Birdbrains

Since February is National Feed the Birds Month, that is when we have one of my favorite preschool storytime themes: Birds.  There are so many fun books available for the storytime!  As I was preparing for this storytime, I searched my Pinterest board of bird themed crafts.  That is where I saw this adorable project based on the art of Charley Harper.  The project was completed by early elementary children, so I knew that if I wanted to do this for my preschoolers, I would have to find to adapt it.  So, I pulled out some scrap paper, a pencil, and a sharpie and started drawing.

This is the finished product, pasted on a sky blue background. Each of the pieces has been cut so the children just need to glue them to the background and then draw their own embellishments.

Click here for the printable PDF.

Don't worry.  I decided to make it a little easier on those who want to do this craft.  Here are the various pieces. 

Click here for the printable PDF.

Of course, I can't tell you about a preschool storytime theme and not share my storytime plan (click link for PDF). 

DIY Locker Notebooks

Yesterday was the last DIY Friday program of the summer.  As some schools are back in session (already!?!), I don’t anticipate a high participation number.  That is something I will find out next week as the boxes are returned to me.

The final drop-in project was to make a locker notebook with tear-off sheets.  I learned this fun and easy way of making a notepad from our other teen librarian.  I’m not sure, but she might have gotten the idea from Pinterest.

A PDF of the instruction sheet I sent out with the craft supplies can be downloaded here.
To view the file, you will need a version of Adobe Acrobat Reader (get it free here). 

Make Your Own Locker Notebook

 

1. Choose your notebook style.

2. Paperclip the paper together at the top.  Make sure the sheets of paper are stacked neatly at the top.

 

3. Put a thick layer of glue on the top of the paper stack.

 

4.  Add a magnet to the back of the notepad.

5.  When the glue has dried, remove paperclip. 

 

Found it on Pinterest - Bread Tag Monsters

One of the perks at working for a mid-sized library system is that there are a lot of people to hit up for odd craft supplies.  A couple months ago I sent out an all-staff email asking for plastic bread tags.  I wanted at least 55.  I ended up with about 140 (and counting...I'm still collecting to do this craft again).

I wanted to try this craft I saw on Pinterest, but with a little twist.  Since the program that craft was for is one that is passive and not constantly watched by a staff member, I didn't want to worry about the mess of paint.  So, instead the teens could use Sharpie markers to design their own monster.

Here is the pic from the blog that originally showed the craft:

 

And here are the samples I made to send to the branches:

 

The program is called DIY Friday.  Teens and tweens can drop in at any of our library branches on every other Friday and do a craft project.