Omaha Public Library Kids Program Schedule 

 

 

Omaha Public Library Kids Program Schedule 

 

 

	Materials: White construction paper, popsicle or craft sticks, pennies or buttons for markers, scissors, crayons or Sharpie™ pen What to do: Cut a 12" x 12" square out of the white paper. Make a home spot in one corner and a path with arrows around the perimeter. Use your creativity to customize your game board or "yut-pan". Draw an 'X' on one side of each stick. This indicates the front of the stick. The four sticks as a group are called a "yut". Each yut combination stands for one of five animals; pig, dog, lamb. cow, horse. Each player grabs the four sticks (yut) and takes a turn throwing them, either on end or flat. The markers are moved along the arrows according to how the yut lands: • One front and three back: The child shouts "Dough!", meaning pig, and moves one space. • Two front and two back: The child shouts "Gae!" (gi-eee), meaning dog, and move two spaces. • Three fronts and one back: The child shouts "Gur!", meaning lamb, and moves three spaces. • Four fronts: The child shouts "Yut!", meaning cow, moves four spaces and throws again. • Four backs: The child shouts "Moh!", meaning horse, moves five spaces and throws again. The winner is the first to return home. This is a traditional game that Korean children play on New Year's Day. Materials: Orange, black and green paper; scissors, glue What to do: Help your child cut an oval from the orange paper. Next, cut triangles, circles, squares and rectangles from the black paper. Now cut rectangles of various sizes from the green paper. Identify the shapes as you help your child cut them out. Design the pumpkin, putting the black shapes on the orange oval. Again, identify the shapes as your child chooses each one. Pick a stem from the green rectangles. Glue all pieces down when you are satisfied with the look of your pumpkin. Materials: Paper in a variety of colors, pen or pencil, scissors, tape, muffins. What to do: Cut out a variety of geometric shapes from the paper. Tape the shapes to various locations around the house. Have your child identify each shape. Write a clue on each shape that will lead your child to the next location and new shape. The end of the hunt should be at the cool oven, which has the square shape attached to it. See the above illustration for an example.  Place a batch of muffins inside the oven beforehand, as this ties in with the book, The Secret Birthday Message by Eric Carle. Related Books: The Secret Birthday Message by Eric Carle, The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Birthday by Stan and Jan Berenstain, Happy Birthday, Dear Duck by Eve Bunting, Happy Birthday, Jesse Bear! by Nancy White Carlstrom. Match the Mitten Materials: Paper in a variety of colors, magazine pages, scissors, glue, 8" x 10" (approximately) paperboard, cardboard or heavy construction paper. What to do: Cut out sets of mittens from paper or magazine pages. Each set should look identical. Glue one mitten from each set to one side of the cardboard. On the other side, make a pocket for the matching mitten. (This is accomplished by cutting a rectangle from paper, tape or glue down the right side, flex the paper, tape or glue the bottom, then secure the left side.) Additional games may be created using geometric shapes or different clothing items. Related Books: The Mitten by Jan Brett, The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel Rainbow Fish Materials: Paper plates, scissors, stapler, crayons, buttons, glue. What to do: Help your child cut out a large "V" from the side of a paper plate. Help your child staple the "V" shape, pointed side in, to the opposite side of the same paper plate. Cut a medium-sized "V" (this will be the dorsal fin) and a long thin "V" (this will be the pectoral fin) from an extra paper plate. Staple the dorsal fin to the top of the fish shape and the pectoral fin (point side up) to the bottom. Use bright-colored crayons to make the artwork resemble a tropical fish. See any book from the Rainbow Fish series for examples. Glue a button on the fish for an eye. If available, glue glitter on the fish to achieve the look of the characters in the Rainbow Fish stories. Related Books: Any from the Rainbow Fish series by Marcus Pfister. Apples- Observations of Science & Nature Materials: Red, green and yellow apples, graph paper or a grid drawn on plain paper, markers, knife, zipper closure bag. What to do: Look at a variety of apples with your child and ask to predict which ones they think will taste best. Chart the answers on a bar graph labeled "Predictions". Have your child take a small bite from each. Draw another bar graph showing how well they like each, labeling it "Preferences". Then talk about oxidation and what might be the possible purpose of the skin of the apple. Explain that when an apple is peeled it turns brown and soft. This is due to oxygen combining with the flesh of the apple. This doesn't happen when the peel is on the apple. Set up an experiment by placing an unpeeled apple, half an apple and another half of an apple in a plastic bag. Observe the results. Is there any difference using another variety? Shaving Cream Art Materials: Wax paper or aluminum foil, shaving cream, towels or washcloths. What to do: Spread sheets of wax paper or foil on table. Spray on shaving cream and spread into a thin, even layer. (It's OK to just spray the shaving cream right on the table, but the foil or wax paper makes clean up easier.) Suggest to your children these are clouds and have them turn them into shapes of familiar objects using their hands. For inspiration, look at the Featured Book page in the Pre-K section of this website or read Eric Carle's Little Cloud available at your local library or bookstore. Pizza Faces Materials: English muffin (1/2 per child), paper plates, tomato or pizza sauce and spoons, shredded cheese, pepperoni or hot dog slices, green pepper slices, olive slices, cookie sheet, oven. What to do: Give each child 1/2 of an English muffin slice on a paper plate. Help your child place three spoonfuls of sauce onto their English muffins. Let children sprinkle cheese on top of the sauce. Help children choose different toppings to create a face. Feel free to substitute toppings from the list above to suit your taste. Adults only, place the pizza faces on a cookie sheet and bake at 350º until the cheese melts. Make sure pizza is cool enough and eat while you read related books to the children. Related books: Pizza Party by Grace Maccaroni, Curious George and the Pizza by Margaret Rey. Fall Collage Materials:glue, paper What to do:Take a walk through your yard or nearby park and collect fall-themed objects such as leaves (different color and sizes), acorns, etc. Glue the leaves and other objects to a piece of paper to create a Fall Collage. If you want, you can finish the collage by framing it using the popsicle stick frame technique. Popsicle Stick Frames Materials:Craft sticks or popsicle sticks, markers, glue. What to do:Help each child write his name on a popsicle stick. Give out three more sticks and glue all four together to make a frame. After glue dries, color the frame with the  markers. Help your child glue a photograph or drawing to the back of the frame. Allow the glue to dry. Trim edges if necessary. Buliding   Materials: Craft sticks or popsicle sticks, glue, paper. Description: Help your child form geometric shapes using different numbers of sticks. Examples are three for a triangle, four for a square, six for a rectangle. Glue the sticks to  paper (construction paper is preferable). Then identify objects in and around your house that are also geometric shapes. For example, most refrigerators are rectangular.