Legos at the Library

A very generous patron has donated a large container of Legos to the Children's Room! We have small bases, some wheels and axles, and even some Lego figures. We also have a bin of larger Legos for the younger children. Both of these bins are up high in the Children's Room - but if you ever want to use them at the tables or on the floor, just ask us for them!

Apple-icious!

What's a favorite fall family tradition? Picking apples! Today we read books about apples in pies, apples as houses, and using apples for tricks! The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall told about a family's apple tree in all seasons and ended with the owners making an apple pie! Ned's New Home by Kevin Tseng was about a worm who had to leave his comfy house inside an apple. We looked at a real apple as a little house with no doors and windows, then cut it open so that we could see the star inside, the one made by the seeds.

This is what we made for our craft! The paper plate was the same shape as half an apple. We glued on a coffee filter for the fruity part of the apple, the collaged lots of red materials around the edges to make it look like the apple's skin. Finally we glued black seeds into the center and added a brown paper twist of a stem and a green paper leaf.

Last, we read Ten Apples Up On Top by Theo. LeSieg. It was the funniest book, about animals balancing apples on their heads. The book was checked out before I could get a photo of it! But here's a little song about it - it isn't the whole book, but it's still a catchy song to read along to!

We even had a little apple snack! Yum! Thank you to the moms who helped serve and clean up!

Science Saturday: Investigating Bubbles!

Our first Science Saturday was lots of fun as we learned about bubbles by playing with them! First, we made some bubbles in a soda bottle. We added dish soap to a bottle of water, shook it, then dumped the water out. We all agreed that the bubbles that remained in the bottle looked plain and white. But as we watched, colors on the sides of the bubbles appeared, and they began to look like prisms in the light!

Next we got to work making bubble wands. We used pipe cleaners and pony beads to make square and heart shaped wands. We also threaded long cotton string through shortened pieces of straws and tied it to make a rectangle. We wondered if heart and rectangular-shaped wands would make bubbles with the same shape!

Then we made lots of bubbles with our wands - and with funnels, cookie cutters, tiny bottles, and even our hands and fingers! There were bubbles all over the Children's Room! Here's what we found out:

• Every bubble, even the biggest and longest ones, will turn itself into a bubble sphere.
• Sometimes when bubbles pop, you can see the water and soap droplets fall through the air. 
• Soapy hands are better for touching bubbles than dry hands. Sometimes you can catch and hold one with sudsy hands! 
• You can see all the colors in a bubble as it floats along. 
• Bubbles fly better - and higher - outside than they do inside!

So even though it was chilly for a September morning, we all went outside to try our bubble wands. 

Some of us also tried a huge bubble wand, made with sticks and string. Look at the size of these bubbles!!!

And there are all the colors!

This is a great recipe for a bubble solution!

6 cups water
1/2 cup blue Dawn dish detergent
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp glycerine (I bought it at RiteAid!)

What a fabulous and fun way to start our Science Saturday series! Thanks to Brandie and Evelyn's dad for the yummy snacks! And, for the ride home - BUBBLE GUM!

Arrrgh! Pirates!

Yo-ho-ho! In honor of "Talk Like A Pirate Day", today's Storytime was all about pirates! We read How I Became A Pirate by David Shannon, about a boy who has an adventure on a pirate ship, This Little Pirate by Philemon Sturges, about two bands of pirates vying for the same treasure, and Do Pirates Take Baths, a book of short poems about the bad habits of pirates. Now we know why pirates have green teeth!

We each crafted a pirate hat made of black paper with a teddy bear skull-and-crossbones. We decorated them with white reinforcements and, because pirates like jewels, we added dots of glitter glue to the center of each circle. And some of us added glitter in other places too - because pirates can never have too much that glitters!

Packing Up Summer

Wasn't this a wonderful summer!?! As much as I love fall, it makes me a little sad to think that summer is mostly over. Here's a poem I found about the end of the season. As you read it, think to yourself - what would you pack away to remember this summer by? Leave a comment and let us know!

What Shall I Pack in the Box Marked "Summer"? 

A handful of wind that I caught with a kite 
A firefly’s flame in the dark of the night 
The green grass of June that I tasted with toes 
The flowers I knew from the tip of my nose 
The clink of ice cubes in pink lemonade 
The fourth of July Independence parade! 
The sizzle of hot dogs, the fizzle of coke 
Some pickles and mustard and barbecue smoke 
The print of my fist in the palm of my mitt, 
 As I watched for the batter to strike out or hit 
The splash of the water, the top-to-toe cool 
Of a stretch-and-kick trip through a blue swimming pool 
The tangle of night songs that slipped through my screen 
Of crickets and insects too small to be seen 
The seed pods that formed on the flowers to say 
That Summer was packing her treasures away. 

by Bobbi Katz 
from The Family Read-Aloud Holiday Treasury, selected by Alice Low

The Moon and Stars

Since the Gordon-Nash Library is hosting Skywatch this Sunday night, this week's Storytime featured several stories about the moon and the stars. In Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes, a small kitten thinks the full moon is a bowl of milk, and she wants a taste! Stars by NH author Mary Lyn Ray is about stars in the sky, but is also about other things in nature that resemble stars. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by Jerry Pinkney is about a chipmunk trying to reach for the stars - and the book's words are the same as the song, so we all sang along as it was read. Last we read Possum's Harvest Moon, where Possum tries to have a "Harvest Soiree" for his friends after seeing the biggest, brightest moon.

We made a moon and star mobile for a craft. The moon was a paper plate, dabbed with silver glitter paint. Some of us drew the moon's "face" on it. Attached to the moon was a glittery star, decorated with sequins and glitter paint.

I hope we'll be able to see the moon and some stars through the telescopes at Skywatch!

Summer Reading Program 2014

Best Friends

September is a time to reconnect with friends back at school, preschool, and yes, at Storytime! Our books today were all about friends and friendships. Will You Be My Friend by Nancy Tafuri tells how Bunny helped Bird at a time when she needed it, and helped her make new friends, too. My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems is a funny story about Piggie trying to cheer up her friend Elephant. Friendly Day by tells what happens when a mouse convinces a cat that it's a special day when all animals must share, care, and be nice to each other! Bear Feels Scared by Karma Wilson tells how Bear is rescued by his good friend when he gets lost in a storm. And Help! A Story of Friendship by Holly Keller is about a mouse who mistrusts his good friend Snake and the problems that this makes! Yes, we read five books today!

Then we each made a paper-doll person to look like one of our best friends. Cut out clothes and googly eyes were glued on, then paper people were embellished with marker smiles and yarn hair. 

Good friends everywhere!

September

Summer's almost over - it's September in the Children's Room!