Summer Reading is Here!

 Summer Reading has gotten started with a roaring rush of craziness! We thought we'd share a few pictures of what's happened so far.

Our Tuesday Preschool programs got us off to a great start. We did a storytime about seeds and plants. Instead of our usual craft, we made an edible garden, planting jellybean seeds in dirt pudding and growing some butter cookie flowers! Delicious!

Our second week with the preschoolers featured stories about machines that dig and move dirt, such as backhoes and bulldozers. The children made their own construction scene after we watched the film version of I stink! by Kate & Jim McMullan, which brought lots of giggles!

In spite of the nasty storms that were forecasted for last Wednesday, children had a good time at our Dig Into Reading Fair. We had crafts and games throughout the library, including an opportunity to have pictures taken as a dinosaur! The very talented Miss Melissa (seen above) created our dino picture cutout. She also painted our Pin the Tail on Tyrannosaurus Rex game. Thanks, Melissa!

This week the preschoolers had stories about worms and snakes and made their own twirly snake.

And, as always, we've had activities and crafts available in the children's area. Children seem to enjoy doing those while they're waiting for their programs or just sitting and enjoying that great atmosphere of the library!

And I can't forget... our volunteers are always hugely important for making Summer Reading work! So if you see one of the teens doing a great job at a program or at the prize table, please let them know that they're appreciated!

Coming up: CLIFFORD! The big red dog is coming to visit us TODAY! We're having a little birthday celebration because he's 50!!! Come at 2:00 for a chance to take a picture with Clifford and join in the rest of the birthday fun!

It's Almost here!

Summer Reading is coming soon!

This weekend we'll be getting the prize table set up. We're planning all the programs. And we're getting ready for YOU!

The 2013 Summer Reading Program starts on Monday, June 3 and will run through Saturday, July 27. For those 8 weeks, we'll have tons of programs for children of all ages. Look here for our calendar: June Programs at the Cedar Lake Branch Library.

For every 10 library books that your child reads or you read to your child,  they will receive a prize. If your child reads chapter books, we count every 50 pages as a book. Graphic novels and magazines count as 1 book, as do eBooks and audio books.

There are prizes and programs for teens and adults, too! So remember us this summer! Research shows, and teachers will confirm, that children who are reading over their summer break retain far more of their skills than those who take the summer off. And remember... we don't worry about what kind of books the children are reading for prizes... we just want them to find library books that they will enjoy!

One last thing... we found out after we had our volunteer meeting scheduled that one of the elementary schools had a program for the 5th graders. If you know an 11-17 year old who wants to volunteer this summer but couldn't make the meeting, have them come in and talk to Miss Holly or Miss Linda. We will make sure they have the information they need and get them signed up!

It's Hard to Believe

It doesn't quite seem possible that the school year is almost over, does it? Today, I'm going to give you a slideshow recap of what the children have been doing at the library. It's been fun!

April Showers...

As I'm sitting here on this gray, rainy day, I'm sure hoping that these April showers do bring some May flowers! Of course, there's always something bright and colorful happening at the library!

 It's been another busy month and we're not even half way through!

We celebrated the 10th Anniversary of Mo Willems' Pigeon books this month! Mo Willems' books are wonderful for young readers and pre-readers. The artwork is so expressive and gives children an opportunity to talk about emotions, which develops vocabulary. The books have lots of rhyming and repetitive phrases, which work on phonological and narrative skills. And they're just so fun that children love them! Don't most kids love the opportunity to tell someone "No!" without getting into trouble? (Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!)

In Preschool Story Hour for our 4 and 5 year olds, we did a storytime about Spring. We read Possum and the Peeper, which then led to the children requested several other frog books I had available including a huge favorite, The Wide Mouthed Frog.

I think we've also found a new favorite song - "Swing Your Partner" from the Jim Gill Sings Moving Rhymes for Modern Times cd. It's a square dance type of song that we've done in a circle and I've heard, "Let's do it again!" several times!

For a craft, we made and decorated those colorful windsocks that you see over to the left. A relatively simple craft, but gluing the streamers and feeding the yarn through the small punched holes works on fine motor skills, which children need to learn to write.

And we can't forget our monthly Lego program! We had several new children attend last week, so the fun just keeps growing!



So, what's coming up?
Saturday, April 13 from 10am to noon: Trash to Treasures Craft Program for all ages.

Tuesday, April 16 at 10:30am and 1:00pm, Preschool Story Hour for 4 and 5 year olds and 3 years old who are ready to come in independently.

Please register for our programs so that we can plan for all our children: 

Children's Programs at the Cedar Lake Branch Library

Great Artists

This month, our Saturday Craft Program was inspired by some of the great artists. We used artwork by Wassily Kadinksy, Jasper Johns, Henri Matisse, and Georges Seurat as our inspirations.

The children were given an example of the artwork, supplies and set loose to create their own masterpieces. At one point a child was heard asking, "That one was so much fun! Can I make another one?" Music to this librarian's ears!

Each child had his or her own take on the art and they all came out fabulously!

Wishing for Spring

So far this month, we've seen lots of spring-like themes for our programs.

Last week, Preschool Story Hour had stories about all the colors of the rainbow. We would have liked to have seen a rainbow. Instead, that night we got our biggest snow of the winter! The children especially enjoyed these books, though:

The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
Monsters Love Colors by Mike Austin
Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd



We also did a rainbow version of Hap Palmer's "Rock and Roll Freeze Dance," using our brightly colored scarves, watched Harold and His Purple Crayon, and made rainbow-maned lions.

For Toddler Time today, Miss Linda did stories about kites and wind, as well as talking about St. Patrick's Day.

The children enjoyed the story of "The Three Little Pigs."

And The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins is a fun, cumulative story that the children can retell later.


For a craft today, the children colored and decorated paper kites. And if the wind is just right, they can fly!

Still to come this week:

Friday, March 15 and 10:30 or 11:30am, Mother Goose on the Loose for infants to 35 month olds and their caregiver.

Catching up with the Babies

February and March have made our program schedule for the 3 and under crowd a little unusual. Since both months started on a Friday, we've had Toddler Time and Mother Goose on the Loose in the same week.

The February 28th Toddler Time focused on Winter. Miss Linda shared two stories with the children.

Bear snores on by Karma Wilson

The mitten : a Ukrainian folktale by Jan Brett

Both books offer wonderful opportunities to learn new words and are good for having the children retell the stories.

The children also played with parachute and created a snowstorm in the children's programming room! They finished by creating their own mitten, complete with animals to practice retelling the story.

Join us this week for these programs:

Thursday, March 14 at 10:30am: Toddler Time for 2-3 year olds and their caregiver

Friday, March 15 at 10:30 OR 11:30am: Mother Goose on the Loose for infants to 35 months and their caregiver.