Imagination Station - Birthday Party

This month's "Imagination Station" program happened to fall on the day before my birthday, and since my birthday-themed storytime last year was such a hit, I thought a birthday party theme would also work really well for an Imagination Station program, and be a lot of fun.

Program: Imagination Station - Birthday Party

Ages: 2-6 

Number: Up to 20 children and their caregivers

Budget: Around $20 for decorations and purchased literacy activity set; everything else we already had

Skills & Concepts: Imagination, creativity, expressive language, socio-emotional, early literacy, math literacy, fine motor

Activities:

1. Read-Aloud
   
   
   
   I gathered everyone in the children's department for a brief introduction, read-aloud, and description of activities.
   
   I selected If It Were My Birthday Party from the Cat in the Hat beginner books series by Random House because it had a great rhythm to read aloud and touched on all the various aspects of a birthday party. All the kids who wanted to share got a chance to say something about their birthday or how old they were.
   
   Then I briefly described the activities I had set up and led everyone into the program room. 
   
   [print motivation, vocabulary, background knowledge, phonological awareness]
   
   
2. Dramatic Play
   
   
   
   
   As always, the program was centered around a dramatic play area. I set up our play kitchen, market stand, and a table with play dishes, two different birthday cake play sets, play cupcakes, pizza set, a toy camera, and nesting present set, along with enough party hats and a few decorations (I would have liked to add helium balloons, but didn't have the budget for that, unfortunately).
   
   [Imagination, creativity, expressive language, socio-emotional skills, cultural literacy]
   
   
3. Pin-the-Tail-On-the-Donkey
   
   
   
   
   What's a birthday party without a classic party game? Though it's pretty self-explanatory, I put the donkey poster on the wall, with several tails with tape on the back, and a scarf to use for a blindfold. Traditionally, the player is blindfold and spun around 3 times, then they attempt to put the tail on the donkey's rump.
   
   [motor skills, proprioception]
   
   
4. Felt Board
   
   
   
   
   I put the birthday cake and balloon felt sets I had made last year on the flannel board, along with the accompanying rhymes.
   
   [fine motor skills, phonological awareness, counting down, rhyme, color identification]
   
   *The remaining language and math literacy activities were selected from a set I purchased from Jackie Kops of 'Pocket of Preschool' on Teachers Pay Teachers to save time due to the end of summer crunch. 
   
   
5. Birthday Words
   
   
   
   
   I used a selection of birthday words from the purchased activity set I had printed, laminated, and attached magnets on the back, along with our set of magnetic letters (both upper- and lower-case) with a written prompt on the magnetic dry erase board.
   
   [letter recognition, fine motor skills, phonics]
   
   
6. Tracing Center
   
   
   
   
   I put out two activities, an alphabet tracing sheet and a balloon coloring/tracing/cutting sheet with crayons for coloring and tracing and scissors for cutting along the lines.
   
   [fine motor skills, letter recognition, writing, scissor skills]
   
   
7. Dot-Painting
   
   
   
   
   Roll the die, count the number of dots, then color in the appropriate number on the birthday cake sheet. I also provided a regular dot-painting cupcake printable since kids really love using the dot painters.
   
   [fine motor, counting, number recognition]
   
   
8. Coloring
   
   
   
   
   One sheet from the purchased set featured birthday candles arranged in a pattern, prompting the child to finish the color pattern, then I added some regular birthday-themed coloring sheets as well as blank paper. I provided regular, jumbo, and egg-shaped crayons (all washable).
   
   [fine motor, color identification, pattern recognition, pre-math & science]
   
   
9. Book Display
   
   
   
   
   I put several birthday-themed picture books on display for reading together during the program or checking out.

How It Went

I had initially envisioned having a lot of fun planning activities for this program, but since it fell at the end of summer reading and I had been slammed with outreach visits, delivering prizes, and compiling statistics, I ended up having very little time to plan and prep this program, so I purchased a birthday-themed literacy and math activity set online. I felt a little guilty for taking the easy way out and not doing more creative activities I developed myself, but I shouldn't have as everyone seemed to have a great time, and I got a lot of positive feedback from caregivers. Also, I was excited that several of the books I displayed actually got checked out for once!

The dramatic play area and dot-painting were definitely the most popular activities, and probably the only two that pretty much everyone did. Several did the Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey game, and tolerated both the blindfold and being spun around just fine; the kids thought it was fun, and the caregivers appreciated the nostalgia. I don't think anyone did the letter tracing or pattern sheets, but some did take them home to do later, but a few did do the scissor-skill sheets. 

What I Would Do Differently
If I were to do this again and had more time to plan and prep, I would like to incorporate more party-game based activities, somehow with a literacy, math, and/or science twist added, and have a pinata. It would also be fun to have wrapped giveaway books so everyone could have a present to open, and if I had the budget I'd do more decorations. But this experience was also a good reminder that I don't have to re-invent the wheel every time, and that it is perfectly okay to take advantage of shared/purchased resources! I always remind myself that while I may feel guilty or disappointed I couldn't do something the way I had originally envisioned, the participants don't know what my original "grand vision" was and always seem happy with the end result.

Imagination Station - Science Lab

 

This theme was inspired by a popular station from my very first Imagination Station program. As part of an overall “Veterinary Clinic” theme I had set up a “Laboratory” station with a toy microscope and a simple experiment with water, vinegar, and baking soda that proved to be a hit with the kids. I knew then that I wanted to do a whole laboratory-themed Imagination Station at some point.

Program: Imagination Station - Science Lab

Ages: 2-6 

Number: Up to 15-20 children

Budget: Around $30-50; some items purchased can be reused, others we already had on hand 

Skills & Concepts: Imagination, creativity, expressive language, socio-emotional, early literacy, fine motor, cause-and-effect, observation, science vocabulary

Activities:

1. Read-Aloud
   
   
   
   I first gathered everyone in the children’s department for an introduction and read-aloud. I introduced myself and told them that before I became a librarian I used to be a scientist. Then I asked them what they thought a scientist is and does and discussed their answers, which led us to reading the book We Are All Scientists by Ellen Ochoa.
   
   This is a great little book that introduces the concept of science and scientists, using short and simple text and relatable illustrations that portray a few different types of scientist. We followed that with a discussion of a couple of other types of scientists that were not in the book such as Paleontologist, which led to a discussion differentiating paleontology from archaeology.
   
   I informed them that we were going to pretend to be scientists today and that there would be things for dress up and pretend play, as well as actual experiments to do. I explained one very important thing about science is safety and following instructions so that we stay safe and so that our experiments work right. I went over safety rules, including no eating, drinking, or putting anything in our mouths, keeping our hands away from our mouths, faces, and eyes; and washing hands afterward, then led them into the program room and explained the various stations. 
   
   [Print motivation, vocabulary, background knowledge]
   
   
2. Dramatic Play  
   
   
   
   
   I set up the market stand as a laboratory supply station and stocked it with some Erlenmeyer flasks that my supervisor happened to have, graduated cylinders and beakers that I had, test tubes that I purchased, child-sized lab coats and safety glasses that I got from a programming kit from the main library, and a toy microscope that was my daughter's. I added a sign with pictures and names of some of the scientific equipment, and placed a small table nearby. 
   
   [Imagination, creativity, expressive language, socio-emotional skills, functional print, vocabulary, background knowledge]
   
   
3. Discovery Zone  
   
   
   
   
   I set a variety of materials on a table - bugs, seeds, leaves, flowers, fossils, wood chips, and geodes - along with magnifying glasses and discovery tubes from Lakeshore Learning that I also got from the science programming kit. The sign on the table prompted them to observe characteristics such as shape, size, color, texture, structure, and weight. 
   
   [Fine motor skills, observation skills, sensory exploration, background knowledge]
   
   
4. Oobleck  
   
   
   
   
   I made a large batch of oobleck, which is a super-thick slurry of cornstarch and water (approximately one cup of water per two cups of cornstarch) that forms a non-Newtonian fluid. This means that it behaves both as a solid and a liquid, depending on the forces acting on it. If a strong force acts on it, such as hitting it with your hand, it feels like a solid, but when under very weak forces it behaves as a liquid. You can peel it away from the bowl and pick up a chunk that initially seems dry and solid, but as it sits in your open hand, it becomes a liquid and starts oozing through your fingers. This is messy, but oh-so-fun and fascinating, and relatively easy to clean up.
   
   [Sensory exploration, vocabulary, background knowledge]
   
   
5. Lava Lamp
   
   
   
   
   I have seen this done previously many times using Alka-Seltzer tablets, but I really didn’t want to use that due to expense and safety as they contain aspirin, which isn't even necessary for the experiment. I searched and discovered that you can get the same effect much cheaper and more safely using baking soda and vinegar.
   
   For the small cups, we were using it only needed one-quarter teaspoon of baking soda in the bottom, then fill about halfway with either mineral or vegetable oil. Then add food coloring to vinegar and use pipettes to drop the colored vinegar in slowly. The colored droplets of vinegar are more dense than the oil so they will sink to the bottom, where they then react with the vinegar and produce bubbles of carbon dioxide which bring the droplets back up to the surface, where they sink again as the CO2 dissapates.
   
   [Fine-motor skills, pincer grasp, colors, observation, cause & effect]
   
   
6. Color-Changing Cabbage Juice
   
   
   
   
   Purple cabbage contains pH-sensitive pigments called anthocyanins that are purple at neutral pH, but change to shades of magenta or pink when in an acidic environment, and turn blue or green in alkaline environments. I gave them sparkling water, lemon-lime soda, vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda to add to the cabbage juice to observe the color changes. (For more details on this and how to extract the pigments from the cabbage see my previous "Making a Natural pH Indicator" post.)
   
   [Fine-motor skills, pincer grasp, colors, observation, cause & effect]
   
   
7. Microscopy
   
   
   
   
   The science programming kit I borrowed from the main library also came with microscopes, so I set up one with a provided slide of the cross-section of a plant stem and the other with a slide of a honeybee wing.
   
   [Fine-motor, vocabulary, background knowledge] 
   
   

How It Went

I would say this one was a hit, and I was very pleased with the turnout and how it went. Kids and adults really got into the different experiments and did a great job following directions! For once it seemed like everyone was doing and using everything the way I had intended, and there was plenty of pretend play going on as well. I was very pleasantly surprised at how little mess there was overall; even with all the various liquids used in the two experiments there were no big spills, and though of course there was some mess with the oobleck, it was not nearly as bad as I had expected.

What I Would Do Differently

This went so well the only thing that I would really change would be to not bother putting the real microscopes out. These were very low quality microscopes, and even with good microscopes it’s very difficult for children to see anything or understand what they are looking at, and I don't think they got anything out of this station other than a little frustration. One would need to have a better quality microscope, and one capable of projecting to a screen so the kids can see easily (and you can be sure of what they are seeing), but for this age the toy microscopes that have “slides“ made with photographs are a much better choice. Next time I'll also try to have a little better selection of things for the discovery table, with a few more different types of rocks and crystals, feathers, live insects, shed reptile skin, etc.

Imagination Station - Under the Sea

 

The library system I currently work for doesn't use either CSLP or iREAD and instead comes up with their own theme for summer reading. This summer it is "Wild About Reading", and each branch chose a different biome/habitat and branch mascot. My branch chose the "Deep, Dark Sea" with the Giant Squid as our mascot, so of course we had an "Under the Sea" theme for this month's Imagination Station.

Program: Imagination Station - Under the Sea

Ages: 2-6 (I have narrowed the target age range in order to fit better with the way programs are tagged in our calendar and the way stats are reported)

Number: Could accommodate up to 15 children, actual attendance was at least that many

Budget: Around $50, but items purchased can be reused, and some also served as decoration

Skills & Concepts: Imagination, creativity, expressive language, socio-emotional, early literacy, motor 

Activities:

1. Read-Aloud
   
   
   
   I've started gathering everyone outside the program room to read a book first and explain the program and activities. [Since anything called "storytime" does not seem to appeal to people here, I've created alternative early childhood programs such as this one and "sneak" the early literacy and books into them.]
   
   I first talked about summer reading, our branch theme and mascot, then read I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry, featuring a giant squid (and other ocean creatures). Then I told them about the activities set up in the room, and led them in.
   
   
2. Dramatic Play
   
   
   
   
   I put blue bulletin board paper on the wall, then printed, cut out, and attached a snorkeler, scuba diver, and various deep sea creatures; including giant squid, anglerfish, lantern fish, coelacanth, glass squid, isopods, tube worms, clams, crabs, shrimp, starfish, and jellyfish to provide an ocean background.[I also hid a few familiar ocean characters they might know to see if anyone noticed, including Nemo, Dory, SpongeBob, Patrick, the Little Mermaid & Flounder, Sebastian, and Oona the mermaid.]
   
   I set up my trusty market stand as a swim & dive shop with snorkel and dive gear for rent, which included scuba tanks made from 2-liter bottles, cheap snorkel & masks (from DollarTree), fins cut from craft foam, a toy camera, and waterproof phone pouches (zip-lock bags with pictures of phones printed on cardstock, and yarn lanyards). I also put out an assortment of plush toys & puppets: giant squid, octopus, sharks, Pout-Pout fish, crab, seahorse, anglerfish, clown fish, and starfish.
   
   [Imagination, creativity, expressive language, socio-emotional skills, functional print, vocabulary, background knowledge]
   
   
3. Fishing
   
   
   
   
   I put just a little bit of water, an inch or two deep, in our large sensory bin and added the fish and poles from the Lakeshore magnetic fishing set. They can identify the different kinds of fish and their colors. [I was very disappointed to discover the magnets in this new set are noticeable weaker than the sets I purchased 4 years age at my last library and some of the fish are simply impossible to catch :(]
   
   I spotted a couple of cute shark/lobster "grabbers" at DollarTree that came with several plastic fish to grab, and put them inside an inflatable ring taped to the floor to serve as a tidepool [didn't work, the kids would not leave the ring alone and pulled it right up immediately].
   
   [motor skills, eye-hand coordination, color identification]
   
   
4. Sensory Exploration
   
   
   
   
   I put kinetic sand in an "under the bed" storage bin and added some real seashells and a few plastic ocean/beach creatures, including turtles, crabs, and lobsters. 
   
   In another bin I put cut-up pieces of blue pool noodles to serve as water, and added plastic sharks, whales, dolphins, and octopus.
   
   [sensory exploration, fine motor skills, vocabulary]
   
   
5. Building 
   
   Interlocking fish-shaped building blocks from Lakeshore Learning
   
   [spatial awareness, problem-solving, motor skills, colors]
   
   
6. Magnetic Board & Letters
   
   I spelled out "Under the Sea" on the magnetic white board, and set the bin of magnetic letters beside it. [I wish I had thought to print out a list of ocean-related words for them to spell out on the board.]
   
   [letter recognition, phonological awareness, colors]
   
   
   
   
   

How It Went:

I don't think this went quite as well as I'd hoped, definitely not as I had imagined, but everyone seemed to still have fun. The magnetic fishing and the kinetic sand were definitely the big hits of the day, and children stayed engaged with them significantly longer than with other activities. Though they really got into all the sensory exploration, I didn't see as much dramatic play going on, nor did dramatic play get as complex or last as long as with previous set-ups. Perhaps they didn't have as much knowledge or experience of ocean activities to draw on, and maybe not enough props. I would see them put on the scuba tanks, masks, and fins, but then take them back off almost immediately; it just didn't seem to hold their interest or capture their imaginations like I'd hoped. 

The other thing I noticed is that although I had set things up as distinct, separate activity stations, by halfway through the program everything was all mixed together in one big, homogenous mess, which really hasn't happened before, at least not to that degree. People didn't linger as long as with previous set-ups, either. Usually I have to tell people when time is up and I have to start cleaning up; this time only one child was left when I started cleaning up.

What I Would Do Differently:

I think what this set up needed was more props for the dramatic play, and to cut out one or two of the other stations. I really would have liked to have had some kind of boat and/or submarine that they could actually get into, but unfortunately I did not have the time to construct something myself, nor the budget to purchase something already made. I saw cardboard pirate ships made from cardboard and designed for children to play in and color on that would've been perfect if I'd had the $40 or so to spend on it. A few more puppets would have been nice, too.

Imagination Station - Pizzeria

 

Program: Imagination Station – Pizzeria

Ages: 2-8 (most participants ranged in age from 2-8 this month, plus a couple of older siblings around 9 or 10)

Number: Could accommodate up to 15 children; actual attendance was 14 children & 12 adults

Budget: About $5-10, as most items used were non-consumables that we already had or could borrow

Skills & Concepts: Imagination, creativity, expressive language, socio-emotional, fine motor, functional print, early literacy, family literacy, math & science literacy

Introductory Activity: Since I just can't get people interested in checking out any of the displayed books related to theme that I set up each month and also can't get regular storytime attendance, I decided to start reading a book at the beginning of each Imagination Station session. For this one, I read Pizza at Sally's by Monica Wellington, then explained the different activities.

Stations:

1. Dramatic Play 
   
   
   
   
   I once again used my trusty, versatile market stand, this time set up as the counter of the pizzeria, where customers could place and pick up their orders. I created a menu, stocked dishes and trays behind the counter, and placed scrap paper and pencils on the counter for writing orders. I also provided play money for the counter and for customers.
   
   Behind the counter I put our play kitchen and a table with our pizza oven playset, and a stack of aprons. In front of the counter, I set a few chairs and a small, round child's table and chairs. This time I tried something new, and created cards on lanyards with various roles on them - customer, counter attendant, chef, server, delivery person - to help give them some ideas of different roles they could play. [Imagination, creativity, expressive language, socio-emotional skills, functional print]
   
   
2. Dough-Making
   
   
   
   
   I simulated making pizza dough with salt dough. I put out two big bowls of flour, a pitcher of warm water, two cartons of salt, two mixing bowls and spoons, measuring cups, and a sign with the recipe and directions (1 C flour, 1/2 C salt, 1/2 C warm water; mix until well combined. If sticky, knead in a spoonful of flour at a time until no longer sticky). I showed them how to properly measure and emphasized the importance of accurate measuring to achieve the desired result. [Math & science skills, sensory exploration, measuring skills]
   
   
3. Dough Shaping
   
   
   
   
   Once they had made their dough and gotten it to the proper consistency, they moved to the next table to work it. I put out rolling pins, rotary cutters, cookie cutters, extruders, knives, and forks. I suggested they roll it out to make a pizza crust, then mold/cut toppings, roll "snakes" for bread sticks, tie the "snakes" into knots for garlic knots, and see what else they could come up with. I gave each participant a zip-lock bag to take their dough home, with instructions to keep it in the refrigerator when not playing with it, and to discard after several days. [Fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, pre-writing, imagination, creativity, sensory exploration]
   
   
4. Shapes Pizza Craft
   
   
   
   
   I provided small paper plates I had painted light brown/dark beige, glue, and various "toppings" cut from construction paper: red triangles of sauce, skinny rectangles of shredded cheese, circles of pepperoni, semi-circle tomato slices, and green squares of peppers. I encouraged caregivers to discuss the shapes and colors as their child made their pizza, and pointed out this was a pre-math and -science activity as well as a craft. [Shapes, colors, fine-motor skills, spatial relations, vocabulary]
   
   
5. Magnetic Board 
   
   
   
   
   I got out the magnetic letter's to spell out "Luigi's Pizzeria" and left the rest for the kids to use, as well as my magnetic "P-I-Z-Z-A" set along with the lyrics. [Letter recognition, phonological awareness]
   
   
6. Book Display
   
   
   
   
   I pulled several books with a pizza theme, as well as a pizza cookbook, and displayed on a table in the room. [Print motivation, early literacy]

How It Went

It was very messy, but worth it! The kids loved making their own dough, and their caregivers loved that they got to do it away from home and leave the mess at the library. One child had a big smile on his face and happily exclaimed, "This is fun!" Yes, there were bits of dough and flour all over the tables and floor at the end, and I had to get my ice scraper from my car to scrape up the bits of dried dough, but I enjoy providing the opportunity for some good, messy, fun. I had the largest crowd I've gotten for any early childhood program I've done at the this library so far.

Though the dough was definitely the hit of the program, they also loved the dramatic play, and I saw many orders placed, and many pizzas made and delivered to waiting customers. Not everyone did the craft because they came late and didn't have time to do everything, or just couldn't tear themselves away from the dough and dramatic play. No one interacted with the magnet board and letters or the "P-I-Z-Z-A" song, and once again, no one checked out any of the books I had on display. I think they are just too focused on the fun activities to take time out to look at the books. 

What I Would Do Differently 

In the future when practicing measuring skill I will label the measuring cups clearly as to what ingredient they are for, as many caregivers didn't pay attention and some didn't know the difference between cups for measuring dry ingredients and one for liquids. We went through about 8 pounds of flour and a little over 2 pounds of salt! If I had an even larger crowd, I'd cut the recipe in half. I'd also like to have at least one other pizza play set, either purchased or I may make a couple with cardboard and felt and ask a local pizza place to donate a couple of small pizza boxes.

This time I tried having the little "name tags" with various roles to play, but no one really used them, so I won't bother with that again. Next time I'm going to try putting related books on display *outside* of the program room in the children's department. I think they are too busy having fun with the activities to take time out to look at books, but several families do end up staying in the library for a while after the program is over while.

Up next month at Imagination Station.....the Kentucky Derby! 🐎👒🏆

Imagination Station - Farmer’s Market

So far my new "Imagination Station" program has been relatively successful, more so than any other programming for the preschool age group, and this month we did a "Farmers Market" theme.

Program: Imagination Station – Farmer’s Market

Ages: 2-8 (most participants ranged in age from 2-5 this month, plus one older child around 9 or 10)

Number: Could accommodate up to 15 children; actual attendance was 7 children & 5 adults

Budget: About $5-10, as most items used were non-consumables that we already had or could borrow

Skills & Concepts: Imagination, creativity, expressive language, socio-emotional, fine motor, functional print, early literacy, family literacy

Stations:

1. Dramatic Play 
   
   
   

   
   I set up our versatile market stand with shopping baskets, bushel baskets, and all of our play fruits and vegetables. I added a table with all of the play food breads, and another with dairy products and artificial flowers.

   
   

   I created several different shopping lists based on color, where they grew, or ingredients for a specific dish. I also put out play money but I did not have time to create a price list (I think that is more appropriate for elementary ages than preschool anyway), so they could just make up their own prices. [Creativity, imagination, expressive language, functional print, socio-emotional skills, vocabulary, background knowledge]
   
   
2. Fruit & Vegetable Stamping
   
   
   
   
   You could use a wide variety of fruits and vegetables for this activity, but I kept it relatively simple and just used traditional carved potato stamps and added bell peppers, lemon, and celery. I cut them the night before to let them dry out a little bit so they would hold the paint better. I put out about five different colors of washable tempera paint, brushes for applying paint, pieces of heavy paper, and markers for writing names and adding any other details. I also provided aprons to help keep paint off of clothing. [Creativity, fine motor skills, spatial awareness, colors]
   
   
   
3. Reading Nook
   
   
   
   
   Since I had not had much luck getting people to check out the books I'd been pulling and putting on display, I decided to try creating a cozy reading nook to see if that would encourage them to read together. I put a soft rug down on the floor and added cushions for more comfort. I put a few books on display, and put the rest in two piles on the rug. [Print awareness, print motivation, family literacy]
   
   
4. Magnetic Letters
   
   
   
   
   I got out the magnetic letters and spelled out "Farmer's Market" on the magnetic board, and put the bin with the rest of the letters on the floor under it. [Letter recognition, print awareness, functional print, fine motor]

How It Went

I had a slightly smaller group than last month, but overall it went well. The kids *really* enjoyed shopping! So much so that the market was pretty well cleaned out in just a few minutes it seemed. Some of the kids were good about putting things back to shop again, but a couple of the younger ones had a harder time with the idea of giving up their baskets loaded with goodies. I announced that I was setting a timer for 5 minutes, and then we were all going to pretend to be the farmers and put everything back so they could shop again, which worked well. I enjoyed talking with them about their favorite fruits and vegetables, and one child was very proud that she had bought a basket full of healthy foods. Some used the prepared shopping list, some did their own thing, and some did both. 

The produce stamping was also a hit; children and caregivers both appreciated the opportunity for painting away from home. We found that less is more in applying the paint to get good clear prints with details. Some of the kids also painted just using the brushes after doing one with the fruits & vegetables, and one younger child decided to paint his face!😂

My only disappointment was that once again, the books I had selected and displayed were once again largely ignored. I had hoped creating a cozy reading nook rather than just a display would encourage caregivers to look at books with their child while there, and hopefully check out one or two, but this did not happen. Instead, they used it as a play area, and the cushions I put out for sitting on were used for jumping on or building with, while the books were ignored 😢. I am really having a hard time engaging this community in reading and supporting early literacy development with their little ones, and I don't know what to do about it. I've never had this problem at any other library I've worked.

What I Would Do Differently 

It would have been nice to have even more play food and shopping baskets, but we don’t have the budget or storage space right now. I think I might try a slightly more structured approach next time, with “assigning” (suggesting with provided name tags, but not pushing) roles such as shopper, farmer, baker, etc., so we have both sellers and shoppers rather than all shoppers, then switch. At the very least I would try giving each child a shopping list as they arrive so everyone isn’t just grabbing everything in a frenzy reminiscent of the recent pre-snowmageddon panic 😂.

Up next month at Imagination Station......Pizza Parlor!🍕 

If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Imagination Station - Bake My Day!

I recently started a new early childhood play-based program with themed activity centers I call "Imagination Station," and this month I decided to do a "Bakery" theme. Many of the dramatic play items used in this program were purchased earlier with grant money the library had received for early childhood programming, some were from a programming kit borrowed from the main library, and a few were things my library already had. I like to invest in well-made, reusable items that are developmentally appropriate and can be used again and again in many different ways, such as the oh-so-versatile market stand that can be easily staged for a variety of themes, other dramatic play accessories, sensory toys, and building toys, and I am a big fan of Lakeshore Learning and Melissa & Doug products.

Program: Imagination Station – Bakery

Ages: 2-8 (participants ranged in age from 3 to 6 this month)

Number: Could accommodate 15-20 children; actual attendance was 10 children & 6 adults

Budget: Negligible, as most items used were non-consumables that we already had or could borrow

Skills & Concepts: Imagination, creativity, expressive language, socio-emotional, fine motor, counting and number recognition, functional print, measuring, sensory exploration. 

Stations:

1. Dramatic Play 
   
   
   
   

   
   I set up the main "bakery" dramatic play area by staging our market stand as the front counter, with a sign, menu, and items on display on the front side, and dishes, aprons, and additional trays of goods on the back side. I moved our small (tiny!) play kitchen a few feet behind it, and stocked it with a few utensils, pots & pans, a tray of cookies in the oven, and a few ingredients. The play foods used were: the "bread basket" and eggs from the market set, M&D cookie set, M&D cake set, another set of plastic cookies from the borrowed kit, and cardboard cookies. [Creativity, imagination, expressive language, functional print, motor skills, socio-emotional skills]
   
   
2. Dough Station 
   
   
   
   
   

   To one side of the dramatic play area I set up a dough station with multiple cans of Play-Doh and an assortment of tools: rolling pins, cookie cutters, rotary cutters, extruders, and textured rollers. I encouraged them to roll, cut, shape, and squish! I noticed quite a bit of pretend play going on at this station as well, and the participants didn't limit themselves to typical bakery goods, either. We had burritos, tacos, and worms, in addition to cookies, cakes, and pies. [Fine-motor skills, hand/finger strength, pre-writing, imagination, creativity, sensory exploration]
   
   *I had originally planned on having an additional dough-making station to make salt-dough, but in the end had to cut it because I was not going to have enough clean-up time for that.
   
   
3. Measuring Practice 
   
   
   
   
   

   Measuring is not only a cooking skill, but also a math & science skill! I encouraged them to scoop, pour, mix, stir, and measure in the sensory bin. The sensory bin is always a hit no matter what I have in it! I had considered having another bin with water, but as it was winter and chilly in the room, I decided to save water-play for when it gets warmer. [Measuring, motor skills, sensory exploration]
   
   
4. Cookie Counting 
   
   
   
   
   

   I found this counting and number matching activity several years ago, and I'm so sorry but I don't remember where to give proper credit (if this is yours, please let me know so I can remedy that!). Count the chocolate chips (or raisins if you prefer) in each cookie and match it to the appropriate number in the jar. I love that it has both numerals on the front, and the words on the back. [Counting, number recognition]
   
   

How It Went:

I was really happy with how the program turned out this month! I felt it was definitely more successful than last month. I think simplifying things and having fewer stations helped, as well as having more kids, and older kids. There is definitely a critical mass required to get the right energy for a truly successful program, and I think we had it this time. 

I saw more meaningful engagement and interactions than last time, both between caregivers and children, and among the children. They were much more engaged in dramatic play this time, both in the bakery/kitchen area and at the dough table. I loved hearing all their conversations while engaged in pretend play. Several also enjoyed the measuring station, but only one caregiver and child did the cookie counting & number matching activity, but that's ok. 

I was disappointed that once again no one checked out any of the related books I had displayed, but at least one caregiver looked at a few of them, and at least a couple of families did select other books to checkout after the program. 

What I Would Do Differently:

The only thing I would do differently is maybe to expand the dough center from one table to two so they would have more space (our tables are pretty small). I would also like to add play food and some child-sized cupcake and cake pans in the future, if the budget permits. Also, even with simplifying and reducing the number of stations, set-up and clean-up still took longer than the 30 minutes I'm allowed for each, so I'm going to have to advocate for more time and/or someone to assist. I feel like quality programs with multiple stations and opportunities to engage in messy play require more set-up and clean-up time than that, and I really don't want to have to compromise on quality now that I've found what works.

Up next month at Imagination Station…. Farmer’s Market!