Valentine's Day Storytime

Monday, February 13, 2012


Happy Valentine's Day! Valentine's Day is all about sharing the love, so for yesterday's storytime craft we made Valentine Bookmarks for the library's Bookvan, a vehicle that delivers books to the city's nursing homes and retirement communities. After making bookmarks, we also made an easy and kooky craft inspired by one of my favorite craft blogs, Make and Takes.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Books first. Crafts after.

Valentine Storytime Lineup:



Love, Ruby Valentine by Laurie Friedman, Illustrated by Lynne Avril Cravath


Ruby Valentine loves Valentine's Day. She works so hard preparing for the holiday she accidentally sleeps through the entire day. A lovely, rhyming tale of how to treat everyday as if it were Valentine's Day.



How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague


Jane Yolen has made a few appearances on this blog. It's hard not to mention her when presenting great books to kids. This one from her and Mark Teague's series of dino picture books had the kids laughing with each turn of a page.




Love Waves by Rosemary Wells


I felt like the parents enjoyed this one just as much as the kids. A story about how you can love someone even if you aren't with them that very moment. In this case, two working parents send "love waves" to their child throughout the day and into night.





Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds


This book is on order at the library and wasn't going to make it in time for Valentine's Day Storytime, so I went ahead and purchased it. I liked the story so much and both Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Peter H. Reynolds so, SO MUCH.  Plant A Kiss was a spectacular ending to Valentine's Day Storytime, especially since it incorporated the storytime theme of "sharing the love" and how small acts of kindness make a big impact, as we transitioned into making bookmarks for Bookvan recipients.





Valentine Crafts:



Like I mentioned earlier, we made two crafts after storytime. The first were Valentine Bookmarks and the second were "Love Goggles"! We'll start with the bookmarks first..



Materials used for this craft: Ribbon, stickers, pre-cut bookmarks (I cut these on cardstock using our library's handy accucut device, scissors, glue stick, and vintage valentines.



Found these little valentine gems at a thrift store a few weeks ago. My co-worker scanned them and then printed out color copy duplicates, which I cut out beforehand.



Taking a bookmark and a 6-inch piece of ribbon, I folded the ribbon in half and threaded it through the boomark eye.



And made a basic knot.



Decorated the bookmark with stickers and by gluing on the vintage valentines, and cutting them to size if needed.



And there you have it! I had the kids make as many bookmarks as they wanted to make for the Bookvan. Some made 1, some made 3 or 4. They all turned out darling.



I paired up with another one of my storytelling co-workers, who also did the bookmark craft with her storytime kids and together the children of the library made
93 BOOKMARKS for the BOOKVAN! That's a lot of love to go round!


Now for the craft they took home.... "Love Goggles"



This idea was all 100% Make and Takes! Once I saw it, I knew the kids would love it.



Materials used: Pipe cleaners and scissors.



To start, take one pipe cleaner and fold it into a "V".



Bend the ends..



..and twist together into a heart shape.


Repeat with another pipe cleaner to make 2 hearts.



Cut an inch piece of pipe cleaner..



...and use that small piece to wrap around both hearts, connecting them together.



Like so.



Cut another pipe cleaner in half.



Take one half and twist the end to one side of the outside of the joinned hearts. Take the other half and do the same on the other side of the other paired hearts.



Bend the ends to make temple tips so they stay on your ears.



Love Goggles!


Wear and Care!!!



I've only got eyes for you...




HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY













image sources: love ruby valentine, how do dinosaurs say i love you, love waves, plant a kiss

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