All the fun of a summer camp crammed into one fast-paced fun session! Come along and sing silly songs, play games and make a camp craft. Wear your favourite summer hat and flip flops as we enter the wacky wilderness of Camp Chuckles!
At the Central Library:
Thursday, July 24th at 2:00 p.m.
Room Limit of 80
At the Petticoat Creek Branch:
Wednesday, July 23rd at 10:00 a.m.
Room Limit of 40
At the Claremont Branch:
Tuesday, July 22nd at 6:30 p.m
Friday July 4th, at the Junior Puppeteer Show, Mr. Sam Solomon, from the Canadian Progress Club Durham South, presented a $500 donation to Library Board Member Mrs. Shirley Van Steen. This money was donated to the Pickering Public Library to be used for the Summer Reading Club.
I came across an interesting idea today while reading one of my favourite blogs,The Crafty Crow.
The idea is for children's activity bags. You fill plastic ziplock bags with activities for your child to do while in the car, on the plane or where ever you are when the need to occupy your child arises. Each bag holds one complete activity. The activities could just be a fun way to pass time but they often also help your child learn something or practice a skill. The author of The Crafty Crow has 13 examples of ones she has made to use with her toddler but the possibilities are endless.
These activity bags seem like they would be a great way for kids to practice the six pre-literacy skills that we teach here in our storytimes. Here is one of my ideas for Letter Knowledge, aimed at the preschool set:
Take pictures that start with the letter A, B and C. Like - Apple, Ant, Ball, Bug, Cat, Crow. Include containers labeled with A, B and C. The child then has to divide the pictures into the containers based on what letter they start with.
This would help children connect the written letters to the sound they make in words. Knowing the names and sounds of letters helps children figure out how to say written words.
What ideas do you have for activity bags? Post your ideas in the comment section and I will post them.
Central Library
Friday, July 4th at 11:00 a.m.
Room limit of 80
Join us Friday morning for a series of puppet shows presented by our very own Junior Puppeteers!
The 2008 Theme is Laugh Out Loud @ your Library™
Laugh Out Loud @your Library!
Join the TD Summer Reading Club 2008
The Pickering Public Library’s Summer Reading Club offers fun and free activities that encourage children ages 0-12 to read and continue developing their literacy skills throughout the summer.
This year’s theme, Laugh Out Loud, features tons of jokes, riddles and tongue-twisters to keep children laughing all summer long. Children will discover hilarious stories, puzzles and games and get a Laugh out Loud poster and stickers, as well as weekly prizes, to take home.
Children may register in person anytime between Saturday, June 21st and Saturday, August 23rd at any Pickering Public Library branch. Registrants will get the chance to enter once a week to win weekly prize draws.
Last year, this popular program attracted over 1,500 children, who read over 4000 books throughout the summer.
Check out all of our Laugh out Loud Summer activities for kids!
It's that time of the year again. School is almost over and everyone is racing to finish up those final projects, and assignments. If you need help finding information on your topic you should stop by the library. It's our job to help people find information. But maybe you don't have time to come in to the library. That's ok, you can get lots of information from home by using this website.
If you are in JK to Grade 6 the Kids Homework Help page has online encyclopedias, databases and homework help websites. They contain information on all kinds of different things. So whatever your project is on, you are sure to find something to help you.
For those of you in Grade 7 or higher you should check out our Research page. It has online encyclopedias, journals, newspapers and databases on a wide variety of subjects.
Spring is in full swing and that means Mother’s Day is on the way! Hey kids, don’t forget to let your mom, grandma, aunt or other special mother-figure in your life how important they are to you and how much you love them. Handmade cards and gifts are always more personal and special. Take it from a mom who knows.
Need some ideas? The library has a lot of great arts and crafts books.
My very own Mother’s Day by Robin West
All new crafts for Mother’s and Father’s Day by Kathy Ross
Make your own cool cards by Peg Blanchette
Gifts kids can make by Sheila McGraw
Here’s one of my favourite crafts for Mother's Day. Put your handprint along with the following poem on construction paper for something Mom's are sure to treasure:
Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls.
But every day I'm growing -
I'll be grown some day
And all those tiny handprints
Will surely fade away.
So here's a little handprint
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small.
This poem was found on the following website:DLTK
There are also instructions there for cards and other Mother’s day crafts you can make.
Don’t forget to take time out and share a story together! Here’s a few of my favourite stories featuring moms:
Love you forever by Robert Munsch
What moms can’t do by Douglas Wood
What Grandmas can’t do by Douglas Wood
The Mommy book by Todd Parr
The Grandma book by Todd Parr
31 uses for a Mom by Harriet Ziefert
My monster mama loves me so by Laura Leuck
Turnip Soup by Lynne Born Myers
~Written by Linda McDade, Children's Services staff member
Cinco de Mayo is a National holiday in Mexico celebrated on the 5th of May. It began as a celebration for the military victory over the French forces of Napoleon III, at the Battle of Puebla, but has since began to be celebrated outside of Mexico as more of a celebration of Mexican culture.
Check out some of our great books on Mexico to learn more about this vibrant culture. Or maybe you want to learn Spanish? If so we have what you need. Do you already speak Spanish? If you do did you know we have a collection of Spanish language books?
Books to check out:
Bibliography:
Garcia, Homer D. C. "Cinco de Mayo." World Book Online Reference Center. 2008. 2 May 2008 .
At the Central Library:
Saturday, May 3rd at 10:00 a.m. Limit of 40
At the Petticoat Creek Branch:
Saturday, May 3rd at 2:00 p.m. Limit of 30
Spring is here, let’s go fishing! Enjoy great stories and make your own fish to take home. Registration is required.
1970 was the first year Earth Day was celebrated. It was all started because of a growing concern for the environment. Massive rallies were held all over the United States. By 1990 141 countries were celebrating Earth Day, including Canada.
Today all over our Country people held special programs to learn about how people can help the environment. Here at the Central Public Library we had a local author, Margaret Cecconet, come in and speak to students about her new book, What Ever Happened to Apple?
What Ever Happened to Apple? is a picture book about the journey of an apple from the Macintosh tree he grew on to the garbage bin he was thrown in. There he wishes he was in a compost bin instead of "somewhere dark and gloomy." This is a great story that helps children understand the importance of composting and is a must read for anyone learning about the environment.