Summer vacation is right around the corner. I have wonderful childhood memories of long road trips to the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park and big city museum adventures. The car rides were long but filled with stories, songs, fun conversations and music. We had piles of books, games, and snacks. But my favorite activity was listening to stories on our portable tape recorder. With the book in our lap and the cassette tape on, we would listen to the same story over and over again. (My cousin liked to turn the cassette tape off when the wolf or any scary creature started to talk.)
But it’s not the seventies and children now have iPods, iPads, iPhones, android phones, portable video games, Nintendo, tablets, Nook, Kindle, and other digital devices. Most children are reading, sleeping, playing video games, listening to music or watching movies in the car.
Here are two great activities to get the whole family involved:
Stories: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin
Possible items to uses: Pete the Cat books, books on cd, Pete the Cat Read and Play on the Nook, Pete the Cat app (game and music only), musical instruments, paper and crayons, download Pete activities and songs.
Sing the songs, read the story and listen to the music. Add up the strawberries on the Nook interactive book and squish blueberries. Add colors to Pete’s shoes and make up your own story of what Pete stepped in. Oh No! Pete stepped in a huge pile of peach ice cream! What color were his shoes? Peach! Bring musical instruments along to play and sing with! Make your own Pete the Cat shoe shakers.
Supplies needed: White and blue construction paper, toilet paper rolls, glue sticks, crayons, and beans to make the shaker noise.
Art Museums: If you are visiting a museum this summer, make sure to check out the museum online and download the free app. Print out family activities for the car and talk about the exhibit before you go. Read your favorite art book like Art Dog by Thacher Hurd. Draw different objects from each floor of the museum. Create your own driveway art show. Display your art work around the car when you get home!
Most museums have their permanent collections on an app and most of them are free. Take a virtual audio tour! Read and listen! A few great museum app examples: MoMa, Museum of Modern Art, Oakland Museum of California, The Getty, and The American Museum of Natural History. You can also purchase the MoMA Art Lab app to create your own masterpiece.
For more favorite apps, art apps, and museum road trip library ideas, please email me at paigeb@dpls.us
Also, please join our ALSC Digital Content Task Force group on ALA Connect. Share ideas! Add to discussions!
Paige Bentley-Flannery, Children’s/Community Librarian/Deschutes Public Library