Kinder Gardens: July 2017

Opening Song	I’m a Little Seed by Miss Carole
Book (Rain)
Action Rhyme	There’s something in my garden There’s something in my garden, Now what can it be? There’s something in my garden That I can’t really see. Hear its funny sound…. Ribbit – Ribbit – Ribbit A Frog is what I found! Ribbit-Ribbit-RibbitRepeat rhyme using other animal sounds. Source: Sunflower Storytime
Action Rhyme	Jumping Beans One, two, three, four. . . (jump four times) Beans came jumping through my door. (stop) Five, Six, Seven, Eight . . . (jump four times) Jumping right on to my plate! (stop) (I had them sit down on this part). Source: Sunflower Storytime
Songs For Wiggle Worms	You are My Sunshine

This was the last Kinder Gardens for the summer. I read somewhere that plants like music, sooooooo I gave the kids instruments and allowed to make “music” for the plants. We will see if it helps the plants grow.

The kids also helped weed and checked out how the plants were growing.

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Kinder Gardens: July 2017

Opening Song	I’m a Little Seed by Miss Carole
Book (Rain)
Hand Rhyme	Five Little Flowers One little flower growing just for you. (hold up 1 finger) Up came another and then there were two. (hold up 2 fingers) Two little flowers growing near a tree. Up came another and then there were three. (hold up 3 fingers) Three little flowers growing more and more. (move hand up) Up came another and then there were four (hold up 4 fingers) Four little flowers growing side by side. Up came another and then there were five. Source: King County Library System
Songs For Wiggle Worms	You are My Sunshine

It rained us out of the garden on this day, so we were stuck inside. However, it made for the perfect opportunity to paint rocks for our gardens. Painting rocks has been a HUGE hit for our library. Our adult librarian has provided several sessions for adults. We have received numerous requests for rock painting for kids and teens.

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Kinder Gardens: June 2017

My library recently acquired four garden beds for our community. I collaborated with my assistant director, who is a HUGE gardener, about this program.

I thought it would be appropriate to have program allowing our tiny patrons an opportunity to garden.

I structured this program to have a mini storytime (think 10 minutes) followed by garden activities.

This was my set-up for the first Kinder Gardens:

Kinder Gardens, June 21

Opening Song	I’m a Little Seed by Miss Carole
What is a Garden? What do you need to garden? Why should we garden?
Book	Up, Down, and Around by Kevin Henkes
Action Rhyme	Little Seed in the Ground Little seed in the ground (crouch down on the floor) Sitting so still (stay crouching) Little seed, will you sprout? Yes, I will! (jump up!)Source: https://sunflowerstorytime.com/2010/11/17/up-down-around/
Songs For Wiggle Worms	You are My Sunshine

We then moved outside:

We had the children plant seeds and plants:

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We also weeded one of garden beds:

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Our grand finale was releasing ladybugs to help our plants:

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Miss Briony’s Bubble Party

We decided to change some things up at my library this year. Instead of having six performers, we opted to do some big programming ourselves. One of these programs was Miss Briony’s Bubble Party. Not going to lie…..I had some major anxiety leading up to it. However, it went wonderfully well!

I knew I was going to have a large turnout. I decided to create several stations to help split up the crowd.

Station 1: Bubble Mania!

We have our own bubble machine, but I knew we would need a professional grade bubble machine. Luckily, I found a machine to rent and used it in conjunction with our bubble machine. This obviously was a favorite spot for the kids. They loved being bathed in bubbles.

Station 2: Wand Art

I really liked the idea of the kids being able to blow their own bubble art. I found this idea here. The kids seemed to enjoy it. However, it was a bit too windy for them to really get the artwork going. Most kids ended up smearing the colored bubbles on to their papers.

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Station 3: Bubble Art

I really thought this station was going to be the least exciting for the kids. I was wrong. I was not in touch with my inner 3-year-old, and I forgot how much kids enjoy blowing bubbles in liquid with straws. Found this project at this website. We did modify this project and did not place the papers on top of bubbles. The wind was too strong.

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Station 4: Whisking Bubbles

I really wanted a station where little hands could easily control their “bubbles.” I found this idea of whisking bubbles. Super easy to recreate if you need to refill the station. Surprisingly, this was also a big hit with the older kids.

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Station 5: Free For All

I ended up creating our own bubble solution for the free for all. I figured I would get more solution than buying from the store. My research also indicated that making your own bubble solution=stronger bubbles. The big key with making your bubble solution is allowing it to sit overnight at the bare minimum.

The kids were able to make bubbles using their own hands, try out random utensils to make different bubbles, and make giant bubbles. I had a super awesome volunteer who made these wands for me. We were able to save 98% of them.

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