Karen Wendt from Monona Public Library (WLA’s Library of the Year) sent information on a great program that went over really well in her library:
We had a really fun Leaf Printing program with Deborah Proctor (The Recycle Bug) at the Monona Public Library. We had 12 children registered but we had 36 attend (a very full house for us). I started out by reading a couple of fall books and she very briefly explained why leaves turn colors and fall in the autumn. She then showed examples of how the leaf prints look and explained the process. However, kids were chomping at the bit to get started and explanation was more for parents than for children.
Participants were asked to bring a t-shirt or pillowcase. Just in case some didn’t bring a shirt, Deborah had a few $3 shirts available for them to purchase. She also had bandana size pieces of a sheet and construction paper. Deborah brought along craft paints and leaves (she made them out of styrofoam pieces). Children had great fun painting the leaves and stamping leaf shapes onto their shirts. Parents were fully engaged and interacted fully with their children. It was great! Some children painted their names or used alphabet stamps that Deborah had available. We will do this program again next fall.
