Valentine Babies

I'm still riding the high of last week's awesome baby program I did called Valentine Babies. It was SO CUTE, like, really one of those programs that is just fun and feels like a success.  It was for ages birth-16 months. First we read some "love-ly" books and sang some "love-ly" songs, and then we all broke off and worked on a craft-- which I almost never ever do with babies, but totally worked!

Here's the breakdown of time:

Book: A Kiss Like This by Mary Murphy

2 songs: You Be the Ice Cream, Love Somebody, Yes I Do (Click each song for a Jbrary video where you can see and hear how it goes.)

Book: Counting Kisses by Karen Katz (in the form of a board book class set read individually between babies and caregivers)

2 more song: Yo Te Amo, Put Your Puppet on Your Heart (Click each song for a Jbrary video where you can see and hear how it goes.)

I had all four songs written out on a handout that I passed around so the adults could all sing along and then (if their copy wasn't too destoroyed by their baby) also sing the songs again at home.

You can download this handout here!

I only had 7 babies signed up, which I was happy with. That's pretty average for kids this age and for this time of day... BUT I had 12 babies show up! Such an awesome surprise considering this age range!

Like I said, I very rarely do crafts with teeny babies (despite the fact that I kind of just did one the week before this program in Littlest Learners). I guess this craft was more for the parents than the babies, but it was awesome either way! We truly made a Valentine's Day decoration keepsake that families could use and reuse year after year. See below:

The samples above were made by my kids (and me). The top was done by Sadie, age 3, and the bottom was done by Callie, age 1.5.

To prep for this craft, first I cut "L" and "E" shapes out on the Cricut. Then I pre-glued down and pre-laminated a handful of "E" sheets, since that one was the same for everyone. Then I set out the rest of the craft supplies: A ton of cardstock (in a Valentine's Day-ish color palette), two laminators that were hot and ready, a pile of laminator sheets, four bowls of white paint with sponge brushes, one hole punch that made its way around the room, a bunch of glue sticks, and a Sharpie for personalizing with something like "Sadie, February 2020."

To begin, I had the adults in a line in front of me and we worked together to stamp each of the baby's hands and feet, then we passed the stamped sheets over to Mary (our clerk) who helped with laminating. There was absolutely NO WAY that I could have done this without her help. We had such an efficiant little assembly line going. I can't even begin to comprehend the organized system that Mary had when she was laminating all these prints and somehow keeping track of whose feet and hand prints were whose, but whatever she was doing, it worked. 

After stamping their baby's feet, the adults wrote their name and date on the "L" sheet and then gave that to Mary too. When they had all four laminated papers, we punched holes in the tops and strung them together with string.

Seriously, all in all, this was AWESOME, albiet a little chaotic due to having 12 babies and planning for 7. Here's how I'd improve upon it next February:

1. This is the most important: I would DO THE CRAFT FIRST. The biggest hiccup in this program was that the paint didn't have time to dry and it ran a little in the laminating sheets. If we did all the stamping first, then there'd be a few minutes to let the paint dry before we ran it through the laminator. 

2. I'd make the program 45-minutes long instead of 30-minutes long. First we'd do the hand and feet stamping, then we'd sing the 4 songs and read A Kiss Like This by Mary Murphy. Then, I'd let the parents start coming up and assembling the rest of their craft and also have the class set of Counting Kisses by Karen Katz out for them to read on their own if they wanted to while waiting their turn with the laminator.

3. I might pre-laminate the "L" sheets also and just have the parents write on either the "O" or "V" sheets. That way there are only two sheets to laminate on the spot for each patron, instead of 3. I do like the way the written text looks on the "L" but it might not be worth it, considering the amount of time we could save.

Here's what I'd do the same:

1. Same actual craft product. It was so cute and the parents loved it (har har, no pun intended). I was hearing about what a hit this was for days and up until today in fact!

2. Definitely, I'd need Mary to help me again. This is not a craft program for only one staff person.

Aaaaand I will let the above few sentances suffice as my "What worked least" and "What worked best" for this post. This is a program that I feel super proud of and one that I will totally be doing again next year!

Valentine's Day Party

For some reason, over the course of my life, Valentine's Day has moved up the holiday ranks and landed in a comfy spot near the top. I just really enjoy it! Maybe it's because I'm partial to "girly stuff" like hearts, pink, flowers, and chocolate. Or maybe it's just that I will just cling on to anything at all that breaks up the monotony of winter. I'm not sure. But whatever the reason, every year I find myself getting more and more pumped about Valentine's Day. And even more so at work! I think Valentine's Day with kids is the ultimate cutest and most fun thing. I look forward to it and, more or less, call "dibs" on it every year.

So last week I had my Valentine's Day Party for kids in grades K-2 and, while I only had three kids in attendance, it was awesome! Here's how it went:

I started with story time and dragged it out a bit in the hopes that my group of two would get a little closer to the 18 who were signed up. I read Crankenstein Valentine by Samantha Berger first, then followed it up with Smitten by David Gordon.

After the books we moved onto our game of "Love Bingo." I made these for a Valentine's Day Party about 3 years ago and they look like this, for example:

I was clever and got candy hearts as Bingo markers too. The kids marked off boxes on their boards as I held up corresponding full-sheet pictures at random. Between rounds, I told them to keep the pieces on their boards so they could just continue to fill them up until everyone eventually had Bingo. As the kids won, I let them pick from a basket of assorted prizes--which were things leftover from programs and reading clubs that we had in the library basement. If it even needs to be said, of course, every kid was a winner.

Next, we played "Blinded By Love" (which is a game I borrowed and modified a bit from Cul-De-Sac Cool's post, "12 Coolest Valentine's Day School Party Games"). Basically, each kid got "blinded" (using a paper mask I cut out and drew heart eyes on, and, when that got annoying and I realized that these were three really fun and honest kids, was replaced by just eye closing), and one by one, they had to try their best to draw a heart on the oak tag. There are no winners or losers in this game. It's just fun for a good little giggle. And giggles it got!

Then we took a craft and snack break. I put out a whole array of things for them to make valentines with: heart-shaped doilies, pink, red, white and purple hearts in two different sizes, conversation heart foam stickers, glittery heart foam stickers, love bug foam stickers, markers, and glue sticks. Then I let them just go to town. I also served delicious Entenmann's Valentine's Day cookies + water bottles.

Last, I told the group that, if we could either spend the last 10 minutes playing one more game, or they could use the last 10 minutes to finish their valentines and snacks. The two girls chose game, which was totally enough to play if I modified it a bit, while the one boy of the group finished decorating his valentines. Also from Cul-De-Sac Cool's post, "12 Coolest Valentine's Day School Party Games," I modified a game called "Heart Hop." The original game calls for the kids to split into two teams and race across the room to a pile of pre-written-on hearts. Each kid picks up a heart, reads what it says--something like "hop like a bunny"--and makes their way back to their team, doing whatever the heart instructs. The first team to use up their pile wins.

In preparation, I made two identical piles of hearts with commands written on one side-- hop like a bunny, walk backwards, crab walk. etc. But when I found out we were playing the game with just two kids, I just used one pile and had them play just to be silly. No racing.

What worked least: The size of my group was the only thing that kept this program from being as good as it could have been. However, the QUALITY of the three kids I got couldn't have been better! If had to have a party of only three, these were the three to have!

What worked best: The games, by far. I was surprised! I always expect the crafts and snacks to be the highlights of my programs, but the games really shone for this one. In fact, these kids were barely even interested in the cookies! Crazy!

Valentine Workshop

More Valentine's Day fun for me! Like I said in my post from yesterday, I really enjoy Valentine's Day. It could be that I just really really like hearts, pink, flowers, and chocolate. Or possibly it's that I will just cling on to anything at all that breaks up the horrible monotony of winter. I'm not sure what it is exactly that does it for me. But yeah, I get kinda pumped about Valentine's Day. And this comes out tenfold at work because kids + valentines = the ultimate cutest thing.

So today, more celebrating! This morning I had the pre-k crowd for Valentine Workshop. It was a pretty simple program. I read the kids a story and then they made valentines. I wound up trying a new book out: Hug Machine by Scott Campbell. Everyone enjoyed it, but didn't laugh out loud as much as I was hoping. I'd still recommend it for any Valentine's Day/love/friendship themed storytime though. It was just all-around sweet.

Then it was time to get creating!

Here are a few of the (very many) crafty valentines that were made:

Because the pre-school age group brings in the parents too, there were a lot of enthusiastic adults who encouraged their kids to make Valentines for every member of the family. It was really cute. Everyone went home with a massive stack of the things. Plus, I even scored a valentine out of the deal myself!:

What worked best and least: So...this was such a no-frills program that there really isn't much to discuss. I'm aware that this makes two posts in a row with cruddy answers to these two questions, but seriously, there's just not a whole ton to say about this program. I'm sorry; so sue me!

Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day, folks. Enjoy a break from the winter monotony.

Valentine's Day Party 2016

As a whole, I don't think of myself as a person who particularly enjoys things that are super lovey-dovey or overly-affection-showy, yet for some reason, I really enjoy Valentine's Day. Maybe it's because I like hearts, pink, flowers, and chocolate. A lot. Or maybe it's that I will just cling on to anything at all that breaks up the monotony of winter. I'm not sure. But whatever the reason, I get kinda pumped about Valentine's Day, and even more so at work. I think Valentine's Day with kids is the ultimate cutest thing.

So tonight I had my Valentine's Day Party for kids in grades K-2. It was awesome! Here's how it went:

I started with a quick story time, where I got to try out a new (to me) book. I read A Crankenstein Valentine by Samantha Berger, which everyone (including the grown ups) liked a lot. I even pointed out that the endpapers at the start of the book showed candy hearts with all negative phrases and the endpapers at the end of the book showed candy hearts with all positive phrases! Pointing out the endpapers always makes me feel super accomplished as a librarian, I have to say.

After the book we played three games.

First, we played "Love Bingo." I made these for a Valentine's Day program last year, so even if I never use them ever again, I've already gotten two-years worth of game play out of them and I like those statistics! They looked like this, for example:

I was clever and got candy hearts as Bingo markers this year. The kids marked off boxes on their boards as I held up corresponding full-sheet pictures at random. Between rounds, I told them to keep the pieces on their boards so they could just continue to fill them up until everyone eventually had Bingo. As the kids won, I gave out mini heart stress balls (these, from Oriental Trading) as prizes. If it even needs to be said, of course, every kid was a winner.

Next, we played "Candy Heart Relay." This took a lot of explaining but the kids totally loved it. I separated them into two teams and had each team get into a line. The goal of the game is to take one candy heart from your team's cup on your fork without using your hands (although this was not a strictly enforced rule), carefully walk it across the room (on the fork), and then drop it into your team's other cup. Then you pass the fork off to your next teammate. The team with the most hearts in their across-the-room cup wins! I gave them two minutes on the clock and off they went. Here they are mid-play:

Everyone was a great sport here. Nobody lost their patience; nobody called anyone "slow;" nobody got sad about losing; and nobody got mean about winning! This was a wonderful group and a fun game!

Last, we played "Blinded By Love" (which is a game I borrowed and modified a bit from Cul-De-Sac Cool's post, "12 Coolest Valentine's Day School Party Games"). Basically, each kid got "blinded" (using the mask shown below [I just held it on them.]), and one by one, they had to try their best to draw a heart on the oak tag. There are no winners or losers in this game. It's just fun for a good little giggle. Here's a picture of me holding the blindfold on our last competitor and a picture of the final results:

 

After the three games ended, we moved onto valentine-making and snacks. I put out a whole array of things for them to make valentines with: heart-shaped doilies, pink, red, white and purple hearts in two different sizes, conversation heart foam stickers, glittery heart foam stickers, love bug foam stickers, markers, crayons, popsicle sticks (why not?), glue sticks, and tape. Then I let them just go to town. I also served really delicious and soft (store brand!) Valentine's Day cookies + water bottles.

Here are a few of the adorable valentines that were made (plus some visual cookie enjoyment):

What worked least: Nothing! This program ruled! (In case this your first time visiting this blog, let me apologize for not being a little more modest and also point out that my last blog post includes more misses than hits. Also in my modesty defense, I want you to know that I realize that at least 80% of this program's success is due to the super-great group of kids I wound up with.)

What worked best: All of it! I know this answer is a total cop-out, but everything--even down to the flow of events--worked in this program. I wish they could all be this wonderful!

Valentine's Day Party

I had a Valentine's Day Party for the kids in grades K-2 tonight. It was fun, but unfortunately, the turnout was on the small side.

I started it off by reading them Smitten by David Gordon, mostly because I wanted a story about friend-love and not something overly lovey dovey. I've read Smitten to children in this age group in the past and it's been pretty successful each time. Today was no exception. Everybody always likes this book.

After the book, I passed out Love Bingo cards, which I tediously labored over using Microsoft Publisher. This is what the cards looked like:

The kids marked off boxes on their boards as I held up corresponding full-sheet pictures at random. Between rounds (of which there were very few due to the small class-size), I told them to keep the pieces on their boards so they could just continue to fill them up until everyone eventually had "Love". Then I gave out mini heart stress balls (these, from Oriental Trading) as prizes. If it even needs to be said, of course, every kid was a winner.

Next we played Blinded By Love (which is a game I borrowed and modified a bit from Cul-De-Sac Cool's post, "12 Coolest Valentine's Day School Party Games"). Basically, each kid got "blinded" (using the mask shown below) and one by one, they had to try their best to draw a heart on the oak tag. Below is a fierce competitor as well as a picture of the results. Because I only had a handful of kids, I let them each go twice.

After the two games ended, we moved onto valentine-making. I put out a whole array of things: heart-shaped doilies, pink, red, white and purple hearts in two different sizes (using Ellison Die cuts), conversation heart foam stickers, glittery heart foam stickers, markers, crayons, popsicle sticks (why not?), scissors, glue sticks, and white glue.

Toward the end of the valentine-making, I handed out cherry heart-shaped fruit snacks and water. Because it's not a party unless there's a snack, right?

I also had a shiny heart banner up for the kids to take pictures in front of (Oriental Trading again, cut into two layers). It seems like most children like photo backdrops, so I try to put one up when it's possible.

Last, I thought it'd be fun to have the kids fill out a "Why I Love My Library" postcard (leftover from another program) for a chance to win a free book and a lolly pop. I've done raffles in programs in the past and it's always been fun. But this time it didn't work. There were tears and hurt-feelings. I gave extra heart stress balls as consolation prizes to the non-winners, which did seem to help, but I felt bad! So this may have been the last of the raffles for me. It's too risky.

All in all, it was certainly fun, but not one of my all-time best. It didn't have the energy that I was hoping for and everything moved faster than I'd expected-- both because I had so few children.

What worked best: The games. The kids really really enjoyed both of them.

What worked least: The raffle! Ack! I'm taking a raffle hiatus.

What worked the second least: The timing. I wish I had planned a few back-up activities (or at least activity sheets) to fill in extra time. We just zoomed through the whole program because of the group-size and it kind of tapered off at the end with too much extra time to spare. Still fun though! Happy Valentine's Day!