Summer Reading

 

We've still being doing lots of library Summer Reading activities. We reached the halfway point for Orem and Jeremy picked up prizes for us. Little flashlights for Jr. Jr. and Lucky, bubbles for Jet, and books for the four oldest of us. They had little kid books that adults could choose so Jeremy picked up a board book of baby animals for me. Jet loves it.

We continue to go on weekly walks at parks for #provostorytrails and enjoy learning some new tales. "The Stonecutter," "Three Magic Oranges," and "Catherine & Her Destiny."

We even took time at one park to act out The Three Billy Goats Gruff with the big bridge there.

At another park, after we got out of the van, Lucky called out, "Wait! I left something in the van." Once we unlocked it for him, he climbed in and pulled out a pair of binoculars. That's our birder. There was a birding badge for the Summer Reading Program we got earlier.

We also get weekly take home activities that Jeremy picks up for us. We called the kids' great grandma for Friendship Day in Paraguay. We made sugar skull masks (calaveras) for Day of the Dead in Mexico. We made paper bamboo trees to put tanzaku wishes on for the Tanabata Festival in Japan.

And there are still plenty of reading, crafts, coloring, stories (Jr. Jr. and Lucky came in one day while Jet and I were watching toddler tales online and joined in with calling out what animals they saw and things like that- love those kids) and other activities.

Lucky made a puppet theatre from boxes and a blanket and used paper lunch sack puppets to entertain.

One library activity suggested drawing pictures or writing motivational messages with sidewalk chalk. Jr. Jr. was very motivational. "You can make it... across this driveway." Lucky drew a dragon and the words, "I love you." Nichole created a fountain with a water sprite coming out the top.

Jeremy built a balloon hot air balloon to go with the Orem Library's theme of "Around the World in 8 Weeks." There is so much emphasis on hot air balloons (that's how people are "traveling" around to the different areas) this year for the Summer Reading program. It's funny because Jules Verne never mentioned a hot air balloon in his book Around the World in Eighty Days. It was just in the movies but everyone associates a hot air balloon with that story. But this is "in 8 weeks" not the Jules Verne version so they can use whatever they want as transportation.

We got to do a digital escape room this year, where our hot air balloon crash landed on an uncharted island and we had to escape it.  It was said to have something for all ages and it did. It started with a video and a song that Jet loved dancing to. It had different levels of puzzles as well that we were all able to help with. It was fun to do it as a family and we did make it off the island.

We also played an online game with other patrons and librarians called "Beat the Librarians." It was a trivia game and the patrons did indeed beat the librarians.

I love how socially distance compatible the programs are this year. Jeremy always wears a face covering when he goes to the Orem Library as our designated library item picker upper (that and building that hot air balloon balloon). We're able to go plenty of places and do plenty things as a family and we do enough at home as well. I love my family and sharing Summer Reading fun with them.