“BOOM! BOOM!” the kids yelled in response to Janelle’s “Chicka, Chicka!” Yes, last night’s theme was Bill Martin Jr.’s classic, “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.” As Janelle read the rest of the story out loud, kids and parents alike got excited as their turn came up to stick their alphabet letter on the flannel board. Little Joshua in particular got up every time to put up his “R,” only to be turned away as Janelle seemed to call out every letter except “R!” Finally, when “black-eyed P, Q R S” came up, the whole group got up to help Joshua put his letter up! As I sat back in my seat, I realized that the volunteers were right in their feedback comments; this small group dynamic was intimate and made the whole workshop experience that much more special and worthwhile.
After the big group reading, we split off into groups with parents in the conference room and children in the library. The kids quickly got busy with creating and decorating letters in their name, playing with alphabet puzzles, and at the end right before dinner, ABC Bingo. The winner of ABC Bingo, by the way, was Glynia who won a Rosemary Wells storybook. Meanwhile, the parents learned about print awareness for children. Time flew and before I knew it, the smell of greasy Chinese food, ordered from the restaurant next door, had wafted into the children’s room, causing stomachs to grumble. Porsha, a fantastic and dedicated volunteer, and I promptly cleaned up our activity stations and joined everyone else for dinner. Everyone hungrily ate the fried rice, broccoli and beef but after everyone left, there was still enough food left to feed the whole regional office lunch for 2 days. (Actually, it’s still sitting in the break room fridge so please, Regional Staff, help yourselves.)
Michael, Lygia, Janelle and I packed up our boxes for the last time and headed out the door. Even though we won’t be at the library anymore (at least til the next series), the library will still be open and Darcelle, the children’s librarian, welcomes kids of all ages to visit and check out other exciting events and books in Bayview! Click here to find out what they’ve got planned!
