Play Learn Make Conference Proposals Deadline

 Hello again, everyone!

I just wanted to send a reminder that the Play Make Learn 2025 Conference Call for Proposals is STILL OPEN! You can visit our website here to learn more and to access the application. The deadline to submit is March 7th, 2025. Please share this information far and wide with your networks — and consider submitting a proposal yourself!! 

ALSO — Registration for Play Make Learn 2025 is open, too! Whether you're submitting a proposal or not, consider registering as soon as possible; note that we have hit our conference capacity each year for the past 3 years, and we expect to do so again. The sooner you are able to register and secure your attendance to the conference, the better! We are hoping to offer a waitlist option this year.

• REGISTER HERE. You can view the different registration rate options at that link; Early Bird Rates are currently being offered.

• Choose the rate that best fits your situation: for most librarians and educators we'd recommend the "Formal and Informal Educators" rate, but if you'd like to support the conference more, you could always choose "General Admission" or "Friend of the Conference". More supportive conference rates help fund travel and lodging assistance for those that need it. If you yourself require assistance, please contact conferences@education.wisc.edu. 

• Note that the only registration options currently available are for the conference itself; we are still coordinating exact details and pricing options for the pre-con workshops that will be offered on Wednesday, August 20th. If you register early, but are interested in also adding a pre-con workshop later, we will follow up with you with more information to complete that process.

More information about the conference and call for proposals is below!:

Play Make Learn Annual Conference

August 21st & 22nd, 2025

Memorial Union | 800 Langdon St. | Madison, WI

• The Play Make Learn Conference is a place for collaboration and discovery in the design, research and practice of playful learning, games for learning and positive social impact, making and makerspaces, STEAM education, and arts in education. PML creates an inspirational space for preK-12 educators, designers, developers, innovators, librarians, museum professionals, makers, and researchers to tinker together, share knowledge, and celebrate one another’s work. For the first time ever, Play Make Learn will have a conference theme to bring together the work of all of the communities that come together for the conference. The 2025 Play Make Learn Conference theme is: 

• Innovations in educational design and play-based learning often emerge from moments of critical reflection, experimentation, and creative risk-taking. By embracing the processes of breaking and mending, we can foster enhanced inclusivity, deeper relevance in teaching and learning practices, and greater belonging in educational spaces. This year’s conference theme invites educators, researchers, scholars, librarians, and practitioners to critically examine the acts of breaking and mending as pathways to systemic transformation, resilience, and creative growth. Whether through playful experimentation, critical deconstruction, or thoughtful rebuilding, we explore how “messiness” can lead to meaningful change and stronger, more human-centered learning environments. Possible Focus Areas for Submissions include but are not limited to:

• Critical Breaking: Exploring how deconstruction of traditional educational systems can disrupt inequities and create more inclusive spaces; investigating maker education as systems thinking: breaking down to understand and transform; examining how games in education challenge systemic power structures, & restructuring educational practices to be student-led.

• Playful Breaking: Leveraging arts integration as a tool for belonging through messiness and experimentation; designing for “productive failure” to foster resilience and creativity in learners; creating “maker” spaces that encourage learners to break, question, and rebuild.

• Rebuilding Through Reflection: Using the metaphor of Kintsugi (the "art of beautiful repair") to explore how educational practices can emerge stronger after breaking; reflecting on the disassembled components of a classroom to build more equitable, inclusive learning environments; developing frameworks for rebuilding educational spaces to support deeper learning and human connection.

• This theme invites participants to embrace the messy, complex, and transformative journey of breaking and mending for better learning futures.

While not all sessions will speak directly to the theme, you are encouraged to use it as inspiration while developing your proposals. Proposals which address the theme will receive special consideration during the review and selection process.

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Call for Proposals

You are invited to submit a proposal to present at the 2025 Play Make Learn Conference (PML). PML aspires to foster a learning community that has a diversity of perspectives and practices. Are you a first-time presenter, young person, or practitioner considering submitting for Play Make Learn, and need additional support? Reach out to our planning team at: conferences@education.wisc.edu.

DEADLINE for Submissions: March 7, 2025 at 11:59PM Central

Notifications Sent:  April 2025

• Submit your proposal here!

• Session "Strands": Submissions are encouraged in and across the following themes, but new ideas are also welcome and encouraged. You will be asked to select all themes that apply to your work:

• Playful learning
• Games for learning and positive social impact
• Making and makerspaces
• STEAM education

• Arts in education

• Session Format: You will be asked to select the session format. Please note time and maximum presenters for each type.

• Hands-on Workshops (75 minutes, 1-6 presenters): Workshops should actively engage participants, showcasing your work, or methods you use inside or outside the classroom. They may include physical making, playing a game or something else. Session Organizers will be asked for 2-3 learning goals or takeaways they have for participants in the session.

• Panel Presentation (75 minutes, 2-4 presenters): Panel presentations should have two or more presenters from different projects or organizations. Panels should explore a “big question” relevant to the conference theme or of interest to the larger PML community. Session Organizers will be asked for 2-3 learning goals or takeaways they have for participants in the session.

• Individual Presentation (15 minutes, 1-2 presenters): Presentations will be 15 minutes in length to highlight noteworthy initiatives, ideas, or recent research. Session Organizers will be asked for 1 learning goal or takeaways they have for participants from their presentation. The planning committee will group individual presentations into themed 75 minute sessions with a moderator, who will reach out to coordinate the final format with presenters.

• Poster: Posters provide the opportunity to present innovative ideas, initiatives, and prototypes in both formal and informal learning contexts. Presenters will have space to hang their poster and engage with attendees during the interactive poster & playful demo session.

• Playful Demo: This interactive, open-ended session is a chance to show off or playtest a game, ed tech tool, or other innovation. Presenters will have a table for their activity or tool during the interactive poster & playful demo session.

• Break the Mold Session: Have an idea that doesn’t quite fit into the formats listed above? Samples include sessions lasting days or weeks asynchronously, sessions within games and so on. What if a session took place in Minecraft? What if participants met outside to explore? What if participants worked collaboratively over the conference to produce a play? Be as creative as you dare for these sessions. If you have questions about an idea before submitting, send an email to conferences@education.wisc.edu.

• Final Notes:

• In the interest of providing diverse perspectives any individual will be limited to participating in a maximum of two sessions. Posters and Arcade Demos do not count towards this maximum.

• Sessions should focus on new insights, learnings and innovations of broad interest to the PML community and should not be promotional in nature. If you are a for-profit company interested in showcasing your product to the PML audience, please reach out to conferences@education.wisc.edu for sponsorship opportunities.

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Thank you for helping me spread the word. If you have any high-level questions about Play Make Learn 2025, please feel free to reach out and I'll help if I can. Alternatively, you can contact conferences@education.wisc.edu. I look forward to seeing you at the conference!

Best,

~Chris

Chris Baker (he/him/his) Public Library Consultant, Games & Learning Consultant Library Services Team, Division of Libraries and Technology Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction 201 West Washington Avenue | Madison WI 53703 608-264-6709 | chris.baker@dpi.wi.gov | dpi.wi.gov

UW-Madison iSchool Spring Youth Courses

There are some great youth librarianship courses planned by the iSchool's Continuing Education Department this spring. These are great ways to add to your library knowledge and skillsets from your home  office or home. 

Sustainably Grow Your Summer Library Program

February 10 - March 9 (4 weeks)

• Online/asynchronous
• $165 (Register 2 weeks early for 10% off)
• Instructor: Dawn Tevis, La Crosse County Library

Looking for ways to keep your Summer Library Program (SLP) energized and relevant? This course will help you rework your programming in accordance with ALA’s sustainability guidelines, bringing environmentally sound, economically feasible, and socially equitable policies to your library. Learn how a sustainability mindset and the unique characteristics of your community can transform your SLP endeavors and bring resilience, potential, and change to your community. Then apply this knowledge and a wealth of ideas to develop a program that will fit into your upcoming summer library program plan.

Learning outcomes: 

• Understand the history and purpose of SLPs
• Explore sustainability as a core library value and its impact on your SLP strategy
• Evaluate the unique characteristics and possibilities of your location to determine innovative programming possibilities and partnerships
• Create a sustainable summer program plan rooted in your community’s needs to help ensure your SLP thrives now and into the future

This class is ideal for youth librarians and staff in both rural and urban areas who are new to the field, as well as those who have experience and want to re-energize themselves and their work with current sustainability-based best practices and innovations.  

For more info and to register, click here.

Connect and Engage: Effective Youth Outreach Strategies for Libraries

Feb 17-March 30 (6 weeks) 

• Online/asynchronous
• $275 (Register 2 weeks early for 10% off)
• Instructor: Brooke Newberry, La Crosse Public Library

Are you looking to reach a wider youth audience and engage the underserved community? In this course, we will focus on effective outreach strategies, tips and tricks, and essential tools to connect with the youth community. These include tools on how to evaluate your patron population, conduct a needs assessment, and form meaningful new partnerships in your community. Join us to learn how to create engaging, inclusive, and impactful programs that resonate with today’s youth.

By the end of this course, learners will: 

• Understand youth needs and trends
• Develop effective outreach programs
• Utilize new engagement strategies
• Form strategic partnerships
• Evaluate and improve outreach efforts
• Implement sustainable practices

This course is designed for any library worker looking to expand their outreach services or get a better understanding of outreach best practices for youth. 

For more info and to register, click here.

Playing Around: The Library’s Role in Playful Learning for Young Children

March 31 - May 11 (6 weeks)

• Online/asynchronous
• $275 (Register 2 weeks early for 10% off)
• Instructor: Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser, St. Paul (MN) Public Library

Play and learning are two sides of the same coin. Young children learn essential skills through play, yet access to play and play spaces is being reduced across the country. Libraries can serve a critical gap in any community by offering opportunities for free, safe, fun spaces that allow children and caregivers to play together. This course explores how to positively impact access to play and help children ages 0-5 thrive through a combination of theory-based learning and practical tools. We will focus on research about play and the ways play influences literacy; building a play culture in your library; and creating high-quality play spaces in a library of any size and any budget. Participants will emerge with an understanding of the ways libraries can support play and how to make change at their own institution. 

Learning outcomes:

• Understand of the importance of play for children’s healthy development
• Understand and be able to articulate the role of libraries in supporting playful learning
• create a basic play philosophy for their libraries
• Develop a personalized play plan for their libraries
• Identify sustainable strategies for play space maintenance

Who should take this class?  Staff who serve youth ages 0-5 in public libraries.

For more information and to register, click here.

Creating a Welcoming Space for Immigrant and Refugee Families

April 7 -May 4 (4 weeks)

• Online/asynchronous
• $165 (Register 2 weeks early for 10% off)
• Instructor: Jacqui Kociubuk, UW-Madison iSchool PhD Candidate

While immigrant and refugee children and families are a growing presence in many of our communities, it is difficult to know how we can best serve them. Through this course, you will learn about and explore best practices for cultivating a welcoming space and supportive library services to immigrant and refugee children and families both in and beyond the physical library walls.

Learning outcomes:

• Understand how to create a welcoming library space for immigrant and refugee families.
• Explore strategies for cultivating trust and building relationships between immigrant families, the community, and the library.
• Learn best practices and approaches for providing services, resources, and programs to immigrant and refugee children and families.
• Identify and assess opportunities for community partnerships to help expand and support services to immigrant and refugee families.

This course is designed for library staff who are interested in learning more about how to connect with and design library programs, services, and resources for children and families who are New Americans, immigrants, and/or refugees.

For more information and to register, click here.

Tutorial: What are all of these Literacies? An Overview of New & Foundational Literacies for Librarians and Educators

• Online & Self-paced
• Cost: $100.00
• Tutorial Designer: Layla Coleman

The number of literacies that individuals are being asked to establish and maintain in order to participate in today’s society continues to change and grow. With the advent of new literacies and shifts in the ways that schools are teaching foundational measures of literacy, what is an information professional to do? This course overviews the wide array of literacies that anyone working in library or youth spaces may need to understand, teach, or create programming around. These include but are not limited to: school-based measures of foundational literacy (including “leveled readers”, the science of reading, and balanced literacy approaches) and digital literacy, media literacy, and information literacy.

In this tutorial, learners will

• Explore the origins of foundational literacy (the abilities to read, write, and communicate) and identify how foundational literacies are frequently approached in school settings.
• Examine how children and youth establish digital literacies and media literacies.
• Consider the social and cultural factors that impact literacies and how libraries can be influential in literacy development.
• Discuss how information literacy guidance and programming has changed in library and education spaces.
• Reflect on the different ways that literacy learning intersects and connects with your own library’s needs, resources, and programming.

This is a self-paced course that will be available for access as soon as you register. You have up to one year from your registration date to complete the course.

You will automatically receive instructions for setting up your account after you register. Once your login information is set up, please access the course at http://canvas.wisc.edu.

For more information and to register, click here.

Encouraging Movement in the Children's Room

Image by press 👍 and ⭐ from Pixabay

A recent ALSC blog post by Erika Hogan addressed ways to incorporate movement in the range of your youth services. Erika writes: " 'Don’t sit down!' That might not be a sentence you’ve used with children at the library outside of often, but the value of movement-based activities in children’s services isn’t restricted to storytime. 

What follows is a brief intro to how movement can make a difference in children’s services. Recent research suggests that whole body engagement is great for stress management, encouraging physical awareness, and mindfulness. Like play, movement can make a meaningful impact when working with a variety of age groups."

To read her suggestions, please stop here.

Encouraging Dramatic Play in the Library

In Children and Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children's fall 2024 issue, Wisconsin's own Terry Ehle, Tami Feuerstein and Sally Taylor have a wonderful article on their thoughtful approach to incorporating early literacy practice in everything they do.

The abstract for the article states: "A moving child is a learning child. Playing is the best way to learn. And the number one factor in preparing children for success is loving interaction between them and their primary caregivers—the parents or “embedded” persons who are their first, favorite, and most important teachers. Those research-based beliefs are the foundation of the Lester (Two Rivers, WI) Public Library’s (LPL) early literacy approach, and we build upon it by incorporating into all programs, including dramatic play, the American Library’s Association’s Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) five early literacy practices: read, talk, play, write, and sing."

The article shares the philosophy behind their approach and a ton of ideas and tips on how they created dramatic play spaces that work. 

You can access the article here at the journal's website [Practice the Practices: Kids Learn Big in Dramatic Play Areas. Ehle, Terry et al. Children and Libraries Journal. Fall 2024. Vol 22, No. 3.]

Teen Playground Program

In a recent Teen Librarian Toolbox post, Cindy Shutts who writes the Cindy Crushes Programming series (and she does crush it!), shared how she created a very popular program for her teens by making play the focus.

Cindy writes: "I had the idea of creating a teen playground in the library after years of seeing teens who often just wanted to roll on the floor. Why not let them use the library as a playground? So for an hour and a half after library hours one day, we made it happen. I did this program after hours so as not to disturb library patrons and to give this the real playground feeling."

To read her clever ideas and tips for this program, please stop here. [Cindy Crushes Programming: Teen Playground. Shutts, Cindy. SLJ Teen Library Toolbox blog. August 21, 2024.]

Jim Gill Workshop for Library Staff

Attention Youth Service Librarians! Save the Date!

Friday, June 14th @ 9:30am, Jim Gill is offering a professional development workshop tailored for librarians and early childhood educators at the Mead Public Library in Sheboygan. 

A JOYOUS WAY TO LEARN WITH JIM GILL: Promote Readiness, Literacy, Math Development and Inclusion Through Active Music Play

Thirty-five years ago, Jim Gill picked up a banjo excited by the idea that music, apart from the joy it brings, is a great way to help young children learn. In this energizing session Jim shares examples of his award-winning songs and musical books that combine opportunities for active movement with word play and rhymes.  He also discusses:

-How music play inspires young children not only to move, but to regulate their movements…..not only to sing, but to make connections between the words they sing and the printed word and world of numbers.

-How music play can help create an inclusive environment for children with special needs and from all different backgrounds.

Librarians and early childhood educators will leave the session inspired to celebrate with new songs and playful literacy activities.  Even more, they will leave the session thinking about new strategies to help children learn!

Preregistration is essential to secure your spot for this event.  Register here

A free family concert is the following day on Sat June 15th, and is also free and open to the public.

Thank you to the Kohler Foundation for your generous sponsorship of this program. 

Supporting Hand Strength in Tots

Image by Mari Kanezaki from Pixabay

In a recent ALSC blog post, Maria Trivisonno broke down why it's so important to tots develop hand strength in early childhood. It's all about their future writing. And librariaes can help!

Maria writes: "In my Family Engagement work in tandem with a school psychologist and occupational therapist, I have learned the importance of pre-writing skills in kindergarten readiness…and that many children today have fallen behind in this stage of development.  We worry about the “dangers” of screens concerning attention span and other developmental stages…but scrolling with touch screens is really hampering hand development, a vital part of writing. What can we do to help children develop the physical skills needed for writing?"

To read her very practical and doable suggestions, please stop here. [Write On! The Importance of Hand Strength in Early Writing. Trivisonno, Maria. ALSC blog. January 7, 2024.]

Let's Play in the Library

In a recent ALSC blog post, the ever-amazing Tess Prendergast addresses ways that dramatic play in the library enhances literacy and learning for our youngest patrons.

Tess writes: "Because you work with children, you see them at play in different ways all the time. At any given moment in the children’s library, you might see them putting on a puppet show, building with blocks, pretending to go on a bear hunt, or playing with an interactive app. Play is an integral part of childhood, and children experience play as intrinsically rewarding and intensely enjoyable. We also know that play in all its forms fosters children’s language, literacy, and cognition. It also provides rich developmental opportunities across all domains. Play is so important to the lives of children, it is enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 31 which states that all children have the right “to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.”

She goes on to suggest way to incorporate play in library spaces and early literacy programming - and provides the research to back up her examples.

To read the post, please click here. [Supporting Dramatic Play in the Library. Prendergast, Tess. ALSC blog. November 18, 2023.]

Early Literacy Play Webinar from CLEL

Registration is now open for the next free CLEL (Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy) webinar: 

Choose Your Own Adventures: Research-Based Play Experiences that Work for Libraries

Thursday, May 4, 3-4pm CDT on Zoom

 

Join Michelle Randall, PhD with the Bay Area Discovery Museum in learning how to create research-backed play experiences in your library. Explore examples that pull from fields of education, psychology, and neuroscience to set up intentional problem-solving play experiences. Identify foundational principles such as choice that help you construct adventures that will inspire a passion for discovery in young children.

 

Register here to receive the Zoom link.

 

Hope to see you there (and apologies for cross-posting)!

CLEL Communications Team

Tuesday Tips - Let's Play!

Sam Jones is the Youth Services Librarian at the Beaver Dam Public Library. She shares tips to make your job easier in her Tuesday posts.

There's a fun, new toy in our children's area!

When I got this job last May, the library didn't really have much for a play space. In June, I brought back puzzles that were not out due to COVID, but I knew I wanted more of a playspace. My boss was totally on board and encouraged me to find something. Over the past few months, I had been casually looking for something that would encourage imaginative play. On Facebook, I'm in a bunch of librarian groups where I looked for what others have suggested. I believe it was in the ALA Think Tank group where I found what we needed- the KidKraft Let’s Pretend Wooden Grocery Store. 

The store is very portable. You can fold it and easily move it to a different location. It also doesn't have a large footprint, which helped a lot when figuring out where to put it. Another plus is that the store came with groceries. Some of the groceries are made of cardboard boxes, which probably won't last a long time, but work great in the meantime. I'm currently looking at some Melissa and Doug food to provide more long-term options. My favorite thing about it is that you can move the conveyor belt! The kids love rolling food off of it. 

So far, we have had a great response to the store. There have been many positive Facebook, Instagram, and in-person comments. I also got interviewed by the Daily Citizen, our local newspaper, about it. This was super exciting because it was my first newspaper interview. Overall, I'm very pleased with the store and can't wait to add more play items to the library. 

Play Days at the Library

We all know libraries are a great place to learn, play, and connect. A program that targets all three of these values is "play days" for little learners (toddlers and preschoolers). 

Mary Dubbs wrote a great article on the ALSC blog describing the "Connect & Play" program at her library. Mary describes how to incorporates early literacy skills into the program, how she handles precautions for the current covid-19 pandemic, and tips she's learned along the way. 

Check out the article here. 

Photo of a setup from the "Connect & Play" program

Center for Childhood Discovery Resources

Thanks to the ever amazing Jbrary blog (you do have them on your RSS feed don't you?),  a recent post from them highlights some great free downloadable resources from the Center for Childhood Creativity, perfect for all youth library staff to use in serving their birth-age 8 clientele.  The Center is the research arm of the Bay Area Discovery Museum and they want to help adults working with kids by linking research with the practical aspects of work with kids.

To read about their work which includes a School Readiness Toolkit, A Promising Practices for Library Staff and more, stop here! 

Early Childhood Nature and Play Workshop Opportunity

On Tuesday March 12 in Madison, as part of a larger Preserving Early Childhood Conference, there is a stand-alone full-day workshop being offered to help teachers (and includes librarians!) involve young children in outdoor exploration and play.

The registered workshop, Play and Wonder in Nature, is $100. Workshop description: "Spend the day (9:00 - 4:00) exploring how outdoor play and nature-based learning enriches the whole child, as well as your teaching experience. Come dressed for the weather as we venture outdoors to explore ways to adapt lessons to incorporate play-based learning and strengthen our own connection to nature. Participants will become certified to use Growing Up Wild from Project Wild and Getting Little Feet Wet from Project Wet and receive activity guides as well as inspiration to take play-based learning outside!"

To read more about the workshop and register, please stop here.

Webinar: Child-Lead Play in Public Library Programming

FREE upcoming webinar from the iSchool at UW-Madison!

June 6 at 12:00 p.m. (CST)
Presenter: Carissa Christner, Youth Services Librarian, Madison Public Library – Alicia Ashman Neighborhood Library

Have you ever wondered if there’s a better way to spend your summer programming hours than hiring magicians and jugglers? Do you struggle with ways to incorporate truly authentic play (the kind YOU engaged in as a kid, not the kind directed by adults) into your library offerings? Not sure how much guidance to provide in open-exploration sessions for toddlers? Are you looking for more ways to encourage literacy skills and parent education? This webinar will introduce you to a radical new library program idea being pioneered in Madison, Wisconsin, based on a groundbreaking new educational philosophy called Anji Play. Learn how Carissa has adapted this approach, originally developed for schools, into a library-friendly format that both kids and parents love.

Register here: http://go.wisc.edu/pkfgg5

Guest Post: Play at the Public Library

Author: Emily Zorea, Youth Services Librarian at Brewer Public Library

The benefits of play time for children has been long researched, observed, and promoted by educators, doctors, teachers, and librarians.  Play is even one of the five “magic” words in early childhood literacy (Write, Talk, Read, Sing, and Play) that we promote in our storytimes and early literacy education. However, it can be one of the more difficult ones to bring out in the library in our regular storytime (and similar program) sessions. So, how we do add more play time to our library programming? I believe that children’s programs work best when they work as family programs that bring families together. To that end, how can Play Time not only promote early literacy, healthy social skills, but also build relationships between child parents and caregivers at the same time?

I have written down a new goal this year to have more time built into our library’s programming for play. As the cold Wisconsin winter hit January, I noticed that my storytime kids were more restless than usual in storytime sessions. No wonder. I would be too if I was inside all the time due to cold, snow, and ice! It got me to thinking about adding an additional program to our calendar. This past week, we started offering a “Baby/Toddler Play Time” at the library. We host it on Tuesday mornings beginning at 10:00 a.m. and it is open to children ages 0-36 months, with activities planned in a separate space for older siblings (For this I have a craft project out and our library’s Legos on the tables in the children’s library so the older kids are close, but in their own separate space.) Our first week we had planned to offer “Baby/Toddler Play Time” the weather was so bad we had to close the library and the highway commission advised everyone in my part of the state to stay inside (see a cause in that restlessness I was talking about?). So, this past Tuesday was our first week we held the program. We had two moms come, not bad for a first time program. I have found it usually takes 3-6 months after we add something new at the library for it to come to our community’s mind as a new resource. For the parents and kids who came, it was a welcome break and a chance for their little ones to gain social skills and for the moms to connect and swap kid stories. With the parent’s permission, it also gave me an opportunity to take adorable pictures of their little ones to use in our program promotion on Facebook, flyers, and in the local newspaper.

To prep for the program, I filled our Storytime room with toys and brought out a ball pit and a crawl tunnel that I ordered from Amazon through grant funds. I wanted the kids to have toys that they probably did not have at home to make the experience more magical, and more fun for the parents. I did ask that the kids to take off their shoes at the door before playing.

This past Friday I was not able to give a regular storytime because I had to leave for a meeting of the Youth Service Section of the Wisconsin Library Association. So, although my original plan was to just bring these toys out for Baby/Toddler Play Time, I left them out for Storytime as well. The kids loved it. I gave them about 15 minutes of free play, and then I bought out the parachute. We played “Popcorn Kernels” (Credit: Jbrary) with it for about 10 more minutes, and then the kids wanted to go back to their imagination games. It was a perfect break for me to not have to plan storytime for a week, and I think it was a welcome break for the kids to have a large room to run and play in.

My goal is add more “constructive play” type objects for the babies/toddlers to play with in future sessions so that the children can construct large objects out of smaller ones, or practice their fine and gross motor skills while pulling scarves out of an empty tissue box, for example. This is a fun goal, and I am looking forward to learning from my colleagues as I add new play games and toys for this young age group.

Has your library offered a Baby/Toddler Play Time? What are your tips and tricks for making it successful?