Happy Birthday, Clifford!

This year for Clifford's 50th birthday, each of our 3 locations held a birthday party especially for him.  While each party was a little different, most was the same.  Here's what we did at our location:

1.  As children came in our meeting room, they picked up their nametag.  Our nametags were made out of a cardstock bone shape and strung with yarn.

2.  We started off by reading Clifford's Birthday Party by Norman Bridwell.  This is a fun book to read aloud to a group, because it has a lot of silliness that you can talk about (Really? A sweater on Clifford's nose???)

3.  After the story, Clifford showed up!  This was a big hit.  Some kids got in line to talk to him right away, while other stood back, worked on the crafts, or played our games.

4.  Our first craft station had precut pieces out for kids to make Clifford ears.  Our pattern came from Kids Domain Crafts and I had originally printed it out in 2004.  The link is no longer active though.  When we make headbands in our programs, I like to use a paperclip to fasten them (instead of staples).  Then the headbands are adjustable and don't rip quite as easily.

 

5.  We also made Clifford out of heart shapes.  I had originally posted an example and pattern here. 

 

 

6.  Then there was a station where kids could throw beanbags into dog bowls.  For fun, I added "Clifford", "Cleo", and "T-Bone" to the front of one bowl with puffy paint.  To add an extra component to the game, I pulled out beanbags that were the color of each bowl.

 





7.  We had one more station planned, but didn't end up doing it due to our volunteer for the program calling in.  We have a giant laminated Clifford that we cut out and were going to play Pin the Bone on Clifford.

How it went:
This was an EXTREMELY popular program.  We registered 30 kids, ages 3-6, because that is what our room could hold and the program was filled within 3 hours (which is even kind of fast for us).  The kids had a great time with all of the activities that we had planned and didn't really miss the game that we had to drop.  The costumed Clifford was also a giant hit.  While not every child went up to him, they all watched him and nobody went screaming from the room (always a sign of success).  Due to the weight of the costume, Clifford only stayed for 15 minutes, which was plenty of time for parents to get pictures of their children.  We had quite a few parents of children not registered for the program call the day of and ask if their children could come up and just "meet" Clifford.  While we couldn't accomodate them this time, it is always an idea for the future to have a "meet and greet" session outside of the program.

Flannel Friday-Mice

When Mice by Rose Fyleman came across my desk this past fall, it screamed "flannelboard."  I just wanted to come up with a way to do it so I didn't take away from Lois Ehlert's illustrations (which are awesome!).

I started by making the general shape of the mice- a triangle head, a triangle body, circle eyes, and rope arms & legs.

As you read the story, you build the mice to match the words.

Their tails are long.

 

Their ears are pink.

Their teeth are white.

 

And, of course, the cat!

 

While I made them to go along with the story, you can also build the mice on your own.  Since every part is a basic shape, other than the tails and the cat, this book would also be good for a shape story time.

 

Katie at Storytime Katie is hosting this week's round-up.

 



This week we started our Winter Reading Program at our library.  What is Winter Reading, you ask?  It is like Summer Reading, just less intense.  The problem that we run into is getting word out to our customers.  We advertise in our newsletter and in our monthly program calendars.  It appears on our web site.  If you ask the average person if they are doing the Winter Reading Program, most will say that they read in the winter.  They just don't know about this great program that we offer.  How, then, do you get the word out?


1.  We start with a display.  While we don't have free wall space to make one, we do have this giant window that faces the road.  The letters and pictures are cut large enough that you can actually see it from the road!  This year we made our snowmen double-sided, which the little kids really like when they walk in the library.  We made sure to include dates with the slogan so it looks like an actual program, not just a fun display.  It has a purpose.

2.  We have a table near the reference desk with all of the forms on it.  There are multiple forms (we have 3 different age levels for Winter Reading) and each form has a sign below with the ages and/or grades.  Personally, I like having the forms near enough so I can grab one and explain it to whoever comes up to the reference desk, but it is good to have out in the open too.  Many of our customers are self-sufficient and never come up to the desk.  This way they can see what the program is all about too.

3.  Do you promote your program in your story times?  How about in your other programs?  You are a trusted figure when you appear in these programs and if you tell someone why participation is a good thing, chances are really good that they will join.  It also helps if you have the forms readily available, especially in story times, as not all parents can spend large amounts of time in the library following the program.  This way you are making it convenient for them to join.

4.  Never underestimate the personal touch.  If you see someone with a stack of books, chances are good that they will be checking them out.  Why not approach them, hand them your form, and explain your program?  We started doing this with our Summer Reading Program and our participation stats went significantly up.  In fact, they went up so much, that I now spend the first day of summer reading next to the self-checks with a stack of forms for each age level to pass out and I talk to everyone who comes by.

Hopefully some of these ideas will help you promote your next major program!

Flannel Friday-Humpty Dumpty

This week's selection is brought to you from my stash of stuff that I like to use.  The pattern and the rhyme are both included in the book Best of Dr. Jean: Puppets and Storytime by Jean Feldman.

I colored and cut out a copy from the pattern.  Humpty Dumpty is laminated to hold up through multiple uses.  The kids like to see my fingers in the leg holes.  Plus, since he is a puppet, he can act out the rhyme (him falling is always fun).

This week's round-up is hosted at Miss Courtney Meets Bobo.

Upcoming Dates
On March 15 Flannel Friday will be 2 years old!  If you haven't had a chance yet, visit our map and tell us where you are from.  As we get closer to the big day, Rain Makes Applesauce will be hosting the March 8 round-up.  We are asking everyone to share what Flannel Friday means to them.

March 1 is the Dig into Summer Reading Extravaganza.  It will be hosted here and the placeholder will be up the week before.

March 15 is the Flannel Friday Birthday Extravaganza.

Our New Early Literacy Center

Last fall, I read this great post on the ALSC blog about a Post Office Early Literacy Center that the Lexington Park Library put together.  I have been looking for a center like this to add to our library and was quite impressed.  Because it has multiple parts, you can scale it back or enhance it, depending on your clientele or space.

To put our early literacy center together, our biggest obstacle was space.  While I love the idea of individual mailboxes for the characters, we have no where to put them at this time.  Just about every inch of our branch has a purpose and it is difficult to rededicate that space.  Our tables are always filled (in fact, we could honestly use more) so we couldn't take one away to set up the center.  We have no empty wall space where we could add a hook for the mail carrier costume or signage to go with the center.  What we did have, though, was metal endcaps for our shelves.  We split our center in two and put it at the ends of two aisles.

Here's what we did:
1.  We purchased 2 red Kritter tables and 2 yellow Kritter chairs from Ikea.  The tables are really sturdy and will hold up well.  I am not so sure about the chairs, but the two tables are still easily accessible without chairs.

2.  The mailbox and the post office sorter were bought from Lakeshore Learning.  When we purchased ours, the post office was on clearance (whoo hoo!), but it looks like it is on their web site again.  You will also need wet erase markers to write the names on the sorter.  We bought the mail carrier costume for our Main Library, but we just don't have space at our branch.

3.  Now we needed supplies.  Since we were purchasing from Lakeshore Learning already, we bought our newsprint there.  We are using the grade 1 newsprint because this is our target audience.  We want to catch those kids who are just learning to write.  Most of our office supplies are bought through Office Depot and we found beginners' pencils.  I chose the ones without the erasers because I would like the pencils to stay with the station and not be taken to do everyone's homework (which would happen).  Then we needed a way to sharpen the pencils.  Office Depot also sold a sharpener with a larger hole for the beginner-sized pencils.  We also needed a reusable way for kids to mail their letters.  The smallest size that we could find was a 5x7 clear envelope.

Next we got everything set up and put the new furniture together.  We chose our characters based on those that we display at our various locations and on our 100 Books to Read Before Kindergarten list.  We added labels to the envelopes and made a cool stamp out of our logo.  Then we tried to fit our envelope into the sorter slot.  Sigh.  It was too big.  I went back online to look for something smaller to no avail.  Then another staff member suggested cutting off the bottom and using booktape to seal the plastic together.  It works and it looks good.

Everything has been totally set up for 3 days now.  I probably have at least 10 letters that I can use for future promotional stuff.  There have been countless others where kids practiced writing their name, the character's name, and drew pictures of elephants (story time topic this week).  I am impressed with how successful it actually is.  Since I have money leftover from the clearance price on the post office sorter, I will be purchasing more paper as we will need it.  If you are looking for something new to do at your library, I would definitely recommend this project!

Nonfiction Displays and Common Core

One of my goals this year is to get all of those great nonfiction materials that we order into the hands of teachers.  With the new Common Core standards being implemented, the emphasis is on more quality nonfiction.

Displays are an easy way to collect books on a theme and put them in the hands of our users.  Plus, displays increase circulation.  One study has displays increasing circulation 90% for books that were on the shelf.  Since I am just happy if they go out, a display seemed like a good first step.  Unfortunately, our building has almost no display space.  What we did have, though, was an empty range of shelves.  By shifting the shelves around, I made it look more like a separate entity, rather than books just standing up on the shelves.

This month's theme is "Nonfiction Award Winners".  With the recent announcements of the Sibert Award and ALSC Children's Notables, this is a great time to highlight some of those titles.  I figure that I will shift it around ever month or so to highlight a new nonfiction area or homework topic.

I created this display late Friday and by Monday morning, almost half of the books were gone.  That is pretty gratifying for little effort.  To refill the empty spaces, I am now adding previous award winners too since I didn't specify a year on the sign.

I think that my first step towards my goal is a success!  Now onto project #2-nonfiction teacher newsletters.





Favorite Authors

As I have been going through the ALA 2013 Notables list, I noticed that there are authors that I always order.  Their books are always good or fit our collection exactly right, that when I see their name, I am searching in our ordering system to find their next books.  I know that I could place them on standing order like I do our series books, but then I miss the fun of seeing what's coming out (honestly, it is like Christmas morning!).


Picture Books

• Eric Carle
• Lois Ehlert
• Candace Fleming
• Kevin Henkes
• Eric Rohmann
• Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• The Steads (both Philip and Erin)
• Melanie Watt (I am a gigantic Scaredy Squirrel fan.  Almost as big as Pete the Cat)
• David Wiesner
• Mo Willems
• Paul Zelinsky

Chapter Books

• Christopher Paul Curtis (Quality stuff & Michigan author)
• Lois Lowry
• Sarah Pennypacker
• Laura Amy Schlitz (She has been really hitting the Newberys recently.)
• Gary Schmidt (Quality stuff & Michigan author)
• Raina Telgemeier

Nonfiction

• Nic Bishop (Animal books and Michigan photographer.  Really, how can you beat that?!?)
• Karen Blumenthal
• Russell Freedman
• Steve Jenkins (I can't have enough animal books.)
• Phillip Hoose (Check out his recent record.  Really, they are all award winners.)
• Deborah Hopkinson
• Sy Montgomery
• Jim Murphy
• Kadir Nelson
• Jack Prelutsky
• Doreen Rappaport

The one important note about this list is that it is constantly evolving.  There are always new authors & illustrators appearing on the scene and new awards being presented.