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Austintown library brings back evening Family Story Time event
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Austintown library assistant supervisor Starr Jones put out several books about baking to be checked out during the Family Story Time event.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Assistant supervisor Starr Jones read the book "The Cow Loves Cookies" during Family Story Time at the Austintown library.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Among the activities for Family Story Time at the Austintown library was having the children decorate their own cupcakes.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.The children watched and listened as Starr Jones read to them during the Family Story Time event at the Austintown library.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.The materials needed for the children to make their own chef hats were laid out on a table at the .Austintown library. The hats were made out of a long strip of paper, a square piece of paper, three round pieces of paper and glue.
By TIM CLEVELAND
The Austintown library hosted its Family Story Time event on Sept. 23, with plenty of activities for children young and old.
The event featured assistant supervisor Starr Jones reading from several books, plus a craft where the children made chef hats and got to decorate and eat their own cupcake.
“I did a doughnut program at the main library in the spring and I got 40 kids for that,” Jones said. “I discovered they liked putting icing and sprinkles on the doughnuts. So I thought I’d do one with a baking theme, stories about cakes and cookies and pies.”
Among the books Jones read were “The Cow Loves Cookies,” “The Doorbell Rang,” “Benny Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake,” and “Five Little Monkeys Bake a Birthday Cake.”
The children used frosting and sprinkles to decorate the cupcakes and they used various shapes of paper and glue to make their chef hats.
It was the first time the Austintown library has hosted an evening Family Story Time. Jones said she hopes to make it a regular event.
“We had success with it downtown doing Family Story Time,” she said. “We have toddler, preschool, baby programs in the mornings, but if you have a child that goes to day care or preschool in the morning then they kind of miss out on the programs that are at 10 or 11. Sometimes parents work or mornings aren’t good, so we’re hoping that we can capture a good time for families to come out and have a program in the evenings that just isn’t for older kids but it’s for a wide range.”
Jones said the children who attend Family Story Time can learn many valuable lessons.
“They learn the excitement of books,” she said. “They build their vocabulary, baking’s also a good way to learn math. Baking is a good thing for kids because it teaches them a lot about math and science. The craft helps the younger kids learn shapes. It helps them with their fine motor skills to learn how to use glue and put things together. Every little piece has something that helps them.”