Grandparents Day Celebration

Make A Grandparents Day Card 2017

Grandparents Day is the second Sunday in September. I like to celebrate it at the library on the preceding Friday or Saturday. Last year, I made it mostly about making cards. This year I had a volunteer who is a professional card maker and brought two people to help at her card station, but I decided to open up the activities and make it a more inclusive program. I set out a book display with a cozy reading corner for families to read together (all books somehow featuring grandparents, of course), and I also set out some puzzles and activities.

I did experience a roadblock during this program, which I think are important to acknowledge so you can work around them in future programs. I was overzealous in my expectation of how many people would attend. We got about 40, which was far under my estimation of 100. I scheduled three teen volunteers in addition to the one adult volunteer card maker. I didn't realize she would also bring two people to help her. So I had six people, seven including myself, working this program. There's no reason to have a 1:5 ratio between staff members and patrons in a drop-in program. It did turn out okay, though, because the teens had a good time making cards and interacting with the kids and families who attended.

So, I learned the lesson of not counting your chickens (patrons) before they hatch (attend). The positive spin on this is the people who attended had a good time, read some books, did some puzzles, and made some gorgeous cards. I guess this program can be considered intentionally intergenerational, since my aim was for kids and grandparents to spend time together in the same space. I saw some happy faces and creative cards leaving the room, so I'd say it was a successful program even though fewer people attended than expected.

Cozy reading area

Card station in action

Teen volunteers making cards after the program

Toddlertime 7/25/18: The Moon

Theming Toddlertime on the moon happened completely by accident. I found the book Circle Song by Diana Engel, and the rest of the planning sort of fell into place after that.

We did our usual intro, and then read Circle Song. This book has a few more words than I would usually prefer during a Toddlertime, but it is a sweet bedtime tale full of love and positivity. One of the circles mentioned in the book is the moon, so I decided to find a felt story about the moon as well and loosely theme the day on that.

I wasn't able to find a movement song about the moon, so we went with one of my favorite standbys, "Clap Your Hands."

Click here for the version of "Clap Your Hands" that I use. 

For our felt story today, I used "The Moon Up Above." To the tune of "Wheels on the Bus," we sing...

The moon up above is big and bright,
Big and bright, big and bright.
The moon up above is big and bright
In the sky.

The moon up above is near the stars,
Near the stars, near the stars.
The moon up above is near the stars
In the sky.

The moon up above helps me to sleep,
Me to sleep, me to sleep.
The moon up above helps me to sleep
In my bed.

With each verse, I add the felt piece that corresponds. Sometimes we sing each verse twice through; once as a slow call and response and once together as a group, depending on how quickly the families catch on to the lyrics and melody.

Finally, it was time to say goodbye until next time!

Toddlertime 7-18-18: Dogs

Today our Toddlertime theme was dogs and it was a ton of fun!

After our usual hello and intro, we read I Got A New Friend by Karl Newsom Edwards. I loved reading this to a group exactly as written, then right before turning the page to reveal that the dog was narrating the whole time, asking the kids who they think is talking. Today no one guessed that the dog was talking about their new friend, the little girl!

Our first movement song was "Happy and You Know It," which isn't necessarily related to dogs but is a very fun wiggle-reducer. I love the Mr. Jon version because he brings out the tickle bugs.

For our felt story today, I went for a throwback and did BINGO. Keeping it super simple, I put a picture of a farmer up for ~atmosphere~ and then the large letters B, I, N, G, and O that I printed off the computer, laminated, and backed with velcro We sang the song as a group, eliminating one letter each verse and clapping in its place. At the end, I put all the letters back and we sang a final verse with all five letters. While singing, I did my best to point to each letter to help the kiddos make the connection between the letter we were verbalizing and what it looks like.

Our final song before saying goodbye was "Clap Your Hands," the eternally crowd-pleasing directed movement dance.

Click here for the version of "Clap Your Hands" that I use. 

Toddlertime 7-11-18: Shapes

After our hello this morning, the first story for shape-theme Toddlertime was Box Meets Circle by Aaron Hartline. I knew the art in this book would be a hit with the toddlers because it's fun to look at and draws your attention. It's also a cute story about friendship with few words per page, and introduces the basic idea of squares and circles. To get the kids involved in the reading, and therefore engaged instead of distracted, I had them name the shapes on each page ("Who is this again?" "CIRCLE!")

The first movement song of the day was "Follow the Leader" by Ella Jenkins. This song is an old/new discovery of mine. I knew Ella Jenkins as a child and went to a few of her concerts when I was in preschool, but have recently re-discovered her and have begun using her call-and-response songs in storytime. I especially like "Follow the Leader" because it's mellow and strangely enchanting. As soon as I put it on and start clapping along, the kids immediately calm down and start following me.

In lieu of a second book, I like the second story in Toddlertime to be an interactive felt story. Today I had regular old felt shapes I cut out myself, and we sang a call-and-response song for each one:

Do you know what shape this is?
Shape this is, shape this is?
Do you know what shape this is,
In my hand?

Circle is what shape it is,
Shape it is, shape it is.
Circle is what shape it is,
In your hand.

Lather, rinse, repeat with at 3-5 shapes. We did circle, square, triangle, rectangle, and star.

Jbrary has a similar song. It's been a while since I shouted out those awesome ladies, so here's their version. The tune they sing to is the same one I use with the felt shapes and song above.

Our final movement song was "Clap Your Hands," which is always a hit with the extra-wiggly toddlers.

Click here for the version of "Clap Your Hands" that I use. 

And then we sang "Peek-a-Boo" and said goodbye to our friends with bubbles and toys.