Summer Camp Outreach
We provide outreach to a couple of different summer camps in our area. Adventure Day Camp is provided by the township’s Parks & Recreation Department whom we partner with to provide services to camp throughout the summer. The camp actually has two sites which I visit for the six weeks of camp. I provide programming for the campers that are 5 – 6 years old as well as the 7 – 8 year olds. We used to offer programming for the older campers (ages 9 -13), but found it difficult with many campers not interested in the library program. We decided to focus our time and energy on the younger kids – it was easier to find books and activities that the kids would enjoy.
Today, I went to camp with a great book – The Purple Kangaroo by Michael Ian Black and Peter Brown. I thought this book was hysterical and the kids did a pretty good job interacting with the story (even if there wasn’t any laughter). After the story, the 5-6 year olds did bubble prints. Bubble prints use tempera paint, water, and dish soap to create the paint bubbles and straws are used to blow bubbles to “print” on paper. The kids did fairly well with activity considering there were 35 kids and about 6 adults. We had no major spills or messes and the kids had a lot of fun exploring how best to create the prints.
For the next group of 7 -8 year olds, I began by reading from Judith Viorst’s Lulu Walks the Dog. Her books are always funny to read and I got through the first few chapters to get the kids hooked. A couple kids asked me what happens next and I told them to come to the library to check the book out. For their craft, we made fingerprint drawings a la Ed Emberley. I gave the kids a half sheet of paper folded lengthwise and copied a couple of the pages to have at each table. The kids had a great time making faces, animals, rainbows and more. I was lucky to have found ink pads from Lakeshore Learning on sale which worked perfectly for this craft.
Next week, I’ll be visiting the other Adventure Day Camp site to repeat these programs. Overall, I’m excited about how these programs went and can’t wait to go back to camp to do some more fun activities. It’s exciting to see the kids and many will remember me from school visits or they’ve seen me in the library before and I like being able to make these connections!