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Flower Petal Suncatchers

Tray of fresh flowers

Inspired by a project in Jean Van't Hul's book "The Artful Parent: Simple Ways to Fill Your Family's Life with Art and Creativity," children created colorful suncatchers with natural materials, clear contact paper and paper plates.

This is a simple and creative project for children and adults to complete together. When offered in person at the library, participants visited the library's garden to pick flowers, leaves and other natural items to use in their project. 

Grandparent's Day

Granddaughter and grandmother reading together

Children aged 0 through pre-K were invited to bring the special “grand” in their life — Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Papa, Opa and/or Oma — to this celebration of two generations. The program included crafts, Bingo, interactive fitness activities and a photo booth, as well as a story time with the children's librarian and sing-along. 

Unicorn Party

A girl on a horse decorated as a unicorn

The Unicorn Party was planned in response to the growing fandom associated with unicorns, particularly among children, tweens and teens. The program lasted 90 minutes and comprised several unicorn-based activities, unicorn snacks, a unicorn book display and a "live unicorn" (i.e. decorated pony).

Creative Engagement with Youth

Continuous Line Monster art project

This six-session pilot program encourages creativity — and interest in library services — for elementary- and middle school-aged children through open-ended art projects such as Watercolor Resist Paintings and Continuous Line Monsters.

We offered this program in collaboration with the organization Phoenix Family, which provided us with access to their existing after-school program and art supplies.

Sherlock Night

Sherlock Night publicity piece

Fans of Sherlock Holmes, particularly those that love the BBC "Sherlock" series, were invited to enjoy an author Q&A, crafts and an escape room. Texas author Alan J. Porter presented his experiences writing Sherlock Holmes stories, then patrons participated in activities. Crafts included Perler bead character magnets, adult coloring, and decorating mugs and 221B Baker Street notebooks.

Daebak, It’s K-Pop

The goal of this program was to create a safe place for teens and tweens who are interested in K-Pop (Korean pop music). The program had a dance station, snack station, craft station and language lesson station. We bought snacks from a international supermarket and used our library's partnership with a local dance studio and language center to help staff the event.

Curbside Kids' Activity Kits

Introducing Curbside Kid's Activity Kits

The Kids' Activity Kit program will help our library provide activities and promote learning while we are closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are currently six different categories of kits that have been cataloged and circulated in our community.

Each kit comes in a freezer or AV bag and is labeled with items that the patron can keep as well as items that need to be returned. There are craft kits available as well as kits that promote fine motor and important skills for early childhood education.

To-Go Crafts

Photo of a person painting in watercolor.

When the library closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I knew that I wanted to interact with patrons in ways that aren’t completely digital or Zoom-based. When the library is open, I organize craft classes, which are especially popular during the summer months. I decided to continue these classes from home.

I needed a way to get supplies to patrons. These "to-go bags" contain all the craft materials they might not have at home, allowing for our library to continue teaching and connecting with them. It’s the closest we can get to our summer in-person programming during this time.

Tile Art: A Creative Program for All Ages

A program participant holds up their finished tile art project

The L.P. Fisher Public Library in Woodstock, New Brunswick, likes to periodically hold Family Art Nights. It is a process-oriented, intergenerational program that allows people of all ages, whether they think of themselves as “artistic” or not, to try their hand at something creative. There is no defined outcome, so people can experiment and enjoy the process of play, something that is very good for relieving stress.

Twiddlemuffs for Charity

Completed Twiddlemuffs

The Crafting for Charity group has existed at the Morton Grove Public Library since 2014. They meet once a month to work on their current project, choosing each project based on needs in the community.

Most recently the group undertook a project to create 75 Twiddlemuffs — knitted or crocheted hand muffs with various items (buttons, beads, etc.) attached — which serve the dual purpose of keeping hands warm while giving the fidgeting hands of many Alzheimer’s patients something to play with.

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