It's no secret that we love our weekly Afternoon Crafts at the library! We've been missing all the fun, creative, sometimes-messy kids' crafts each week. So here's our next Virtual Craft Day video, all about making your own play dough! This craft can be completed using ingredients you probably already have right in your kitchen!
Here's a written recipe for our play dough!
(Be sure to check out the video at the bottom of this post for the full instructions!)
*Remember, you can always cut the recipe in half to make smaller portions!
Let us know if you try making your own play dough! We'd love to hear all about it!
It's no secret that we love our weekly Afternoon Crafts at the library! We've been missing all the fun, creative, sometimes-messy kids' crafts each week. So we're trying our first Virtual Craft Day! This is a simple paper flower, and all you need is tissue paper, scissors, and pipe cleaners. (Even the pipe cleaners are optional!)
Here's a quick photo tutorial for how to make them!
Or scroll to the end of this post for a quick How To Video to get you started.
As always, we'd love to see your finished flowers! Share them in the comments or on our Facebook page! See the video below for the full Virtual Craft Day tutorial!
It's a Doodle Day around here today! Follow our little tutorial to doodle a dinosaur! Don't forget to share what you've created with us. (Pause the video on each step if you want to follow along, or scroll down for a step-by-step photo tutorial.)
Here's a photo breakdown of everything from the video! Remember to share your doodles with us if you've followed along. We love to see what everyone has created!
We know that times are tough, and many people are looking for ways to construct their own face masks for personal safety or donations. Luckily, there are tons of great tutorials online that can help even the most novice of sewers put together a protective face mask, most of which use scrap materials you may already have at home. Here are some of our favorites, including the ones we used to make the masks pictured above:
from The Health Ministry of Cuba via YouTube (For those who prefer instructions in Spanish!)
Please remember to check CDC and HCP guidelines for masks! If you intend to donate face masks to people or organizations in need, be sure to find out exactly what their looking for and what works best for them. We hope you're staying safe and stay healthy!
Listen to Miss Marlene's story time read-along with a Story Scene twist!
We miss story time at the library, but we can still share our favorite stories while we're at home! We hope our Story Scenes can be one way to encourage kids to get creative, have fun, and use their imagination. Our perfectly-imperfect story can be recreated at home with each kid's own brand of story time magic.
Our video features The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. A big, wonderful "thank you!" to Macmillan and all the publishers and authors who are allowing libraries and schools to share their works at this time
Make It Yourself!
Tell your favorite stories (or a new one you made up yourself) with anything you have at home! Use your stuffed animals for characters, act it all out in your living room, draw a comic-style storyboard, or make your own puppets. We used super simple items to make our Gruffalo story scene. Here's how we did it:
1. Print and cut out the characters in your story.
We selected images for each of our main characters using Axel Scheffler's original Gruffalo artwork. Then we printed them and cut them all out.
2. Attach the characters to sticks to make them move more easily.
We used regular kitchen skewers, but you could also use popsicle sticks, thinly-rolled paper tubes, or repurposed straws. Make sure they're long enough to move your characters around the scene.
3. Create your backdrop.
With construction paper and markers, we made trees, rocks, and grass for the Gruffalo's forest. We taped all our props and pieces to a big, blue poster board to make our background. Add anything you think will help show the audience where your characters are and what they're doing.
4. Set the stage.
Did you know, our Gruffalo video was filmed on Miss Marlene's kitchen counter? We laid our poster board flat on the counter and filmed it from above so you can see it. Yours could be anywhere! A blank wall, your bedroom floor, or even outside in the yard.
5. Tell your story!
Miss Marlene read this story right from the pages of one of her favorite books. You can pick any story you love, write your own script, or make it up as you go. Use your imagination and the story possibilities will be endless.
We hope you enjoy our very first virtual story time! Please stay tuned for more videos from Wallington's public library. Have fun sharing all your wonderful stories! Our Story Scenes For Story Time Episode One is posted below.
The sometimes silly, always wonderful, and incredibly prolific children's book author and illustrator Mo Willems is offering a series of "Lunch Doodles" for kids on YouTube! We know so many of our young patrons love art, specifically drawing, and we encourage them to take a look at Mr. Willems's lessons!
The best part of the Lunch Doodle series is a first-hand, inside peak at the author's process. He talks about piecing together his collages, crafting his best-loved characters, and finding inspiration in unlikely places. And, of course, he doodles -- Knuffle Bunny, Gerald, Pigeon, and some new, surprise guests! He takes kids through the writing, drawing, and construction of his most loved stories and, of course, encourages them to make up their own!
We'd love to know if your kids have tried following some of Mo Willems's lessons and what they thought. We tried it out, too, as you can see here on the left!
If drawing isn't your thing, Mo Willems offers other activities, games, videos, etc, on his very fun website, Pigeon Presents.
