Mitten Tree

Thanks to everyone who has donated to our Mitten Tree so far! Miss Chrissie brought the 93 items that we collected so far to the donation center for Monmouth County's Family & Children's Services Operation Sleighbells program.

Gingerbread Houses

On Saturday, December 3rd, Allyson hosted our annual Gingerbread House program! As you can see, everyone had a great time!

December Calendar of Events

Registration is now open for December programs. Visit our online calendar to see what's happening in the Children's Room in December!

Sesame Street's Birthday

On Thursday, November 10th the Children's Room celebrated Sesame Street's 42nd birthday with stories, songs, and an Elmo craft!

Drop-In Crafts this week!

We are having two drop-in crafts this week. Today we'll be making horses and tomorrow we'll be making cornstalks.  Stop by the library anytime 10AM-12PM & 4-5:30PM to make a fun craft to take home. No registration is required and all ages are welcome.

Happy Halloween!

This morning we hosted two sessions of our annual Halloween Storytime & Parade. Children came to the program dressed in their Halloween costumes. They listened to a few stories, trick-or-treated at the different service desks in the library, and then had a Halloween snack! A fun time was had by all!

Ms. Linda leads children in song.

Raegan came to the parade dressed as a peanut.  Her big sister, Aubrie (not pictured), was an elephant.

Zachary came as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!

Erika as a strawberry.

October Children's Programs

Our October Children's program registration is now available.  Check out what's going on at the library!

Storytime!

We hit the ground running with our preschool storytimes this week!  This week we read about dinosaurs and next week we'll be sharing stories about dogs. There is still room in all of our 4&5 year-old sessions. You can stop by the library, visit us online @ http://www.matawanaberdeenlibrary.com/, or call us @ 732-583-9100 to register.  Just make sure to keep your library card handy for regsitration!

 

Tween Pancake Art

On Friday night, we had our first after hours event for tweens (students in grades 4-6)! Ms. Linda and I set up three stations wih a griddle and different colored pancake batter. Tweens were then able to make their own creations, and eat them, too! A great time was had by all! Check out the pictures below! 

Our next after hours event for tweens is "Halloween Fun" on Friday, October 28th @ 6:30PM.

Scotty and Emily make their own pancake art!

Emma's pancake on the griddle....

Another colorful creation!

Online registration is up!

Our online registration is up and running again! We apologize for any inconvenience!

Online Registration

We are currently experiencing problems with our online registration. We apologize for any inconvenienece and we'll post an update when everything is working again. Thank you for your patience!

September program registration is now open!

We've got alot of fun things going on in September! Our storytime series will return and we're starting a monthly after hours event for tweens (students in grades 4-6.)  Check out our online calendar to see what's going on!

Don't forget to keep your library card handy so you can register for programs! If you have any problems registering give us a call @ 732-583-9100 or shoot us an email: maplkids@lmxac.org!

We're almost to the finish line!

This is our last week of Summer Reading and this summer we had the most readers ever- 678!  Our Finisher's Day is this Friday. Stop by anytime between 10AM & 1PM for some crafts and fill out tickets for extra raffle prizes!  We'll also have certificates for all of our readers and if you haven't put in your raffle tickets yet this week, you'll want to do that too. (We'll be drawing our final weekly raffle @ 5PM on Friday.) If you missed the caricature artist @ our Halfway Mark, she'll be back from again from 10AM-1PM. Our teen volunteers will also be putting on a puppet show of "Jack & The Beanstalk" @ 10:30 and 12.  There is bound to be some fun for everyone to commemorate the end of a fantastic summer @ the library!

Around the World!

To go along with our Summer reading theme this year, "One World, Many Stories" we have been taking children entering grades 1-3 on a tour around the world @ the library! The first week we visited Scotland, then we jumped over to Australia the second week and last week we touched down in Italy. We've also had  some special guests take us on tours of different countries. Last week when we visited Italy, Josephine- who normally works @ the Circulation desk shared some stories, taught the children some Italian words, shared some bruschetta and even taught the children the Tarantella! This week our Library Director, Kimberly is taking children on a tour of Brazil!



Below: Josephine teaches children the Tarantella!

Below: Children made Italian flags out of colored pasta.

Halfway Mark!

Can you believe that this Friday we'll be halfway done with Summer Reading?!?!?!


This Friday night, we'll be have an evening family event at the library from 6:30-8PM. There will be tie dying activities (we will provide fabric), crafts, ice cream, a caricature artist and extra raffle prizes! No registration is required!
 
***There will be circulation services during this event but no computer access.***

Ann Wild: Music to Move By

There is still space in both of our Ann Wild: Music to Move By programs on Wednesday either @ 10 AM or 11AM.  Ann has been doing programs with our patrons for about five years now. She brings out instruments and other goodies for our youngest patrons to move to the beat! You can register four ways:

1) Send an email to maplkids@lmxac.org with your child's name, age and your library card number.
2) Visit our website http://www.matawanaberdeenlibrary.com/ and click on our calendar to register.
3) Call the library (732-583-9100) and ask for the Children's Room. We are happy to register you over the phone with your library card number.
4) If you don't have a library card, stop by the front desk of the library to get a card then visit the Children's room and a staff member can register you in person.

Summer Reading Club!

So far we have 501 kids signed up for our Summer Reading Club!  Join in the fun, stop by the Children's room and sign up for the Summer Reading Club. You'll get to enter for weekly raffle prizes and have fun @ the same time!

Summer Reading Kickoff!

Join us tomorrow, June 18th for our Summer Reading Kickoff! From 10AM -2PM there will be carnival games, balloon animals, popcorn, face painting, and crafts under the tents on the lawn behind the library. We will also have a magic show in our meeting room @ 11:30! There is no registration for any of the activites we'll have tomorrow. Sign up for the Summer Reading Club while you're here! We have reading clubs for kids, teens and adults! Fun for the whole family!

Summer Program Regsitration

We've been getting some questions about the registration not being available the day it is supposed to open for a program. All program registration is available at 9AM the day the registration begins. If you try to register earlier than this time the day registration begins, the "register" button will not be available. If you have any questions, please speak with someone in the Children's Room. 

Changing Stations in the Restrooms

I am thrilled to announce that we now have changing stations in the library restrooms!  They are located in the stall in the men's restroom, and in the handicapped stall in the women's restroom.

Planting Fun!

To celebrate National Gardening Month, children in grades K-3 planted flowers on Tuesday, April 26th.

Leaping Lizards!

Spot the Gecko stopped by the library yesterday for our Leaping Lizards program!

Children enjoyed a visit with Spot and even made their own gecko magnet to take home!

Children's Programming Survey

Next time you are in the library, please stop by the Children's desk and fill out our programming survey. Each person that fills out the survey will be entered to win a Barnes & Noble gift card. We want to hear what you think about our programs and if there is anything else we should offer! We'll be running the survey until the last week of April.

Flower Bouquets

This Sunday, April 3rd, Miss Flora will be hosting a Spring Bouquet program for children in grades K-3 @ 2PM. There is still room in the program if anyone is interested. Registration is available on our website. Here is a sample of the flowers that may be crafted.

Is it Spring Yet?

On Tuesday, March 22nd, children in grades K-3 came by the celebrate the beginning of spring with some stories and a craft. Everyone made flowers out of colored pasta and there were some fantastic creations!

Drop-In Pajama Storytime: Viewer's Choice!

Since Miss Allyson has started doing Pajama Storytime, she has gotten many requests from children to read some of their favorite books.  In response, Miss Allyson has set up a jar on the Children's desk for children to put their recommendations. There are puprle slips on the desk next to the jar- just fill out your name and favorite book and it could be read at the next Drop-In PJ Storytime on Wednesday, April 27th @ 6:30PM.

Spring into reading!

Spring has sprung and so has a new bulletin board! Ms. Linda updated the wall last week with an eye-catching display. Stop by and see it the next time you're in the library!

Thomas the Tank Engine @ the Library!

On Saturday March 12th, some train conducters in-training came by the library to hear some Thomas stories, paint a picture of Thomas, and ride some trains on a track! Everyone had a great time!

Cat in the Hat visits the library!

The Cat in the Hat stopped by the library on Saturday, March 5th to share some stories and songs in celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday (March 2nd).

Playdoh Fun!

On Wednesday, March 2nd- young chefs stopped by the library to make playdoh! If you missed this great program, no worries! We put on our aprons and roll out the dough several times a year so you might be able to catch another session in the summer or you can make it at home using the following recipe:

1 cup flour


1/2 cup salt

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 cup warm water and food coloring

Mix all ingredients in large bowl. Knead with hands. Add more flour if sticky, add more water if crumbly.Keep refrigerated in ziplock bag when not in use!

Koolaid Watercolors

On Tuesday, March 1st and Thursday, March 3rd, preschool children ages 2-5 came by the library to paint with Koolaid. You can do this at home using the following recipe:

Red- 2 packets Cherry Koolaid, 10-12 drops food coloring, ¼ cup water


Yellow- 2 packets Lemonade Koolaid, 10-12 drops food coloring, ¼ cup water

Orange- 2 packets Orange Koolaid, 2-3 drops red food coloring, 6-8 drops yellow food coloring, ¼ cup water

Pour a small amount of each color into individual bathroom sized water cups. It is easier for children to dip their brushes in.

Once your painting is dry,  you’ll be able to “scratch n’ sniff!

Spring Storytime Registration is now up!

We are now accepting registration for our Spring Storytime Session!

Book Babies (up to 23 months)- Thursdays @ 9:30 or 11 AM

2&3 year-olds- Monday, Tuesday OR Wednesday @ 10 AM

4&5 year-olds- Monday, Tuesday OR Wednesday @ 11 AM

There are three ways to register:

1) Online @ www.matawanaberdeenlibrary.com

2) Call the library- 732-583-9100 and ask for Children's.

3) Send an email to maplkids@lmxac.org with your library card #, child's name, age, birthdate and the day you'd like to register for.

Just remember to keep your library card handy- it is required to register.