Preschool Spring STEM Program

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Our guest blogger today from the class is Patty May, who hails from Bedford IN and serves a population of 13,000 at her library. With a background in kindergarten and preschool teaching she brings mad skillz to her work as an Early Literacy Specialist at the library.

This preschool program is a STEM hands-on program. The extra value to this program is that we can set up the stations in the preschool play area after the program. This will be held in our program room here at the Library. We can utilize part of the elements for a stealth program.

Book : First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seege

Play: with egg shakers

To make egg shakers I will use plastic Easter eggs donated last Easter. I will fill each egg with something with a different size and shape so they will make different sounds. (rice, beans, sand etc) I will make sure that the eggs don’t come open with book tape. For this activity the children will get eggs at random to shake while singing and dancing.

Sing (to the tune of We Wish You a Merry Christmas): Let’s all do a little shaking (jumping, twirling, bending) for spring time is here.

Book: Wake up it’s Spring by Lisa Campbell Ernst

Flannelboard:  I will make flannel pieces with the things in the in the book (egg/chicken, tadpole/frog, seed/flower, caterpillar/ butterfly, word/ book, paint/picture). Let the children retell the story by matching the first and the “then” pieces as a group.

Book: If your hoppy by April Dulley Sayer ( this is a just for fun book it is not a “science” book; however, by the third book your group may be getting antsy and this book encourages fun and moving )

Activity Centers

Center 1: (Play) shaker eggs- this is why we put different things in the eggs, the children can play with the eggs and discover the sounds that they make.

Center 2: (Talk) The flannel board, this is a chance for the children to retell the story. It is also a chance for the children to practice sequencing 

Center 3: (Write) craft table- decorate cut- out paper eggs. Provide crayons, glue, and anything fun to glue onto an egg such as feathers, pom poms, rick rack.

Center 4: (Play) Egg balancing game- provide several plastic eggs and several different kitchen utensils and two baskets. The children will try to move the eggs from one basket to the other with the utensils. I would not expect to have more than 15 children in this program and with the children at different centers two baskets should be enough; however, I would provide another set for every 5 children that I plan to use the center at one time.

Center 5:(Read) books about chicken, egg, and other animals that lay eggs. Wrap it up if children lose interest or at 2:50 (we may have a few families leave before clean up if they have children at the out of town schools.)

Our parents stay with our preschool programs, I expect to use parent power for the centers, so only one staff member is needed to implement this program.  I would like to begin the program at 2:00 pm. This time is good because parents of preschoolers with older children will be able to come to the program and then pick up their older child from school.

This program will be a good fit for our library because we will be tapping into a base that we already know and a format that is close to what they are used to. We do a very good job of presenting STEM and STEAM activities to the grade school children. I would like to begin to extend those activities to our preschool children.

Why should we invest time and money on Stem and Steam for preschool? We use Every Child Ready To Read to remind our parents that children learn a lot about reading before they begin to school and that children learn to read as they talk, sing, read, write and play. We can remind our parents that children learn through all of their experiences in science and math as well.

In an article published in theSchool Library Journal Oct 1, 2013 Amy Koester writes the following:

“In a public library, STEAM means creating opportunities for children to explore and experiment. A program on a well-loved chapter book is great, and topics such as railroads and bridges are reliably popular among young patrons. But what about a program demonstrating that bridges aren’t just the roadway extensions we take for granted? What if that program covered different types of bridges, along with video footage of a bridge collapsing, and a hands-on opportunity for kids to build bridges from dried pasta and then test their strength? Suddenly kids are deeply engaged—and curious. They genuinely don’t know what will happen to the materials in front of them, but they want to find out. They leave the program with more knowledge and interest than they might have had if they’d just read about bridges. That’s the power of STEAM: To bring together all the facets of the things we find interesting in the world in a way that’s tactile and packs educational punch.”

We will be helping our families and so our community by building a more educated base. This is a part of our strategic plan: “our library will build excitement for education and learning” and requires only a slight change in focus to execute.

Beyond Storytime Successes

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Storytime is definitely a bread and butter program almost all libraries offer for preschoolers AND their parents/adult caregivers. But we wanted to explore other types of programs we can do with preschoolers besides storytimes. Here are some of the ideas that the class had:

Stuffed Animal Sleepover

- We invited kids to drop off their stuffed animal on day 1 and then they could return on day 2 to pick up their animal, along with a special souvenir. While the children were away, the animals played. We arranged the animals in groupings of 4-5 and had them play out different scenes like tea party, baseball, copy machine, book drop, etc. We also had all of the animals sit around the story room carpet and listen to a story read by Ms. Jennifer's childhood stuffed animal. We took a ton of pictures and made photo souveniers for each child that including a few scenes for their evening at the library and a group photo at story hour.  Many of the kids returned the next day to pick up their animals and were loving the souvenier booklets. We made sure to put a label on the back that said to like our library facebook page to see all the pictures.  This little tip really worked out because we had over 600 views on our stuffed animal sleepover slide show on Facebook.

-One of our most successful programs beyond storytime was when we did a "Teddy Sleepover" (all stuffed animals were invited).  The drop off time was between 4:00 and 5:00, the kids signed their stuffed animals in, made a nametag for thier animal with contact information, and then were able to play games and read stories with their animal before leaving them at the library for the night.  After the animals were all checked in we posed the animals doing things like having a tea party, playing checkers, watching a video, reading books, making a mess of the children's area, etc.  The children were encouraged to call and check in on their stuffed animal, they did and that was fun, they wished their stuffed animal sweet dreams at the end of the conversation and then it was off to bed for the stuffed animals.  The kids could pick up their animals the next morning when we opened, and also pick up a memory book of what their stuffed animal did on their library sleepover.  The memory book was created with photos of the evening with captions.  These books took time to make, but so worth it when you saw the child's face seeing their stuffed animal have so much fun at the library :)  

1000 Books Before Kindergarten Parties

Since starting 1000 Books Before Kindergarten last January, I have hosted 3 parties, all of which were great! The usual program plan is a super short storytime with one book (since the entire program is about reading) and a song or two to get the wiggles out.  Then the kids break out into different areas to play and work on early literacy skills.  We also had a special guest named Too Tall Torrie, a stilt walker who makes balloon animals that the kids loved (and I got a T-Rex so it was a win-win!).  Last August I had a graduation party and if you want to see the cutest thing ever, have kids walk across the stage to Pomp and Circumstance.  Adorbs!

Early Learning Readiness Program

- We have an Early Learning Readiness program that meets in our space two mornings a week for two hours each time that is designed for children ages 0-5 and their caregivers. It is run by the YMCA. They have a very specific set of guidelines they have to meet for the program, which includes a welcome circle and a closing circle, at least 3 age-appropriate books, and 13 different activity centers that help develop different skills children will need in school. They also provide snacks to the children and caregivers during the program. In our space, we tend to see children between 12 and 20 months of age with just a couple of children under 3. We actually don't currently have any between 3 and 5. The kids open with a 20 minute circle time with songs, finger plays, and 2 books before being released to play. They always get at least an hour to play in the centers, sometimes longer if everyone comes on time. We have 10 minutes of clean up time before we gather for closing circle to sing more songs, read one more book, and do some dancing. I pick out all the books based on the month's theme and lead one of the circle times whenever I can. Because it's run by an outside agency, it uses minimal library resources and staff time. I can work at my desk during the play times and be available to answer any questions parents have or help them find books for their children. The YMCA goals for the program are to enroll 10 children and caregivers for regular attendance. 

Movement Programs

- Our most popular preschool program is Little Wigglers!  We pick a theme for each month (Little Wigglers meets every Tuesday morning at 10:30 am).  We play the same games, sing the same songs, etc for the month and by the end of the month, the kids know the program very well!  We try to incorporate musical instruments, bean bags, scarves, rhythm sticks, balls and the parachute into the songs and games.  We end the program with a story and juice box to "cool down."  I think this program has been so successful because the kids are free to move and have fun!  For some in this age group, it is very hard to sit still for an entire book.  I have had many comments from grateful moms who were embarrassed their child wouldn't sit for a storytime (of course we squelch any worries and encourage them to keep coming for storytime, too!).  My favorite part about Litttle Wigglers is to watch the shy kids who hide behind Mom at first, but then eventually come and stand next to me to help lead the group--awesome!

- I've been presenting Let's Move, a creative movement program for preschoolers and toddlers for about six years. I offer the program on Friday mornings for 18 months and up, although I occasionally get kids who are slightly younger. In story time, I sing all the songs myself, but in this program all but the welcome songs are recorded. I use CDs that I burn myself of all my favorite songs. There are dance songs, shaky eggs songs, scarf songs, drumstick songs, instrument songs, bean bag songs, parachute songs, and wand songs. Each week, I do a variety of dance songs and then pick two of the props to play with that week. I have at least five or six songs in each category and can therefore switch out the music frequently, even when we are doing the same prop. 

This is one of the most popular preschool programs I offer. It routinely gets the largest crowd and everyone really enjoys it. I think they love moving to the music, but they also love the chance to do something different. It doesn't hurt that the music programs in the area for preschoolers are insanely expensive. 

Helping Patrons Accept Change

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In class we chewed on how to help patrons accept a new program format for preschoolers in place of one storytime session. The ideas and strategies flowed!

Positivity
I think in general, when you present an idea, and you deliver it with enthusiasm, they will also be enthusiastic. You can give your reasoning as to why you are changing it up and then tell them why they will be excited about it (like, their kids will love the new craft time that will follow story time), etc. I think in general, the parents will accept the change pretty easily. And, I think it is very healthy to introduce children to change! 

Giving the Facts, Jack
- I think if you explain the "why" behind a program change, the parents are better able to understand it.  We recently changed the format of our Baby Tots program to include learning a new nursery rhyme each month.  We shared our research with parents and explained the importance of learning nursery rhymes for early literacy success.  While this meant less social play time for the little ones, parents were on board with the change.

- I usually start with my core families, let them know that I have something that I think is going to work really well for them and I'm sure that they will want to check it out. I know that your boys are really interested in _________ so you are going to love this!  Then I give everyone involved the the information (usually a flyer) ahead of time so that if the change takes place next week they can get used to the idea and not be shocked coming in.  I alway try to let them know that we have good reasons for the change.  We have your children's best interest in mind.

Keep Things Changing
-I have to say we try things all the time.  My parents like the variety, they just go with the flow, as well as the kids. In fact, the month of March we are not doing story-time, but we are creating book bundles  which will have four books, one take home activity, a list of other books for the theme, and song and fingerplay suggestions.  We are also offering a reading challenge this month (March Madness) can you read 100 books in the month of March (ages preschool-4th grade) and can you read 25 books in the month of March for ages 5th grade and up.  

- In my old library, one of the weekly story times I did was a class visit from our local Head Start classroom. The teachers had been in that classroom for many years and were used to their set routines. The first time they came to visit me, which was the first week of school with all-new students, the head teacher yelled at them all to "sit down and shut up, the library is for quiet kids." I was horrified. I had planned 2 stories, a few songs, a felt board, and a craft for them to do. Not a single child sang along or tried to answer any of my questions to the group because they were so scared. Starting the second week, I began my story time by telling them all that the library was for having fun with stories, not for being quiet. I gave them a library tour and we talked about how the library was closed during their visits so the only patrons in the library were from their school. Then I told them that I needed their help in telling some of the stories and singing the songs each week, which got them much more relaxed an interested in participating. 

Smooth Transitions
- I feel like the families at my library are just itching for more hands on activities. Craft time is the children's and the parents' favorite part of storytime every week, even if it's just free form coloring. I feel like as soon as I decided to offer something more hands on like a messy art hour or parachute play, they'd be all over it. I think what I'd do is maybe offer a little bit of an overlap. I'd do part storytime, part hands on and totally different. That way I could possibly transition those parents who are a little skeptical of any educational value of a format that doesn't involve lots of storytelling into seeing how great the other programming format could be for them. Sometimes people need to see to believe. I feel like after one program, they and their kids would be all about something different. Changing things up even a little can really make kids excited! 

School Age Steam

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Our guest today is Kelsey Bates, a Youth Services Librarian in Fort Myers Florida. She shared a program series on STEAM that had kids really excited.

STEAM into Learning - K- 5th graders

3…2…1… Blast Off Into Space

Book talk: How Do You Burp in Space? : and Tips Every Space Tourist Needs to Know by Susan Goodman. Discuss why you would never want to burp in space (spoiler, without gravity it’s just puking).

Video: astronauts sleeping in space from NASA’s website.

Stations:

• Create aliens – I designed a sheet where the kids would decide what planet they are visiting (hot, cold, gas, water, etc) and then draw the aliens based on those specifications.
• Design a satellite – after discussing what satellites do, I had the kids build one out of random craft materials that we had lying around. This station was so popular that I had to remind the kids that they should move on to other activities.
• Make paper rockets – using paper and straws, the kids created paper rockets that they could launch.
• Constellation Tubes – using pushpins, the kids punched out holes in a paper depicting a constellation and then placed it on a toilet paper roll. Looking back, I would have donewithout this station because the most effort on the kids’ parts went into for what was very little payoff.

Tech Tear Down

Video:  Bill Nye the Science Guy discussed electrical circuits. We then looked at a quick slide show I made that had pictures of electrical components that we would be seeing.

Stations:

The children and their parents (it was very focused on parent involvement) then went to the stations where we had everything from a laptop to beepers to VHS tapes. The kids had a great time taking apart each electronic and the parents enjoyed explaining to their kids why anyone would ever need a beeper.

I originally had a lot of push back from my administration about this program as it was deemed “unsafe” which added a lot of time on my part to really research the safety of each item. The kids had an amazing time though and I heard a lot mothers mention that they wish their husbands had come as well, which is always exciting as we don’t get a lot of fathers in our programs.

Engineer an Attack on the Fort!

This was a program that I pulled from the Show Me Librarian, which made it super easy to reproduce although I did switch the focus from the Trojan War to the castles of the Middle Ages.

Book talk:  books in our collection about castles and sieges.

Video: Trebuchet Siege Artillery from the Discovery channel that shows the children what catapults in the Middle Ages really looked like.

Stations:

Laying out a lot of random craft materials, I had the children build their forts, making sure to discuss the importance of engineering strong walls and foundations. We then built catapults out of rubber bands and popsicle sticks with bottle caps on the end to hold the pom-poms.

The last 10 minutes of the program was the battle where the kids created a circle and started attacking each other. I was actually surprised by how many almost didn’t want to compete because they were afraid that their forts would become destroyed (they seriously overestimated the power of a pom-pom).

This was the program that I had the most trouble finding an educational opening to. There is very few interesting educational videos for children about castles for some reason. The kids did find the Discovery video very engaging though and really loved creating their own (much safer) version of a catapult.

Mad Scientist Artist

This was the program that I was most proud of since I came up with the idea myself: Creating art using Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. It was also my most expensive program in the series, using the previous 3 programs’ budgets of $10 plus its own for a total of $40. Also, although I did not book talk any books, I pointed out after each station that there was an entire display of art books to check out.

Science – We started the program outside in our storytime garden (a rare occurrence for our programs) and created exploding rocket art. Using film canisters, paint water and seltzer tabs, the kids popped in a tablet, closed the lid tight and turned it upside down so that when it exploded, it would leave splattered paint behind on the canvas. This was a huge success, even when the rockets didn’t launch.

Technology – This was the most expensive part of the program since I had to buy Dollar Tree electric toothbrushes for every child. They inserted the toothbrush into a decorated pool noodle that had three markers as legs. When the brush was turned on, it would cause the Art Bots to vibrate, creating interesting art work with their markers.

Engineering – This was just a simple sculpture project using marshmallows and toothpicks. I was still really excited to see what interesting things the kids came up with, like a brother duo who created a water pipeline that was a few feet long.

Math – For math, we discussed symmetry and had the children paint only one side of a piece of paper and then fold it in half to create symmetrical artwork.

I think art is always very engaging for children and the parents in the room really like the STEM slant to the program as well.

Game On

The idea for this also originally came from the Show Me Librarian’s Blog to do a life-size version of Chutes and Ladders. I made it my own though, and more math minded, by having the children spend half of the program creating their own game boards.

Chutes and Ladders – A fun game that took about 20 or so minutes to play. Towards the end, I sped it up but overall the kids did an amazing job at waiting their turn and staying engaged.

Game Board – this was my favorite part of the program. I had purchased some Dungeons and Dragons styled dice for the kids so we discussed what different dice would do to the game play (the dice that goes by 10s would need a different board than the regular 1-6 dice). One little girl used her two dice to work on rounding numbers up and down, which was amazing!

This was the only program that I didn’t really push the theme on, as I felt it would be too hard of a sell to get people excited about a Math program. However, we still had good attendance and the kids left very happy with their games, many coming back to tell me later that they played them at home.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this program series and how I was able to incorporate so much of our non-fiction collection into the programs. My coworkers ran a Pre-K version of this STEAM series congruently with mine, which allowed us to get almost all the ages actively involved in fun and educational programming.

Perking Up Programs

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It's easy to get into a rut when programming - doing the same themes or series or events multiple times. The class brainstormed a few ways to add some pep to tired program syndrome.

- Animals, anyone?  If it is allowed at your library, (I hope it is!) kids love animals!  We have had sled dogs, baby goats, baby ducks, chicks, bunnies, you name it!  Bringing in animals to tie into your story or program is so thrilling for the kids.  This doesn't have to be an expensive animal expert--just ask around.  Do any staff members have unusal pets or know someone who does?  Does anyone know a farmer?  We had a staff member whose good friend was a veterinarian.  She came and talked to the kids about how to care for pets last summer.  She brought two dogs with her and demonstrated how to teach basic commands.  (Did I mention she did it for free???)  We also had a Hedgehog Advocate come to talk about hedgehogs and let the kids pet the animals at the end.  I've found that programs with animals are some of the most well-attended programs and the kids certainly aren't bored and watching the clock.

Food!  Ah, one of my favorites!  We have made mini pumpkin pies, banana snowmen, Thanksgiving mix, applesauce and pig bagels, to name a few.  If it's not an individual project (like the pig bagels), I've found that making something that allows many helping hands is very popular.  The Thanksgiving mix (picture pretzels, goldfish, raisins, m&ms, etc.) worked very well for this.  We had many ingredients and had two large bowls, so there was plenty of opportunity for everyone to "help."  Kids get the biggest charge out of just pouring something into a bowl!

Bring in someone new!  Sometimes I wonder if the kids grow tired of Ms. Jen.  This year I tried something new. In January, we were very fortunate to have our Friends group sponsor a magic show for the library.  We used this as a "thank you" to all the members of our youth book clubs for participating in our programs.  So instead of  four book club meetings in January, all the clubs met on one day for the magic show/workshop.  The kids loved it! (I loved it, too, because it eased my planning time for the month!)

- Animals are always a hit. Another idea for dogs is if your community has a dog club. There is one in our county and they brought their dogs and they got to "show off" their dogs and the tricks they could do. My neighbor has a corn snake for a pet and she brought it to story time and told all the kids about taking care of it and then she said, "I bet Mrs. Trix would like to hold the snake". What could I do but "suck it up" and take the snake. It was cool- wrapped around my arm and all the kids got to pet it. It was a great hit. Another library patron has a pet rabbit that came to visit us and we learned how she has her own bed ( a doll crib) and how she is litter trained etc. Just a simple little thing but the kids loved it

- I like to keep things fresh and I am always looking outside of the box for new ideas.  So I do make sure that for each school visit we do get that I am trying something new or putting a new spin on an idea that the kids really liked the first time around.  

I think to perk things up and try to get more school visits, I will start by visiting the classrooms more often and working with the teachers.  So I would like to try to gear programs towards certain lesson units that are being studied and coming in as a guest to read a story or do a craft with the class or other fun activities just to be present.  So many times kids super excited when they see me or any of the other staff at the library.  Then they go home and talk to mom and dad about their day and then pretty soon within a week, we see a family we had not seen for awhile visiting the library.  

Other ideas that worked well:  Magic shows, animals presentations, Minecraft days, Splatter Art, and Bubbles were all hits in bringing in school age kids to the library.  

Magical Mystery Tours

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We all know the challenge presented by field trips. With schools' shrinking budgets and many other educational destinations, it takes creativity to create an experience that are meaningful, fun and worthwhile to tempt teachers to choose the library. Creating fun components for field trips - and facing some of the challenges - is a topic the class tackled.

- We love having school groups come in.  Our local schools only allow the classes one field trip a year so we really have to be a destination for them to choose us.  Our group visits are more likely to be girl scouts, boy scouts and preschools.  When the groups do come we always have a small give away for them (usually something left over from summer reading.)  We have the school age kids do a scavenger hunt that takes them all over the library and when they complete the hunt we give them the gift that we have for them as their reward for a good job. This makes learning where things are a lot of fun, no boring tours here.

- I'm very lucky (in lots of ways, but particularly this one) in that I came in to a position that had a built in set of school visits. Every fall, the first grades from my local schools come to visit the library to get their first library cards of their very own. It's already exciting for them and I'm thrilled to have this tradition in place (makes outreach to the first grades super easy!). The visits are wonderful, the kids are excited, the teachers call me when they are ready to come, and the circ desk is ready, willing, and eager to handle the large number of card applications. 

So on the one hand: lucky!

This is the problem (you saw that coming, right?). The visits are such a tradition that there seems to be very little space for change. For example, some schools choose to send all their first grades at once which makes for an assembly-like program, while other schools send them one at a time. This means I can't quite format the program properly for everyone - and my room is too small to hold the large groups anyway (I can't even do a tour properly because we won't have anywhere to walk!).  I've also found that the teachers are so used to doing this that they rarely talk to me directly and barely look at me. Ironically, I am an afterthought in this visit. It makes it hard to really sell them on new library services or programs. I just have to hope that the kids are getting as much as possible out of it!

- I love having the kids come for tours!  We are lucky enough to be within walking distance from our elementary school and a local preschool, so we get requests for tours quite often.  I absolutely agree that the kids get a big kick out of seeing something they normally don't get to see.  We also show them the inside of the bookdrop, and if the weather permits, we send a staff member out to deposit books and movies so the kids can see the different chutes in action.  Very simple, but they love it!   A game I like to play with the class is to ask how many children's books do they think the library owns.  It is so comical to hear some of the guesses!  They are always amazed by the number.

- Years ago I took a tip from Rob Reid and during the tour of the collection I pointed out that the library even has cookbooks for kids but "there is one rule if you check one out-if you make something from it you have to bring the librarian a sample!" The looks on their faces as they totally took me seriously was priceless. We had a run on cookbook check outs for weeks but sadly no one ever brought me a treat.:(

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March Madness - Picture Book Play-offs

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It's March Madness time! It can be a great opportunity to tie in a program for kids and families that builds on the increased interest and publicity surrounding the basketball playoffs. Here is a program, part of our final assignment, shared by one of our librarian-students!

First, I chose 16 picture books from the previous year's "best of" lists, mostly the list compiled by ALSC and the ALA. I paired these books up together based on similar subject/tone/format for our first week. 

Then I created a bulletin board with all these titles on it in a bracket. I also created a sheet that had all the titles on it in their pairs. The instructions encourage patrons to read the books and pick their favorite in the pair. The winners then to on to the second week with 8 titles and 4 match-ups. (I make a new sheet for this week). The voting continues for a week and then we are down to four titles. These battle it out for a week (on a new sheet with only those titles on it) until we reach the finals in the fourth week. The last two books do final battle for a week until one emerges victorious as our favorite book.

I checked out copies of all the books to the Children's Library account and put them with the display so that anyone can read the books and vote. Each book has a little strip of paper wrapped around the cover explaining that it can't be checked out until the match-ups are over. Patrons can vote for just one match up for for all of them. 

The voting sheets are put in a basket as they are completed and then I pick them up periodically during the week to count the votes for each book. 

I picked March for this program to coincide with March Madness so that kids can have fun with brackets as the basketball brackets really take hold. The program is free, since I used books from our collection and all you really need are the books, the signs, and the sheets. 

I picked books from the ALA lists because I find that often books are distinguished or have star reviews and don't necessarily get checked out very frequently. I'm hoping to bring more attention to these titles and hoping that people will take the time to think critically about them - even if it's only to think which one they prefer. I tried to pick books at somewhat different levels, too (Queen Victoria's Bathing Machine and Byron Barton's My Car, for example) so that the books could speak to kids at different ages. I also considered choosing classic books (do you prefer "Good night Moon" or "Brown Bear Brown Bear"?) or really any other type of book. 

I chose picture books because I wanted the program to be all-inclusive in regards to ages, but the program could also run with chapter books. I like that the picture books can be read together while the family is at the library.