Gordon-Nash Kids

View the blog >

Past Blog Posts…

For our craft, we made paper bag caves for hibernating. They were filled with soft things to lay on and small drawings showing things the hibernating bear might like to have with him, like berries or a blanket. The outsides were colored or embellished with paper trees, cotton snow, and tissue or foam leaves and twigs.
One of the nice things about the project is that other critters can hibernate once the craft gets home, like small stuffed animals, superhero action figures, even Barbies!

December Events!

Thursday Storytime 10:45-11:45 – Stories and a craft
December 3rd. Hibernation
December 10th. Christmas Trees
December 17th. The Animal’s Christmas
December 24th. Christmas


STEM Saturday: “Gingerbread” Houses.
December 12th 10:45 – 11:45.
Please bring a bag of candy decorations to share with the group.


Saturday Storytime:  Gingerbread Boys, Men, & Pirates!
December 26th. 10:45-11:45
“Noon Year’s Eve” Celebration.
Thursday, December 31st. 10:45-noon.
Please bring a snack to share with the group.
If you would like to be added to our email list of events for children, please send your request to chunewell(dot)gnl(at)gmail(dot)com

STORYTIME SATURDAY

Storytime Saturday
Gingerbread Men, Boys, & Pirates!
Saturday, December 26th
10:45-11:45

STEM SATURDAY

STEM Saturday

“Gingerbread” Houses
Saturday, December 12th
10:45-11:45
Please bring candy decorations to share!

Storytime Saturday: Owls

For our Saturday Storytime, young patrons listened to several stories about owl, and we looked at photos of snowy owls and discussed some facts. Then we made our own snowy owl ornament from a pine cone. We deconstructed cotton balls, then pushed the stringy cotton in between the bracts of the pine cone. When we were finished, it looked like a snowy owl’s puffy body! We added some white feathers for wings, a pipe cleaner beak, and googly eyes to mimic an owl’s eyes. String for the top, then home to be added to the Christmas tree! Whoo-whoo!

 

Turkey Day!

Today’s was the last Storytime before Thanksgiving, so we spent our time listening to stories about food, friends, and turkeys! Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson was about a bear who shared a special meal with his animal friends. A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting was a funny story about the Moose family’s search for a turkey for dinner with their friends. Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper told about three good friends who always made soup the same way, and what happened one day when they didn’t!

Then, we made turkeys for Thanksgiving. A paper roll was his body, with googly eyes, a beak, a wattle, and a feather for his head. For the tail section, children used foam strips, paper, crepe paper, and/or oak leaves, all glued to a half paper plate. The two turkey parts were stapled together to make a stand-up turkey for the dinner table!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Researchers!

This week, several 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders from Sant Bani School visited the Gordon-Nash. They were researching various aspects of candy-making, and had questions about getting information. We learned a little about the Dewey Decimal System, why it’s in place at most libraries, and how the broad categories are broken down into more specific subcategories. Each student located a specific nonfiction book based on the Dewey call number on the book’s spine label. Together, we searched Gordon-Nash’sonline catalog of books, looking for ones about candy-making.

Then we checked Searchasaurus, a search engine for kids located on the State Library website. As we found pertinent magazine and newspaper articles the students wanted to save, we emailed them to their teacher, Selene. Now they can continue their research at school!

Thanks to Selene Gordon and the Sant Bani kids for visiting the Gordon-Nash Library. We hope you come back very soon.

Family Time

With the holidays coming up, I thought it might be a good time to focus on families at Storytime. We read four stories about families, starting with The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster. This is a story about a child at her grandparent’s house and the traditional things they do while visiting. Next we read Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor about Nancy, who tries to change her family from plain to fancy! Before we made our craft, we listened to The Family Book by Todd Parr, which told about families of all shapes and sizes!
The off we went to make our family drawings. Each child glued foam shapes to their papers, one for each member of their family. Crayons were used to embellish the shapes with heads, arms, and legs, and other things that the artists deemed necessary. A brown triangle was added to the top, to make the paper look like a house. A sign that read “My Family” was glued to the top of the work – or copied and written by some.
Sadly, I did not get a photo of a finished “house”. I was too busy watching in amazement! Wonderful families!

STEM Saturday: Marble Runs

What fun we had today at the library using found objects to make marble runs! We tried to make a marble travel from the top of a wall to the bottom by going through paper towel tubes, pool noodle pieces, paper cups, plastic pieces, funnels and lots more.

   

When our marble couldn’t follow the path we we’d created, we watched carefully to see where the problem was, then thought about adjustments we could make to that area of the marble run. Sometimes a little tweak worked, and sometimes a whole new design was necessary. Kids talked about the activity and explained what they were doing and why things did or did not work.

Kids watched carefully as their marbles made their way down the marble runs. When the marbles reached their destinations, people cheered! Sometimes the marbles moved so fast down the marble run that they spun around inside cups! Amazing!

What a fun STEM Saturday we had, predicting, measuring and concocting with kitchen and craft materials! First, we donned our safety glasses, Next, we made oobleck that oozed through our fingers, then magically became a solid when we squeezed it! The goopy slime we made stretched from high above our heads all the way down to the table. Ewwww – what slimey fun we had with these polymers!

         
Next, we made eruptions by pouring vinegar onto a cup of cornstarch. We used pipettes to control the amounts. Kool-aid mixed in made our experiments colorful and good-smelling! More vinegar made more bubbles! What a reaction!
Finally, we got creative by adding all sorts of liquids (and solids!) to our potions – soap, apple cider vinegar, even oil. Glitter made it sparkle, heart candy floated through it. Fun!
Even after you stir and stir and STIR, cornstarch, vinegar, and oil each make their own layer. Isn’t it a pretty potion?
Next STEM Saturday – November 7th at 10:45. We’ll be experimenting and having fun with marble runs!

We’re trying an experiment – a once a month Storytime on Saturday morning. Today was our first session – with six kids and their grown-ups! We read a few books about houses, then spent the rest of the time making very ornate paper bag houses. There were fringed shingles, mullioned windows, and front and back doors. And there was fun – lots and lots of fun!

Our next Saturday Storytime is October 31st – Halloween! Come and join us! Costumes optional!

Silly Squirrels

Squirrels were the theme for our last September Storytime. We read The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri, about a squirrel who was so busy getting ready for fall that he didn’t have time to do anything with his friends. In Ol’ Mama Squirrel by David Ezra Stein, a mother squirrel is determined to protect her babies. Lastly, we read Nuts to You! by Lois Ehlert, about a squirrel who tries to get inside a house.
For our craft, we made a paper bag squirrel with googly eyes holding a corregated cardboard acorn. He looks like he’s getting ready for winter!
storytime


Children’s Story Time on Thursdays 10:45 – 11:45 a.m.

Bring your kids to an entertaining event of story reading. Always a new book and a new story. Suitable for all ages but intended for pre and elementary school audience. A wide variety of books from the worldwide classics such as Cinderella to brand new books. After reading a book of the day, children get to have some fun craft time!

Art Club on 2nd and 4th Fridays

IMG_3151
IMG_3310
IMG_3302




More Community Helpers

As we finish up our morning Summer Reading Program session, we today read about people in a community who do not get much recognition for the things they do. Albert The Fix-it Man by Janet Lord told about a man who helped whenever anyone in his town need something repaired. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive The Bus by Mo Willems featured a bus driver. The Dumpster Diver by Janet S. Wong was about a man who would help kids in his neighborhood make inventions from recycled materials. Finally, A Sick Day for Amos Magee by Philip Stead was a story about a zookeeper who helped each of his animal friends in a special way.
For our craft, we made some of Amos McGee’s animals. We colored the animal(s) of our choice, then pasted them onto a big piece of paper. Some of us made our animals habitat in the background, and everyone chose to wrap yarn around the paper from top to bottom to make a cage for their zoo animals.

High-Flying Storytime!

Stories this week were all about flying! On the Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers told of a boy who found an airplane in his closet and flew it to the moon! In Bear Flies High by Michael Rosen, Bear’s friends take him to an amusement park so he can “fly”. Owlet’s First Flight by Mitra Modarressi shows what happens when a brave baby owl leaves the nest for the first time. Lastly, Flight School by Lita Judge tells the story of a persistent penguin who follows his dream to fly!
Next came rocket ships, made of paper shapes. Bodies, fins, and nose cones we all embellished with stickers, pompoms, and glitter glue. Tissue paper exhaust and flames made it look like it was soaring through space!
Many thanks to Brandie for overseeing this Storytime in my absence! It looks like it was out of this world!

Policemen & Firefighters

This week’s Storytime featured stories of policemen and firefighters. We read Firefighters! Speeding, Spraying, Saving! by Patricia Hubbell, about what happens when firefighters must quickly go to fight a fire. Going to the Firehouse by Mercer Mayer was about a little critter wanting to help out at firehouse. Sherman Crunchley by Laura Numeroff told about the city’s nicest police officer, and the problems that arose when he couldn’t say “no”. Finally, Peggy Rathmann’s award-winning Officer Buckle and Gloriatold the very funny story of a police officer and his canine helper.

For our craft, we put together a fire truck with wheels, a ladder, and a brave little firefighter. Some of us added lights and sirens!

Local Heroes: The New Hampton Fire Department

We had special community heroes visit us for tonight’s program! Kendall Hughes of the New Hampton Fire Department brought some of his crew to explain the work that firefighters do. He even brought some young Explorers who are training to become firefighters.

The firefighters showed us some of the books they had to study from as they learned how to do their important jobs. They brought lots of slides of firefighters at work, helping the community in many ways, and not just fighting fires. They passed around the thermal imaging camera and showed us how it is used to find a person in a smoke or fire filled room.

Did you know New Hampton Fire Department members were given the New Hampshire Hero Award in 2009? They brought their plaque and passed it around so we could read it.
Then the best part – the fire engine and the rescue truck! The firefighters showed us the equipment they use in both vehicles. The EMTs showed us the tools they use to monitor an injured person’s health. They let kids try on the air tank. We watched as Matt climbed into his fire-fighting gear. And they let us climb up on the engine and look around from up high.
 
 
Before we left for the night, Mr. Hughes and his team gave us fire hats, hard hats, and lots of safety information and activities to take home with us. Thank you to the members of the New Hampton Fire Department – true community heroes!

Brave Animals

At today’s Storytime, we read three stories about brave animals. Little Dog Lost by Monica Carnesi told the true story of Baltic, a small dog who was rescued from an ice floe in the Baltic Sea and became the mascot of a Polish research vessel. Peggy by Anna Walker was about a brave chicken who gets blown into a new adventure. Finally, everyone’s favorite, Rainbow Fish, took a brave chance to recover something lost and, in the process, made some new friends. Everyone loved Rainbow Fish  Discovers the Deep Sea by Marcus Pfister.

Today’s craft had nothing to do with bravery or with animals! We had fun making mobiles or wind chimes from found objects, like plastic cups, plastic lids, straws, beads, and old CDs. They were interesting to make, and each one looked very different from the others.

Animal Heroes: Pemi, The Therapy Dog

Can a dog be a hero? Yes! when she’s a therapy dog! John McCrae, representing the NH Humane Society, visited the library with Pemi, his therapy dog. Pemi is a Leonburger, and a very big, very calm dog. John told us Pemi needed to be specially trained and pass a test to become a therapy dog.  In addition to schools and libraries, Pemi also visits people in nursing and retirement homes. She lets people pat and talk to her and she reminds them of dogs they had when they were younger. Pemi even visited Dartmouth College when the students were studying for big tests. Spending time with Pemi helped students to relax!

John and his helper Mary Ann let us pat their dog and some kids even read a book while Pemi quietly listened. Elephant & Piggie, Peter Rabbit, Dr. Seuss – Pemi liked them all!

Andrea was also here from the NH Humane Society. She told us a little about what the Humane Society does to help animals and thanked us for our thoughtful donations. She left with children’s donations of pet food, paper towels, and cash and she also took the dog toys we made last week! We hope dogs and cats at the Humane Society love them!

New Books from Summer Reading Heroes!

These are but a few of the new books donated to support this year’s Summer Reading Program, Every Hero Has a Story. These picture book biographies were carefully selected by library staff, then willing patrons signed up to provide us with the book of their choice. Thanks to the generosity of these “Summer Reading Heroes”, we now have more beautifully illustrated biographies of famous people like Jane Goodall, Amelia Earhart, Malala Yousafzai, Robert Frost, Clara Lemlich, Rachel Carson, Henri Matisse, and others. These books portray the subjects, not just as adults, but also as young children so readers are able to see the early traits and characteristics that helped to make each person an important contributor to our culture or our society.
Each of these wonderful books carries a special bookplate in the front that names the donor. On behalf of the Gordon-Nash Library and the children who visit it, we thank the following patrons for their thoughtful donations:
Eileen Curran-Kondrad
Mark & Theo Denoncour
Linda & Mike Dowal
Michelle DuBreuil
Pat Hoertdoerfer
Becky Lougee
Brandie Martinez
Shana Martinez
Wendy Pietroniro
Trudy Powers
Wendy Schongalla
%d bloggers like this: