Children's Work in the T. Ross Kelly Family Gallery

Hey kids!  YOUR art work is on display in our art gallery on the second floor!

Kids who participated in our Unplugged: Art Extravaganza program and our Massive Craft/Dance Party program created amazing works of art that are on display in the gallery throughout the month of December.  They utilized multiple mediums, including oil pastel, colored pencil, and tempera paint.  Be sure to come check it out anytime we're open until August 31.  And artists, if you would like your art back, please stop by to pick it up anytime after September 1.

Want a sneak peek?  Check out the photos below!

Two Guessing Jar Winners in One Day!

Today we had TWO Guessing Jar winners stop in to get their prizes on the same day!

 

Congratulations to Mira, who had the closest guess as to how many candy Lego pieces were in our Guessing Jar!  Mira chose a bubble blowing machine as her prize!

AND Congratulations to David, who chose a stuffed turtle as his prize.  He had the closest guess regarding how many gummy worms were in the Guessing Jar.

This week, kids are guessing on how many pairs of sandals are on a beach blanket in the Guessing Jar.  Come on in and make your estimate, and you might be the next winner!

We've Reached our Second Reading Goal!

You did it Watertown!  So far you've read 1,328 hours, which puts us well past our second goal of 1,250 hours! And you know what that means...

We're donating HONEYBEES to Heifer International!

Thanks to all of your reading and generosity, we've been able to donate tree saplings AND honeybees!  And if you keep reading, we'll donate ducklings and, if we hit our grand total goal, a llama!

So keep reading and keep coming to the library to log your hours.  Haven't signed up yet for Summer Reading?  Don't worry, there's still time!  You can sign up anytime until August 21st.  So keep reading!

We Have a New Winner!

Congratulations to Robert, our newest Guessing Jar winner!

Robert, age 8, had the nearest guess as to how many ice cream spoons were in our guessing jar.  He chose his prize, a baseball and bat!

There are still plenty more chances to win!  This week, you can guess how many candy lego pieces are in our jar.  You can stop in and guess anytime the library's open, and maybe you'll be next week's winner!

WE DID IT! We're donating Trees!

Congratulations Watertown!

So far, the kids of Watertown have read for 649 hours!  And that means we've reached our first goal, and we'll be donating tree saplings to Heifer International!

Heifer International will give tiny fruit trees to a farmer who needs help getting plants for his or her farm.  These trees will grow fruit which will feed the farmer's family, and might even be enough for them to sell.

By reading 649 hours, the kids of Watertown have both improved their reading fluency AND helped someone else in need!  Way to go guys!

Our next goal is 1250 hours, when we'll donate honeybees!  Keep reading!!

Our first guessing jar winner!

Congratulations to Mason, our very first Guessing Jar winner of 2013!

Summer Reading's off to an amazing start!  Kids are reading and logging their hours, and our programs and events are tons of fun!  And of course, we've had our first winner of our weekly guessing jar!

Our first week, kids were trying to estimate how many chocolate covered seeds were in a small gardening bucket.  There were 332 seeds, and Mason had the closest guess!  So he got to choose a prize, and he chose a water cannon which will be perfect for these hot July afternoons!

Don't worry, there will still be lots of chances for YOU to win a prize!  Each week we'll have something different to guess, and each week the child with the closest estimate will get to pick a prize.  This week we're trying to guess how many dinosaurs are in our jar.  You can guess every time you come to the library, so you  could increase your chances by visiting us more often!

And don't forget, if you haven't signed up for Summer Reading yet, there's still time!  Come in during any of our open hours and start logging your hours to help us donate plants and animals - and, if we read enough, a LLAMA! - to Heifer International!

Summer Reading's Off to a Great Start!

(Our display of all our Summer Reading participants: Our Crayon Box of Readers!)

Our Summer Reading Program here at the Watertown Free Public Library officially started on Monday!  We had a kick-off party Monday afternoon and had a great turnout.  So far, in just the first five days, 222 kids have signed up to participate!

Kids who sign up get their very own reading log here at the library.  Every time they come to the library, we pull out their log and they get to put a stamp on it for every fifteen minutes they've read since the last time they visited the library.  All types of reading and reading-related activities count: reading on their own, being read to, listening to audio books, looking at the pictures in books, reading magazines... everything!

When kids sign up, they get to put their name on a paper crayon and add it to our wall display, our Crayon Box of Readers (check out the picture above).  For every hour they read, they'll get to put their name on a paper dinosaur, which we'll put up on the walls of our program room.  Over the course of the summer, kids will get to see their name up all over the Children's Room!

We're keeping track of all the hours we read together on our Llamamometer (check out a picture on our previous blog post!), and when we reach certain goals we'll make donations to Heifer International!  So far, even though they've just started logging their hours, the kids have already read 40 hours!

Kids who signed up this week also received a goody bag with a bookmark, a sticker, and some great information about our summer programs.  We've got 10 bags left, so the next 10 people to sign up will get one of these great bags, where you can carry your books all summer!

So be sure to come in and sign up to start logging your hours and help us get toward our ultimate goal of donating a llama to a family in need!  And if you've already signed up, keep reading!