American Girl: Kit Kittredge (March 2015)

Our March American Girl was Kit Kittredge, and I immediately wanted to focus on the Great Depression aspect of Kit’s life. I made sure to get some music for the entire program.

I once again did a Margaret Mildred Kittredge powerpoint. I gave a brief description about how the Great Depression started, how children “helped” during this time period, recycling, and past time amusements.

Our first activity was a Great Depression Store. I set-up a table with seven bowls (two of them not pictured) of broken crayons. I explained to the girls that people could not afford to buy new things during Kit’s period and had to reuse many items. If they did have money, people would have to weigh what was most essential to their families. I applied this idea to our own store. We were going to make new crayons out of old crayons.

I priced the blue, green, red, orange, and yellow bowls at one penny per crayon piece. My purple/pink and black/brown bowls were two pennies for one crayon piece. Each girl received 10 pennies and had to figure out how they wanted to spend their money. I also only allowed the girls to line up first. I explained that many parents would forgo necessities to allow their children to survive. The girls LOVED this activity.

After all the girls received their pieces, I had the parents/guardians line up. Many of these adults gave their pieces to their children in the spirit of the Great Depression.

We then had all the girls arrange their crayon pieces in a tin foil cup and placed it in our oven. There was definitely some cool color mixtures happening. My helper then placed all these tin foil cups in the freezer to speed up the process. Our final result was some neat crayons:

Our next project was kites! I explained how kites were a simple and very inexpensive amusement when no one has money. We had newspapers, straws, tape, yarn, crepe paper, and glue to create our own newspaper kites for the dolls. Some of the girls scoured for images they could incorporate in their design while others simple drew their own designs.

By the end of the program, I had girls running around with their kites. They actually do fly!

Overall, this might have been one of my favorite American Girl programs. The girls and adults seemed to really enjoy it.

American Girl: Addy Walker (February 2015)

I had a hard time picking a girl for February until one of my favorite patrons requested that I do Addy Walker for February. I knew immediately that I wanted the kids to make their own play-dough cherry pie as Addy had cherry pie for her birthday. I woke up at 6am on Saturday and made several batches of homemade play-dough. I found this super easy recipe. I do recommend that you add the salt directly to the hot water. It made the play-dough less grainy. I made several batches for the “dough” and a smaller batch for the “cherries.” Once the girls arrived for the actual program, I did my Addy Walker powerpoint. I talked briefly about what plantation Addy’s lived on (the author created Addy’s character based on the Stagville Plantation, how she picked her birthday, her chores, and where she escaped to with her mother. I then talked about how Addy had cherry pie for birthday and how she might have played with a Thaumatrope. Our first task was for the girls to make their own cherry pie out of the play-dough. I bought a several muffin tins. I specifically choose the tins that came six to one tin. I wanted a size that the girls could easily manage and that would be size appropriate for their dolls. These are super easy to cut. You just have to make sure to fold the down tin so there are no sharp edges. We lined out tins with the dough, rolled the cherries, and then made the topping. Plastic knives work great to make the strips.

Some of the girls made designs. Unfortunately, I was running around and was unable to get pictures. After our cherry pies, we went on to make our own thaumatropes. I found my instructions in Martha’s Stewart’s Favorite Crafts for Kids. I had a few examples of thaumatropes on my powerpoint. I showed two youtube videos. One of them was of vintage thaumatropes and the other was of new thaumatropes. Beware that many kids will copy the examples. However many of them of turned out great. Here is one example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKmTmGRN7EA

American Girl: Kirsten Larson (January 2015)

Kirsten Larson might be retired, but she made a reappearance as our very first American Girl for our series. To get the public excited I made a mini display at our American Girl table with Kirsten’s books.

For my actual program, I started with a powerpoint about Kirsten Larson. I kept it fairly short, as all of the kids are in school. I talked about where Kirsten was born and why her family moved. I then very briefly talked about why they moved to Minnesota and what Kirsten’s family would have sought in this new land. This included what kind of chores Kirsten was expected to do and what she might have to do for fun.

I explained that Kirsten most likely did quilting as a fun activity. I did not want to hand out needles to little kids, so I found an alternative at Playdough to Plato. Scrapbook paper! I had a volunteer die-cut a bunch of one inch squares for me. I then made a simple quilt template for the kids. I then let the kids and their adults loose.

I gave a good thirty to forty minutes for the kids to design and glue their quilt together. Once someone was done with their quilt, I came around with different colored card stock for their border. I did not do any funky colors, as I wanted the quilts to be more authentic.

There were some really cool quilts!

After we were done making our quilts. We switched gears to the chores that Kirsten would have completed. One of these was making butter! I explained that she probably churned butter, but we were making butter with our shaking skills. The kids had a BLAST with this activity.

Once we were done making butter I gave everyone bread to eat with their homemade butter. I actually some of the kids licking butter out of the jars!

This was a very successfully program. I actually had several parents/guardians ask me for the recipe to make the butter, as they wanted to do it at home!

American Girl Doll Lending Program

I am very excited to announce that it has been almost two months since my American Girl Doll program went live! This has been a dream program of mine since I started in the library world, and my current boss made it a reality when she gave me the thumbs up to purchase all the dolls. We were able to buy 7 of the 8 Beforever Historical Dolls. Addy was backordered in December and I had to use 2014’s budget to get the dolls. We made a mental note to purchase her in 2015. I was like a kid on Christmas Day when all the dolls arrived.

On December 20, 2014, at my Samantha’s Victorian Christmas Tea Party, we officially announced that all the dolls will be available for checkout. I was immediately bombarded by little girls asking when and how they could get the dolls. Unfortunately, it took me a good three weeks before they were ready.

It took me 2 1/5 full work days to get these dolls ready for circulation. I created a detailed binder with LOTS of pictures. I itemized everything that came each doll, pictures of each doll, and pictures of what came in their carrying cases. This has come in very handy.
Here is a picture of Kit with everything she comes with when she is checked out.

I made sure to include a journal with each doll. The inside of every journal includes how to take care of their dolls and the policies for taking them home.

My last step was to create a place where children and adults could find the dolls. I made this handy dandy bucket. Every doll comes with her own paddle. A patron simply takes the paddle to our circulation desk and they receive their doll.

I can officially say this service is a HUGE SUCCESS! The dolls are NEVER in and we have constant phone calls from adults inquiring if the dolls are available. I even had one woman run into the library without a coat in 17 degree weather. She saw that two dolls were available and she didn’t want to miss her chance to get one.

I do have a few quick suggestions for libraries interested in starting their own American Girl Doll Lending Program:

Ease in slowly with dolls. I felt a bit overwhelmed trying to handle and check all 7 dolls. I almost wish that I would have started with 2 and then introduced another 2 this month and so forth. However, I then wouldn’t have all my rocking stats!
Realize that dolls with curls are going to be the bane of your existence. I spend at least 30 minutes to an hour redoing Caroline’s curls.
Really examine the dolls. I thought that a patron had cut one of the doll’s hair until we realized that the shorter hair (it was in between the longer strands) was too perfectly cut to be done by a child. My assistant director called her sister-in-law who confirmed that her doll also had the same thing.

Feel free to contact me if you would like more information!

Waddlers–Body Awareness

Opening Song

Let’s All Clap

Let’s all clap cause _____ is here,
____ is here, _____ is here
Let’s all clap cause _____ is here.
____ is here today!
(insert child’s name

Traditional Nursery Rhyme

Humpty Dumpty

Nursery Rhyme with Body Movement

This Little Piggy

This little piggy went to the market. (shake one arm)
This little piggy stayed home. (shake other arm)
This little piggy had roast beef. (shake one leg)
This little piggy had none. (shake other leg)
And this little piggy ran wee, wee, wee,
all the way home. (tickle belly)

Book

Where is Baby’s Yummy Tummy? by Karen Katz

Action Rhymes

Where, Oh Where, Are Baby’s Fingers

Where, oh where, are baby’s fingers?
Where, oh where, are baby’s toes?
Where’s the baby’s bellybutton?
Round and Round it goes!

Where, oh where, are baby’s ears?
Where, oh where, is baby’s nose?
Where’s the baby’s bellybutton?
Round and round it goes!

Roly-Poly

Roly-poly, roly-poly,
up-up-up. (lift baby up)
Roly-poly, roly-poly,
down-down-down. (lift baby down)
Roly-poly, roly-poly,
out-out-out. (swing baby outwards)
Roly-poly, roly-poly,
in-in-in. (hug baby to self)
Source: Baby Rhyming Time by Linda L. Ernst

Popcorn

Popcorn, popcorn (bounce gently)
Sittin’ in the pot
Shake it, shake it (wiggle baby)
POP! POP! POP! (bounce high 3 times)
Source:Perry Public Library

Repeat Rhymes and Songs

Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands

Clap, clap, clap your hands
Clap them now with me
Clap your hands, let me see
Clap your hands with me

Additional Verses
Beep, beep, beep your nose
Touch, touch, touch your shoulders
Tap, tap, tap your knees
Shake, shake, shake your feet

This is Big, Big, Big

This is big big big.
This is small small small.
This is short short short.

This is tall tall tall.
This is fast fast fast.
This is slow slow slow.
This is yes yes yes.
This is no no no.

Music

Wiggles and Giggles by Baby Gym

Closing Song

We Wave Goodbye Like This
Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.

Playtime

Walkers–Body Awareness

Opening Song

We Clap and Sing Hello

We clap and sing hello,
We clap and sing hello,
With our friends at storytime,
We clap and sing hello!

We wave and sing hello,
We wave and sing hello,
With our friends at storytime,
We wave and sing hello!

We stomp and sing hello,
We stomp and sing hello,
With our friends at storytime,
We stomp and sing hello!

Traditional Nursery Rhyme

Humpty Dumpty

Nursery Rhyme with Body Movement

This Little Piggy

Book

Where is Baby’s Belly Button? by Karen Katz

Rhymes

Where, Oh Where, Are Baby’s Fingers

Where, oh where, are baby’s fingers?
Where, oh where, are baby’s toes?
Where’s the baby’s bellybutton?
Round and Round it goes!

Where, oh where, are baby’s ears?
Where, oh where, is baby’s nose?
Where’s the baby’s bellybutton?
Round and round it goes!

Repeat Rhymes and Songs

Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands

Clap, clap, clap your hands
Clap them now with me
Clap your hands, let me see
Clap your hands with me

Additional Verses
Beep, beep, beep your nose
Touch, touch, touch your shoulders
Tap, tap, tap your knees
Shake, shake, shake your feet

This is Big, Big, Big

This is big big big.
This is small small small.
This is short short short.

This is tall tall tall.
This is fast fast fast.
This is slow slow slow.
This is yes yes yes.
This is no no no.

The ABCs

Sensory

Color, Color up and Down

Color, color up and down,
Color, color all around.
Color, color knees and toes,
Color, color on your nose.
Color, color on your tummy,
Color, color on your mommy.

We used scarves with this rhyme.

Action Songs

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes from Toddler Gym
Shake Your Sillies Out by The Wiggles

Closing Song

We Clap Goodbye Like This

We clap goodbye like this,
We clap goodbye like this,
With our friends at storytime,
We clap goodbye like this!

We wave goodbye like this,
We wave goodbye like this,
With our friends at storytime,
We wave goodbye like this!

We stomp goodbye like this,
We stomp goodbye like this,
With our friends at storytime,
We stomp goodbye like this!

Playtime

American Girl: Samantha’s Victorian Christmas Tea Party

I am very excited too announce that I am starting an American Girl series at my library. I have done an American Girl Program at my previous library, so this program is not unknown territory for me. However, my new library is starting an American Girl Doll circulating collection. We are only missing Addy, as she was backordered when we purchased all the dolls. We are hoping to add her with the new year.

I started prepping for this program back in September. We officially announced the program with an American Doll display. Staff members generously loaned us their dolls and accessories to jazz up the cases.

I also placed a sign in the case advertising the program.

My age limit for this program is Kindergarten through 5th grade. I figure that most children in Kindergarten have some experience with sitting nicely. I also encouraged everyone to register. A child did not have to have an American Girl doll to come.

I originally began with 25 spots, but I quickly expanded to 38 when we hit max registration by September. I do allow, even encourage, parents and guardians to attend with their children. I see this program as a bonding opportunity.

The Big Day: Saturday, December 20

Food

I was very fortunate that my coworker and I were frugal with our budget this year. This allowed me to purchase bakery cookies instead of store-bought cookies. I would recommend that you talk with your baker and ask how large the cookies will be. I planned for about 5 cookies per person not realizing that the cookies were HUGE. Library staff enjoyed several platters after the program.

Drinks

Since our library does not own real tea cups, yet, I settled for Chinet Crystal Plastic Cups. It adds a tiny bit more fanciness to the event instead of red solo cups. However, I was not comfortable with serving hot beverages in plastic cups. I opted for:

Country Time Pink Lemonade
Arizona Half & Half
Arizona Sweet Tea
Decaf Coffee (we had coffee cups)

To compensate for the lack of real hot tea, I made little party favor bags for all my guests. I placed one celestial peppermint tea bag and a candy cane into a party bag.

Table Settings

I went with blue and silver table cloths alternating every other table. I had a volunteer die-cut me three big snowflakes for each table and four tiny blue snowflakes to surround the big snowflakes. I then sprinkled shimmery confetti on top of the snowflakes to add a glittery element.

For each place setting I had a plate, cup, napkin, goody bag and name card. I only did name cards for the girls, as I did not have all the adult names.

Background Music

I love to play music in the background of my American Girl events. I feel that people start feeling more relaxed and enjoy the event even more. I was fortunate enough to locate the cd, The American Girls Christmas–Music of Christmas Past.

Crafts

I chose three crafts for this event. The first one was calling cards. I explained to the crowd how calling cards were used during Samantha’s time. I then had everyone make their own calling card. I gave about 10 minutes for this craft. After everyone was done I walked around and collected the cards on a platter.

The second craft was silhouettes. I set this station up in the hallway to keep the flow moving. We started this craft while everyone was eating.

I strongly recommend that you have larger pieces of black paper to do this craft. This allows for the kids to do the whole head instead of just their faces. I have done larger pieces of paper before. Regardless, both adults and kids had fun with this one.

Our final craft was making our own fans. You can find this craft in Samantha’s Craft Book: A Peek at Crafts from the Past with Projects You Can Make Today.

The fans can be a headache the first time you make them. Here are tidbits to make them go easier:

Buy wrapping paper with grid-lines. This makes the folding ten times easier. Target’s wrapping paper normally has grid-lines.
Four grid boxes high and the whole width of the wrapping makes the perfect fan. It’s not too long or too short.
Use glue when attaching the paper to the tongue depressors and provide rubber bands to keep the paper down.

The Final Surprise

We gave away a Samantha! I was SUPER excited for this part. I crossed every single toe and finger that the child who won did not have a doll. My wish was granted! The girl who won did not have an American Girl Doll and she was very gracious with her winning. Her mom might have been more shocked about the doll than the girl.

Overall Thoughts

This program went really really well. I had seven volunteers to help me with everything. I really could not have done without them. They made the program run smoothly. When the guests were arriving, I would have my volunteers escort them to their assigned tables and take their coats. After everyone was comfortable, my volunteers had specific tables where they would refill drinks, clean away trash, and bring out craft materials.

Overall, everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. I actually had several parents and little girls who came up and thanked me for the program. I am glad to report that my registration for my January-March programs are already starting to fill up!

Thanksgiving Week–Waddlers

Opening Song

Let’s All Clap

Let’s all clap cause _____ is here,
____ is here, _____ is here
Let’s all clap cause _____ is here.
____ is here today!
(insert child’s name)

Rhymes

Acka Backa

Acka backa soda cracker, acka back boo!
Aacka backa soda cracker, I love you (Hug Child)
Aacka backa soda cracker, acka back boo!
Aacka backa soda cracker, up goes you!
Aacka backa soda cracker, acka back boo!
Ackka backa soda cracker, I love you! (hug child)

The Itsy-Bitsy Spider

The itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the water spout.
(baby on tummy, walk/tickle up baby’s back)

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
(slide fingers down baby’s back from head to toes)

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
(rub baby’s back)

And the itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.
(baby on tummy, walk/tickle fingers up baby’s back)

Pumpkin Bounce

Here’s a little pumpkin bouncing on the vine (bounce baby gently)
Roll it left (sway to one side)
And roll it right (sway to the other side).
And bounce it down the line. (bounce)

Repeat with larger movements
Here’s a medium pumpkin bouncing on the vine….
Here’s a great big pumpkin bouncing on a vine…
Source:Baby Storytime Magic: Active Early Literacy through Boucnes, Rhymes, Tickles and More by Kathy Macmillan & Chrstine Kirker

Roly-Poly

Families

Some families are large. (stretch baby’s arms out)
Some families are small. (bring baby’s hands close together)
But I love my family
Best of all! (hug baby)
Source: Preschool Express

Book

You Are My Little Pumpkin Pie by Amy E. Sklansky

Sensory

Shakers and Maracas!

Closing Goodbye Song

We Wave Goodbye Like This
Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.

Playtime

Observations

My babies were wiggle worms today. I’m blaming the snow that is coming in the afternoon. We kept it short and had a longer playtime.

Construction–Waddlers

Opening Song

Let’s All Clap

Let’s all clap cause _____ is here,
____ is here, _____ is here
Let’s all clap cause _____ is here.
____ is here today!
(insert child’s name)

Rhymes

This Little Piggy

London Bridge
London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.

Build it up with sticks and stones,
Sticks and stones, sticks and stones,
Build it up with sticks and stones,
My fair lady.

Dump Truck

Dump truck, dump truck. (Begin to bounce baby gently)
Bumping down the road.
Spilling gravel as you travel
With your heavy load.
Bumpety bumpety bump!
Dumpety dumpety dump!
Dump Truck, dump truck, DUMP! (Gently tip baby down)
Source: Step into Storytime by Saroj Nadkarni Ghoting and Kathy Fling Klatt

Hammer, Hammer

Hammer, hammer, hammer (bang fists together)
hammer, hammer, hammer.
Shake, shake, shake (shake hands)
Clap, Clap, Clap. (clap hands)
And roll…
Source: Step into Storytime by Saroj Nadkarni Ghoting and Kathy Fling Klatt

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.

Book

Zoom, Zoom, Baby! by Karen Katz

Closing Goodbye Book

Ten Tiny Tickles by Karen Katz

Closing Goodbye Song

We Wave Goodbye Like This
Tune: “Farmer in the Dell”

We wave goodbye like this.
We wave goodbye like this.
We clap our hands for all our friends.
We wave goodbye like this.

Playtime

Observations

I was a little out of sorts with this storytime. Thankfully, my moms are super awesome and rolled with it. We just cut out sensory time and did a longer playtime.

Elephant and Piggie Storytime!

I LOVE Elephant and Piggie!!! I really wanted to do a special storytime for my community. I even tried to get the Piggie and Elephant costumes, but the costumes were not available for my Friday. However, I decided to still rock it.

Outfit

My super awesome t-shirt. REPRESENTING!

Crafts

Elephant and Piggie paperbag puppets. Templates are found at Three Little Birds.

This was an leftover craft from one of my coworker’s storytimes. It actually worked perfectly for this storytime. I think it was slightly more popular than the paperbag puppets.

Photo Opportunities

We have an awesome volunteer who can free hand images. She was able to create our own photo op from a pinterest picture that I found. I would still be trying to outline the first character.

I made the pig nose and elephant nose out of cardboard. The glasses are out of pipe cleaners.

Line-Up

Opening

If you’re an elephant and you know it, shake your ears…
If you’re an elephant and you know it, blow your nose…
If you’re a pig and you know it, say oink, oink…
If you’re a pig and you know it, wiggle your tail…

First Book

First Activity

Form banana, form form banana. (Arms above head in banana shape.)
Form banana, form form banana.
Peel banana, peel, peel banana. (One arm down.)
Peel banana, peel, peel banana. (Other arm down.)
Go bananas! Go, go bananas! (Jump up and go bananas.)
Go bananas! Go, go bananas!

Form an orange, form, form an orange. (Lift arms above head.)
Form an orange, form, form an orange.
Peel an orange, peel, peel an orange. (Lower one arm.)
Peel an orange, peel, peel an orange. (Lower other arm.)
Squeeze an orange, squeeze, squeeze an orange. (Squeeze your body)
Squeeze an orange, squeeze, squeeze an orange.

Form potato, form, form potato. (Form potato by raising arms above head.)
Form potato, form, form potato.
Peel potato, peel, peel potato. (Lower one arm.)
Peel potato, peel, peel potato. (Lower other arm.)
Mash potato, mash, mash potato. (Stomp, jump on floor for these verses.)
Mash potato, mash, mash potato.

This is the video that I followed.

Second Book

I incorporated an activity while reading this book. I had props (map, bags, sunglasses, umbrella, and a pirate hat) that I would pull out during the story.

Third Book

Final Activity

Since Piggie and Elephant look at the stars, I thought it was only appropriate that we did something with stars. I gave each child two stars and then we sang “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” I then found music and we danced with our stars.

Observations

I would definitely do this storytime again. However, I would probably recommend preschool and older. I had some wee little ones in my storytime who had some serious wiggles. Regardless, this was a blast.