Kids

Early Literacy Activities: PLAY

When it comes to encouraging literacy skills, outdoor play is just as important for babies and little ones as indoor book- and toy-based play. When we think “early literacy,” we think of books, and storytime, and of sitting to either read or listen. We think of looking at pictures and telling stories with objects representative of the story’s objects (for example, a red ball as Snow White’s apple). What we don’t often think about are large (gross) motor skills and their part in literacy development.

Program Updates: Rosalita’s “Sea Story” Puppet Show TONIGHT!

Watch Rosalita’s Puppets presentation of a Sea Story on Zoom tonight, Monday, August 3, at 6:00 PM!

In this puppet show, Miranda the mermaid saves a pirate! Rosalita’s Puppet show features beautiful marionettes in an original story that is appropriate for all ages. This story is sure to be full of daring, bravery, kindness, and adventure!

Family Fun: Backyard Camping

Camping can feel like such an adventure for a kid – and such a chore for parents! How about a compromise? Set yourself up for some backyard camping this weekend. You can create the same experience without the vacation traffic! Just be sure to stock up on these essentials…

Early Literacy Activities: WRITE

Regardless of whether today’s kids will learn to print, write cursive, or type on a keyboard or screen – they’ll need to have strong fine motor skills. There are so many fun ways to build your child’s hand strength and coordination! At the library, we use Busy Boxes after storytimes with preschool-aged children; you can recreate these activities at home. Some of our boxes include:

Lacing Cards

Program Updates: (Re)Imagining Your Storytimes

It’s hard to imagine, but we are now halfway through our summer reading program – Imagine Your Story! (If you haven’t joined the Read & Bead program or want to know more about it, check here!)

Featured Author: Liesl Shurtliff

All summer we’ve been retelling Folk and Fairy Tales in our storytimes.* We also have a whole collection of Folk Tales in our picture book area, with retellings of folk and fairy tales from around the world – from the most popular to the most obscure. In fact, they’re being moved to a more prominent location, so when you are able to come visit us in Youth Services again, they’ll be easy to find!

Early Literacy Activities: READ

Reading and vocabulary go hand in hand – one can improve the other, and vice versa. How fortunate that reading and talking to your baby is so easy! Little ones learn words at an amazing rate. The more words he learns now, the more he will be able to express and understand (spoken and written) later in life.

Program Updates: Ed the Wizard Magic Show TONIGHT!

Watch Ed the Wizard’s Reading is Magic! show on Zoom tonight, Monday, July 20, at 6:00 PM!

Ed the Wizard will present a fun, energetic magic program - with a focus on reading! Ed ot into magic in part by using books to learn some tricks! For this show, he’ll join us live and share with you some of the wonder he has found in magic. This is an entertaining program for all ages.

Family Fun: Build-A-Story Cards

A few months ago, we featured these Build-A-Story cards from Barefoot Books. They’re a fun way to Imagine Your Story - write or tell a story of your own! This time, we’ve got more cards with new characters, settings, and ideas for you to use.

Early Literacy Activities: SING

Nursery rhymes are perfect little songs for encouraging language development. Although they aren’t always sung, nursery rhymes do have a rhythmic lilt, encouraging that sing-song cadence that helps ingrain things into little brains. They are short, sweet, and easy to remember, and, as their name suggests, the words usually rhyme.

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