MORE LEGOS!!!

Our LEGO club met on May 5th and our attendees were quick to "get building"! Here are their creations!

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

Well, it's officially official! I received the author's copies last week and I am published again! Many thanks to Charles Harmon at Neal-Schuman and my super-fantastic editor, Kathy Buschbaum! Earl Musick of Bucyrus was the illustrator for my book. Check out his site as well: www.earlmusick.com

LEGO MY LEGO!!!

On March 3rd, 2012, the Bucyrus Public Library hosted its very first LEGO club. 9 eager participants built and rebuilt some AWESOME creations!

A big thank you goes to Gary Fyock of Galion, Ohio, who gifted the library with a large collection of LEGO pieces, including figures!

Check out our pictures below to see some of the COOL creations! (OH, and yes, we enjoyed snacks along the way...)

MY NEWEST BOOK!

Here's the description from the newest N-S catalog:

Are you tired of the same old activities for Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Valentine ’s Day? Do you have trouble finding activities for Grandparent’s Day, May Day, Earth Day, Rosh Hashanah, Diwali, or Ramadan? Here, you get countless activities for 33 holidays, saving you from scouring through hundreds of books and activities trying to find appropriate material.

Each chapter contains a small history of the holiday, an annotated collection of the perfect books, poems, and activities (such as coloring pages, cut-and-tell pages, draw-and-tell stories, flannel board stories, and games). Loads of finger plays included in each chapter make this book more than a guide to finding storytimes. Songs and crafts will bring life and variation to your holiday programming.

This one-stop compilation is easy to use and very inclusive. But the best part is the amazing amount of resources! You get over 700 activities, and at least 2 crafts and 2 cut-out drawings for each chapter. If you want story time to be amazing, this compendium has everything you need to serve your users instead of reinventing the wheel every year.

MY NEW BOOK!

Well, it was a long time coming! I pitched the idea for this book about 9 years ago to a variety of publishers and no one bit. A little over a year ago, I sent out the idea again. Charles Harmon of Neal-Schuman Publishers in New York was kind enough to offer me a contract and as of June 30th, 2010, I am a published author! The book appears in Neal-Schuman's latest catalog and I am told it was in Neal-Schuman's booth at the recent American Library Association gathering in Washington, D.C.! I think the book is perfect for librarians, of course, but also for preschool teachers and other early childhood educators!

Here is the description from the Neal-Schuman site:

"Watch the live video demonstrations to envision your new skills in action!

Incorporate creative, educational, and fun fingerplays into your storytime with this time-saving, uniquely extensive one-stop resource. Organized by theme from “apples” to “zoo”, experienced children’s librarian Barbara Scott’s one-thousand, ready-to-go fingerplays and action rhymes provide busy librarians and teachers with the up-to-date, cost-effective material needed to improve storytime without the extra planning time.

Scott explains numerous developmental benefits that children gain from fingerplays, and offers helpful guidance for selecting appropriate material and organizing and marketing storytimes. The book’s one-thousand fingerplays are grouped into over forty categories and span a wide range of themes, including different types of animals, foods, activities, games, colors, shapes, and more. Much more than just another storytime book, Scott brings her decades of successful experience to your screen through an accompanying DVD. Watch her perform all types of fingerplays and action rhymes so you can choose different styles to implement or adapt in your own storytime.

Learn to lead 1,000 fingerplays with confidence while your young listeners absorb listening and memorization skills, motor coordination, and a love of storytime fun."

PARTY WITH CURIOUS GEORGE!

On Saturday, April 25, 2009, I hosted a program for 29 participants, who were accompanied by parents and caregivers. As each child arrived, he or she was given a nametag that said: "Hello my name is .........(name filled in at this point) and I love to read!" They were also encouraged to sign up for door prizes that were given away later in the program.

Next, I shared the book that started the series, Curious George by H.A. Rey. This first book was published in the early 1940s!

Once the story was finished, participants were invited to travel to seven craft tables to make Curious George-themed crafts. The craft stations were as follows:




CURIOUS GEORGE COLORING PAGE
Participants were asked to do their best coloring jobs on a cute picture of Curious George. These pictures were handed in to me during the program so that they could be used as part of a display in the Children's Room that would highlight the program for the public.

CURIOUS GEORGE MASK
Participants were given a page with a Curious George face that they were to color and then cut out. Eyeholes were also cut out and the face pattern was then glued to a craft stick so that the children could hold the masks in front of their faces!

CURIOUS GEORGE PARTY HAT
This craft required 2 sheets of the identical hat pattern. Participants colored them and cut them out, and then taped the two pieces together. This formed a larger piece that was then brought together in a cone shape and taped to form the finished hat. The pattern had cute pictures of Curious George on it!

CURIOUS GEORGE PINWHEEL
This pattern was printed off in color. The Curious George site on PBSKids has both a color and a black-and-white version. Go to: www.pbskids.org.curiousgeorge/parentsteachers Click on Activities and More, then Curiosity Center Activities. The pinwheel squares were cut out according to directions, and then pushpins were inserted into premarked holes. The pinwheel was then attached to a pencil with the pushpin being stuck into the eraser. Note: the directions show placing the pushpin into the top of the pencil eraser, but some participants did theirs with the pushpin sticking into the side of the eraser, and these worked just fine!

CURIOUS GEORGE CLOCK
Participants colored and cut out a clock that featured Curious George. The arms were then added with a paper fastener in the middle. There was also an accompanying page that participants took so that they could set their clocks at different times.

CUROUS GEORGE FLIP BOOK
This activity was also copied on a color copier. This flip book consisted of 7 small pages. All pages were on one sheet; participants cut out each small rectangle and then put them in numerical order. Once they were in order, the books were stapled. If done correctly, George turns a somersault as the pages flip!

CURIOUS GEORGE BOOKMARK
Paticipants colored a bookmark that featured George. Once they were done, they were cut and given to me. I then laminated them and passed them back out.

Participants also enjoyed snacks as part of the afternoon. Available were banana nut muffins, pretzels, banana chips, and juice pouches. Surprisingly, lots of kids tried the banana chips!

Door prizes were also given away. These consisted of paperback copies of 6 Curious George titles that were purchased at the local Wal-Mart. Also, the Curious George book that I opened the program with was given away.

Each participant received a small baggie that contained a Curious George bookmark and sticker as a momento of the day! I believe that the bookmarks were bought through ALA and the majority of the stickers were purchased through Smilemakers.

Costume Specialists also has a Curious George costume that they rent out. Also, check the Houghton Mifflin website for activity kits available!

AN AFTERNOON WITH WINNIE THE POOH!

On March 28th, 2009, I hosted "An Afternoon with Winnie the Pooh" program at the Bucyrus Public Library. From an initial sign-up of over 50 children, 36 attended with parents. Ages ranged from preschool and under up through age 10.

As each participant arrived, they were given bear-shaped nametags cut with an Ellison die. They were also encouraged to sign up for the door prizes, which were begin given away at the end of the program. The afternoon began with me sharing the news that in October 2009, Dutton Books for Young Readers will publish Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, the first authorized sequel to A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh
(1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (1928). The author of this sequel will be David Benedictus. The book will, like those that came before it, consist of 10 stories. I then shared a Golden Book entitled Bounce Around, Tigger!

The participants were then released to six craft tables, where they could make Pooh-themed crafts. The crafts were:


LET'S WRITE A HUM!
Pooh loves to write poems, or "hums", as he calls them. Participants were given a bear shape on which to write a poem. It could be about Winnie the Pooh or any subject they wished. These hums were handed in to me for a display in the Children's Room.

LET'S MAKE A POOH PARTY HAT (WITH EARS)!

This made the cutest hat. Strips of long brown construction paper were first used to make a band that went around the child's head. These were stapled together. Next, another thin strip was staped across what would be the top of the head. Ends were trimmed. Ear shapes where provided and cut out and stapled to this crosspiece.
Ta da! Instant Pooh ears!

POOH BOOKMARK
A bookmark from the site http://www.zianet.com/demisque/PoohPrintables.htm was used. Copies were made on our color printer. The bookmark that I used was called "The Thoughtful Spot". Participants simply trimmed down the bookmark to the outside of the red outlined area. A laminator was used (children were encouraged to put their names on the backs of the bookmarks) to cover them. Once laminated, a hole was punched in the top of the bookmark, and ribbon was inserted through and tied.

POOH COLORING PAGE
This craft was simply a drawing of Winnie the Pooh that participants could color.

WINNIE THE POOH TOILET PAPER ROLL CRAFT
Participants first colored and cut out all pieces that made up Winnie the Pooh and his pot of honey. An example was available for them to look at in order to do the assembly.

LET'S MAKE A 3-D HANGING POOH!
Two identical patterns of Pooh were first colored and them cut out. According to directions, slits were cut in both and they were fit together. A hole was punched in the top and the craft could be hung.

Refreshments were served to all of those present. These consisted of cookies with yellow icing (yellow for Pooh, of course), pretzels, and a mixture of cinnamon Teddy Grahams and Honey Bee shapes. Juice pouches were also available.

At the conclusion of the program, drawings were held for a number of Winnie the Pooh books.