Stem Saturday: Candy Hearts

Valentine's Day has been over for two weeks now, but those tiny candy hearts are still around. This morning, we had a fun Stem Saturday using all these leftovers.

We put candy hearts in hot, cold, and warm water to see which would dissolve the candy the quickest. We cut and pulverized hearts to see if they would dissolve faster in warm water than whole hearts. We noticed that the letters on the hearts were the first to dissolve and that the warmer the water and the smaller the pieces, the faster the hearts would dissolve.

Next we put tiny hearts in a big glass of seltzer water. At first, they just laid on the bottom of the glass while tiny bubbles moved up the sides of the glass to the top. But soon, the hearts began to shift and tumble at the bottom of the glass - and then they too rose to the surface! The hearts, even some big ones, kept rising and falling in the water as the carbonation caught the candy and moved it up, then released it as the bubbles around it popped.

We each drew a heart with a word in it on a balloon, then filled it with baking soda. We attached the balloon to a bottle half filled with vinegar, then tipped the balloon up so the baking soda would fall into the bottle. The balloon inflated from the carbon dioxide that occurred when the baking soda and vinegar mixed and foamed up. It was awesome!

 

Then we began to build catapults to shoot hearts into the air! Building supplies were skewers, marshmallow hearts, rubber bands, craft sticks, bottle caps and more. There were some creative catapults, with candy hearts sailing through the stacks of the Children's Room! 

Everyone had cookies and got a small bag of heart candy to take home - for eating, or for more STEM fun!

Boots, Shoes & Socks

What comes in pairs? Boots, shoes, and socks, skis, skates, and mittens said our Thursday Storytimers! This week we read Holly's Red Boots by Francesca Chessa about a little girl who searches for her boots so she could go out to play in the snow. We read two books about missing socks: Lizette's Green Sock by Catharina Valckx and Have You Seen My New Blue Socks? by Eve Bunting. Next came an old favorite of mine - Socks for Supper by Jack Kent, which tells the story of an old couple who trades knitted socks for milk and cheese. We finished Storytime with an all-time favorite, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin. Everyone knows this story, and some listeners even sang along!

We had fun with our craft - sock puppets! Yarn, felt, pompoms, googly eyes, and markers all helped to make each puppet unique. It was fun making our puppets dance and talk!

 

Splish! Splash! Taking a Bath!

Today at Storytime, we read some funny books about bath time - for kids and for animals! Our first book was Bubble Bath Pirates by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, about two pretend pirates who sing "Yo ho, yo ho, it's off to the bath we go!" when their mother makes them "walk the plank" to take a bath. Then we read about Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg by Lori Mortensen. After Cowpoke Clyde cleans his whole house, he realizes Dawg needs to be cleaned, too! But Dawg doesn't want a bath! Can you imagine what happens? Hogwash by Karma Wilson was about a farmer having trouble bathing his pigs. And Dini Dinosaur was a funny story about a dinosaur who tried to wash parts of his body without even taking off his clothes!

A slice of pool noodle made a floatable boat with a straw for a mast and craft foam for the sail. We decorated our sails with stickers and permanent-marker drawings. We took them home so we could sail our boats next time we each take a bath!

There was another kind of bath toy that was in every one of the books we read today. Can you guess what kind of a toy that was?

Valentines!

Thursday was Heart Day at the Gordon-Nash! Storytime kids heard stories about Valentine's Day and made beautiful valentines to take home to loved ones. We read Mouse's First Valentine by Lauren Thompson, about Mouse watching a valentine being made and Happy Valentine's Day, Mouse, a board book by Laura Numeroff, where this mouse makes valentines for his friends. The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting (illustrations by Jan Brett!) is my perennial favorite, about Mr. and Mrs. Bear who wake up from their hibernation to celebrate the special day with honey and "crispy critters". Finally, Little Mouse's Big Valentine by Thacher Hurd was about a valentine so big, it was a huge problem for its creator!

With a large white heart as a base, children added foam hearts, heart stamps, bits of lace doilies, and their own drawings to make a beautiful and unique valentine to bring home.

Have a
Happy Valentine's Day!!

'Take Your Child to the Library' Day 2015

Thanks to the families who joined us for this special event! During the visit, some young patrons played with Legos and kinetic sand, others worked with the flannel board, and still others made Valentines for friends and loved ones. For our special storytime, we read Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, about a lion who visited a library not unlike ours. We also read Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein, a funny story about Papa Chicken trying to read a bedtime story to his Little Chicken, who kept interrupting in a funny way.

Special thanks to Bristol Shop 'n Save for the fabulous cake and to Tonner Brothers at Twin Designs in Bristol for the donation of a door prize. Prize winners will be called on Tuesday and can pick up their prizes the next time they visit the library.

Snow and More Snow!

with an impromptu change to storytime today, we celebrated the overnight snowstorm and the ever accumulating snow. We read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, about Peter and his adventures in the snow. Ladybug Girl and the Big Snow by Jacky Davis tells about Ladybug Girl and Bingo and the challenges and fun they have playing outside in winter. Finally, Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton was a huge hit with children paying great attention to the tiny details in the illustrations. Katy saved the day that winter in Geopolis when there was so much snow!

 

For our craft, we bedazzled die-cut snowflakes using crayons and stick-on jewels and rhinestones. A length of yarn made the snowflake a hanger for some and a necklace for others. One young patron is sending her snowflake to Texas, where they don't have any snow!