Archives for Homepage Kids

May Virtual Open Mic

On Saturday, May 30th, the Library will host another Virtual Open Mic. This event will take place from 5:00 to 5:50 p.m. To attend, access Zoom with this link on 5/30. If you submitted anything for our comic or poetry prompts, or for our Documenting COVID-19 collection and would like to share your pieces at the event, please join us. Writing is a solitary activity, and as we are socially distancing it can become even more solitary if we don’t have a place to share our work collectively. In the past I have done readings in Westchester and New York
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Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, and Library News.

Author Event: Astronomer Dr. Julia Kregenow

Dr. Julia Kregenow is an astronomer and Associate Teaching Professor at Penn State University. She will be presenting two programs in May for families related to children’s books she has written and her study of astronomy. You can borrow some of Dr. Kregenow’s books in eBook format from the Library through OverDrive/Libby and Hoopla. Thursday, May 21, 2:00 p.m. Register in advance here. Dr. Kregenow will read from her book Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, I Know Exactly What You Are and lead a family sing-a-long for mixed age groups, singing several different verses from her book and giving additional scientific
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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Parenting: Sensory Needs at Home Part 2

As promised, this week I am giving some more tips for children who need sensory stimulation. Most of these activities require a little bit of prep, but are still fairly easy. Let’s start with items to keep in the house for when children just need a little calming. Good things to keep around include a smooth stone to hold, and a combination lock and/or old keys to manipulate. These items can be held and played with to give children that sensory experience. Other good calming techniques are brushing and pressure. One trick that always works with my son is taking
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Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Explore NYC from Home

One of the things I’ve been looking forward to, now that my daughter is older and doesn’t have a daytime nap, is exploring New York City with her. We were planning on starting this spring doing just that – taking the Metro North and having Big Apple Adventures. However, those plans are a bit on hold. Luckily, we live in a time where technology makes many things possible, and while it does not replace actually being somewhere, virtual tours and experiences are aplenty. NYC is filled with museums, art galleries and wonderful sites. Just because you’re safe at home, doesn’t
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Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

STEAM at Home: Creepy Candy

To celebrate Eat Anything You Want Day and Twilight Zone Day (May 11), I thought it would be fun to experiment with creating some creepy candies: dancing worms, growing gummy bears, and rainbow candy art. I have always been fascinated by creepy crawlies and I have a sweet tooth, so a project that combined experiments with candy sounded like lots of fun. I also love researching STEAM projects and learning the creative science behind the process. As an adult, it’s a really fun way to get in touch with your inner child. And as a parent or caregiver these experiments
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Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Library Launches Documenting COVID-19 Collection

We're living in unprecedented times. Many of us are working from home and adapting to shared living spaces, childcare demands, and social isolation. Others have had health challenges or find themselves unemployed. Meanwhile, we hear examples of adaptation and education, creativity and bravery. Our lives have continued in new ways. For these reasons, the Library—with your help—is creating a new collection: Documenting COVID-19: White Plains Experiences. The Library wants to hear about you, what you're doing, how you're doing, what you see outside your window. Contributions to the Library’s collection can be anything, from a three-line poem to a 200-page
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Categories: COVID-19, Director's Corner, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

Parenting: Sensory Needs at Home

Parents, teachers, special education service providers, and everyone who works with children are doing everything they can during these unprecedented times to help our children thrive. One thing many younger children are missing out on in this at home environment is sensory input. This is important for not only our children who have sensory issues (most common in children with autism spectrum disorder and ADHD), but also for typically developing children. As a parent whose son seeks sensory input constantly, I have been working with his service providers to give him as much as possible. I started out this quarantine
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Categories: Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Hoopla Creative Writing Resources

Writing can be a cathartic and stress-reducing activity, making it well suited to our current reality. Just as reading a good book can be a comfort right now, getting lost in a writing prompt can also be a portal into another world. Luckily, Hoopla offers a wealth of resources for writers of all ages, from children to adults. I’ll start by recommending a creative writing book by one of my favorite authors, Gail Carson Levine. I’ve loved her books since middle school, when I read Ella Enchanted, an original fairy tale about a girl who is cursed with the gift
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Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

STEAM at Home: Trove Kinetic Sculpture

I know there are a lot of people out there who are big fans of the kinetic sculpture in the Trove. The sculpture was created by Jeffrey Zachmann, a kinetic sculptor from Minnesota. Interested in knowing more about the creator of the Trove’s kinetic sculpture? Watch this interview where Mr. Zachmann discusses his work. At the end of each week’s What’s the Story? Safe At Home newsletter, I’ve been sharing videos of a variety of really cool kinetic sculptures and marble runs as an homage to the kinetic sculpture in the Trove. Those videos I have shared so far have
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Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Mother’s Day Book Display

Mother’s Day is traditionally celebrated on the second Sunday in May, which falls on the 10th of May this year. Usually in the Spring, Mother’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world! The day honors mothers and grandmothers for their love, nurturing, and care. If you are interested in creating some lovely hand-made flowers for the special moms and grandma’s in your life join Lina Cavalcanti’s craft program by watching the video here. To celebrate the mothers and grandmothers in our lives, I have gathered a collection of fun and noteworthy titles below:  
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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Make a Flower Gift for Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day will be here soon! If you’d like to make something for your mom(s) or grandma(s), watch the video below as Lina Cavalcanti shows you how to create hand-painted, paper flowers for your special someone(s). Looking for some books to read with your loved ones? Then check out this collection of Mother's Day themed eBooks I recommended. Using a few basic materials, you can create a unique gift – and have fun in the process! In this craft program video you’ll learn how to hand paint the paper, cut out the petals, and embellish your flowers to make something
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Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

STEAM at Home: Lava Lamp

Make a Lava Lamp using materials found around your home. Then experiment with it. Materials: Clear glass cup Water Vegetable oil Food dye Alka Seltzer Light – flashlight or lamp Procedure: Fill the glass ¼ full with water. Add some food dye. Fill the rest of the glass with vegetable oil (but not all the way to the top). Break up the Alka Seltzer tablet into 4 pieces. Drop 1 piece of Alka Seltzer into the glass and see what happens. Once it has worked, turn off the rest of the lights in the room and place the glass over
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Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

National Paranormal Day

As a kid, my journey into reading and loving books began with the paranormal. I devoured Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy books along with R.L Stine’s Fear Street. I quickly moved to comic books like The Maxx, horror books by Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and my favorite author Robert R. McCammon. I also began to venture into manga, especially CLAMP, an all-female Japanese writing group that wrote Cardcaptur Sakura, xxxHolic, and Tsubasa. Most of their manga has elements of Japanese mysticism and the occult. With the popularity of Stranger Things, we can see that the paranormal can be a coming
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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo, or the fifth of May, is a holiday that celebrates the date of the Mexican army’s May 5, 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. Enjoy these books about the holiday and more books that celebrate Mexican culture. Books About Cinco de Mayo/May 5th: Celebra el Cinco de Mayo con un jarabe tapatío, by Alma Flor Ada, F. Isabel Campoy (Spanish) (OverDrive) Marco’s Cinco de Mayo, by Lisa Bullard (Hoopla) Cinco de Mouse-O!, by Judy Cox (Audio-Book) (Hoopla) Cinco de Mayo, by Rachel Grack (Hoopla) Cinco de Mayo, by M.C. Hall
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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, “celebrating the achievements and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States….The month of May was chosen to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.”—APAICS Here is a list of eBooks, Audiobooks, and a Graphic Novel celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. All these books can be found on OverDrive on
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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.

Virtual Table Top Gaming Programs

Do you miss playing fun games with your friends at the library? Join Ashley and Erik from the Trove and the Edge to play virtual table top games! Before our first program, please have your parent or caregiver help you create a free online account on boardgamearena.com. Note: Boardgamearena.com does have a for-pay premium service. Please take care when creating your account to not incur any unwanted charges. We will host the game on Zoom and play the games on boardgamearena.com. We’ll play Kingdomino, Solo, and Sushi Go! For children and teens in grades 4 and up! Our first session
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Categories: eNewsletter, Events, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, and Library News.

May the Fourth Be With You: Josh’s Picks

Here’s a list of interesting and different Star Wars related content to help you celebrate May the Fourth! Plastic Galaxy – The Story of Star Wars Toys (movie on Hoopla) Star Wars toys helped to redefine toys and merchandising forever. Learn more about their origins, collectability and more in this interesting documentary. Are You Scared, Darth Vader? By Adam Rex (available on Hoopla, Overdrive, and Libby) This hilarious picture book is fun for kids, but possibly even more fun for their Star Wars fan parents. Music Inspired by Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk by Mecco (music on Hoopla) A
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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

STEAM at Home: Origami Yoda

I had never seen Star Wars until my freshman year in college. My roommate, Elizabeth, decided that we needed a marathon. So it began-my introduction to The Force, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Obi One Kenobi, Han Solo, Jabba the Hut, R2D2, Darth Vader, Ewoks and many phrases that everyone is familiar with: “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.” and “May the Force Be With You.” I also became fascinated with Joseph Cambell’s “The Hero's Journey,” from his seminal work, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, which George Lucas used as inspiration for creating Star Wars. If you’re
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Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

Star Wars Kids Titles

“Star Wars Day, May 4, celebrates George Lucas' Star Wars. It is observed by fans of the media franchise. Observance of the commemorative day spread quickly through media and grassroots celebrations. The date was chosen for the pun on the catchphrase ‘May the Force be with you' as ‘May the Fourth be with you'. Even though the holiday was not created or declared by Lucasfilm, many Star Wars fans across the world have chosen to celebrate the holiday. It has since been embraced by Lucasfilm and parent company Disney as an annual celebration of Star Wars.” Origami Yoda Series, by
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Categories: Authors & Books, eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.

STEAM at Home: DIY Lightsabers

May the Fourth Be With You! In this fun project, we will make some DIY Lightsabers, safe for bopping each other with and having duels (of the fates)! Just don’t bop too hard. Materials Needed Pool noodles or long paper tubes (such as wrapping paper tubes or a few paper towel tubes taped together) Duct tape Sharpie/indelible markers Scissors or a utility knife For paper tube lightsabers, you may also want: paint, construction paper, scotch tape and glue in order to make your lightsaber blade have a color My daughter and I made our two lightsabers from one pool noodle
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Categories: eNewsletter, Featured, Homepage Kids, Kids, and Library News.