Original article published at GarretsonGazette.com – Your source for local news and information. Get your subscription today!
by Elizabeth Wastell and Carrie Moritz, Gazette
The Siouxland Libraries-Garretson branch hosted an engaging outdoor water play program on Thursday, July 18, inviting young children ages 2-5 and their caregivers to explore, play, and learn with hands-on water activities.
The kids started off by reading “Wet” by Carey Sookocheff with Garretson librarian Sara Beahler. Then they got to explore the different water stations at the green space just down the street.
At the color mixing station, the kids mixed different colors of water together. They also got to play in a sandbox, which provided a sensory experience, allowing children to dig, share, and use their imagination with toys like seashells and flowers.
At the third station the kids played with bubbles.
“The bubble station is great fun,” said Beahler. “They’re chasing the bubbles, which uses their large muscles. They’re figuring out how to get that bubble solution into all the holes, and using their large arm movements to make the bubbles.”
At the last station there was a water table. The kids had fun experimenting with the pouring of the water and seeing cause and effect.
“If I pour it here, how will it come over here?” explained Beahler. “All these stations are really learning their social skills of sharing and taking turns and so much speech, they’re learning different words for vocabulary, and look at that, describing what they’re doing. And all this conversation is all literacy. The more they talk, the more words they learn, more they’re gonna be ready for all their pre reading and reading come kindergarten and first grade.”
The activities provided at the library recently have included a crayon-melting art activity geared toward adults, and activities for older youth with a camping and exploration theme.
A new service that just debuted is Expanded Access, which allows library patrons to utilize services during “closed” hours. Between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. seven days a week (except holidays or during inclement weather), patrons who have signed up for the program can enter the library to check out books and use computers.
To sign up, patrons can do so during open hours at the Garretson library. Users must be at least 18 years old, though adults with expanded access can bring and supervise children, who are allowed to utilize play areas. Once registered, patrons will receive a separate key card and PIN number to use for access.
The Garretson Library normal hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Wednesdays 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Saturdays 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Events and activities can be found by visiting https://siouxlandlib.org or https://siouxland.libnet.info/events.
