WFPL 5K Race Announcement

The Watertown Free Public Library is pleased to announce our second annual 5K event! Join us on Sunday, May 31 at 10:15 a.m. for a family friendly community race. Together, we'll cruise through Watertown's beautiful neighborhoods. Runners, walkers, and strollers of all ability levels are encouraged to participate. Please visit: http://www.watertownlib.org/run

Registration is required and participants are encouraged to register in advance through our RaceWire Website.

Adults pay $25.

Ages 11 to 17 pay $20.

Children 10 and under can register for FREE!

This is a great opportunity to get your children moving and model healthy exercise habits. You can train for the event by joining us for a practice run on Saturday, May 23 at 9:15 a.m. No registration is required to practice on the Saturday before the event. 

If you cannot make it to the event, you can still make a donation to support the library. It can be made in person, by cash or check, to the Watertown Free Public Library Building Comittee or Online.

We Love to Dance

We've been cooped up all winter and we need to move our bodies. It's how we stay healthy and have fun. At the Watertown Library, we like to get a children's playlist togther and kick off our shoes for good ol' Preschool Dance Party. Moving to tunes is our favorite way to exhaust ourselves.

Ages 2-6 were singing, swinging, and clapping together this March. We took out the bananas, scarves, bells, and parachute to play along with the music. It was a rockin' good time.

Feed the Birds!

This winter has been difficult for all of us, esspecially our feathered friends. Birds have trouble finding seeds when the snow piles high. That is why we like to build bird feeders in the month of February. The Children's Department hosted an event for school age children to make two different types of feeders. The first one was simple; it involved stringing toasted o's onto pipe cleaners and shaping them into rings or other designs that could be hung on tree branches. The second type of bird feeder we made was a little messy; we coated toilet paper tubes in peanut butter, rolled them in bird seed, and looped yarn through the middle of them. These tactile crafts ensured our patrons would enjoy some backyard birdwatching for the rest of the chilly season.

Dinosaurs at the Library!

WFPL stays active, even in the snowy weather. Last week, our dinosaur party for ages 2-6, was a smash! Dinosaur footprints lead the way to the children's program room, where we read:

Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs by Byron Barton

Dini Dinosaur by Karen Beaumont

Ten Terrible Dinosaurs by Paul Stickland

Tyrannosaurus Wrecks by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

(Miss Kathleen's favorite)

We also enjoyed dinosaur-themed songs and crafts. Take a look at our March calendar for your next roaring good time.

Preschool STEM: Magnets!

Our final session of Preschool STEM focused on Magnets!

Children learned a little bit about what magnets are and how they work, and they got to try a few hands-on magnetic activities! Missed the program but want to try some of this fun at home? Pull those magnets off your refrigerator and give some of these activities a try!

• Test magnets on all sorts of surfaces and items in your home to see what they stick to. What do the items that stick to the magnet have in common? What types of materials are they made of?
• Have a magnet hunt! Stick a magnet to something in your home and have your child try to find it. Take turns: have your child put the magnet somewhere it sticks, and you find it!
• Place something small and metal like a paperclip in a cup of water, then challenge your preschooler to make the paperclip move without putting anything in the water or pouring any of the water out. Does it work with other objects (that may or may not be magnetic)?

Our craft was a fishing rod utilizing a magnet, and you can make your own out of common household materials. We tied a string onto a straw and then a magnet onto the other end of the string (we reinforced it with tape, because the string kept slipping). Then we made paper fish and clipped paperclips on their noses. Now kids could "fish" with their magnets!

That was the last of our Preschool STEM programs for this season, but we'll do them again so keep an eye on our schedule

And in the meantime, have you visited our HATCH Makerspace yet? It's an amazing space in the Arsenal Project Mall where people of all ages can experiment with hands-on items, many of which incorporate STEM elements! Find out more at our HATCH website!

Today's Preschool STEM Tips!

This morning was our second session of Preschool STEM, and we learned about Tools and Measurement. We discussed how we use various tools to complete different tasks, and we learned how measuring works. Then kids got to do some hands-on experimenting with scissors, rulers, measuring tape, magnifying glasses, and scales!

Most of the tools we utilized today are things you probably have at home! Grab your scissors, rulers, and bathroom scales and try them out with your little one!

• Do you have a ruler, yardstick, or measuring tape at home? You can measure all sorts of things in and around your house! Measure the length of your hand, arm, foot, or finger. How does your size compare to other people, animals, or items in your house?
• Is there a scale in your bathroom or kitchen? What can you find to weigh? If you don't have a scale, you can compare the weight of two small things by holding one in each hand.
• Let your child practice using scissors (safety scissors with blunt tips are best for little ones). Using scissors helps strengthen children's hand muscles, specifically the abductor pollicis brevis at the base of the thumb. This will make their hands strong enough to hold a writing utensil later!

We also used magnifying glasses at today's program. If you don't have a magnifying glass at home, you can make one using water and a clear, concave surface like part of a plastic bottle. Emma Vanstone explains how in this Science Sparks article.

Vanstone, Emma. "Make your own Magnifying Glass!" Science Sparks: Making Science Fun for Kids. http://www.science-sparks.com/2012/05/21/make-your-own-magnifying-glass/

Missed today's session? Don't worry, we still have one more Preschool STEM program! Join us next week, Thursday, January 29 at 10:15am, when we'll be learning about Magnetism! No need to register, just come on by with your three-, four-, or five-year-old!

Preschool STEM Programs this January!

This month we've got three weeks of Preschool STEM programs, the first of which was this morning! These programs focus on developing an interest and skills in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math concepts for preschoolers. For each of the three weeks, children will get to try lots of hands-on experiments to develop the early basic understandings necessary to be ready for in-depth STEM education once they start school.

We had the first of these programs this morning, focusing on Light and Shadows. Kids learned about what makes shadows, how shadows move and change depending on the angle and distance of the light source, what happens when light passes through colored paddles, and more!

Couldn't make it this morning? You've still got two more chances to try this fun program!

Thursday, January 22 at 10:15am: Tools and Measurement

Thursday, January 29: 10:15am: Magnets

They're all for children ages 3-5, and there's no need to register. And don't worry, the programs do not build on each other, so you will not feel out of the loop if you've missed any previous programs.

**BONUS FOR FAMILIES WHO ATTENDED TODAY'S PROGRAM!!**

As you tried the activities at each station, you may have noticed signs with ideas for "Activities to try at home." Give some of these a try around the house to extend what we learned about today!

• Shadow Puppets: Use your puppet at home with a flashlight or lamp. You can make more puppets with paper and sticks or straws.
• Shadow Theatre: You can make your own shaddow puppet theatre at home! Drape a light-colored sheet between to chairs with a light behind it. Or aim a light or flashlight at a wall.
• Shadow Tracing: Trace your shadow under a lamp or flashlight. Or when it gets warmer, try tracing parts of your shadow with chalk outside on a sunny day.
• Light Paddles: We used plastic light paddles today, but you can make your own version. Use markers to color onto plastic wrap, then stretch it across the glass of a flashlight. Now you can create whatever color flashlights you want!