As a certified process art fanatic, I’m always coming across ideas that are a little too messy for out carpeted meeting room. When summer rolls around, I delight in moving outdoors, where I can splash and splatter more freely. Messy play is sensory play, making it great for a wide age range. To save on cleanup time, I roll all the messy fun into one action-packed celebration — a Messtival! Today, I’m sharing three years’ worth of trial and error, finding activities that are engaging, messy, and still easy to clean up after.
Tag: library programming
Pop In Play: The Inside Scoop on Ice Cream Fun
Play is powerful. Last month, I shared how Pop In Play encourages open-ended, anytime play-based learning. In May 2025, we hosted our first session with our popular ice cream theme. Here’s the inside scoop on how we planned and hosted this tasty program.
Too Many Toys: Recovering Library Programming and Play Spaces
Have you ever looked around the library and wondered where all the toys came from? Or who was going to clean them up? Did it make you want to cry? Or maybe kick and scream and have a bit of tantrum? I’ve been there, and I’m guessing you have, too. Whether you’re looking at a public floor play space or programming toys, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Supporting play in libraries often means giving children and caregivers access to many toys and activities. Open-ended toys provide more learning opportunities, but often means more loose parts. If you’re like me, you’ve probably seen something that would be just perfect for your program or space and purchased it. But when does it become too many toys? Can you recover? Let me tell you what my library did.
More Than a Story: Engaging Young Learners In-Person and Virtually
Reaching children during their first three years is critical to brain development. Connecting with caregivers is vital for engagement and successful habits. As we find our programs constantly evolving, how do we adapt? Now more than ever, libraries need intentional strategies to engage young learners.
Engaging Families and Technology with Byte-Sized Programming
Ready to introduce new technology, but uncertain about patron interest? Why not try what we call “byte-sized programming”? It introduces a variety of tech in a station-based environment. The more stations, the more entry points you have to engage your families with tech. You can introduce a variety of topics that appeal to all generations. Plus, these programs are easily customized to your space, patron interests, and budget, and are held on a come-and-go basis.
STEAM Programming: Coding with Character(s)
Some of you may remember my first post for ALSC, published just a few months ago, entitled An Old-School Spin on STEAM Programming. It’s focus was an at-that-time recent program a colleague and I had run at 53rd Street, where school-age children were presented with a series of Choose Your Own Adventure-style challenges. Each week followed a different theme (pirates, space, etc.), and participants were asked to complete a series of STEAM projects, from pattern matching to coding, to aid them in their quests. A dear friend of mine (who is one of the best librarians I know) took this concept to the next level by creating a Super Mario-themed adventure that far surpassed the original programming. (No, I’m not putting myself down. Her programming is just so beyond what I could have created, it’s unbelievable.) To get an idea of how this program came together, I sent some interview…
Branding the Library
My staff and I love doing programming around geeky fandoms and pop culture. Whatever our kids and teens are talking about, we love to program around it. We have so much fun with our fandom programs and they are always well attended. But it makes me wonder what we can do to make sure all library programs have the same draw. When we put a character name or popular brand to something, people come. Pete the Cat costume character event? 600 people. Star Wars Reads Day? 200 people. Harry Potter Trivia Event? 75 people. Doc McStuffins Stuffie Clinic? 120 people. Halloween Storytime and Trick-or-Treat Parade in the Library-366 people. My average program attendance this summer? 31. Yes, 31 is still a great number and attendance. Yes these big name programs are fun and bring people into the library. But looking at what we plan for these programs compared to what we plan for…
Sharing iDías : Diverse Programming at Your Library
One great initiative that the Public Awareness Committee works to promote is El día de los niños/ El día de los libros (Children’s Day/ Book Day), which was founded in 1996 by Latino children’s author Pat Mora. Día is a special way for libraries to emphasize the importance of advocating literacy to children of all backgrounds while also encouraging families and children to connect with multicultural books, cultures and languages. Exposure to diversity on a regular basis is very important for children and the public library is poised as the perfect space to provide diverse encounters. You can read more about why nurturing cultural diversity in your library is important by reading Jamie Campbell Naidoo’s wonderful ALSC white paper The Importance of Diversity in Library Programs and Material Collections for Children. At the recent ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas, Naidoo and Debby Gold of the Cuyahoga County Public Library…