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Children enjoy food, fun and fitness
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Neighbos | Alexis Bartolomucci.Taylor Griswold likes to come to all of the events that the Austintown library hosts. She spends a lot of time engaging in the library activities when she is not in pre-school.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Austintown librarian, Miss Ashley, led the group with a ribbon dance. The children were given ribbons to put around their wrists. As the song played, the children had to listen for their color ribbon and the activity they were supposed to follow along with.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.An obstacle course was set up for the children to play in. They would crawl through the tunnel then run through the cones.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
The Austintown library hosted Fitness Fun storytime on Nov. 5 for children ages 2-5. Miss Ashley, the librarian leading the event, mentioned that this group of children was one of the largest groups that the event has brought in. The focus of the event was fitness and food, so the story and activities were centered around that theme.
There were songs, stories, crafts and even an obstacle course. The children started with a clapping song followed by the book, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. After the story was finished, Miss Ashley passed out ribbons for the children to put around their wrist. “Rainbow Dancers” was the next song to be played that encouraged the children to listen and perform the activities the song was telling them to do with the ribbon.
Two more songs and dances occurred before the children were able to create their foot plate crafts and run through the obstacle course. The craft consisted of a plate image divided into each food group for the children to glue different foods in each group.
While some children played with their food, others crawled through a tunnel and ran around cones. The obstacle course consisted of a small tunnel for the children to go through and when they came out the other end, there were four cones for them to zigzag around.
Dawn Laslow is one of the regulars who comes to the different events at the library every week.
“It’s something for the kids to get engaged in and have fun,” Laslow said. “We try to come at least three times a week.”
The Austintown library hosts various events all throughout the week for children of all ages to attend. Each of the programs are designed with a different focus, but all are aimed at getting the children to interact while providing a chance for them to improve their learning skills.