Catch the Possibilities

I've written before about Flannel Friday and what it means to me. Being the only person who does youth programming at my library is often lonely and isolated feeling, especially because I'm a person who likes to brainstorm ideas collaboratively. I am so thankful for communities on Twitter, Flannel Friday, Storytime Underground, Thrive Thursday... (the list goes on) for filling that gap for me.

I had so much fun at the first Parachute Play program I held last fall that I decided to do another one before the next sessions of Little Learners begin. Here's a great example of the best laid plans...

Yesterday after storytime, I charged both the bluetooth speaker I use, and my iPad so they would be juiced and ready to go for the program. The speaker was ready, but somehow my iPad managed to drain itself overnight.

Fortunately, many of the songs I had planned could be sung a capella. I was nervous about being able to be heard over the shaking of the 'chute and squeals of glee, but some of the caregivers piped up to help me as I was waiting for the iPad to charge enough to turn on while plugged in.

So here's what I had planned (and how I fixed it!)

1. If You're Happy and You Know It-- Stand up next to the parachute. The parachute rests on the ground for the first two verses. Clap your hands / Stamp your feet / Lift it high / Shake the 'chute.

(3). Ring Around the Rosie by Caspar Babypants from Sing Along! (Sang a capella 3 times while I was fishing out the power adapter) -- Standing. Walk in a circle and "all fall down."

(2). Alphabet Song by Johnny Bregar from Stomp Yer Feet! (Sang a capella) -- Standing. Shake the 'chute.

(7). Row Row Row Your Boat by Old Town School of Folk Music from Songs For Wiggleworms (Sang a capella-- did twice at normal tempo, once s--l--o--w, and twice fast) --Sitting. "Row" with the parachute, pulling and pushing.

(5). The Snow is Dancing by François-Joël Thiollier from Debussy: Clair de Lune and Other Piano Favorites -- Standing. Pour cotton balls into the middle of the 'chute, make a blizzard by shaking them around. Repeat.

4. Five Little Monkeys by Go Fish from Party Like a Preschooler (Sang a cappella) -- Standing. Toss the monkey puppets onto the parachute and make them jump.

6. Hoki Hoki/Nga Waka by Georgiana Stewart from A World of Parachute Play -- Sitting. Pretend to drum on the parachute.

(10). Jingle Bells and STOP by Carole Stephens from Season Sings (YAY the iPad is finally working!) -- Sitting (I was worried about metal jingle bells flying everywhere if the shaking were not somewhat contained). Listen to the song; shake until it says STOP!

(8). Hot Poppin' Popcorn by The Wiggles from Hot Poppin' Popcorn -- Standing. I cleared off the monkeys, snowballs, and jingle bells and tossed down some crumpled paper "popcorn." Shake.

(12). Angels in the Snow by Georgiana Stewart from Toes Up, Toes Down -- Laying. Lay down on the 'chute. Swish your arms and legs as directed. (note: despite the title, there's no mention of angels in the spoken directions).

(9). Skater's Waltz by Georgiana Stewart from A World of Parachute Play -- Standing. Take off your shoes/boots and glide around on the 'chute like ice skaters do.

(11). Shaky Shaky by The Wiggles from Yummy Yummy -- Standing. Shake the 'chute, fast and slow.

13. Jump Jump by Joanie Leeds from I'm a Rock Star -- Standing. Jump and shake.

*The numbers represent the order I would have done things if the iPad incident had not happened, so that's why things are often out of order.

Does your library weed on a schedule? Specifically in the youth services area where we care for so many collections? (at last count, I think I have 31 separate collection codes that fall under my jurisdiction!) One of my process improvement goals for 2014 is to get myself on a schedule for weeding. I love to weed, so it's not that the collections have been neglected. In fact, all the children and teen collections have had several, thorough goings through since I took over almost 4 years ago. But now I'd like to get on a systematic schedule that allows me to make my way through the collections in an organized fashion on a regular basis.

Lately, most of the weeding I've been doing has been driven by areas too full to shelve recent returns or collection reorganization projects. That kind of "emergency," situation-based weeding will always take place, but is not the kind of model I'd like to sustain as everyday business.

I've looked through the revised CREW manual, and tried some web searches, and while lots of helpful information on how and what to weed is out there, I'm not finding what I'm looking for.

So, readers, do any of you work for libraries or systems or departments that have weeding schedules? Have you made your own, formal or informal, schedule? How do you approach your collections to make sure you are covering everything in a timely fashion? Do you aim to hit every collection once a year, or less frequently? Please share your wisdom! If you have any documents to share, email them to amy [at] catchthepossibilities.com

Thanks for sharing in this learning and growth opportunity!

Little ones have a hard time staying up until midnight, but why should they miss out on all the fun? I threw a 45-minute party to countdown to noon. I created a fun dance party playlist with a winter/new year twist. And for the pièce de résistance: I made my own glitter ball. Yup. Note: this undertaking is not for the faint-of-crafty-heart. There will be glitter everywhere. For days.


To make your own glitter ball you need a beach ball (or paper lantern). Water down some good old school glue, and with a sponge brush, coat a small area of the ball. Holding the ball over a box, sprinkle liberally with glitter. Repeat until ball is covered to desired glitter level (or until you are just done with glitter... trust me). Let dry.

The glitter ball was the star of the show. I dug out a spool of ribbon from the craft stash and tied one end through the loop on the plug. I looped the string over a hook on the ceiling like a pulley. As it became noon, I got everyone's attention and we practiced counting down from ten and jumping up as we screamed "happy new year!" Then we did it again, except this time, I lowered the ball as we counted down. I don't know who was more excited: the kids or the adults.

And that was basically it. Making the glitter ball was a ~45 minute process, but if you are lucky enough to already have a shiny ball at your disposal, the program planning is really just making a playlist and gathering your materials. I had 40 people show up, which for a first-run program at my library is a great turnout.

Here's the playlist I put together:
I set out egg shakers, bells, rainboshakers, and ribbons for kids to explore and play with at their own pace.

Most of the content in this storytime came from Melissa, at Mel's Desk. Thanks!

Sing: Hey Hey How Do You Do

Rhyme: Open Shut Them

Book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.

Guessing Game: Little Bird, Are You in the Green Tree?






Rhyme: 5 Little Leaves (with inflatable leaves... sadly discontinued)
     5 little leaves in the tall tall tree
     As bright and pretty as they can be
     Along came the wind
     Blowing all around
     And one bright leaf
     Fell to the ground

     Four little leaves...

Book: Max's Ride by Rosemary Wells








Flannel Rhyme: Blue is the Sky
     Blue is the sky
     Yellow is the sun
     Silver are the stars
     When the day is done
     Orange is the leaf
     Brown is the tree
     Red is the apple
     For you and me

Parachute Play: Gently play with the chute, then get out the leaves (fake ones I found at the dollar store) and make the leaves dance. Invite children to sit on the chute one by one if they'd like to be tossed with the leaves.

Fingerplay: This is Big Big Big
     This is big big big (Hold arms out to side, gradually getting bigger)
     This is small small small (Move hands closer together, gradually getting smaller)
     This is short short short (Hold hands parallel to floor with palms facing each other)
     This is tall tall tall (Reach one hand above head)
     This is fast fast fast (Circle fists quickly)
     This is slow slow slow (Circle fists slowly)
     This is yes yes yes (Nod)
     This is no no no (Shake head)

Sing: I'm a Book Baby

Sing: Hey Hey How Do You Do

Rhyme: Open Shut Them

Book: Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

Flannel Song: 5 Clean and Squeaky Pigs (Tune: 5 Green and Speckled Frogs)
     5 pigs so squeaky clean,
     Cleanest pigs you've ever seen.
     Wanted to go outside and play [shout: IN THE MUD!]
     1 jumped into the mud,
     Landed with a great big THUD! [clap or slap leg]
     Now there are 4 pigs squeaky clean [oink oink]



Book: Trashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman

Action Song: This is the Way (Tune: Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush)
     This is the way we wash our arms (pretend to do with washcloths)
     Wash our arms, wash our arms.
     This is the way we wash our arms
     When we're in the bathtub.
     [Also wash your legs, tummies, heads....]

Bubbles: Splish Splash by Bobby Darin

Sing: 10 Little Bubbles (Tune: Michael Finnegan)
1 little, 2 little, 3 little bubbles
4 little, 5 little, 6 little bubbles
7 little, 8 little, 9 little bubbles
10 little bubbles go POP! POP! POP! (clap)
 (count down from 10)

Book: Splish-Splash by Nicola Smee

Fingerplay: This is Big Big Big
     This is big big big (Hold arms out to side, gradually getting bigger)
     This is small small small (Move hands closer together, gradually getting smaller)
     This is short short short (Hold hands parallel to floor with palms facing each other)
     This is tall tall tall (Reach one hand above head)
     This is fast fast fast (Circle fists quickly)
     This is slow slow slow (Circle fists slowly)
     This is yes yes yes (Nod)
     This is no no no (Shake head)

Sing: I'm a Book Baby

Sing: Hey, Hey How Do You Do

Rhyme: Open Shut Them

Book: Barnyard Banter by Denise Fleming

Song: When Ducks Get Up in the Morning
I put up different animals on a flannelboard and we sang about them.




Bounce: A Farmer Went Trotting
     A farmer went trotting (bounce baby on lap, facing you)
     Upon his gray mare
     With his daughter behind him
     So rosy and fair
     Then a duck cried out, "Quack!" (lift baby up)
     And they all tumbled down (plop baby back into your lap)
     Off of the horse
     And upside down! (tip baby gently backwards)

Book: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle

Fingerplay: This is Big Big Big
     This is big big big (Hold arms out to side, gradually getting bigger)
     This is small small small (Move hands closer together, gradually getting smaller)
     This is short short short (Hold hands parallel to floor with palms facing each other)
     This is tall tall tall (Reach one hand above head)
     This is fast fast fast (Circle fists quickly)
     This is slow slow slow (Circle fists slowly)
     This is yes yes yes (Nod)
     This is no no no (Shake head)

Book: I Went Walking by Sue Williams

Rhyme: As I Went Walking to Town One Day... (with puppets)
     As I went walking to town one day (bounce in laps)
     Oh it was a beautiful day (make big sun with hands)
     As I went walking to town one day
     I met a cow along the way.
     And what do you think that cow did say? (Moooo!)
    (Repeat with other animals)

Sing: I'm a Book Baby