Baby Explorers #1: Sensory Activities!

In March, I did a month-long series of baby activities on Saturday mornings called “Baby Explorers.” It was a sort of hybrid baby storytime/playtime.

Baby Explorers March 2015

My library has tried several things to get a baby storytime going, but a weekday morning just hasn’t worked, and previous more traditional baby storytimes on Saturdays weren’t well attended either. BUT, with a combo of better publicity and enticing activities, this worked! I think it’s going to become a monthly event in the fall.

I wanted to focus on demonstrating easy to make toys and explain the benefits of simple activities.  I focused on a different broad topic each week, and this post I’ll go over the first one, Sensory Activities. read more »

Flannel Friday: Little Mouse with Barns!

So I was trying to find a flannel to add to my Farm storytime, and I just could not muster the enthusiasm to make a bunch of different felt animals. Finally, I settled on the idea of doing “Little Mouse” with barns instead of houses! I love doing guessing games – they are my favorite type of flannels.

IMG_2441.JPG

read more »

Flannel Friday: Mary Had a Little Lamb

Recently I participated in my county’s Toddler/Kid Fest, where local libraries, day cares, and other agencies that serve children have tables with information and activities. I wanted to share something fun and interactive, so I settled on a song with a puppet and flannel board. I saw the idea for this Mary Had a Little Lamb flannel and made it out of felt with a puppet we had.

IMG_2405.JPG read more »

Flannel Friday Roundup

flannelfridayThank you to everyone who participated in this week’s Flannel Friday! As a new blogger, it was really fun to host, and see what everyone’s been up to.

Kathryn at Fun with Friends at Storytime has a wonderfully colorful “What Did You Put in Your Pocket?” flannel. I love the painted stitching detail!

Lauren made these adorable pigs AND pancakes for a guessing game that I will definitely be trying.

Emily at Literary Hoots has TWO different mustache-themes flannels! Mr. Lou and his mustache that grew and grew is just hilarious, and the monsters of Mo’s Mustache are too cute.

Katie from Storytime Katie made Five Turtles, and I love the colors on the shells!

Jane at Piper Loves the Library shared this fabulous Pop-Up Craft for National Library Week! I like how each heart is unique, but they all look so good together! I’m definitely adopting this idea for a passive program, and soon.
My contribution was this Mary Had a Little Lamb flannel/puppet that I used for an outreach event. It was easy to adapt the song for different ages and attention spans, and was a lot of fun to sing!
Thanks again for participating and for the fantastic ideas!