On Friday, July 23, the Olympic flame will arrive in Tokyo, and the most anticipated sports event of the year will begin! The opening ceremony will be full of dancing, singing, art and an explosion of culture. Then, the events will begin. Regardless of age, we all discover new heroes, cheer until our voices grow faint and feel the chill of inspiration watching athletes overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
My favorite summer sport has always been gymnastics. The strength, grace and pure power it takes to defy gravity, spinning so fast you can barely track the rotations, and then sticking the landing—wow, it just blows my mind! While *I* am not a gymnast, my sister is a preschool gymnastics teacher in Tennessee, and she’s agreed to share some of her favorite exercises for you and your young athlete!
Babies:
Tummy time works the neck muscles and strengthens the core.Incline lifts: a.k.a, airplanes!
One of the Summer Reading challenges this year is making a bird feeder for your backyard and bird watching! Here is a simple craft that will help you on your way to finishing Summer Reading.
This summer, we decorated our libraries for Summer Reading with animal silhouettes using pretty scrapbook papers and old buttons. The process for making these is quite simple and the result is a fun graphic animal that looks great alone, on a bulletin board or as a whole crew galloping down the hall at the Columbia Public Library. I have included 7 animal patterns. Enjoy!
Stories about farm animals fit right in with the Summer Reading theme of “Tales & Tails.” But the characters in these tales are not ordinary animals—they all want to be in a band. I discovered a wonderful variety of books, music and videos about talented farm animals making music. In case you aren’t familiar with some of the instruments being played, I added some nonfiction books and video clips about musical instruments too.Continue reading “Virtual Activity Bundle: Barnyard Bands”
It’s July! Which means it’s the perfect time to sit poolside and read some awesome new books from your library. Here are a few of my favorites that have recently come out. Enjoy!
Picture Books
“It Took Two Wishes” written by Edwina Wyatt and illustrated by Irena Freitas
Do you remember the excitement of waiting for your birthday party? The main character in this book has been looking forward to her birthday for “twelve moons” and measures the time it took to make the invitations in hours, smudges and sandwiches consumed. This book is full of surprising measurements, which is a great way to reinforce numbers with little ones. As the family heads to the park for the birthday party, the event is tragically rained out. But on their way home they find a lost dog, and search through the park until they find the owner. The grateful owner invites the birthday girl to their house, and their party supplies and birthday cake get to be enjoyed after all. This sweet and delightful book models staying positive even when dealing with disappointment. Continue reading “Brianna’s Books: July Favorites 2021”
Would you like to sew an animal friend and take them on an adventure? If so, I have included patterns and directions on how to sew a bunny and a sloth. Choose one or sew them both!
1) Choose which animal you are going to make. Cut out the paper patternfor the basic body, including the arms (long ones for the sloth and short for the bunny) and the eyes. The next set of patterns are specific for either the bunny or the sloth. Cut out the ones for the animal you have chosen. Continue reading “Sew a Sloth (or Bunny!)”
July 10th is National Kitten Day, so, in honor of this cutest of holidays, and as a complement to our Virtual Activity Bundle on pets from a few weeks ago, I want to specifically focus on my favorite pets — cats! Cats were first domesticated around 7500 BC (which is actually thousands of years later than dogs) and in ancient Egypt they were regarded as sacred and depicted in art representing justice, fertility and power. In the 15th and 16th century, cats made their way to America on cargo ships, tagging along with Christopher Columbus and then later with the settlers at Jamestown and on the Mayflower. By the end of the 19th century they became popular here not only as expert mouse catchers but as household companions, and they continue to be the second most-owned pet in America after fish. So here are some books, songs, videos and a craft activity to help celebrate our wonderful feline friends. Continue reading “Virtual Activity Bundle: Cats”
Congratulations to the winners of the 2021 Callaway County Youth Poetry Contest! In April of this year, the Callaway County Public Library and the Auxvasse Creative Arts Program invited students between the ages of 5 and 18 who reside or attend school in Callaway County to enter a poetry contest. This year’s theme was “We all need connection.” The pandemic made social distancing necessary in our world this past year, but we all need connection. Students were encouraged to write a poem about being connected with their community — about their class, family, a team, neighborhood or town. Many students chose to write about their connection to nature. Winning poems were selected by judge and author Daren Dean.Continue reading “2021 Callaway County Youth Poetry Contest Winners”
Do you have an extra room in your heart (and house) for some teeny tiny creatures?
How could you not love a face as cute as this!
If the answer is yes, then it’s time to celebrate, because kitten season is here! Kitten season is when all of the “feral,” or wild, cats have lots and lots of kittens. Kittens born in the wild only have a 50% chance of surviving to their first year, and then only half of those will make it to two years old. This is one of many reasons why I foster kittens for a local animal organization! Continue reading “Saving the World, One Kitten at a Time”
July 10th is National Kitten Day, so, in honor of this cutest of holidays, and as a complement to our 
Congratulations to the winners of the 2021 Callaway County Youth Poetry Contest! In April of this year, the 
