Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

robots from recycled items Mondays are art days during Summer Reading: Make n' Takes for the K-5th grade crowd, Teen Art for the 6th-12th grade crowd. This week found the younger crowd making robots out of recyclable household items, tin foil, and bling objects: stickers, pipe cleaners, fuzzy balls, etc. Such a simple idea, but the kids (and parents!) had a blast and were really proud of what they put together. WIN! binary code necklace The teens learned a little bit about binary codes, then made binary code necklaces, which they really enjoyed and showed off to me later. WIN again! Tuesdays are STEM (Science Tech Engineering Math) days at the Library; Prairie Dawn and I were super pumped for this past Tuesday's morning because we'd farmed out the morning K-5th grade program, bringing in a group called Snapology , who say of themselves, "We provide a fun environment for children to learn math, science, technology, engineering and literacy concepts using ...

 We just started an after school Lego program last week and though we had a small turn-out for the first Lego program (7), everyone had a blast! Watching the kids having fun with the Legos made me think of my own childhood. A childhood that I've always been so grateful for, parents who didn't let us watch much TV, but rather sent us outdoors, encouraged us to read, or play games with one another: Monopoly, SORRY! War, Poker, Risk, UNO; creating with Construx, Legos, and our Erector Sets; days spent playing Hide n' Seek, mothball wars in our basement, or afternoons spent in our garage helping our father keep our car running. I was the youngest of four and the tag-along, tomboy sister, especially tagging along after my brothers, and though we four kids fought and played and fought some more, I'm so thankful for them and the friendships and support we provide for each other as adults. Today I'm thinking of my brother A3 on his 35th and sending so much love his...