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For this passive program, I created a seasonal craft project to set up on a no school day.
Supplies:
This was a low staff event with some fun results.
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According to NAEYC (at https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/mar2015/ten-things-children-learn-block-play), playing with blocks and other building toys allows children to learn nine important skills:
Doing arts and crafts with young children helps to build fine motor skills like cutting, gluing, and hand-eye coordination. It also boosts confidence through completed projects. It provides an outlet for emotional self-expression while naturally teaching children how to follow instructions.
The arts and crafts activities that the children who attend
my Playtimes like to do the most:
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Playdough with cookie cutters and playdough toys
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Watercolor paints
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Rubber stamps
Playing board games with young children is a powerful learning tool disguised as fun. They help to build foundational social-emotional skills like turn-taking, sharing, and emotional regulation. They reaffirm every day skills such as counting, color recognition, and pattern matching. Board games also encourage screen free play with family and friends.
I love bringing out board games for the children to
experiment with. There are a great many
available, old classics along with some entertaining new games. Even if a child is not ready to play the game
according to the written rules, it is fun to watch them interact with the game
pieces in imaginative ways.
Some board games available at my library:
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Pengoloo
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Chickyboom
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Dinosaur dominoes
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Candy Land
Pretend play allows children to safely practice social
interactions, experiment with language, and develop creative problem-solving skills. It doesn’t take much for
children to start pretending! My pretend
play (a.k.a. dramatic play) corner consists of a box with the lines of a stove
top on the lid, a cash register, some toy pots and pans, plus some plastic
fruit and other foods.
Gross motor activities are essential for children of all
ages to build large muscle strength, improve balance and coordination, and
boost overall physical health. Most people think of activities, like running,
jumping, and climbing when they think about gross motor play. In an indoor Library Play Time (intended for
ages 6 months to 6 years) I bring out these toys to get the kiddos moving:
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Stepping/balance stones (plastic)
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Hopscotch rug
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Ladybug tunnel
Our third annual Hedgehog Party happened a few weeks ago. These parties are becoming very popular!
Station #1 - Pet expert
A coworker found this hedgehog pet expert while working at a community event. She works with a Hedgehog Rescue group to help pet hedgehogs that were not well cared for or kept illegally. The pet expert brought in one of her rescued pets to show off. There was no touching of these hedgehogs as they are very shy and can become sick easily. The pet expert patiently answered all questions that came her way. She was fabulous!
Station #2 - Craft table
I found a wood hedgehog ornament for participants to decorate. I put out Sharpie pens, glue, craft foam shapes, and gem stickers. I saw some very creative hedgehogs.
Station #3 - Games
I created a spikey ball toss game: I brought a small cat bed from home and called it a hedgehog den. I then had the children throw plastic spikey balls into the den.
I also got out a children's board game where you place the spikes on the hedgehog after rolling a pair of dice.
Station #4 - Scavenger hunt
One of my coworkers creates a scavenger hunt for the children every month. This month, she created a hedgehog themed scavenger hunt to go along with my party theme. The reward for finishing the hunt was a hedgehog sticker.
Station #5 - Building
I set out straw connector toys and a sign suggesting that participants create prototype hedgehog cages. And they did!!!
Station #6 - Education boards
I set out two poster boards with information about hedgehogs. One board listed what hedgehogs eat in the wild and as pets. The other board was a map showing where hedgehogs can be found in the wild.
Station #7 - Sensory Touch Table
After a suggestion from a coworker, I created this new activity station. I borrowed some shed hedgehog quills from our pet expert and put out a bunch of random stuff with different tactile experiences.
Put the mini Ozobot robots on a table. Add their magnetic tiles and some simple directional information. Now you've got an easy passive STEAM event enjoyable by many ages.
The direction cards I put out this time were inspired by the Power Point slides I found on the Kinder Shenangigans blog at https://kindershenanigans.com/coding-in-kindergarten. The topics included:
A monthly Friday morning library program for homeschool families.
Goals:
·
Opportunity
to explore STEAM concepts in a relaxed setting.
·
Participants
can socialize and connect with other homeschool families.
·
Students
build confidence and cooperative skills by completing tasks
together.
Activities of the day:
“T" is for Technology: Ozobot Robots
Participants used the magnetic cards to guide and program their mini Ozobot robots to do various things.
“E” is for Engineering: Build with
Blocks
I opened up the wood block cabinet for some creative building.
May the 4th be with you!
Last May, my library celebrated Star Wars Day with a passive craft table. It was out all day long. This craft was to create mini lightsabers. Supplies were simple: Mini finger LED lights, Boba straws, masking tape, and permanent markers.
This was a low cost, low staff intensive, activity with some fun results. It was fun watching children and adults swing around their miniature light up sabers.
A monthly Friday morning library program for homeschool families.
Goals:
·
Opportunity
to explore STEAM concepts in a relaxed setting.
·
Participants
can socialize and connect with other homeschool families.
·
Students
build confidence and cooperative skills by completing tasks
together.
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Activities of the day:
“A” is for art - Creation Station
I brought out leftover supplies from past passive craft tables for the children to decorate and craft with.
“E” is for Engineering - Build with
Blocks
I placed several building toys on the floor for the children to build and create with.
This past summer, I put out a craft table that was available all day long. The intention of this passive table was to walk up and help yourself to the intended craft.
Inspired by something I saw online, these easy to make crocodiles were made with supplies already on my craft supply shelves.
Supplies:
Staff and children had lots of fun creating these crocs!
A
monthly Thursday morning library program for homeschool families.
Goals:
·
Opportunity
to explore STEAM concepts in a relaxed setting.
·
Participants
can socialize and connect with other homeschool families.
·
Students
build confidence and cooperative skills by completing tasks
together.
Activities of the day:
I spray painted some rocks gold. I also bought some St. Patrick’s Day shamrock
temporary tattoos. I encouraged the
children to paint the rocks or add the tattoos to the rocks. Apparently temporary tattoos can be applied
to rocks the same way they go on skin.
“S” is for Science: Microscopes
I got the microscope kit from my
library! The kit includes traditional
microscopes as well as a few hand-held microscopes. The kit also comes with a variety of prepared
slides. The children enjoyed seeing cat
fur, carrot skin, and a bunch of other everyday items at the microscopic
level.
“E” is for Engineering: Build with
Blocks
I opened up the wood block cabinet for
some creative building.
What do you do when you find tons of plastic straws in your craft supply storage? You create a craft table to use them up! I created this passive craft table last summer to help use up all the straws I found. This was a supper cheap craft table since I already had the paper, tape and coloring pens already on hand. I found super easy instructions for this activity on the Instructables site at https://www.instructables.com/Hoop-Gliders-Galore/. On another page they even explained the science of lift for these fun to make gliders at https://www.instructables.com/Hoop-GliderAirplane-STEAM-Activity/.
An inter-generational party to celebrate the longest night of the year! There was plenty to keep all ages entertained.
Music: The adult services librarian found a talented cellist to perform a concert in our meeting room.
Art: I found some lanterns to to decorate. Gluing the colored plastic onto the punched out holes was difficult for the younger children, so I set out silver Sharpie Pens to decorate the black lanterns. Everyone also received a tea-lite battery operated candle to place inside their lantern.
Engineering: I brought out the wood block cabinet and some polar animal toys. I invited the children to build a playground for the animals.
For this passive program, I set up a craft table on a no school day in December. I found these penguin craft kits online at Baker Ross. These kits were simple to put together and decorate. I added gem stickers, coloring pens, and googly eyes for more decorating options.
Supplies:
- Penguin craft kits
- Coloring pens
- White glue
- Gem stickers
- Googly eyes
- Tablecloth
