Showing posts with label library. Show all posts
Showing posts with label library. Show all posts

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Preschool Mini Golf


After set up, this program was very low key. Families putted together. I just went around and did minor maintenance (and snapped some pics).


The children like to rearrange the obstacles.


The favorite hole by far were the hills.


New games were invented, like Golf Bag Ball,
where you use the golf bag to launch the ball at the hole.


Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Preschool Mini Golf at the Library


This post is the set up phase. It took an hour to set everything up the first day. I did it two days in a row and set up everything by myself. I purchased 4 sets of clubs, balls and a "bag" from Meijer during a clearance of summer items.


Hole 1: World Book sets and pool noodles. 


Legos for the "holes".


Large picture books for tunnels.


Book ends for obstacles.


The book basket obstacles were a favorite.


I saw this obstacle at a Teen Putt Putt. Not suitable for preschoolers!


Hats as obstacles.


Pool noodles for water traps.


Scarves and hula hoops for sand traps.


My favorite: Hills using mats from our "tree house".


If your library does this program, please leave a link in the comments. I tried to use what I had to keep this program below budget.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Blinded by Science


The annual Spring Fling at the library this year was all about science. The decorations doubled as photo props with goggles, test tubes and lab coats. 


The cookies were delicious in the shapes of test tubes, beakers and flasks.


We explored sound waves with a hands-on dancing oobleck experiment.


Now that you've got a taste, I'll take you on a tour. After scanning their hands and coming through the quarantine curtain, the children identified these every day objects as if they were looking at them through a magnifying glass. Can you name them all?


We explored air flow by balancing ping pong balls on a current of air created by a blow dryer.


The precipitation began when the shaving cream clouds filled with blue condensation at the weather station.


Each child made their own color wheel. What does blue and yellow make?


You have to look the part while experimenting, right? So we made mad scientist goggles with crazy hair.


Gumdrop molecular models, yum. Is that a double helix I see?


Oh, water beads. Children of all ages (and lots of adults, too) are fascinated with these little spheres of water. I added an element of play by placing the translucent pipe builders with them.


I'm so happy we had lots of older children since we hold this annual event during Spring Break week. Youngest to oldest had a blast with science!


My favorite activity explored static electricity. It was probably the easiest experiment to set up. I just blew up the balloons and placed them next to a basket of wool items. The kids stuck them everywhere, all over the wall and each other. Even babies had fun with this one!


Who can build the tallest tower? I hung bulletin board paper on the wall to mark the progress of each group. The tower had to stand on its own for 30 seconds. I took this picture half-way through the program, so there were actually two towers taller than this one!

I had so much fun planning this event and I can't wait for Summer Reading Club 2014 "Fizz, Boom, Read!" Sharing with Tuesday Tots and Kids Co-op.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Fairy Tales are not all shelved under Disney

One of the most popular types of books for children are fairy tales. One of the most popular questions I receive while working in the library is, "Where are your classic fairy tales located?" Nine times out of ten, they are really asking where the DISNEY fairy tales are located.


I'm a huge fan of Disney. In fact, my favorite book as a child was the Golden Book version of Cinderella. I don't know how many copies of that book I went through because I absolutely loved it. That being said, I've also extensively studied fairy tales through classes and research. So for me, the CLASSIC fairy tales are shelved under 398.2 in Dewey, and Disney is not the author.


In the 398.2 section, you'll find so many versions of the classic fairy tales. Some of them are gruesome with definite right and wrong mentality like the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson and Charles Perrault. Others take these classic tales and put them into another culture or time. Several show beautiful illustrations with only slight changes to the original story.


If you only look under Disney, you'll miss several of my favorite fairy tales like The Snow Queen, The Polar Bear King and The Mask of the Dancing Princess. If you only look under Disney, you'll only ever see the recognizable cartoon characters and miss the art of talented illustrators.


I'm writing this post because I absolutely DO NOT discourage parents from taking home Disney books. I encourage children to read anything, because reading is so important. If they are reluctant readers, seeing characters who appear on TV may be the only way to get them hooked. By writing this post, I'm hoping to make you aware of the alternatives. The next time you visit your library, ask the librarian to show you the 398.2 section of classic fairy tales.