So Far Behind on Summer Reading Posts that it's not worth trying

I only wrote posts for two of the six programs that were held during summer reading. Instead of going back and writing each individual post down I am just going to summarize here. This summers theme was On Your Mark, Get Set, READ a health and fitness program. The first week I did miniature golf with the children in the library, using bookends as holes and bringing in a few putters for different size children. The second week we did Nutrition where the children were supposed to guess what is in the bag by smell and where they learned that some foods are good for you and some are not.
The third week I did an obstacle course using pool noodles as jumps and hoops to through stuff through, cones for weaving and giant frisbees to play with. The kids had a blast, and many wanted to do it over and over.
Fourth week I did Ninja Training. This was a different type of obstacle course but it definitely grew on the one the week before. The children made origami throwing stars which they threw through one of three hoops. They then did a mini egg and spoon race, crawled on their bellies and walked across a 2x4 for balance. Finally I used some pool noodles to make samurai swords for the children to play with.
Week 5 was the Science of Sports. We did do all balls bounce? As an experiment.

Last but not least was Week 6 and Horses at the Library! I got a local farm to come with a couple of their horses, one pony and one mini, and let the kids brush them while they learned about the sport of horseback riding. Lots of people came to this one so it was a fantastic way to wrap up the summer.

Coming Soon: Fall Program Posts Coming in October!

Come On Down and Guess That Smell!

So this weeks event was a total bust. I did nutrition with some cereal box puzzles and a Guess That Smell game, and fruit. Unfortunately, all my work was mostly useless as only a couple of kids came and they were little kids that happened to be there for story time. Story time, which was also about nutrition, went great. There were 20 kids in attendance this week. My assistant who runs story time was talking about what foods were good for you versus junk food. It went really well and kids actually answered questions. Only 8 of those kids however came to my actual Summer Reading Program. Sigh. Oh well, can't really do anything about it except be really pumped about the next program which is an Obstacle Course using pool noodles!

Miniature Golfing in the Library!

So it's summer reading time and all librarians know what that means, lots of programs! This year the theme is Sports/Health/Fitness or On Your Mark, Get Set, Read! which makes for lots of fun ideas. For the first week we did miniature golf in the library and had about 12 kids which is pretty good considering we have 45 kids signed up for summer reading.

We got little kids golf clubs and I had two full size putters to use.

I set up the course using books and other items from the library. I used book ends as holes, which made things difficult because of the slight dip up to get the ball in the hole. I used books as obstacles for the most part except for one hole that I used shredded paper as "sand traps". The kids had a pretty good time so I consider this program a win. Next we're doing Nutrition and Food Fun.

City of Ember and How We Survive

Sixth and Seventh grade book club was really fun this week. We discussed The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau which is great book if you haven't read it. It was compared to The Giver and Maze Runner. After the book discussion we played a game of The Worst Case Scenario Survival Game. It gives you topics of worst case scenarios like, what do you do if the breaks go out in your car? and what is the proper way to jump off a train? It then gives you three choices of what to do. Some of them just seem silly while sometimes more then one of them seems possible. You then guess which option is the correct choice. This is a game from 2002, so I didn't come up with it myself, it was something I got when I was in sixth grade myself. But the kids and I had a lot of fun guessing and coming up with our own solutions to the scenarios. This is the last book of the year, can't wait to start again in the fall!

Book Scavenger and the Hunt

For fourth grade book club this month we talked about Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman. The book is named after a game that's kind of like a special version of a book scavenger hunt where people hide books and then other people try to find them with only one clue to guide them. The book is about a new game from the creator of the Book Scavenger game. To go with this we did a book scavenger hunt. It had things like find a mystery or find a book with a character the same age as you, stuff like that. The kids had to find the books and bring them to me. Then I had them put the books back afterward, in the correct spot, and I watched to make sure they put the book where it belonged. The kids had fun running around trying to best each other. This is the last book of the year for fourth graders, next set of book clubs will be for the summer reading book groups. Can't wait!

Slight of Hand and Upside-Down Magic

For third grade book club things became magical. We read Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski. The book was adorable and the kids really liked it. What they liked more though was learning magic tricks. I gave them each a pack of cards and showed them videos to learn magic tricks. It took a while to find good videos but was totally worth it to see the kids so entertained. Next we are reading Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne (the original one). Till next time. Nicole

Treasure Hunting and Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

The same day as the fourth grade book club I also had the sixth and seventh grade book club. Three children attended (1 boy!) and we discussed Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. This is a good time to discuss, what age is too old for a discussion ball? The third and fourth graders love it, but one seventh grader thought it was weird. Should I stick to a written out discussion? Maybe, I'm trying to decide. Anyways, to go with the discussion we had a treasure hunt (treasure and dragons seem to go hand in hand). I bought some prizes that I thought sixth and seventh graders might like (thank you Five Below) and hid them around the gardens. This was great fun for the children, but we couldn't find two items, and I couldn't remember where I put them. So if anybody from my library finds a ping pong ball with an emoji on it, and a sheet of smiley face stickers, feel free to keep them. Overall, this program went fairly well. The last book of the year that this group is going to discuss is The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. Next I will be talking about my third graders, who read a book on magic. All for now. Nicole