After School Program Overview

Usually 2-3 times per month, the library has an after school program. They are usually on Thursdays because that’s best for our schedule. Since January of 2018, we have also added a program for kids during the PTO meetings, in hopes that more parents will attend if their children are being supervised and doing something fun and productive. Those programs are usually on another day of the week, decided on by the PTO officers/board.

The programs always run from 3-4, and students usually come down when they are dismissed from school. In the past, another librarian and I have run the programs just the two of us, but this fall so far the programs have been big enough that I need a third person to help! Its a fantastic problem to have!

The programs vary in content and reception, but usually they involve crafts/games/science projects. We try to do things that are hands on to maximize their experience!

Here are some quick snippets about programs we have done in the past:

Library Lab: several science projects were offered. Some were demonstrated by librarians and others the kids got to do themselves!

Maker-Days: stationed maker lab. We had our LEGO walls open, perler beads, keva planks to build with,  play dough circuits and more. Kids were able to drift from station to station and make with whatever they wanted!

Slime-time: We made slime in the library! We did this twice last spring and both times it was a crazy hit.

Silent Library: A play on the show from MTV, the kids were put on teams and assigned crazy challenges. If they laughed or talked, their team lost a point. Whoever had the most points at the end got a prize!

From now on, I will try to do actual posts for current programs with photos!

Sign up is usually a struggle with these programs. I send home a paper at the beginning of each semester with all the dates and programs and descriptions and ask that parents/guardians call me to sign their child up.  Sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn’t. For example, the first Slime Time program we had last spring had 25 kids on the sign up list. I ended up with 58. Again, what an awesome challenge!!! But I was lucky I had enough materials for those kids since I wasn’t really planning on them. On the other hand, our T-Shirt Decorating Day last night had 20 kids on the sign up list, and those exact 20 kids came out for it, no more, no less. It all just depends! But by now I have learned to over buy a little in case I have extras. 🙂

After school program days are usually a whirlwind of prep and decisions but the kids usually have a great time and we love getting them into the library for such fun activities!