Calling all kids in grades 4-8! Join us for round three of Book Battle. Your challenge is to pick one of the books below, and read it before our get-together on Wednesday, November 20 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. at the Columbia Public Library. Each book will have a 10-15 minute discussion to help determine a winner.
November’s genre is Newbery Medal honorees. Each year the American Library Association selects an author to receive the Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. There is only one BIG winner, but the committee can choose several other books to receive an honor award, sort of like a runner up—and these honorees will be the books we will be reading!
“Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson was an honoree in 2015. Written in verse, this non-fiction book is about the author’s own childhood. Woodson was raised in both the North and the South, and she describes the experiences that inspired her to become a writer.
“Roller Girl” by Victoria Jamieson was an honoree in 2016. This graphic novel is about two friends growing apart as one of them discovers roller derby. This is perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier.
“The Inquisitor’s Tale, or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog” by Adam Gidwitz was an honoree in 2017. This book has everything—resurrecting dogs, magical donkeys and farting dragons. This adventure tale is akin to “The Wizard of Oz” since it features children on a daring quest for wishes near to their hearts.
Today marks the first official day of fall! Hooray! Time for cozy sweaters, pumpkin patches, cute costumes and family fun. Below is a list of fun fall activities coming up at your local library.
Autumn Poetry Tea Time. Monday, October 7 › 3-4 p.m.
Enjoy tea, lemonade and cookies while you listen to poetry about the season. Bring a poem to share, find one in our books to read aloud or have staff read your selection. Ages 5 and older. Registration: Not required.
Spooky Circuits. Monday, October 21 › 4-5 p.m.
Learn about circuits while creating creepy light-up bookmarks! Ages 7 and older. Registration: Not required.
Little Ones Costume Party. Monday October 28 › 10-10:45 a.m. or 5:30-6:15 p.m.
Join us for a not-so-scary good time at the library. There will be dancing, games and crafts galore. Feel free to wear a costume, or you can create one here! Ages birth-5 with an adult. Registration: Not required.
Falling for Crafts. Monday, September 30 › 10-11:30 a.m.
Celebrate the cooler weather by making paper decorations for fall. We’ll have patterns for garlands, baskets and decorative boxes. Ages 5 and older, parents welcome. Call 573-817-7160 to register.
Little Ones Costume Party. Thursday, October 10 › 10-11 a.m. or 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Join us for a not-so-scary good time at the library. There will be dancing, games and crafts galore. Feel free to wear a costume, or you can create one here! Ages birth-5 with an adult. Registration: Not required. Continue reading “It’s Fall, Y’all: Fall Programs for Kids”
At one of our recent library programs, we made a paper flashlight craft that all of the kids and parents adored. It was so popular that I’ve written up some instructions so you can make this craft at home!
What you need:
- Image or drawing you want to trace
- Clear sheet of plastic
- One sheet of black paper and one sheet of white paper
- Black Ultra Fine Sharpie
- Regular Sharpies in multiple colors
- Tape
- Flashlight template
- Sheet of white cardstock
- Scissors
What you do:
- Draw your own picture or find a one that you want to trace.
- Lay the clear plastic sheet over your picture, and trace the outlines with a black Ultra Fine Sharpie.
- Remove the plastic sheet with your tracing, and lay it over a sheet of plain white paper.
- Color your picture in with colored Sharpies, working left to right (if you are right-handed) so you don’t smudge your work.
- Remove the plastic sheet from the white paper. Tape the plastic sheet to the black paper across the top to hold them together.
- Print the flashlight template onto white cardstock.
- Cut out the flashlight. You can color in the handle of the flashlight if desired, but leave the “light” at the top white.
- All done! Place the flashlight between the plastic sheet and black paper, and see what happens!
Want to have even more flashlight fun? Then check out Emily Sollinger’s A Bedtime Shadow Book series! This series lets you shine a light into the images, and the images transfer onto the wall. How cool is that?
Summer Reading is over, but that’s no reason to leave behind all the fun you can have with an outer space theme! Just last month was the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, so why not celebrate with these moon landing activities?
Blast Off Collage
Try making this blast off collage with your little ones. You’ll need the following supplies:
- Rocket on any color paper (You can use the template on page 4 of this file)
- Black paper
- Tissue paper (various night sky and fire colors)
- Glue sticks
- Star stickers (optional)
- Markers or crayons
After coloring and cutting out the rocket from the template, set it aside and prepare your night sky background. Tear up bits of tissue paper (that’s the extra fun part!) and glue them on the black paper to give texture to the sky. Try using blues and purples for the sky, and save orange and red for the rocket. If you have star stickers, add them to the sky as well! Then glue the rocket onto the black paper, and add some flame colored tissue paper to the bottom of the rocket. We have liftoff!
Moon Sand
Now that you have a rocket, it’s time to create a moon surface to land on. Little astronauts will delight in playing with this extremely soft moon sand! You’ll need the following:
- 4 cups flour
- ½ cup baby oil
- Large bowl
- Spoon (optional)
- Large bin or tray
- Toy cars or people (optional)
Using your hands or a spoon, mix the flour and baby oil together in a bowl to make moon sand. Double the recipe if you want more sand to enjoy. Spread out the moon sand in a large bin, and invite the kids to play! (For easy cleanup, set up this activity on a tarp or old sheet.) Toss in some toy people or cars, and your little ones can reenact the moon landing or start the first lunar colonization attempt. Let them lead the play, and see where their imaginations take you!
We all know the truth in the old adage, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.” The great triumph isn’t in arriving at the park with your child; it is in smelling the flowers in the neighbor’s garden, seeing a bluebird’s nest and hearing the wind rustling in the trees. The same principle applies whenever we make art with children. This is called process art! The Museum of Contemporary Art says that “in process art, the means count for more than the ends.” Children learn more through play and experimentation than coloring inside the lines and making cookie-cutter crafts. Below are some fun ideas you can try at home to begin incorporating process art into your child’s play time!
Infants:
Squeeze two paint colors inside of a ziplock bag, gently roll out the extra air, and seal it tight. Duct Tape the top, and then let your little one explore the bag. Your infant will enjoy watching the colors combine as they squish the bag with their hands and feet. (Realistically, they’ll also explore them with their little mouths, so keep a close eye on them!)
Older Infants:
When your little one begins to cruise and walk, take the ziplock painting and tape it to a low window! They’ll use their legs and core to hold themselves up as they combine colors with the light pouring in behind the ziplock bag.
Toddlers:
There’s lots of nontoxic and washable paint on the market, but one of my favorite art activities with toddlers is yogurt painting! Lay out a tarp outside in the shade, put a variety of flavors in small cups, and let your little artists have fun! They’ll explore color, texture and scents. (And let’s be honest, they’ll take a taste too.)
Preschoolers:
Let your preschooler create with a tried and true classic—bathtub paint. They can spread it on their feet, hands, the bathtub, rubber ducky and the walls, and then scrub it all off at the end of bathtime. This is a great incentive to get reluctant bathers in the tub, and the cleanup is so easy!
Want to extend the fun? Come join us at our upcoming program “Painting Without Brushes” at the Columbia Public Library where toddlers and preschoolers will be using an assortment of non-traditional mediums to create open ended art. To register, please call 573-817-7160.
Painting Without Brushes
Recently we had a sensory program at the library for little ones birth to three years old. To fit with Summer Reading, we made everything outer space themed! You can try recreating these at home, or go in your own direction.
Constellation Box
This station was very popular with some of our youngest participants! Babies loved laying on the soft blanket and looking up at the ‘stars.’ To make this, we found a large box and grabbed a string of Christmas lights. After reinforcing the edges of the box with duct tape, we poked holes in the cardboard so we could stick individual lights through. You could create specific constellations, or just fill the space with the lights like we did. Creating the box will take a little time, but it’s well worth the effort!
Asteroid Field Ball Pit
In Star Wars, Han Solo tells C-3PO to never tell him the odds of surviving an asteroid field. Our asteroid field is much more safe! Toss some balls of various sizes into a plastic pool to contain them, and with a little imagination, you’ve got your very own asteroid field. We threw in some pieces of foil blanket for some extra texture, and little ones were delighted. Not only are the asteroid balls fun to play with, they’re a great way to improve motor skills, as well as hand-eye coordination if you take turns rolling them to each other.
Hubble Telescope Light Board Art
For this station, we were inspired by images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. We glued stars onto overhead transparencies, then placed them on a light board. Little ones put different colors of cellophane on the light board and had fun layering them to make new color combinations. The results were beautiful!
Galaxy Calming Bottles
We love sensory bottles, and these were no exception. We used Voss water bottles, but you can use whatever you like as long as it’s sturdy and you can seal it. To stick with our outer space theme, we made one night sky bottle, one inspired by the sun, and one glow in the dark. To make the night and sun ones, we used baby oil, candy coloring dye, lots of glitter and some star-shaped confetti. The glow in the dark bottle is just glow in the dark glue and hot water. Continue reading “Sensory Space Activities”
People have always looked to the night sky to mark time, navigate and contemplate the immensity of the universe. Along with camping, stargazing is one of my favorite activities in the summer. It’s a great way to spend time with friends and family away from a screen, and it encourages creative storytelling. Did you know the sky is full of heroes rescuing princesses, musicians playing enchanting melodies and creatures roaming the sky? How exciting! Constellations are patterns of stars that people long ago identified as certain mythological creatures, gods and goddesses. We are most familiar with the Greek and Roman myths, but many cultures have their own variation of the constellations.
See if you can find these constellations, then share their story with your family. Kids will have fun finding their own patterns and creating new stories to share!
Perseus Family
Perseus rescued Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. Her parents, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia, threw a feast because they were so happy she was safe. You can find Perseus close to Andromeda, her parents and the sea monster.
These constellations can be best viewed during certain seasons:
Andromeda and Perseus– fall and winter
Cassiopeia– all year
Cepheus– late fall
Cetus– fall and winter
Continue reading “Look Up! Constellations in the Night Sky”
The weather is warmer and school is winding down, which can only mean one thing–Summer Reading is here! Start your summer off right with some out of this world entertainment! We are excited to bring children’s musician Justin Roberts to the Missouri Theater and storyteller Linda Gorham to all of our library buildings. Bonus: Attending one or both of these performances can count toward your completion of the Summer Reading program.
Justin Roberts & The Not Ready for Naptime Players
Saturday, June 1, 2019 › 11 a.m.-Noon
Missouri Theatre, 203 S. 9th St.
Rock out to the music of this award-winning band as we kick off Summer Reading. This former Montessori preschool teacher began writing and singing songs for his students. Soon, his career extended beyond the classroom, and he began recording his music professionally. Now a two-time Grammy nominee, he and his band sing about childhood experiences like “Recess” and “Jungle Gym.”
For ADA accommodations, call the Missouri Theatre at (573) 882-3781. For other concert questions, email kids@dbrl.org. This special Justin Roberts performance is partially funded by the Melissa Carr Literacy Through the Arts Fund established by the DBRL Foundation.
This show is for fans of all ages and abilities. Free tickets are available at www.dbrl.org/justinroberts.
Continue reading “Out of This World Performances”
DBRL and the Stephens Lake Amphitheater Concert Series are pleased to present Jim Cosgrove & The Hiccups on Thursday, May 2 from 6-7 pm. The event, which will be held at the Stephens Lake Park Amphitheater at 100 Old Hwy 63, is for families and children of all ages.
Affectionately known as “Mr. Stinky Feet” by his fans, Cosgrove has performed over 3500 shows throughout both North America and Europe. Upbeat and interactive, Cosgrove’s shows are truly a family affair. His wife, Jeni, manages the business, while their two daughters serve as the road crew and sometimes appear with their father on stage.
An award-winning musician and performer, Cosgrove is also a motivational speaker and the author of “Everybody Gets Stinky Feet,” a collection of essays compiled from a parenting column he wrote for the Kansas City Star. Together, Jim and Jeni co-founded Jiggle Jam, once billed as the nation’s largest independent family music festival from 2007-2013.
Continue reading “Jim Cosgrove and The Hiccups Concert!”
