Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping

Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping
by Melanie Watt

I had the wonderful opportunity to read Melanie Watt's new book Scaredy Squirrel Goes to Camp today. I have to say like all of her books, Ms. Watt captures your attention from the first page when the reader is warned to "check your zipper before reading this book." Scaredy Squirrels is always prepared and when it comes to camping he has all of his bases covered, down to the oatmeal for the three bears he may come across in the forest.

Young lovers of Scaredy Squirrel will love this new adventure in the woods. There are great maps, charts, and instructions to read throughout. It is not just a story book to be read, but a wonderful opportunity to share how to read each of this informational text.

I highly recommend this new addition to the fun and always entertaining collection of Scaredy Squirrel titles.

Making and Playing with Play Dough

During Family Night @ the Library on Thursday, April 18th, we had some messy fun. We made Skin Therapy Play Dough (Thanks to Bethany for posting this recipe to her blog). Ms. Marge found the recipe on Pinterest and knew it would be a great activity for Family Night. I think all of the children would agree. They had a great time. Here is the recipe for the play dough. I only did 1/4 of the recipe during Family Night so the children could mix everything in the zip baggies. When you make the full recipe you will have a lot more to play with at home.

Here are some of the photos I posted to Instagram during the evening. All of the pictures will be in an album titled "4/18 - Making and Playing with Play Dough".

Mosaic Photo Frames

During Family Night @ the Library on Thursday, April 11th, the children and their parents made a mosaic photo frame. The children could choose a background (either black or white) and then the create their own design around the frame using the colored squares. Some of the children chose to apply the patterning skills they worked with during last week's Family Night - Playing with Patterns to create their design. Others made a design with some of their favorite colors. Mrs. Betts took pictures using her iPad and then printed directly from the iPad to the color printer in the library (she was giddy all evening because of the new app which allowed her to print from her iPad - Print N Share). The children had fun creating their photo frames and loved having their pictures taken with the finished product!

You can see more photos from this evening, go to the Kinkeade Library Instagram site, or the Kinkeade ECS Facebook page. I had to add a story to this blog post. One of my regular Family Night @ the Library friends was asked if he wanted to have his picture taken for the frame project while he was in the library looking for books to check out. He replied, "No, I want to check out my books first!" I was so happy by this comment, I had to take a picture of him getting his books checked out. It helps us to remember we have to take care of our priorities first. I am so please this friend has made books and reading a priority in his young life.

Playing with Patterns

During Family Night @ the Library the children and their parents had fun create their own patterns and playing pattern games.

Creating patterns with large colorful shapes.

Creating a unique pattern and then recording it on a pattern train.

Everyone loves the iPad. Playing the Patterns Game.

Easter Activities

During Family Night @ the Library we had fun with activities centered Easter. The children had fun graphing colorful jelly beans and locating the tops and bottoms of eggs to match cards. Each child also got to take home a copy of The Easter Egg Hunt and an activity packet to work on over the long holiday weekend.