Programming for Kansas Kids Preschool to Preteen

These are suggestions for ways your library might promote the Kansas sesquicentennial (KS150) to the children in your community. If you have any additional ideas or resources, please email them to Kim Harp at kimh@kslib.info

This page is under construction- Thank you for your patience!

Events
Genealogy
Hobbies
Arts/Culture
Reading
Community-building
Food
Technology
Great Outdoors
History
Movement/Sports/Games

Events
Envisioning a Future Kansas- read stories of the lives of pioneers, Native Americans, and life on the prairie.  Then ask the children about life now.  Ask them how their community will change.  Have them create a mural of a future community
Hold a kids' choice contest regarding the top 150 reads in your children's collection
Host a Kansas trivia night: find trivia questions and answers at KSHS
http://www.kshs.org/news/pressroom/index.htm
Create a time capsule of your community
http://www.loc.gov/preserv/familytreasures/timecap.html
http://www.si.edu/mci/english/learn_more/taking_care/timecaps.html
http://www.si.edu/mci/downloads/RELACT/time_capsule_read.pdf

Genealogy
Instruct kids how to do a family tree
http://kids.familytreemagazine.com/kids/default.asp
Give kids a list of questions to tape their grandparents for oral history
Help kids set up a family online newsletter or blog
Preschool: discuss what your community may have looked like when Mom/Dad or Grandparents were their age- create a book of these ideas to share!

Hobbies/Crafts
Quilting- discuss the importance of quilts to Kansas history, then create a paper quilt based on your community
preschool: http://www.eduplace.com/act/quilt.html
Grade 3-5 math quilting unit http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=U104
Knitting/Crochet
Friendship bracelets (use state colors of yellow and blue!)

Arts/Culture
Have the kids redo the covers for their favorite Kansas-related book
Invite a Kansas children's author to read or describe how they wrote their book
Host a Kansas crayon-drawing contest
Battle of the bands
Kansas Idol
Have the kids create sidewalk chalk art touting KS150 on the walks surrounding the library
Host a music swap
Start a writing club
Select colors for your community and tye-dye T-shirts
Organize guitar/piano lessons in the library

Reading
Have kids pair up with your YA club teens to read books together
Invite a local assistance dog and its human to read with the children
Have children read up to 150 hours or books- keep track on a bulletin board or chart and give out special rewards
Have a local senior center provide volunteer readers
set up a "Read Kansas" corner that includes soft chairs or bean bags, bulletin boards and exhibits relating to Kansas
Stage a "read-in"- an overnight read-a-thon that includes sleeping bags and special events through the night

Community-building
Hold a supply drive for a local animal shelter or community pantry
Do a penny or nickel drive- go for one penny per day that Kansas has been a state- that’d be 54,750 coins!- proceeds could go to a new piece of artwork or landscape for the community or for a new piece of furniture for the children's section in the library!

Food
Hold a birthday party for Kansas
Use jelly beans (or other food) to display what 150 looks like: (have kids put 10 beans into a paper cup, then put 15 cups together to make 150)
Graham crackers- have the kids take a bite out of the corner then compare it to a map of Kansas.
use letter-shaped cookies or crackers to build Kansas-related words then "eat your words!"

Technology
Use Kidspiration to create a graphic organizer of your community history
http://www.inspiration.com/kidspiration
Use an online puzzle maker to create a crossword puzzle on your community- post it to the local newspaper
Set up an exhibit of older disc formats and older technology (think film strips and typewriters)

Great Outdoors
KS 150 treasure hunt!- invite families to learn more about their community by having local businesses or attractions act as stops on a treasure hunt.
Plant a community garden on the library grounds
Set up an outdoor theater and put on a play of the history of your community
Have a community member lead a hike outdoors and instruct the children on local plant and wildlife

History
Create a dress-up box of late-1800's pioneer and Native American clothing
Create train cars out of cardboard boxes and let the children play or read in them

Sports/Games
Set up a mini-golf course- each hole a different theme related to your community or to Kansas
Set up a 2-liter bottle bowl-and-trivia game- each trivia question answered correctly earns the player a chance to bowl!