43
Austintown library hosts story time
Photo
Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Shown, from left, are Poland resident Conner Tim McNinch, Akron resident Jordan Butterbaugh and Austintown resident Mia Foley as they pose with their finished turtle crafts at the Austintown library's Baby Brilliant: Fun with 4's and 5's event that centered, this week, on turtles.
Photo
Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Children's Librarian Nikki Puhalla wanted to include some facts about turtles in with the stories that were featured at the Austintown library's event so she taught children about the various species of turtles that are native to Ohio and how to tell them apart.
Photo
Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Children's Librarian Nikki Puhalla started the program by having the kids sing and dance at Austintown library.
Photo
Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Children's Librarian Nikki Puhalla used her iPad to show the children videos of baby turtles crawling into the ocean. Puhalla said that she likes to encourage children to interact with technology and that many of them were already using these tools on their own.
By ALISA MANNA
The Austintown library offered a turtle-themed story time on Sept. 26 to showcase the different ways to make reading fun for children ages 4 and 5. Children’s librarian Nikki Puhalla read stories and rhymes featuring turtles for the library’s Baby Brilliant program. Puhalla picked the theme because there’s a lot of nonfiction material to use.
“Even though the books I used were fiction, I tried to incorporate some nonfiction things, too,” she said.
She began with the warm-up song “Can’t Wait to Celebrate” from “Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem and More Salutes to Nonsense” album. Most of the songs and rhymes Puhalla used were for participation and movement. Songs like “Down in the Meadow” were active and made the kids move along with the lyrics.
The librarian also read “There Was a Little Turtle,” which was a rhyme that included finger play.
“The rhymes are mainly for vocabulary and to help the kids sound out words,” Puhalla said.
She chose the books “Turtle Splash” and “Five Little Turtles” because the children could count along as they read. The librarian even included a visual of Velcro turtles on a log for the kids to physically count along with the stories.
“Hurry Up and Slow Down” was a story about a tortoise and a hare. Puhalla said the story was a good way to show the difference between those two animals.
“And I used the words ‘tortoise’ and ‘hare’ to introduce them to different terms for ‘turtle’ and ‘rabbit,’” she explained.
As a part of the nonfiction materials, Puhalla used a chart displaying the different turtles in Ohio to show some of their distinct features. She also worked with her iPad and watched a YouTube video of baby sea turtles crawling back to the ocean.
“I like to use technology because it’s something different you can do with the kids,” the librarian said. “Kids understand and a lot of them already use some of the tools.”
Puhalla ended the program with a turtle craft for the children to color and decorate with tissue paper.
Canfield resident Jackie Cessna said she loves the Austintown library because it gives her grandson an opportunity to interact with other children in a nice and active location.