Ep. 109 Artful Play for Itty Bitties & Kids

Sunshine and Stories Episode 109: Artful Play for Itty Bitties & Kids 

Episode Summary: 
Kate Compton, Early Literacy Consultant at the Colorado State Library, chats with all of us about her ideas for art-themed programming for our youngest library friends. Join her for a quick review of developmental stages for children 0 to 8 years old and a discussion of the many benefits of artful play for this age group. Also don’t miss our best tips for designing accessible, inclusive art activities, managing mess, and scaling developmentally appropriate activities for multiple age groups within the same program.  

00:00 – Introduction
01:13 – Let’s talk ages & stages
05:15 – Why engage in art with littles and kids?
09:47 – A whole heap of program ideas
12:40 – How to make art activities more accessible for all
16:51 – Tips & tricks for set up, facilitation, & clean up
19:48 – Book & resource recommendations
22:33 – Closing 

References:
Collaborative Summer Library Program
Colorado Youth Services Library Network mailing list
CSL Kits – Tools for Library Staff (cvlsites.org)
Reimagining School Readiness Toolkit for Libraries
Reimagining School Readiness Activity Database
Supporting the A in STEAM with Infants and Toddlers by Head Start
Reach Out and Read’s Milestones of Early Literacy Development
The Growing Child: School-Age (6 to 12 Years) by Stanford Medicine Children’s Health
The color monster: a story about emotions by Anna Llenas
El monstruo de colores by Anna Llenas
La couleur des émotions: l'album by Anna Llenas and Marie Antilogus
Every color soup by Jorey Hurley
Scroll by Hui Li
CLEL Bell Awards
Las Campanitas de Plata
Become a member of Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy 

Next Drop-in Chat:
Hey Colorado library folks! Join us on December 17, 2024 at 11:00 am to noon MT for our next online Summer Drop-in Chat. No need to register. Come when you can, stay for as long as you can. See you soon! 

If you work in a library and gave us a listen, please let us know what you think by completing a short feedback survey for this episode. 

Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm

Transcript

Sunshine and Stories podcast transcript for Episode 109 

[00:00] [music]  
Kate Compton: You're listening to Sunshine and Stories, a Kate-cast from the Colorado State Library's summer design studio with your hosts,   

Kate Brunner: Kate Brunner  

Kate Compton: And Kate Compton.  

Kate Brunner: Tune in every other week as we explore one summer reading topic. From colorful program ideas to community wide engagement to avoiding burnout, we have got you covered.  

Kate Compton: If you have other questions or want to dive into any topic further, check out Libraries Learn.org for our next live summer drop in chat date happening Tuesdays starting this fall.  

[00:40] Kate Compton: The San Luis Valley was home to Eppi Archuleta, a Master Weaver who is on permanent display at the Smithsonian, and in 1985 was awarded the highest honors for folk and traditional arts; the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her pieces tell many stories and are natural from the wool down to the plants used to dye it. Maybe a great program inspiration to build some fine motor skills for our littlest library friends.

[01:13] Kate Brunner: In this episode, we're going to get into some program ideas, which is always a fun topic to dig into when we're talking about summer because we can get really excited about all the different things we might be able to do. So, we're going to start with program ideas for littles and kids and some of the things to keep in mind is how can we create developmentally appropriate programs for this age? So, Kate, what are some of the things that we should keep in mind when it comes to developmental stages when we're talking about littles and kids?

Kate Compton: Yeah. When we're starting to think about these ages, people break up kind of different developmental ranges into lots of different categories. But I think the easiest way to really think about it is that baby stage, which I usually think about as zero to 18 months. This is a group of kids that are not walking yet or pretty stationary. I think of this group as being-- I always think of mouths in general, like they're exploring with their mouth. They're putting things in their mouth. They're exploring how their mouth moves, so they're thinking of different sounds. But really not a lot of movement away from caregiver. 

And then we kind of have the toddler group, which I think of as that 18 to 36 months. And this group is moving. They're starting to walk. There's this new sense of independence. There might be some more of those that are a little tied to caregiver, but they're exploring more. They're moving around, they're learning new vocabulary. Maybe they're not putting it into sentences, but they have a lot of new words. They're developing that sense of self and might start thinking about "my". This is my toy. My thing. They can handle that simple direction. But not more than one or two things put together. They're definitely playing and excited to be with other kids, but they're parallel playing. They're not sharing or playing together.

And then we have our preschoolers, kind of that three to almost five group that really has developed their body. They've got fine and gross motor skills or are working on those. So, thinking about how your program can help develop those that maybe are not quite there. This group loves dramatic play. They like thinking through and playing librarian and playing artist, maybe if we're thinking about the theme here.

And then we have our elementary school group and I think oftentimes you see this group is lumped all together. It's like, oh, from kindergarten to 5th grade, which there's a lot of different things happening, obviously also in that kind of zero to five age group too. But we see this group all together often, and there is a really big range. So, thinking about when you are developing programs that scalability. But this group's starting to have abstract thought and can think about things a little more abstractly. They can follow rules. They often seek rules and want to know. They seek that support and approval from peers, but also authority. This group does still, though, need a lot of rest and maybe even support with that emotional regulation and thinking through like if something doesn't go right, how to try again and getting some support there.

So, that's a brief overview of what we might see developmentally from this group, and I think the big thing is to be prepared that not everyone is hitting all of those developmental milestones. So, being prepared to switch and pivot and support people that maybe aren't ready for what you thought you were going to do. I think that's the biggest asset of an early literacy librarian or youth services folks is that we can pivot and be ready for anything. We're a very flexible group and I love it.

Kate Brunner: Right, meeting kids where they're at. And I think also there's the opportunity to reassure caregivers like whoever's brought the young child to a program that it's OK, we're good. They're welcome here, you know? Wherever they may be at in those developmental stages too.

[05:13] Kate Brunner: So, when we think about such a wide range, right? And we think about the 2025 collaborative Summer Library program theme of art and this idea of “Color Our World”, I think that's probably an evergreen concept that we can use year-round, not just summer. But when we're thinking about that for summer and all these different sorts of ages and stages, why art? What's the benefit of including art in your programming for these age groups?

Kate Compton: Yeah, I think we reach to art often as librarians because it is such a fundamental, innate thing. People love to express themselves, and a lot of our little guys maybe don't have all of the language to express themselves. So, giving them some paint and different materials that way allows them to express themselves in new ways. It is a great gross and fine motor skill development activity. If you set up your room right, you're getting kids moving around, collecting their different materials, instruments and scarves When they're grabbing that they're developing that fine motor skills.

But I also love the decision making it allows for, and we talk a lot about process not product. So, allowing kids to just explore and figure out what is going to happen when you mix these two colors. What does happen if you hit the drum a little softer or louder? Or you combine these two instruments? This allows kids to have that autonomy and build their own knowledge of the world and how they want how they want, how they want to move forward.

And I think for us especially, the concept of STEAM-- so that's science, technology, engineering. Art as our A there and then math also builds in this idea of that art is all of these things. And it's allowing kids to innovate, be creative, to build an understanding of the world, and to communicate what they're finding. And I think also that exploring that curiosity. I wonder what will happen if we move forward in this way-- is just something that kids naturally do and giving them the space to do that is kind of an exciting thing. 

We have a lot of kits ready to go that help develop a lot of these skills. It's the Reimagining School Readiness kit series. So, these are kits that libraries can check out for two months. They're available on the Colorado State Library Kits dot org website. And we've got kits like process art that have different materials in them to help you make your space, maybe not as messy and give you some ideas around different activities. We've got a coding kit with Tale Bots, different measurement kits; liquid measurement and then concrete measurement. And music and movement. Our hope was to develop these kits to give people access and spark some ideas. I’m excited to see people using them and get some feedback around how people like or don't like them and what's in them.

Kate Brunner: Yeah, those kits came out of the Reimagining School Readiness project. The idea was to take everything that we learned from that program and create programs-in-a-box so that folks could grab and go and learn a little more about all the different ways that we can support kids' school readiness development through libraries. We'll include in the show notes the link to the State Library's kits page where you can request those kits and we send them out through the courier. And then also some links to the Reimagining School Readiness toolkit and their activity database as well, since they have so many program ideas that you could draw on if you wanted to.

I love this idea of art and how to approach it and see all the benefits that kids are accessing through art programs. This the age group that I love to ask, "Tell me more about that." Because they often want to show you their work, right? They're really excited to show you their work. And I think there's also great opportunity for language development, which supports literacy development by asking them to tell you more about the piece that they've made or the work that they've done in this particular art program. So, I always think that's fun. Or what choices they made in a science program in a science experiment that they're conducting.

[09:46] Kate Brunner: So beyond the kits that we have that are programs in a box that have program ideas, do you have some other ideas to share that folks might consider building into their summer programs this year?

Kate Compton: I think a big program that we see at a lot of different libraries across the state is music and movement. So, allowing kids to explore music in different ways and also get them moving, whether that's dance or even just hopping on one foot while this one song plays develops that gross motor skills. I think this is a real opportunity to explore a variety of different music and think about how we're being inclusive to our entire community, whether it's we're sharing lyrics up on a screen or we've printed them out. Thinking about maybe using AI technology to allow those to be in other languages so people know what they're singing about or maybe sing it in their heart language. But maybe even inviting people from your community to share a song, to share a traditional dance that they know with the entire group, I think is a nice way to build on this theme of art and being more inclusive.

I've also seen a lot of petting zoos, just kind of exposing kids to different instruments. And you can bring in if there's a local chamber orchestra or even just a local quartet, they can bring in those instruments. Or we also have a Reimagining School Readiness kit that has some different instruments you could just lay out and let kids play and touch and see what they are all about. I love making instruments just as simple as some rice in a Easter egg or in between two spoons. I've seen the toilet paper rain sticks. 

I love a dance party. I think that's a simple, simple way to get people moving and exploring different music. Again, maybe you invite people to share different songs from their home countries and then have a playlist that bops around the world and you're dancing all around world and that's that music piece. 

I think when we move into art ideas, there's such a range of ideas that I won't bore people because I know there's a lot of creative librarians out there that are going to come up with a million amazing ideas that I'm excited to hear in the next drop-in session. But I think one of the things I really think about with art is how to kind of reframe it and maybe develop it beyond just we're putting paint brushes out. Could you make DIY paint brushes and have kids go out and gather leaves that then they're using to paint with?

[12:36] Kate Compton: I think that also pulls in the idea of making it accessible when you're thinking about setting up your space. So, are the tools you're asking kids to paint with something that they one developmentally are able to use? But also, there's a wide range of skills, even maybe you don't have access or ability to use your hands. Are there other ways that we can paint? How are the tables set up? Are they at a height that kids are able to access the paper, the paints? 

I love even bringing kids outside. Maybe it's not as messy and maybe you're just painting with water on the sidewalk. And I think this also allows for some science. Seeing like exploding rainbows with the volcanoes, vinegar and baking soda, and just a little food coloring and allowing colors to mix. What happens if you put the yellow and the orange in one?

When we start thinking about art, we really do have to start thinking about the wide range of sensory needs in our communities. There's going to be kids who really seek out sensory activities and they want to dive in and get dirty. They're ready to put their hands in the paint and maybe their entire bodies. And there's going to be some in your group that are really avoidant and they do not want to even put the paintbrush in the paint. So, thinking through that group and the wide range of needs you might have there. 

That covers our younger folks and obviously any of those activities would be fun for our elementary school age group. But I think what's exciting about the elementary school age group, when we thought about them developmentally, where they're at, you can take things a little farther. Maybe you're exploring architecture and engineering with them, exposing them to different buildings around the world and then asking them, giving them a little challenge and allowing them to build something on their own.

Poetry is another great opportunity. If it's blackout poetry or even allowing them having words and kind of building almost like Tetris poetry, magnetic poetry that way. Theater, I did a program a while ago. It was just a shopping bag filled with random objects and the kids had to improvise a little skit in 5 minutes that used everything in the bag, including the bag, which created a lot of chaos and very silly things that made it fun for everyone, including all the adults who came and watched.

And food. Food's, a big one. The art of cooking. Let's not forget about how much fun that can be and another opportunity to explore the world and show kids different cultures and different foods. Again, lots of ideas. I could keep going for hours, a few little hopefully sparks of imagination that will get people thinking and I can't wait to hear what other people have.

Kate Brunner: Yeah, I think it’s kind of helpful to think about those buckets that you sort of laid out, the music and movement bucket, the art bucket, the science activity bucket, and then maybe the language bucket I guess; the poetry and theatre and storytelling and what not piece of things. I think sometimes thinking about, could I pull something from this bucket and then that bucket? Kind of helps you potentially put together an array of activities so there's a lot of diversity of activities happening over the summer which might be good for you know, kids who don't necessarily want to engage with like, “Oh, it's art. I'm not into art.” Right? But, can you fold in art principles or activities into know something else that might appeal? You just never know what kids are going to be super interested in come that summer, especially as they're changing and growing so much.

Kate Compton: Definitely. Yeah. I think we said at the beginning with the theme. It's like, oh, I imagined a lot of finger painting this summer, and there's a wide variety of ways to explore art.

Kate Brunner: Yeah, there's probably a lot of different ways, even just if all you did was paint [laughs] but there's like, you know, so many different approaches you could take to it, you know, two months or however long your summer program is I think. But I think it's kind of fun to think about these other ways of engaging in artistic expression of some kind.

[16:51] Kate Brunner: As we're talking about this, putting together opportunities for littles and children and big kids to engage with artistic expression, do you have any tips or tricks or things that you might recommend people think about when it comes to the logistics of putting together and then facilitating a program like this?

Kate Compton: Any time I think about summer programming, I always think about is there an opportunity to get outside to be in a space that's maybe a little more healing and natural? That does sometimes also, with art stuff, make clean up a little easier when you don't have to worry about did the paint get all over the floor? You're just wiping off the sidewalk there. So, clean up I think is another logistic as far as do you need to put something down? Are you close to a sink? Do you need to have multiple buckets for people to refill their water?

I always have that fear of maybe taking my story time outside and then having the iPad overheat or it never got plugged in last night so there's no music. So, being ready with some backups. These are the core songs I know. Even if everything else goes out the window, I can sing these songs. And I think I kind of touched on this before, but being able to scale your activities. I think we often come with an idea and we thought, oh, all of these elementary school kids are going to love this. And then our group shows up and it's mainly 4-year-olds. So, making sure we can pivot and do that same program with maybe a different developmental group.

Kate Brunner: Yeah. I think during the summer that's maybe especially a thing when kids are out of school. You know, when you have caregivers or at home parents or relatives bringing a whole sibling group to a program, how can you accommodate them even if it's taking a few of the baby toys and a blanket outside so that you know the babies can explore safely, like it's something that's interesting to them, while kids are working, older kids may be working on like a project of some kind. So just kind of thinking through that in the summer, I think is something that can be helpful to be sort of prepared for that in advance, I think.

Kate Compton: And I think it's important to note that we're recording this before the CSLP manual has come out for 2025, which always has a lot of amazing ideas. And so that'll just kind of add to it and we'll be able to talk about that at the drop-in sessions. And also, all of these ideas can be used year-round, no matter what theme your library ends up using. I think it's kind of a fun way to explore art in our libraries.

Kate Brunner: Yeah, and get some play time in ourselves, right? I think sometimes it's fun to be able to have that permission to facilitate a program like this, because then you know, we get to play a little with the art and music and creative science activities too. So, it's a perk of the job, maybe.

[19:48] Kate Brunner: This episode's book, recommendations for young children come from Grace Hancock, Early Literacy Specialist at Pitkin County Library, and from the Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy CLEL Bells Book Awards. The first book recommendation from Grace is The Color Monster by Anna Llenas, a picture book that explores not only color, but the emotions each color evokes. The Color Monster goes through his day experiencing anger, happiness, calm, sadness, and fear. Thanks to the help of a compassionate young girl, they discovered together what each feeling means through color. Through this title, children can learn about not just color but also self-awareness and how to cultivate a sense of personal peace. The Color Monster is available in English, Spanish, and French as both a picture book and a board book.

Another recommendation from Grace is Every Color Soup by Jory Hurley. This is a delightful book that highlights a variety of colorful vegetables that go into creating a delicious vegetable soup. The book includes a soup recipe that may be a fun way of exploring the art of cooking with young children.

And finally, the last book recommendation today comes from the 2024 Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy CLEL Bell Awards. Scroll by Hui Li won the 2024 award in the Writing category. In this book, Lulu follows her grandfather's example by drawing Chinese characters on her own scroll. What starts as a simple project soon turns into a grand adventure as she and her dog, Dumpling, are magically transported to a world where the Chinese character she draws come to life.

All of this year's and many of past years’ CLEL Bell winners are posted on the CLEL website along with early literacy activity suggestions for each title. Every year, the CLEL Bell Award Committee takes nominations from CLEL members for new picture books that showcase the five early literacy practices: read, write, sing, talk and play. Recently, CLEL also launched Las Campanitas de Plata; an award for Spanish language books published within the previous 15 years and still in print today. Visit the CLEL Bells website, linked in the show notes for more award-winning titles.

And don't forget that membership in Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy is free and is open to anyone with a passion for early literacy, library programs and services, not just Colorado library folks. Membership details are also available at CLEL’s website.

[22:33] Kate Brunner: That's our Kate cast for today, y’all but we hope you'll join the upcoming community drop in discussion.  

Kate Compton: We're hosting these discussions all year long. All Colorado library professionals involved in summer programming are welcome. No need to register, stay for the full hour or just pop in to say hi to colleagues across the state. Details for the next drop-in session can be found in the show notes for this episode and on Libraries Learn.org the Colorado State Library’s continuing education calendar and archive.  

Kate Brunner: We'd like to say thank you to all the Colorado library professionals who shared book recommendations, program successes and other artful ideas with us as we were designing this year's podcast. This project is also made possible by a grant from the US Institute for Museum and Library Services.  

Kate Compton: Thanks for joining us and we'll catch you next time.  

[23:24] [music]