Story Time Crafts - Dyed Pasta!

Miss Sue and I have both jumped into the world of dyed pasta for various children's programs, and it is always a hit! Dying pasta is inexpensive, easy to do, and really spices up those boring old macaroni necklaces!

Let's break it down - You'll need:
Pasta - any variety (not cooked)
Rubbing alcohol
Food coloring
Large plastic storage bags (like Ziploc)
A liquid measuring cup
A 1 cup measuring cup

These directions come from Real Life at Home, and are very easy to follow!

Pasta and measuring cup at the ready!

 

Either gel or liquid food coloring works just fine.

Step 1: Pour 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol into your gallon bag, and add several drops of food coloring.

Swish the bag around to mix well.

 

Step 2: Measure 1 to 2 cups of dry pasta and add to the bag.

(I used 1 cup for the elbows because they're smaller, and 2 cups for the rigatoni)



Swish some more to cover the pasta in dye!

 

Step 3: Zip up the bag (push the extra air out first) and lay it flat. Try to make sure the pasta is in a single layer.

I laid my bags in foil-lined pans, just in case any liquid leaked out (None did!).

 



Step 4: Flip the bags over about every half hour or so until they've reached the desired color. This is not an exact science - the world will not end if you don't flip them at exactly the 30 minute mark. (Or, say, if you happen to be a very sleepy, pregnant librarian who fell asleep after only flipping them once, and realized it the next morning. Whoops!)

 

 I made 6 different colors in about 30 minutes. Pink, orange, and yellow all dyed the fastest (within 2 to 3 hours), while blue and purple took quite a while longer (purple takes FOREVER).  Green was somewhere in the middle.

 

Step 5: Line those same pans with paper towels or newspaper, and dump your finished pasta onto them to dry. They will probably need to dry overnight.

 

Miss Sue and I each did this at home on our own time, but you could definitely do it at the library if you have somewhere to lay the bags where no one will mess with them. It sound messy but it really isn't at all.  You could even recruit some teen volunteers to help. It's kind of a fun science experiment!

 

 Think of all you can do with that glorious dyed pasta!

 

Rainbow necklaces!

This is great for practicing fine motor skills with preschoolers and Kindergartners!

 



It's also WONDERFUL for sensory play with babies and toddlers! Just make sure they don't eat it :o)

 

Now don't you want to go dye some pasta before your next story time? Try it out and let us know how it goes!

 

-Miss Kristen



Preschool and Toddler Dance Party!

The Library Village decided to dance away our winter blues recently with a Preschool and Toddler Dance Party!  Forty little ones joined us for an hour of dancing and fun!  Can someone say bubble machine?  Oh yes.  We had one of those too. 

We decided to use all prerecorded music for our dance party.  This way we could burn all of the songs to one cd and not have to fumble around between songs.  (By the way, this worked great because we were able to keep the little ones attention throughout the entire program)  We also knew we wanted to use instruments and other fun props so we grouped songs based on the prop with a sprinkling of free dancing in between.  This really helped keep the program moving and allowed us the opportunity to pass out and collect the various props. 

The dance party was divided into two sections, each thirty minutes long.  The first thirty minutes we all danced together to our playlist.  The kids loved all the songs (with the exception of The Fox song.. What!?)  And the ending?  It was magical.  We watched all the little ones sing their hearts out to Let It Go while throwing their scarves into the air.  Wow. 

After all that dancing, we slowed it down for the second half.  We supplied a small snack and juice box to our tiny dancers and offered them the opportunity to make a craft.  We chose paper cup maracas.  They were super simple to make.  Take two paper cups (we had different colored paper cups), fill with some macaroni, and tape together with decorative duct tape.  We also had stickers to add more pizzazz.  Remember I mentioned a bubble machine?  It was the hit of the party!  Poor Miss Kristen was surrounded by little ones, holding the bubble machine, until the cd finally ended.
 

After it was all over, we really couldn't think of how it could've gone any better!  And that is an awesome feeling to have after a program! We are already planning another for in the summer! 

The Playlist:

Clap Your Hands - cd: They Might Be Giants - No!
Shake Your Sillies Out - cd: Raffi - More Singable songs
The Milkshake Song - cd: Songs for Wiggleworms (shakers)
Sugar Ant - cd: Caspar Babypants - Hot Dog! (shakers)
The Freeze - cd: Greg and Steve - Kids in Motion
Bean Bag Rock - cd: Bean Bag Activities and Coordination Skills (bean bags)
Hot Dog! - cd: They Might Be Giants - Here Come the 123s (bean bags)
The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) - cd: Ylvis
We are the Dinosaurs - cd: The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band (marching)
List of Dances - cd: Jim Gill Makes It Noisy in Boise, Idaho
Thanks A Lot - cd: Raffi - baby Beluga (rainbow scarves)
Let It Go - cd: Frozen Deluxe Edition Soundtrack (rainbow scarves)

Imagination Station - Let's Play "Post Office!"

 

Our most popular Imagination Station thus far has been, hands-down, our Post Office! Let's take a look at some of our activities:

 

The Post Office (puppet theatre):



 

The Mail Bag and Envelopes:

Made of felt, obviously!

Do you recognize these from a Preschool Story Time post? We didn't want to ruin Miss Sue's set, so we made a second mail bag and envelopes to be played with.

 

Postcards and Stamps:

Although kids loved this activity, it did, unfortunately mean a lot of paper waste.

Don't forget to mail your postcards in the Mail Box!:

A hidden flap in the bottom so we could retrieve the mail! Miss Kristie's creation!

 

And who wouldn't want to drive the Mail Truck??:



Duct tape straps made this so easy to slip on and "drive" around!
(This truck has since been recycled into a school bus!)

Miscellaneous:

We had foam visors, which once said "Mail" in foam letters, but they kept falling off!
Miss Kristie also made those little mail boxes, which we placed around the room.  That way kids could deliver the mail around the neighborhood!

 

This was probably our messiest Imagination Station so far, because we were constantly cleaning up the papers and stamps, emptying the envelopes, rounding up all of the pieces and straightening up.  But it was also the most fun! Kids really enjoyed driving the truck, wearing the visors and mail bag, and leaving us mail in the big mail box!

 

Looking back, it's clear that children were able to practice at least four of the ECRR2 practices:

Reading - "mail" related books were on display

Writing - they wrote on postcards

Talking - that puppet theatre got A LOT of use

Playing - just look at all of these cool things to play with!

 

Feel free to borrow any of these ideas - we borrowed some of them, ourselves! And share with us any great ideas you've had for imaginative play!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Imagination Station! Let's Play "Library"!

Back in the spring, Miss Kristie and I attended a workshop about pretend play in the library, and we were inspired to create an Imagination Station in our own branch!

We worked hard to get it set up for the beginning of the summer reading program, and our theme for the month of June was "Let's play 'Library'!"  Miss Kristie made some super cute and eye-catching sign out of felt!

We commandeered a table in the children's area for our library "desk" and made a pretend computer out of a cardboard box. Our IT guys were kind enough to send us a box of old tech equipment, such as a wireless mouse and wireless keyboard, and we had a broken scanner that I cut the wire off of and covered the end in duct tape.

Every librarian needs a pair of glasses, obviously.

I made a sign for the kids, with ideas of what they could do at the 'library,' such as sort and check out books, make a library card, and recommend books for others.  I also made a sign for the parents, discussing why pretend play is so critical for developing young minds, and how it helps their emotional and social development.

Miss Kristie found these great pretend book spines from Deceptively Educational, which we printed off, laminated, and added call numbers and author's names. Our idea was that children could practice putting them in order, but these are often the books that they 'scan' and 'check out'!

Kristie also made some pretend library cards. They are just printed on cardstock so kids can take them or leave them.  We have some crayons and pencils sitting out so they can practice writing their names.

These are slips for book recommendations that children can leave in their favorite books.  Mostly, they just like to write their names on them. :o)

Here is our supervisor, Miss Ann, having some fun playing with some kids :o)

And this sweet girl is working hard on the computer!

People were a little hesitant at first, but the Imagination Station has really taken off! It has been wonderful to see children playing and pretending, especially when the adults join in! This is something we are eager to keep doing, and we're just about ready to change it out for the month of July.  Next month's play station will be a Veterinarian's office! Check back for details!