
Archive for the ‘All’ Category

The Homework Help Center is Open!

Thursday, August 30th, 2012

Need help getting started on a homework assignment, paper or project? Stop in our Homework Help Center staffed with volunteers eager to help.

  • When: Mondays from 3:30-8pm, Tuesdays & Thursdays from 3:30 to 6:30pm
  • Where: Youth Services Department
  • Who: This service is provided for all elementary, middle and high school students.
  • How: Students will be helped on a first come, first served basis.

Homework Help Center volunteers can assist you with:

  • Understanding your assignment.
  • Attacking your studies.
  • Finding ways to do research.

Need help now?

Can’t wait until the Homework Help Center opens? Try our KnowItNow chat reference service, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Don’t forget our on-line databases and librarian-built explore guides–don’t see what you need? Just ask–we are here to help!

Celebrate Grandparents! Books and Rhymes for Kids about Grandma and Grandpa

Sunday, August 26th, 2012

Sometimes they come to visit us and sometimes we go to visit them, but either way spending time with Grandma and Grandpa is a time for fun!

Celebrate your loved ones officially on September 9–Grandparents Day, but you can get started early with us.

Start with a Finger Rhyme.

Here are grandma’s glasses (make circles around eyes with fingers)
And here is Grandma’s hat, (fold hands on top of head)
Here’s the way she folds her hands (fold hands)
And puts them on her lap. (place hands in lap)

Here are Grandpa’s glasses, (make circles around eyes with fingers)
Here is Grandpa’s hat, (make a triangle on top of head)
Here’s the way he folds his arms (fold arms)
And has a little nap. (pretend to sleep)

Read All About It.

You can browse our catalog for books and activity guides or try one of our favorites:

Stay in Touch.

  • If you can’t visit, reach out to Grandma and Grandpa with a phone call, a letter or a post card. Writing and reading go together. Writing helps children learn that letters and words stand for sounds and that print has meaning.
  • Keep photos of your child with her grandparents out around the house or make a small photo album just for her to browse during free time. Talk about your family relationships and remember nice memories. Sometimes it is amazing for kids to realize that Grandpa was once Dad and Dad was once a kid!

Grow a Beard.

Get silly and grow a Grandpa beard (or just use a dishtowel) and then dance around the house with your fabulous beard to Johnette Downing’s toe-tapping “Grandpa’s Beard” from her album Silly Sing Along.

Stretch It Out: Childrens’ Books to Keep You Limber

Monday, August 20th, 2012

After a long day sitting in a desk, most of us feel a little creaky and kids are no exception! Stretch out those creakies with your child and have fun in the process. Fifteen minutes will have you feeling better and laughing together….check it out!

Like how that feels? Try this Hip Hop Yoga warm up–this is what Miss Susan uses with her Yoga Tales program for kids.

Haven’t heard of Yoga Tales? Check out this fun exercise program that incorporates story telling and fun yoga stretches to enhance early literacy skills!

Drip, Drip, SPLASH: Books and Activities about the Water Cycle

Wednesday, August 15th, 2012

Was that glass of water you are drinking once a slurp for a thirsty dinosaur? Did that water once course down the side of a mountain in a river of rocky mud? Maybe it was swallowed up inside a great white shark or a refreshing drink for Abraham Lincoln – you never know, because water gets around!

It is called the water cycle and it is definitely wet and wild.

To learn more about the surprising history of your H2O, check this out:

So how exactly does water get around so much? It cycles. Here are some fun books and engaging activities to help you explore…

Read about it!

Watch it!

Check out Bill Nye the Science Guy make a cloud in captivity! Find more Bill Nye fun in our catalog.

Do it!

Take a cue from the educational blog, Corkboard Connections, and make your own mini version of the water cycle.

For a coloring page version of the water cycle, visit the EPA’s raindrop spokesperson Thirstin’s coloring page.

Does your little one love science stories and experiments? Is she naturally curious or does he constantly ask you WHY? Then you should enjoy our newest story time offering, STEM Story Time. In this new program, kids aged 3-6 and their parents will explore Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematical ideas through picture books and related activities. Register here.

Nursery Rhyme Olympics 2012

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

Has Olympic Fever caught hold of your family too? We are really enjoying the Summer games and with the help of our friend, Miss Bo Peep, we decided to try our hand at our own games. The twist? We channeled the Olympic spirit and found the athletes hiding in our favorite nursery rhymes! Nursery rhymes are perfect for your little athletes too because they are a great way to teach early literacy skills…read on to recreate the fun at home!

Jack Be Nimble Hurdles

Practice running and jumping over soft hurdles made of  paper tubes and fake candles…just like Jack!

Jack be nimble!
Jack be quick!
Jack jump over the candle stick!

Wee Willie Winkie Sack Race

Wee Willie can go the distance! Practice your track and field prowess with a pillowcase and a masking tape track.

Wee Willie Winkie
runs through the town,
upstairs, downstairs,
in his nightgown.
Rapping at the windows,
crying through the lock,
“Are the children all in bed?
For now it’s eight 8 o’clock”.

Ring Around the Rosy Discus Throw

Cones %20 Pictures of roses %20 Flying rings = Discus Throw of Awesome!

Ring around the rosy
A pocketful of posies
“Ashes, Ashes”
We all fall down!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Shooting Stars

Aim for the stars using shooters and puff ball pom poms. Paper stars taped to a styrofoam cup makes a simple target.  You can find instructions for making a pom pom shooter here.

Twinkle, twinkle little star.
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high.
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle little star.
How I wonder what you are!

Jack and Jill Basketball

Be part of your own nursery rhyme dream team and fill a pail or a bowl with little basket balls or ping pong balls!

Jack and Jill went up the hill
to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down
and broke his crown.
And Jill came tumbling after!

Want more nursery rhyme fun? Browse our catalog!

Last Call for Summer Reading 2012!

Sunday, July 29th, 2012

Only today and tomorrow remain in this year’s Summer Reading Program! If you have reading hours or activities to log or prizes to collect, you have until tomorrow–July 30th! After that we are packing away the fun until next year…

 

Fairy Reading Buddies Spotted at the Library!

Thursday, July 19th, 2012

Did you know that fairies make great reading buddies? We invited Westerville kids to come capture some fairies at the library and take them home–you can see the beautiful specimens they created!

Reading buddies are important helpers–especially during our Summer Reading Program! 102 Beginning Readers and over 333 Kids have completedthe Summer Reading Program goals of completing 21 activities (for beginners) or reading 12 hours (for kids)! That is great! If you are still working on logging your hours, don’t fret–there is still time! You have until July 30th to log hours and claim prizes.

So what are you waiting for? Grab a reading buddy and get started! Don’t have your own captured fairy reading buddy? You can make one!

  • Draw a fairy on paper–give him some curly hair or draw her a pretty dress.
  • Put your fairy into a washed out jar–peanut butter and jelly jars work well, but wash them out first!
  • Add grass or moss to the jar to make a comfy bed for your fairy.
  • Add shiny stickers, glitter, jewels or pretty paper to your jar–that keeps the fairy interested so she won’t try to escape.
  • Put the lid on your jar and decorate the top with fabric and ribbons or paint the top in colors you love.

When you are done making your captured fairy reading buddy, find a cozy spot and grab some great books to share with your new friend.

Need some suggestions? Here are some fun fairy reads to get you started!

Foot Stompin’ Story Time Music Favorites

Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

Music is a really important part of developing a good story time!

Often the whole mood of the story time is affected by the music–big and bouncy welcome music sets the expectation that we’ll be having fun! Instrumental music is great for a craft program if it helps us focus…etc.

We have our go-to favorites for interactive songs and if you have been to one of our story times you have most likely danced to Laurie Berkner or Jim Gill. We love them.

We have other favorites too. Here are our youth staffers favorite albums for kids…check ‘em out and bring the happy library vibe home with you!

Becky loves to put on some world music for craft programs…Putumayo World Music is a great series of kid friendly music from around the world that adults will enjoy bopping along to also!


Putumayo’s World Playground

Erin relies on the traditional songs and fun sing-alongs from Old Town School Recording’s Wiggleworms Love You in her popular lap baby and toddler times.

I really love Tumblebee by Laura Veirs. It has traditional folk songs, foot stomping choirs and lots of fun rhythm!

Robin’s suggestions are great for older kids and long car trips and for parents who enjoy sophisticated kids’ music by popular adult bands like They Might be Giants…

Here Comes Science

Here Come the ABCs

Lisa loves Reggae! Family Time by Ziggy Marley is a proven story time winner!

Try some of our favorites or explore the catalog to find new treasures! Here are some of our other go-to favorites:

 

Stay Angry, My Friends: Red Birds + Green Pigs = Big Fun at the Library!

Thursday, June 21st, 2012

Thanks everyone who made our Angry Birds carnival such a huge success!

Can’t get enough of that Angry Bird stuff? Here are some fun new titles that will keep your angry feathers ruffled and your green piggies giggling!

Exploring at the Library: Glow Sticks and Sensory Fun

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

The library isn’t just books and story times. We also like to encourage curiosity and imagination – these are 2 critical characteristics of life-long learners.
Yesterday we invited kids to come to the library and play – in the dark! With black lights and glow sticks the library was transformed into a shadowy, sensory playground that begged for exploration. Don’t miss our preschool glow party or if you can’t make it it, here is how you can extend the fun at home.

Black Lights:

  • You can purchase a black light for under $20 at most “big box” stores. Mount the light somewhere in you house where you can make the room entirely dark or wait to play at night. Watch the cords and don’t let your child touch the light…safety first!
  • Place a mirror by the black light and let your child look at himself. Teeth look funny and so do white clothes. Here is why. What else fluoresces? Why? Try chalk drawings on black paper or yellow highlighter…wow!
  • Tonic water also fluoresces…you can drink it or replace the water in a Jiggler recipe to make a fluorescent snack!

Glow Sticks:

  • Glow stick are fun at night and last for hours. Be sure to only purchase non-toxic sticks and don’t let children chew on the sticks. How do they work?
  • For daytime glow fun, make a “glow cave” in your house by draping blankets over a table or a couch cushion “fort”. Take in some books and toys and have a fun afternoon playing in your glow cave.
  • Try slipping a lit stick into a balloon before you blow it up and then inflate. Wow–glow in the dark balloon volleyball!
  • If you put a lit glow stick into an empty 2-liter bottle and then fill it up with water, you’ll have a night light or if you have a set of them and a sturdy ball you can try some glow-stick bowling out in your yard!
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