After years of trial and error with both paper calendars and Excel, I've found a library programming stats system that works for me. I'm going to share with you all a downloadable copy of my programming stats workbook to help you keep your data together.

Click here to see my shareable Google Sheet. To get your own copy, make sure you are logged into a Google Account, click File, and Make a Copy.

Language Challenges

Experiencing New Music from Around the World

Other ideas:

The Smithsonian Institute has this landing page of tons of kids/teen activities.

BedtimeMath.org has a daily math word problem with difficulty settings from toddler to high school.

Learning inspiration: https://www.princeton.edu/~graphicarts/2012/03/pre-columbian.html

There's not a lot of easily-found scholarly information online about pre-columbian art in the Americas, particularly when it comes to stamps. However, we do know that they used rolling stamps to decorate household goods and the human body.

It could be a good opportunity to discuss life in pre-Hispanic central America.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
- sturdy cylinders. We had a ton of these U-Line Kraft Tubes leftover from something else, but short lengths of PVC pipe would be inexpensive and easy to use, too.
- sticky-back foam paper. I used these.
- scissors
- paint - I used acrylic.
- paintbrushes of any size -- you're just using them to cover the stamp.
- heavy paper. Construction paper will do.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Cut shapes out of the sticky foam paper and stick it on the tube.

Cover the foam with paint and roll it across your paper.

Cost per child: about a dollar.

Create an interactive archaeological experience for children without having to leave the library or spend big bucks. Recommended for school aged children, or younger children closely supervised by caregivers due to a potential choking hazard from small items. It gets messy, so it is best for outside, or atop a tarp.


SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• Large underbed storage containers OR a small kiddie pool
• Small skewers that can be used as stakes, and any kind of string or ribbon
• Sand, can be found at low cost at home improvement stores
• Shark teeth or fossils, can be easily found online at low cost
• Cups or bowls to place fossils in when found

SUPPLIES NOT STRICTLY NEEDED, BUT WOULD BE ADDED FUN:

• Small plastic pincers
• Small brushes, like paint brushes

PREP WORK:

Fill container with sand. Mix in fossils, making sure to spread them as equitably as possible. Use the stakes and string to measure off equal-sized sections of the “dig site.”


EXTRA ENRICHMENT:

Create a picture sheet identifying the different kinds of fossils in the mix so children can identify what they’ve found. Have children estimate how many they think there are of each type, based on what they’ve seen, then create a wall chart to show how many of each kind were found.


Check the outside of your building, especially any stone work, to see if there are any small shell fossils visible in the rock.