Virtual Program: Let's Be Kind Storytime

For my February virtual program, I put on a kindness storytime. I wanted to do a different spin on Valentine's Day and I thought this theme fit very well.

The first book that was read was Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller. This really is a sweet book that shows all the ways you can make a person feel better just by being kind and showing empathy. This book really fit my theme and was a perfect introduction to kindness.

After we read our first book, it was time for a flannel board activity. Since we are so close to Valentine's Day, I decided to do a Valentine's Day flannel board using a rhyme and some different Valentines in the shape of hearts. 

Our following book was Finding Kindness by Deborah Underwood. I liked how this was another book that really explained being kind well. Both of these picture books allow children to understand all the different ways you can be kind to others.

For our sample craft to make at home, I used construction paper hearts and made a Valentine Bee that they could give to someone else for Valentine's Day to be kind. "Be kind and be my Valentine!"

Toddler Art: Valentine's Day

For this month's Toddler Art, all three crafts were centered around Valentine's Day like Preschool Picasso. 

Our first craft of the day was "Heart Shaped Bubble Wrap Painting." I cut the bubble wrap into heart shapes and the kids dipped them in paint and used them for stamping. I pointed out the texture of the bubble wrap and some of the kids had fun popping a few. We also used heart cookie cutters for stamping too.

Our next craft station was "Heart Prints." I think this was the favorite craft of the day. Everyone enjoyed seeing the colors blend and playing with the spray bottles. I cut out hearts from coffee filters and the kids colored them all with markers. They used the spray bottles filled with water to blend their colors and used it to stamp onto a piece of construction paper. The parents kept both the coffee filter and the stamped heart. The coffee filter hearts look beautiful when held up to the light. 

For our final craft, we used puffy paint made out of equal parts white glue and thick shaving cream to make clouds and then added heart stickers for "The Day It Rained Hearts" craft. This is a craft based on the book by Felicia Bond. It would have been a great fit to do this craft in Preschool Picasso so I could have read the story, but it was checked out. The kids had a fun time playing with the puffy paint.

We had the same sensory bin for Toddler Art as Preschool Picasso. I filled up an ice cube tray with water, foam hearts, and pom poms. This time it ended up melting quick, but it still ended up being a good sensory activity. 

 

Family Storytime: Valentine's Day

There are always a lot of sweet books to choose from for Valentine's Day to read during storytime. I try to look for ones with a fun storyline as opposed to just describing what the holiday is about, but those are good too. 

We followed along to the bean bag song and then read How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen. What a cute story with a sweet lesson...that no matter how naughty of a dinosaur you are, Mom and Dad will love you anyway. Dinosaurs are always a hit with my groups and we enjoyed the funny illustrations.

For our first flannel board activity, we played Matching Hearts. I used our die-cut machine to stamp out different colored hearts and then cut them in half. The hearts were broken and we had to fix them. I put up one half of the heart and the child in the group who had the matching color came up to the flannel board and made the heart whole. They always enjoy being part of the flannel board activity, so I really try to find ideas that get the kids involved and up to the board. It also helps those who are shy by giving them the option to participate. 

After our color matching activity, it was time to read our next Valentine story, Valentines for Everyone by Cecilia Minden and Joanne Meier. Herbie Bear's class makes sure to include the new student during Valentine's Day. Another book with a sweet message. 

Since we just got through reading a bear story, I used the flannel board to count 5 Little Valentine Bears. This group is pretty advanced in their counting, but they still enjoyed the activity before our final book. 

What I Love About You by Susan Farrington is one of our newer books at the library. This one was mainly for the parents since it is about all the things you love about your child. Definitely an "aww" book with fun pictures. 

For our craft, we made Valentine's Bears out of construction paper. I let my group choose what to write in their hearts, with some choosing "I love you" or writing their name inside. 

Love is in the air!

Preschool Picasso in February

We had our first Preschool Picasso program held this year in February. Some of the parents expressed an interest in having the group stick with holidays, so we did a Valentine's Day theme. 

Preschool Picasso is much like Toddler Art, but for a slightly older age group. Since the kids are more attentive from ages 3 to 5, we also have fun dancing to a bean bag song and reading a story that goes along with the theme.

I started with "The Bean Bag" song by Hap Palmer. It seems like there is never a child who doesn't like dancing along using bean bags. 

After our movement activity, I read Hugs and Hearts by Toni Trent Parker. This is a picture book with photographs describing what activities are done to celebrate Valentine's Day. 

We jumped right into our first out of two crafts. The first craft was "Heart Cookie Cutter Prints." Different sized cookie cutter hearts dipped with purple, pink, and red paint were used as stamps. The kids quickly caught on how they could stamp a smaller heart inside a bigger heart, making it an educational activity understanding little to big. Some kids chose to use a paint brush to apply the paint to the edge of the cookie cutters.

The last craft we did was "Fingerprint with Love." We used out finger tips or q-tips to make dots around the letter die cuts and then pealed our die cuts off to see the word, "love." Some kids left their letters on, which looked just as good. They also got really creative decorating with paint in all different ways, adding a uniqueness to their art. 

For a sensory bin, I froze foam hearts, felt hearts, pom poms, and other Valentine color pieces inside an ice tray. The kids had fun melting the cubes to get to the trinkets. There was a tad bit of splashing, but once they were told not to splash, they still had a fun time playing in the cold water and melting the hard ice. I got the idea from a pin on Pinterest, but for some reason the glove idea wasn't working too well for me and the ice cubes worked out just fine.

We had the same reporter who visited Toddler Art visit this class and the parents were just as excited. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Drop-In and Get Crafty: Valentine's Day

This was my first drop-in craft program of the year and we celebrated Valentine's Day. I usually make sure I have about forty crafts handy for this program without knowing how many participants there will be and usually have a few leftover crafts. This time around, I had only about five crafts left.

This is a great family program because it is a way for families to come to the library and enjoy a free craft together and for me, it's fun and quite easy to prepare for unless the craft is homemade and has many pieces. It is also a perfect program for eager, young crafters who may not have it in them to sit and listen to a story. 

We had a fun time decorating Valentine's Day bags to use to hold our Valentines or to give to mom or dad as a present. I handed out some Minon Valentines and some chocolate heart candy while we listened to the Despicable Me Soundtrack. The kids had fun using a variety of stickers, foam hearts, and doilies to decorate their white bags. 

One of my regular program friends gave me such a touching Valentine after she was done decorating her bag. It was so sweet and made my day! It was cute to see her tell her mom what to write on the card. That's what it's all about! Thank you, Neve!

Happy Valentine's Day!