In July, we had a Berenstain Bears "picnic" to "celeBEARate" Jan Berenstain's birthday. We are not allowed to have food for children under 12 in our county libraries (though I'm sure it would be even greater if you coould use food), so it was really just stories and a picnic craft, but it turned out very well. The program was advertised for one hour, ages 3-6, and we only had a dozen kids sign up, but at least ten extra came, and younger and older siblings came also.
Program Put Simply:
1. Read:
~ The Bike Lesson
2. Watch:
~ Berenstain Bears: Nothing to Do
3. Make:
~ Picnic Baskets
Detailed Program:
We set up a large display of Berenstain Bear books available for check-out after the program, and layed out a red and white checkerboard tablecloth on the floor for the kids to sit on. When the program started, we discussed riding bikes, and then read my favorite Berenstain Bears book (children love to see you try to re-enact Papa Bear's facial expressions), The Bike Lesson. After the book, we showed the 12-minute Berenstain Bears TV episode (I think someone told me it had been a TV show?) Nothing to Do from the DVD, The Berenstain Bears: Always Look on the Bright Side. Lastly, we made a picnic basket from paper bags from the grocery stores. Several people were telling me I would not be able to take a large number of the BIG paper bags from the stores, but I told the clerks at the store what I was doing and they said to take as many as I needed. The younger children got the smaller-sized paper bags that you can buy at craft stores or even Target to make mini-picnic baskets. To save on ink and paper, instead of using the "color photocopies of pictures of the Berenstain Bears" Sprout suggests, we just used lots of stickers and markers. At the end of the program, they got a Berenstain Bears coloring page to take home with them.
Monday, December 21, 2009
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What a fantastic idea for children! My kids always loved to go to the library when they were little. And they loved participating in special events there, but there was never anything this creative. I remember how excited they were when they got their first library card: "with my OWN name on it?"
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such a great idea, I'll have to share it with my DIL, I'll bet my grandson would love to do something like this.
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Why thank you! I'm more proud of my Star Wars program (can be found under Program (Tween/Teen), though, if he's a fan. :P
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