture. The kids also took home a Space Academy certificate. I was very happy that a number of families checked out the books I had set up around the room (also a habit from previous STEAM programming).

All in all, a great time.

Storytime: Turkeys

A book for the youngsters AND the big people: Turkey Trouble by Wendi Slivano.

Turkey knows he'll be in trouble with Thanksgiving around the corner, so he devises several costumes to evade his fate. The book has plenty of repetition in the text. The listeners are almost ready to "read" along, like singing a chorus to a song. There are some humorous lines that only the adults get (chuckling from the crowd). Highly recommend for a read aloud during Thanksgiving season.

A couple other fun Storytime activities: Turkey Hokey Pokey, Old MacDonald had a Farm, 10 Little Turkeys, book: I am a Turkey by Jim Arnosky, bubbles, craft: toilet paper roll turkeys with paper plate feathers (similar to this pinterest post except some real feathers were added).

  

Lots of clapping and lots of smiles!

Interstellar Cinderella

A new picture book by Deborah Underwood for today's Smart Girls (see Amy Poehler's Smart Girls) generation. Cinderella likes fixing spaceships and goes to the ball, but doesn't need "prince charming" to be happy. A fun remake of the classic fairy-tale featuring an independent young lady.

Julie of the Wolves

This book was a surprising pleasure. I expected it to be boring. After all, a girl alone in the wilderness? However, Julie of the Wolves was anything but. Julie, or Miyax as she's called in  Eskimo, leaves her life as a child bride in order to live in San Francisco with her pen pal's family. Along the way she is adopted by a pack of wolves and learns their ways. Triumphs and tragedy happen and she must make a choice about what kind of life she wants to live. I found it very touching. I wonder if today's generation realizes that there are people who actually still live with their old traditions and cultures? I hope educators recommend this book to their classes and librarians to young patrons. It may not be a "fun" or "fast-paced" book, but it is engaging and enjoyable.

Storytime: Friends

Today was a blast! It was all about friends and fun. Books:
      
Welcome Song
Song: Make New Friends But Keep the Old (Using sign language, especially "friends" sign).
Book: Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great - amazingly some had tasted goat cheese, but not me.
Fingerplay: Ten Little Friends (counting forward and back).
Activity: Hold Still (Yo Gabba Gabba) Lots of wiggling, laughing, and following directions.
Book: Penguin and Pinecone - a sweet story about frienship.
Activity: If You're Happy and You Know It.
Craft: Penguin paper puppet and pinecone friend (wrap an actual pinecone with orange felt strip and have kids color a penguin picture and glue it to a popsicle stick - now they can re-create the story).
Bubbles
Goodbye Song

Storytime: Moon

My first ever, completely on my own Storytime is in the books. What fun!The theme was the moon. I choose a couple classic books to read: Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes and Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown with a couple extra books for back-up/check-out options.
  
Before reading we sang our opening song: We Clap and Sing Hello to the tune of Farmer in the Dell and also did a stretching song to get out some energy. In between books we did the fingerplay Zoom, Zoom, Zoom We're Going to the Moon. After searching many CDs for moon songs, I found a song called Circle the Moon (a Ring Around the Rosie type activity) . We sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and before craft-time we caught bubbles from the bubble machine.

I was skeptical about doing a craft in storytime. I've read pros and cons about crafts vs. process art  vs free play vs more stories. All these activities are good and have value, but there is limited time. I inherited this storytime structure but I'm embracing it. I see that craft time is a available time in the storytime lineup. It helps the 2-3 year old crowd with their fine motor skills, listening skills, following directions, connections with the theme/story and is a type of play in itself. Do parents need to help sometimes? Sure, the kids are 2. Kids need to learn things like...this is the white paint, the moon is white, let's make a big white circle just like the moon in the sky, just like in the story. I love having a craft!

      
Found on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/287597126181544314/(I want to try puffy paint too). White paint mixed with flour, dab it on, stamp with bottle caps, and stick stars on the background. Viola!

Juv Fic Audiobooks - Hooray!

I've tried audio books on a number of occasions, but never took to them. My mind would wander, I'd have to re-listen, or the narrator was super annoying. Well, recently, thanks to a co-worker, I gave them one more try. Really, you can get more "reading" in with audio books and when reading is part of your job, that's important. This time, it worked. I really got into the stories and when one book was done, I wanted the next one ready to go. I'm on my 4th audio book and thinking about what I'll listen to next.

 

Thumbs Up                                            Thumbs Up

                

       Thumbs Up                                      Thumbs Down

(Kingdom Keepers got a thumbs down because I did not like the different character voices the narrator did...too animated, too fake. In addition, the story was a series of similar scenes over and over. Now it may be a book a 4-6th grader would like, just not me.)

Dinosaur vs. The Library

Bob Shea knows how to entertain kids and grown-ups. Dinosaur is headed to the library and roars with his friends. What will happen at Storytime? Perfect for little ones. Others in the series:

 

  

Pumpkin STEAM!

It's that time of year. Let's learn and play with pumpkins! We had so much fun!
First up was reading 2 books. We chatted for a moment about the difference between fiction and non-fiction books and then I read one of each. First up:

Simple explanation of how a pumpkin grows from seed to pumpkin.

 

Cute story of a pumpkin on the loose. Run through a farm and everyone imagines what they can make with the pumpkin.

After stories, we set off to investigate what the inside of a pumpkin is all about. I had the top carved off ahead of time and the kids estimated how many seeds were in the pumpkin. We had guesses from 19 to a zillion (these are K-2nd graders). Next, they were invited to feel inside the pumpkin and squish the guts around to see if that changed their guesses. (Of course, some didn't want to). 

Our first experiement was making Oobleck with the pumpkin guts. Found a simple recipe on Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/203436108143596025/ It worked great. Simply added 1c. cornstarch and 1/2 c. water to guts and viola! Is it a solid or is it a liquid? It's a Newtonian fluid. 

What else can we do with our pumpkin? Sink or float time! I cleared out a large bin and filled it with water. The kids had to guess which item would sink and which would float. Items used, pumpkin, apple, large rock, little rock, stick, straw, paper clip, rubber band ball, plastic toy. Pumpkin floats, paperclip sinks, kids amazed!

For my favorite part of STEAM, the art. We did a mini-lesson on negative and positive space making a jack-o-latern face. Fold paper in half, cut out half on folded edge. Cut paper in half, glue to background, then glue opposite items. 

Then to top it off, we made pumpkin dip (inspiration: Aunt Roxie). It is yummy, easy and even bashful pumpkin eaters love it .  Simple as can be: can of pumpkin pie puree, tub of cool whip, and small box of instant pie filling. Mix together. Serve with a variety of items including apples, pretzels, gingersnaps, vanilla wafers, graham crackers, etc. 

What a great way to have a STEAM-y kind of day!