Welcome to the Land of Oz! On April 11th, 2025 the Pasadena Public Library hosted an Emerald City Adventures event at the Villa Parke Community Center. For those with whimsy in their hearts, this free 2-hour event was designed to showcase the Villa Parke Community Center’s tenants as a unified resource serving the broader community. The primary tenants are Pasadena Public Library, Parks Recreation Community Services, Women Infant and Children (Pasadena Public Health), and Options for Learning. With varying enrichment activities for the approximately 300 attendees the event was a delight to all!
We’re off to see the Wizard! Upon entering the Villa Parke Community Center, families were met with a yellow brick road, just like in The Wizard of Oz. This led throughout the Community Center and allowed children and parents to test their observation skills with an Oz themed scavenger hunt. This meant searching for Glinda the Good, the Emerald City, a ruby slipper and so much more. In the upstairs library guests could pick out prizes and even view a special screening of the 1939 The Wizard of Oz film before heading to the garden for a seed pot activity just in time for spring!
There’s no place like home! A very magical story time was presented by library staff members Pamela dressed as Dorothy and Kevin dressed as the Tinman, joined by a stuffed animal Toto! Along with the story reading there was singing, movement, and guitar playing for all to enjoy. For anyone who needed a little extra courage a very exciting cowardly lion plate puppet activity was offered at our arts and crafts station. “Our special Emerald City Adventures story time was a delight to present and host! We had so much fun with all the kids and caregivers. It was so exciting to see many Dorothy’s with their cute little Toto’s. We hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did because we all organized it with so much love and thought. Thank you!”– Miss Pam
Stories We Read:
Don’t Wake up The Tiger by Britta Teckentrup
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
Do Lions Live on Lily Pads? by Melanie Walsh
Songs We Sang:
It’s Time!
- It’s time, it’s time
- It’s time for storytime!
- It’s time, it’s time
- It’s time for storytime
- C’mon in
- Have a seat
- Say “Hello” to the friends you meet!
- It’s Time…
Open Shut Them
- Open, shut them, open shut them
- Give a little clap, clap, clap.
- Open, shut them, open shut them
- Lay them in your lap, lap, lap.
- Creep them, creep them,
- Slowly creep them,
- Right up to your chin.
- Open up your little mouth
- But do not let them in.
- Can we say it again faster?
Shake My Sillies Out
- Gotta shake, shake, shake my sillies out
- Shake, shake, shake my sillies out
- Shake, shake, shake my sillies out
- And wiggle my waggles away
- I gotta clap, clap, clap my crazies out
- Clap, clap, clap my crazies out
- Clap, clap, clap my crazies out
- And wiggle my waggles away
- I gotta jump, jump, jump my jiggles out
- Jump, jump, jump my jiggles out
- Jump, jump, jump my jiggles out
- And wiggle my waggles away
- I gotta yawn, yawn, yawn my sleepies out
- Yawn, yawn, yawn my sleepies out
- Yawn, yawn, yawn my sleepies out
- And wiggle my waggles away
- I gotta shake, shake, shake my sillies out
- Shake, shake, shake my sillies out
- Shake, shake, shake my sillies out
- And wiggle my waggles away
- And wiggle my waggles away
Teddy Bear
- Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around
- Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground.
- Teddy bear, teddy bear, show your shoe.
- Teddy bear, teddy bear, I love you.
- Teddy bear, teddy bear, climb upstairs
- Teddy bear, teddy bear, brush your hair
- Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn out the light
- Teddy bear, teddy bear, say ‘Good-night!”
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
- Somewhere over the rainbow
- Way up high
- There’s a land that I dream of
- Once in a lullaby
- Somewhere over the rainbow
- Skies are blue
- And the dreams that you dare to dream
- really do come true
Build, crawl and bounce! The little ones were overjoyed with Emerald City’s baby gym which featured a wide gymnastics mat with large foam blocks and two bouncy houses. Our own Scarecrow was able to put his brain to the test, helping the munchkins bring their imaginations to life when building forts and tunnels. They were able to safely crawl over, through, and under the structures made with the large foam blocks provided.
A big thank you to all who came together to make this event possible. This event marked the first collaborative effort among the Villa Parke Center’s tenants, and not only did everyone participate, but each contributed to making it a success. “The success of this program is a strong encouragement for future collaborative events. The center’s tenants have already been making meaningful strides in collective impact by leveraging our unique resources—and together, we’re creating even greater outcomes” – Jane Gov, Library Services Manager.
With summer right around the corner we can look forward to more fun community events such as our Lunch at the Library program that will be held from June 9th– August 15th. For information on more events being held please visit our Library Events Calendar or any of our library locations.