On Friday, I wrapped up my first week of Kansas workshops with a warm welcome from my library peeps at the North Central Kansas Library System headquartered in Manhattan in the beautiful Flint Hills region of the state. Here are some of their ideas to spark your creativity!
Parents as Teachers Programs - this group comes into the library and presents playgroups and activities. It is a perfect pre-literacy partnership.
Learning at the Library series - 4H kids are invited to give their presentations at the library, usually 3-4 kids during an hour. They include a wide range of topics and activities, from dance to information on animals.
Live Animal programs - a story is combined with a visit from a live animal and its caretaker. Lots of information is shared about the animal.
Children's Art Displays - the schools provide art on a bimonthly basis to display. Suggestions were also made to schedule an "art opening" and invite parents and kids to make it a special event.
Read to Your Baby - local pediatricians approached the library and asked if they'd make bookmarks with library info and appropriate books for kids at all the different well baby visits in a young child's life. The partnership was so successful that the doctors now donate funds to help support the SLP program at the library.
Facebook Welcomes - the librarian visits the page of the local military base and when people comment they are new, she invites them to use the library. (That's what I call outreach!)
Quilt Show - he quilters offered to display quilts and they kicked off a display with quilting activities for all ages. Very successful collaboration.
Early Literacy Station - book extension activities are made available to kids that promote different aspects of the six early literacy skills. For instance, with the book Dragon Dancing, there are silk scarves to dance with and masks to play with; rhyming word cards; and letters on dragon scales. For If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, kids had "ingredients" (styrofoam rectangles in butter wrappers) to use to make a "cookie batter".
Annual City-Wide Garage Sale - the library makes sure they participate with a booksale that day so they are in the thick of the fun.
Read to Rover - popular weekly program with very little work and enthusiastic handlers and kids.
After-Hours Teen Program - usually start at 5:30 (doors close at 6pm). Hide-and-seek; golf; sardines (hide-and-seek backwards); wii; trivia game plus pizza and soda. The kids love it. Usually wraps up around 10pm.
Monthly Class Visits to the Library - from a nearby school. Usually the library presents some short, fun activity like hockey with bent drinking straws and cut off paper cups for pucks and staff in hockey jerseys. They tell the kids that this is a special activity time different from quieter times when they come in after school.
More in the Idea Sparkler series here : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11
Image: 'Delerium' http://www.flickr.com/photos/44124348109@N01/23621379
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