Children

Let It Snow: Indoor Snow Day

Dec 20, 2024

Free

🆓

Byline

Carol Teeters, Children’s Services Director, Putnam County Library, Cookeville, Tenn.

It's a snow day! Inside the library...? Fill a room with shredded paper and be prepared for indoor "snowball" fights — cleanup required.

Advanced Planning

Our goal for this program was simply to provide an opportunity for children and teens to be active and have a memorable sensory experience in the library.

This program was planned approximately two months in advance. Those involved in the planning were the Children's Director and the two full-time children's clerks. We asked a local shredding company to provide the paper. However, they declined and suggested that we contact our local recycling center. I had to visit the recycling center to discuss exactly what we needed, including how we wanted the paper shredded and how much paper would be required. The staff made about 50 "snowballs" from yarn.

Marketing

The event was promoted on our monthly calendar, library website, digital marquee in front of the library, library Facebook and Instagram pages, and shared on other local social media pages. I also send out our monthly calendar to all school librarians in our county. On the day of the program, a short promotional video was recorded and shared on the library's social media pages. We were fairly successful in getting the information out to the public.

Budgeting

There was no cost to this program.

Day-of-event Activity

On the day of the event, we removed the rug and most of the furniture from the program room. We retained the soft bench seating for parents and also used the benches to block the column, which was wrapped with bubble wrap. The shredded paper was emptied onto the floor. We went over the paper with a shop magnet to remove any staples or other metal that might be mixed into it.

Waivers were printed for parents to sign. This was completed by the three full-time staff in the Children's Department. While there were no challenges, we were all somewhat surprised by the amount of dust generated by the paper. This necessitated making parents aware that if there were allergies or asthma issues, they might not want their child to participate.

Program Execution

This program was conducted from 10 - 11 a.m. on a Wednesday and was attended by 47 participants. The feedback was nothing short of amazing. The participants and their parents all stayed the entire hour. Many parents posted it to their social media. The library posted it on our social media, and our staff posted it on their personal pages.

The response has been overwhelming, and all comments have been positive. Parents and children are already asking if we will conduct this program again. The goal of engaging with families and providing a program during which children are active and imaginative was definitely achieved. We plan to offer this program again this winter with an added after-school time for older children.

Advice

If you make yarn snowballs, use a color. Make sure that you get enough paper to cover the floor at least three to four inches deep.

Be prepared for the cleanup. We scooped all the paper back into large leaf bags and then swept and vacuumed, but then allowed a couple of hours for dust to settle before we wiped everything down.

Don't be afraid to do the fun things. It's what the kids remember and why they return for other programs.