Today we did a lot of animal talk–woof, meow, ribbit, roar, quack, and oink! We all put on animal hats and played Peekaboo: We read I Can Roar! by Frank Asch, with large holes in each page of this board book so you can stick your face in and “be” […]
Kids’ Writing Workshop: The Hero’s Journey
Published on :Last Friday July 15th our Kids’ Writing Workshop for ages 8-12 learned about the form and structure of the Hero’s Journey. We watched a video about how myths use a more-or-less twelve-step process that gets the audience identifying with and rooting for a hero. The video demonstrates how this journey […]
Family Storytime: Food!
Published on :Today’s theme was food, and all the kids got to hold shaker eggs. I did more books than usual. But even with the distraction of the eggs and more than the usual amount of reading, the group did very well! And I just had to share those books. Some themes […]
Bethany Barton Teaches Creative Writing
Published on :On Saturday, July 9, 2016, author-illustrator Bethany Barton taught a creative writing class for kids ages 5-8 at Pasadena Public Library. Her humor and fun infused the class and put the kids in a playful, creative zone. She read us one of her books and even brought some way-cool props, […]
Infant and Toddler Storytimes: Food!
Published on :Today’s theme was food, and our tactile thing was shaker eggs. They’re shaped like eggs, and they have beans inside, so…. yeah! I did more books this time than usual. Some themes suggest so many good books I just can’t pick only two! We sang “Clap Everybody and Say Hello” […]
Programming a Cyborg
Published on :On 6/25/16 we had a special kind of computer class for 6-8 year-olds: one where kids learned about programming in an interactive, personal and funny way! Cyborg.EAN taught them how to program him to move and do things, and taught the kids how to use laptops to program Python 3 […]
Project Designation: Graphic Design for Tweens and Teens
Published on :For three weeks in June, a group of extremely smart and motivated teen girls came to Pasadena Public Library to teach kids between the ages of 10 and 14 how to do graphic design using free websites like Pixlr and using art media like pens, pencils, markers, scissors and more. […]
Infant and Toddler Storytimes: Ice Cream!
Published on :Today we made the story room into an ice cream shop, and made “ice cream cones” out of coffee filters and colorful plastic balls! We counted scoops, talked about flavors and colors, and made it into a game emphasizing early literacy. We sang a song called “You Be The Ice […]
Infant and Toddler Storytimes: Cars!
Published on :I love to start storytimes with some kind of sensory activity, after our opening song. So today we did a “science” experiment — what rolls, and what doesn’t? (Many thanks to the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives for this idea which I found in their Cars storytime resources!) We […]
Creative Writing for Beginning Readers, with Ashlyn Anstee!
Published on :Last week, author-illustrator Ashlyn Anstee came to Pasadena Public Library to teach a workshop on creative writing for kids between the ages of 5 and 8. The workshop was super fun, punctuated by her amazing sense of humor and her creative ideas for engaging the kids! Thanks a million for […]