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Arts

Summer is For Solar Systems

2023-06-18T10:39:31-06:00

(Christopher Mick pictured with adhesive sidewalk graphics that contained information on each planet and were applied at the appropriate distances from each other on the sidewalks starting at the Hudson library and continuing on for a 1-mile scale Solar System Walk, based on the Sun being 8-inches across)   The vast size of our Solar System can be a hard concept to get across to visitors at your library. Luckily there are several fun and interactive ways to represent the scale of our Solar System for multiple age groups, indoor and outdoor, from a strip of paper to a mile-long walking tour beginning at [...]

Summer is For Solar Systems2023-06-18T10:39:31-06:00

Look Up! Featured Activity – NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope

2022-05-20T10:39:50-06:00

Credit: NASA This content was written by Dillon Connelly from the Space Science Institute  Celebrate the first images of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope with this featured activity: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope  In this activity, you and your patrons will assemble a paper model of the James Webb Space Telescope. The model allows you to assemble the JWST from its three main elements. Facilitate as an in-person program at your library or a Take & Make activity.  Time to complete: 15-30 minutes  Ages: Upper Elementary, Middle, High School, Family  Modification and Preparation List   Total Cost: cost of printing and assembly [...]

Look Up! Featured Activity – NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope2022-05-20T10:39:50-06:00

Look Up! Featured Activity – Filtered Light 

2022-05-27T16:04:25-06:00

Credit: NISENET This content was written by Christine Shupla from the Lunar and Planetary Institute   Celebrate the first images of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope with this featured activity: Exploring the Universe: Filtered Light.   Filters allow us to block some types of light and isolate others; separating out these different colors or energy levels of light can give us new information. In "Filtered Light," participants discover how colored filters can help reveal more about an image. They can also make and study colorful images of their own.   Facilitate as an in-person program at your library, a Take & Make activity, [...]

Look Up! Featured Activity – Filtered Light 2022-05-27T16:04:25-06:00

Look Up! Featured Activity – Improv with the Stars

2022-05-27T16:07:40-06:00

Credit: Pioneer Library System Flickr This content was written by Christine Shupla from the Lunar and Planetary Institute  Celebrate the first images of NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope with this featured activity: Improv with the Stars  After learning about four stellar classifications and the characteristics of stars, groups of patrons act out an improvisation of the “personality” of the four stars while the audience gets to guess which star type is which.   Facilitate as an in-person program at your library inside or outside. Consider pairing this with the Life Cycle of a Massive Star activity.  Time to complete: one [...]

Look Up! Featured Activity – Improv with the Stars2022-05-27T16:07:40-06:00

Creating a Perpetual Nature Journal: A Sketchbook With a Twist

2021-05-30T09:10:51-06:00

I've read about artists, especially botanical artists, that take years to finish a work of art, not because they were just super slow, but because they had to wait.  What did they have to wait for?  Nature. These artists would focus on a particular plant while it was in bloom or its fruit was ripe, or it was at some other particular stage in its yearly cycle that they wanted to portray.  Then, when the blooms faded, the fruit was gone, or the plant had moved on to another stage, that painting and its associated sketches were put away until the [...]

Creating a Perpetual Nature Journal: A Sketchbook With a Twist2021-05-30T09:10:51-06:00

STEAM Engines: Da Vinci Bridge

2021-07-20T13:00:34-06:00

A few years back, as the Youth Services department was thinking about programs and play opportunities for the library, I attended this talk about the benefits of nature play for children. Scholarly presentations on the benefits of forest schools, nature preschools, and the importance of nature play were in abundance as well as hands-on activities for practical application in a school or library setting. I love it, and I’m totally on board, but the point that stuck out the most for me was the educator who talked about kids’ play being their work - that they would naturally become builders, engineers, [...]

STEAM Engines: Da Vinci Bridge2021-07-20T13:00:34-06:00

Nature Journaling – Art, Science, Observation, and Fun!

2021-05-28T22:05:55-06:00

Folks know what Nature is. Folks know what a journal is. But Nature can't write... no thumbs, among other things. Sooo. . . what is a nature journal? That depends. If you are an adult, a nature journal is a fantastic way to get away from the hustle, bustle, and rush, and practice patience, observational skills, and art.  It can be an opportunity to get out and have an outdoor adventure.  Keeping a nature journal is a way to become acquainted or reacquainted with the natural world.  It can become the place where an artist or future artist takes notes and [...]

Nature Journaling – Art, Science, Observation, and Fun!2021-05-28T22:05:55-06:00

STEAM Engines: Rube Goldberg Machines

2021-07-20T13:04:17-06:00

One of the greatest things about living with my son is watching how his brain works. He is a tinkerer, a “how things work” enthusiast, an engineer, and a builder. Where he sees a world of possibility in a pile of Lego, without clear instructions and a plan I see clutter and confusion. Where I see a mess of sticks, he sees a potential fort. Nothing exemplifies this more than the following example: One Saturday morning not long ago I asked Desi to clean up “a world of possibility” from the middle of the floor. He agreed, and I returned a [...]

STEAM Engines: Rube Goldberg Machines2021-07-20T13:04:17-06:00

Celebrate the Bees – World Bee Day

2021-05-29T08:08:07-06:00

On December 20, 2017, the General Assembly of the United Nations unanimously voted to declare May 20 World Bee Day. Why should we celebrate bees? Why not? The purpose of World Bee Day is to recognize more than just the most well-known of the bees - the European honey bee.  Many people don't know that the honey bee isn't native to North America.  It colonized the western hemisphere with the European settlers.  When the settlers arrived, though, this country already had plenty of bees of its own, some 4,000 different species actually, ranging in size from the world's smallest bee, the [...]

Celebrate the Bees – World Bee Day2021-05-29T08:08:07-06:00

Code Monsters: Computers and Social Emotional Learning at Skokie Library

2021-05-27T20:59:54-06:00

Before I get too deep into this post, I feel I must confess that there was a time in my life when I was a skeptic about gaming in the library. This skepticism was based on a number of misconceptions, the best of them being that nebulous old chestnut “you’ll rot your brain,” and the worst of them being that it’s a highly addictive, antisocial activity with little room for creativity. The latter opinion was loosely based on my own experiences obsessively squandering many a perfect summer day in pursuit of eight pieces of Zelda’s triforce. Not that there’s anything wrong [...]

Code Monsters: Computers and Social Emotional Learning at Skokie Library2021-05-27T20:59:54-06:00
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