Repairing SuperSpace panels

 Hello? Anyone out there still reading?

Our library has been enjoying SuperSpace panels for over a year now and I'm so impressed with the kinds of play that they facilitate and with the company's promise to replace broken panels. 

If you have purchased any and find that the wooden dowels along the edges have snapped, I made a video showing the process I've been using for replacing the dowels.

Observing play as a form of meditation

 Sometimes watching children play is pure joy.  Seeing them make their own discoveries, noticing an a-ha moment, those times when they surprise you with their innovative ideas are some of the main reasons I feel so passionately about protecting the rights of children to experience True Play.

Other times though.... it can be a real challenge.  It can get messy, both physically and emotionally. It can be excruciating to sit back and let your child be frustrated with something even if you know they'll eventually figure it out. Sometimes their play vaults us right back to our own childhood experiences and our memories can make mountains out of molehills. Or... maybe you just don't want to have to deal with a paint-covered toddler mess.

Or perhaps you hear a voice of obligation telling you that you should be interacting with your child more? Asking them what they're doing or telling them how to do that thing the right way?

I have a challenge for you, dear reader. The next time that you're watching children play and you start to feel anxious or annoyed, pause to ask yourself these questions:

1. Is my child truly in danger?  (if yes, PLEASE STEP IN and make sure they're safe!)

2. If my child is not actually in any danger, what emotions am I feeling?  

3. If I'm worried, what am I worried will happen?  If I'm annoyed, why is their behavior annoying to me? What is at the root of my emotional response to their play?

I also challenge you to think of watching play as a meditation. Focus on it so deeply that you're no longer running through your mental checklist of to-do's for the day. Lose yourself in curiosity about what your child will do next. Blend into the background and simply observe. 

I personally find that taking pictures and videos of the play while it's happening (with as little interruption of the play as possible) is a great way to keep me present in the moment.  If I'm tangled up in my own emotions, I know I can go back and watch the video later so that I can enjoy the play after I've worked through my own feelings about it.

True Play gives us all new eyes

 

In 2022, I started a new program at my library that I called the Tiny True Play Studio.  All of my play programs in the past have focused mainly on the physical, whole-body types of play and this one I wanted to focus more on the sort of play that happens in "art spaces." Each week, I'd bring out paper, markers, stickers, fancy scissors and hole punches, paint and retired COVID sneeze guards (which make excellent easels and painting surfaces, btw) and then step back to see what the kids would do with those materials.

Most adults, when they walked up and saw the program, or when I tried to describe it to them would say to their child, "Oh! An art program! Do you want to draw something, honey?" but I quickly discovered that this program was so much more than a kids' art program.  Although some adults had difficulty resisting the fully understandable urge to instruct their kid to paint or to draw or to make SOMETHING with these art supplies, those who were able to step back were rewarded with some of the most interesting and innovative play I've seen.

 

I observed invented games with acorns, hole punches and paper

 

 the wind became an entertaining play material

 

 

 

 

Scissors became tools to pick up leaves to create a pile to jump in with friends.

 

Markers and caps themselves became objects with which to create a collage/sculpture....

 

And more!

The wonderful thing about this realization is that (1) you likely already have these materials or similar materials on hand.  Play doesn't have to be about purchasing particular materials. (2) You might even already be doing programs that use "art materials" and all it takes is for you to step back and give the caregivers in the program encouragement to allow their kids to explore the materials however they want.  Even if (maybe especially if) it means that you don't have yet another "thing" to take home at the end of the program to stick on your refrigerator. You're welcome.

Favorite Family Media during a year of the pandemic

 

 

It's been about a year since our family started staying home full time to stay healthy and stop the spread of COVID-19 the best way we know how.  And in that year, we have consumed a LOT of media as a family -- TV shows, movies, podcasts, apps... I've talked a lot about apps elsewhere, but I don't think I've ever given TV show recommendations and I've only done a few podcast reviews, but those are TOTALLY media and as a librarian, media is my jam, so why not extend recommendations for those as well?  In that spirit, here are my family's favorites from the past year (or so) in the order in which we discovered them:

TV Shows (all animated)

Hilda -- based on a graphic novel series starring a blue haired girl tuned in to the supernatural creatures around her, this was a great adaptation for television. Some of the situations she encounters are genuinely creepy, so if you've got really young kids or kids who are prone to nightmares, pre-watch a few episodes in the middle to make sure your kid can handle them.

Avatar: the last Airbender -- the longest series we watched and probably my kids' favorite, this tells the epic tale of three kids (2 siblings and one friend) trying to save the realm. In this realm, there's a nation for each of the 4 elements -- air, water, earth, fire -- and when the story starts, the Fire Nation has conquered pretty much the entire realm, but then the last Airbender (a person who can wield Air Magic) returns.  This series has a lot of battle scenes and intense action (so again, consider pre-watching a few episodes to make sure your kids can handle it) but also a lot of humor and friendship and even some elements of light romance. This series also has some related graphic novels!

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts --  This one is my personal favorite. Eternally optimistic, pink-haired Kipo explores her post-apocalyptic world, populated by sentient animals. I love how in this show even the most evil antagonists have fully developed storylines that make them into sympathetic characters by the end and while not all of them may change their behaviors at the end of the story, they are all given a chance to do so.  Plus, the illustrations are lush and imaginative and weird and delightful.

Podcasts

The Imagine Neighborhood -- I discovered this one after it won the Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award from ALA and my daughter and I both love it! While I normally wouldn't be excited to listen to a kids podcast about socio-emotional learning, these guys have spun together the PERFECT balance of silly characters, ridiculous storylines, music (not "kids" music--stuff you'd hear on the radio) and just enough talk about emotions that we keep wanting to come back and listen again.  We laugh out loud together AND STILL when asked to tell her grandparents what the show was about, she talked about the emotion content, not Princess Donnasaurus or Macho Supreme (two of my favorite characters). 

Discover the Forest -- My family had made big plans to travel to see some National Parks for Spring Break 2020 and although those plans were cancelled, we were able to enjoy "traveling" to some National Parks through this podcast.  I love that this podcast stars a Latino family, complete with Spanish phrases sprinkled throughout and their family dynamic is so joyful (ahhh... something to aspire to when we're all getting on each other's last nerve here at my house). This podcast is only available through a Pinna subscription.

Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest -- Grimm Fairytales retold in podcast form by Adam Gidwitz, author of  A Tale Dark and Grimm and other Grimm retellings. Adam knows his way around 3rd graders and doesn't shy away from the gross, weird elements of the original Grimm fairytales. The podcast is even better than the books because he breaks off to have conversational asides with a class of 3rd graders and get their feedback about the story (which is sometimes the funniest part of the episode). I also appreciate that he ranks each story as "Grimm" "Grimmer" or "Grimmest" so that listeners can choose which stories are best for them to hear and he suggests that if a story starts feeling too intense that they skip ahead 30 seconds until the story is less intense.  These are GREAT self-regulatory suggestions for kids to try out! This podcast is most fully accessed through a Pinna subscription, but some episodes are also available for free on other podcast apps and websites -- search your favorite podcast source to see if you can access it there.

Top 5 Apps (and Podcasts!) video series

Throughout the pandemic, I've been creating a series of videos detailing my "Top 5" picks for kids' apps (and one for podcasts!).  I've been reviewing apps for SO long on the library's website that I thought it might be a little overwhelming to navigate even with the handy search tool that allows you to narrow your search.  Plus, there are some categories that are tricky to search for directly, so.... I created these little videos as shortcuts for families looking for my FAVORITE recommendations.  Here's a list of the videos I've created so far in this series:

Top 5 Free Apps for Big Kids

Top 5 Free Apps for Little Kids

Top 5 Apps for Off-Screen Play

Top 5 Spanish Apps for Kids

(also available IN (not-exactly perfect) Spanish here) 

Top 5 Video Apps for Kids (better than YouTube)

Top 5 Android Apps for Kids

Top Notch Podcasts for Kids and Families 

 

What other category of apps would you like to see a video about? 

Top 5 Apps for multiple players to play simultaneously?  

Top 5 subscription apps?  

Top 5 educational apps (as if your kid isn't getting enough screen instruction right now...)?

Top 5 paid apps for big / little kids? 

Top 5 Apps you've probably never heard of (but which you would love)? 

These are all themes I've got lists built for already, but what category can you think of that I'm missing? Which of the themes above are YOU most curious about?

More True Play during isolation: recognizing play

 We've been safer at home for about 3 months now, so I thought I'd share a few more examples of things that have happened when I let my kids take the lead.

A few days ago, my daughter was having a really tough day.  She was whiny and restless and demanding screen time which I wasn't allowing that day since we'd had a lot the previous few days. Suddenly, in the midst of the moaning and groaning, she picked up our little pocket edition copy of Birds of Wisconsin -- a bird identification book that we've marked over the years whenever we spot a new variety of bird. My daughter went into the living room where we had colored pencils and a drawing pad on the coffee table, opened this book to the page with the cardinal and began to draw.

 Within just a few minutes, she had created this drawing of a cardinal. I noticed the details in my head -- she got the color right (including orange for the beak and red for the body and the little strip of black between the beak and the body), she got the little peak on the top of the head (I'd watched her draw this, so I also know that she made the pencil marks go up into the peak, not across, making the texture even more like the feathers on the cardinal.  I just realized that I forgot to ask her about that detail to see if it was intentional.)

 Next, she drew this oriole. Again, the beak is white and the belly and underside of the tail are a bright contrast.

All of this drawing took probably less than 15 minutes and honestly, she went back to being whiny (but maybe slightly less so) afterwards, but it was such a bright spot in our day.  If I had tried to hand her the bird book and asked her to draw some of the birds, this would NEVER have happened. I am curious to see if it will go anywhere further. We filled the bird feeders to see if maybe some of these birds would come to visit us.

A few days later, she saw me using my sewing machine to sew face masks for our family.  She wanted to use the machine, so I said we'd try sewing together the next morning (our schedule didn't suit to do it right then). The next morning, she played first with the magnetic pin cushion.  She noticed that the strip of metal also stuck to the magnet and interestingly, the pins could also magnetically stick to the strip of metal (even if neither were touching the magnet!). She told me her theory for why that was. Then, she arranged the pins so they would stand up like a tent:

 I was tempted to brush past this pincushion play to get to the sewing parts, but I realized that this play with the pincushion had some great lessons about metals and magnetism, so I waited until she was done exploring those properties.

I started the sewing project with a vague idea that maybe she'd like to sew a face mask to, but instead she wanted to sew a dress for her doll. Although I gave a few pieces of instruction about how to use the sewing machine (and talked about how the fabric needed to be big enough to go all the way around her if she wanted to wear it like a shirt which I probably should have just let her figure out on her own), she pretty much made this shirt all by herself:

And then she had a great time, cutting small scraps of fabric and running them through the machine, figuring out how the backstitch button worked, learning when to stop and start and how to clip the threads afterwards.  The only instruction I gave during that time was that with my machine you have to hold the loose ends of your thread for your first few stitches or it will get all balled up on the backside of your fabric and make a giant tangled mess, so I helped her learn how to make sure the threads were long enough and how to hold them.  She also experimented (under my close supervision!) with the iron to learn how it works.

And yet, these are only the play elements that I've taken photos of.  They're the types of play that excite me, but there are SO many other ways that my kids play that I don't photograph.  Endless role-playing with dolls and stuffed animals and "and then YOU say..." types of instructions that flow easily from one kid to the other, sharing the lead in creating the stories. There's the play that happens in Minecraft, exploring and creating worlds, connected together despite being on two screens. There's even a type of play that centers around seeing what they can get away with before mom or dad notices.  I'm trying to remember to recognize all of the different kinds of play and find value in all of it. Even the kinds that make an enormous mess or sound like fighting.

What sorts of play are happening at your house?

True Play during quarantine?

 

What does True Play look like at home, during a quarantine?  This is a question I've been asking myself a LOT recently. At the beginning of this new era, I found myself wishing that my children would be the kinds of kids that would quietly entertain themselves all day long with paper and crayons and be neat and tidy and maybe even take a nap every once in awhile. (note: I'm pretty sure these fictional children do not exist and if your children are like this, I don't want to hear about it.). Instead, my kids are loud, messy, argue a LOT and seemed to want to spend all of their time looking at a screen of one kind or another. They could be convinced to try a puzzle for 3 minutes or cajoled into building a fort for about 5 minutes but none of the wonderful activities distractions I came up with seemed to have any sticking power. 

Then one morning, my son brought a cardboard box up from our increasingly large pile of boxes in the basement and asked if he could use it.  I happily granted permission and he gathered a few other supplies and disappeared for awhile, then emerged with this:

 It's a mask based on the Minecraft version of a Five Night's at Freddy's character named Springtrap.  I'm not crazy about the whole FNAF thing and Springtrap is a really creepy looking character, but my kid spent a really long time on this project and he was so proud of it and I was deeply impressed by the level of detail he'd included.  Those teeth! The little scrappy bits coming off of the ear!  The fact that he'd made the mouth able to open and close! Wow!

 A week or so later, my son again came to me and asked if he could use the hot glue gun.  I had a moment of hesitation (hot glue burns are so familiar to me) but then I remembered all of the kids in Anji who use hot glue guns all the time and I took a deep breath and said, "sure!  Let me dig out my old glue gun if I can find it...." Again, after an entire morning of both kids being deeply engaged in hot glue creations, this is what came out:

 An improved mask design (now with a more 3D nose!) plus a new mask for his sister based on the FNAF character of Foxy:

 The strap to keep Foxy's mask on was an interesting feat of engineering.  I REALLY wanted to suggest elastic or punching holes in the mask and tying knots, but I kept my mouth closed because I could see the wheels turning in my son's head as he came up with idea on his own (an old shoelace in his room!), tried his idea (hot gluing the shoelace onto the mask), realized his first attempt wouldn't work (it was too small and popped off as soon as she tried to put it on) and adjusted his design (hot gluing another piece of shoelace onto the original shoelace to lengthen it) in a way that I was SURE wouldn't work ... but guess what? It DID work and he was thrilled to have solved it by himself and I was thrilled to discover a new solution to a problem that I'd thought only had one solution. These thrilling moments can only happen when we as adults have "eyes open, ears open, hands down, mouth closed, heart open."

 And the little sister?  oh boy.  Nothing was safe from the hot glue gun.  Everything within reach was glued together by the end of the morning.  And only one hot glue burn on a fingertip and a lesson learned about how heat can transfer through metal when you're trying to put hot glue on something metal.  And they'd burned through my entire stash of hot glue sticks.

 Honestly, I was so excited about how engaged they'd been with the hot glue that I ordered a second hot glue gun (with a low-temp option) and two more packages of hot glue sticks. The day after new supplies arrived, my daughter created this sculpture below (I love how she's used the actual hot glue sticks AS structural pieces!).

 My son kept asking me for some yellow fabric so that he could cover his mask, but I didn't have any, so when I finally had built up enough courage, I brought out the set of tempera paints (not just the watercolor pans) that I'd bought. This is challenging for me.  As much as I love painting and seeing kids paint, I still have a sense of anxiety about kids "wasting" paint or making giant messes.  So I set it up in a way to try to alleviate some of my own anxiousness (kids can pick up on adult anxiety and it makes the play much less fun) by covering the picnic table with some packing paper and asking the kids to change into "messy clothes."  I gotta say that this palette pictured below still sort of stressed me out, but you know what?  There was still plenty of paint left at the end of this project and it's all washable, so maybe we just need to bring it out more often so I can get over it?  And, as one of my Anji Play friends pointed out, if they DO use up all of the paint or mix two whole jars together and it turns into a big muddy colored mess, those are all great life lessons to learn as well.

 By the end of the day, this is how the mask (and my happy son) looked:

So... is the answer to how to do True Play at home -- go get hot glue and tempera paint?  NO!  The answer is to listen to your kids -- what are they interested in?  What do they want to do?  What materials or conditions or space do they need in order to do the things they want to do? Are you able to provide those? If not, ask your child to brainstorm with you about what you could use that you already have to reach the same end goal. Our children are not empty vessels waiting to be filled with information that we dump into them.  Our children are sources of new ideas just waiting for the right conditions to blossom.  How can we help to create those conditions?  Sometimes with simple questions: "What would you like to do today? What do you need in order to do that?" And if your kids are like mine and their first response would something like be "Minecraft all day" you can either choose to embrace the creativity that Minecraft allows OR you can set a limit within your question like "What would you like to do today off-screen?" If your child has been getting a lot more screentime than usual (like mine have), the transition off the screens might be really difficult (mine threw a 45 minute rant yesterday), but maybe, just maybe, once you've given them a chance to work through that transition they'll be able to rediscover true play in whatever way works best for them.

How have you been playing lately?  Have you been able to step back, pay attention with curiosity, keep your suggestions to yourself and have an open heart?  I'd love to hear about the adventures in play that are happening at your house!

Top 5 Apps video series!

During quarantine, I'm guessing that a lot more parents are using apps with their kids, even if they hadn't used them before.  In an effort to make the App Picks page even less daunting to navigate, I have been creating a series of videos in which I choose my Top 5 apps for different categories.  So far, I've got my Top 5 Totally Free Apps for Big Kids:

 

 My Top 5 Totally Free Apps for Little Kids:

and my Top 5 Apps for Off-Screen Play:

Coming Soon, my Top 5 Spanish Apps for Kids and some "Ask Carissa About Apps" videos with quick tech tips for caregivers.

AnjiPlayDate Updates!

 
I've really come to understand over the past few years the huge importance of telling the story of our library programs, not just to our library users, but also to internal stakeholders.  For our AnjiPlayDate program in 2020, that looks like a monthly one-page "update" that I put together with photos and anecdotes from the past month and send to those folks that benefit from hearing these stories.  We might also decide to share them on social media (once the hubbub around our newest library opening next week settles a bit!).  In the meantime, here are updates about the Anji Play programming at the beginning of 2020. Enjoy!

 January 2020 
February 2020

Scary, Not Scary

Do the kids that you read to love scary stories?  Hate them?  I meant to create this blog post around Halloween last year, but I didn't get around to it until now and so I'm posting it now before I forget.  Scary stories don't just have to be for Halloween!

What not-so-scary books can you think of that would be good candidates for spookification? (Runaway Bunny, I'm looking at you...)

Recommended Podcasts: just in time for winter break travel

UPDATE:  Pinna has shared a promo code with us!  If you'd like to try out the Pinna subscription podcast app, use the code HOLIDAY to receive $5 off your first payment.  (Not sure when this expires, so if you try it and it doesn't work, please leave a comment here and I'll take this little update off the post.)

It's time for another podcast round-up!  My kids are ages 5 & 9 this year and enjoy listening to funny things and don't mind intense storytelling.  If you've got kids with similar tastes, here are a few of my family's favorite listens from this year (in order from best for oldest listeners to youngest):

Six Minutes:
Each episode is only 6 minutes long and strung all together they tell an epic tale full of intrigue, adventure and suspense.  Heads up: these do get a little intense at times (at least one character dies), and there are a lot of characters to keep track of, but in 6-minute doses it's not too bad.  You'll definitely want to start at the beginning of the series with this one and there's over a year's worth of episodes to catch up on at this point, so it should last you awhile on your next road trip.

Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest:
This podcast is based on the books of the same title by Adam Gidwitz.  The podcasts may be even better than the books because he includes interjections from 3rd grade classes that he visits and they break up the weirdest, most intense parts of the tales.  He also tells listeners at the beginning whether each tale is rated "Grimm" "Grimmer" or "Grimmest" and encourages them to choose for themselves what they're ready to listen to.  Also, they're funny.

Pants on Fire:
A gameshow where one authentic expert and one person posing as an expert on the same subject try to convince a kid judge that they're both telling the truth and are the expert on the topic.  An excellent introduction to learning how to decide whether someone is telling the truth or not (an important skill in this digital age especially!).

Don't Break the Rules:
Another game show (exclusively available through the subscription app, Pinna) where four voice actors are assigned characters that they must develop a voice for (e.g. a lazy lollipop!) and then maintain throughout the rest of the show while competing in improvisational exercises.  Truly hilarious fun, even for adults to listen to.

Molly of Denali:
Based on the same world as the PBS show of the same name, this podcast follows the adventures of Molly, an Alaska Native.  It includes snippets of the Gwich’in language and elements of her culture in light-hearted stories about her day-to-day life.

Remy's Place:
Another Pinna original only available through their app, this one follows Remy, whose parents own a cafe called Remy's Place.  It's a hopping establishment, but his gentle parents (and the staff of the cafe) always find time for a kind word or interaction with Remy.  Fun side-note: his "aunt Norah" is Norah Jones.

Bonus: This Podcast Has  Fleas
I realized that I've never reviewed this podcast on the blog and wanted to remedy that situation.  My daughter was OBSESSED with this podcast for a long time and unfortunately, this podcast has only 6 episodes (wah!!).  It is quick-paced wit featuring a dog and a cat who each host their own podcast-within-a-podcast, perfect for listeners of all ages. I can vouch that the humor stands up through at least the first 5 or 6 repeat listens (by the 10th I had whole episodes memorized, I think). It features some fantastic voice actors including Emily Lynne, Jay Pharoah, Eugene Mirman and Alec Baldwin.

Be sure to check out my past podcast reviews here, here and here.

You can see my review on the NBC15 newscast here.

Videos from 1st Annual True Play Conference now available online!

If you wished you could attend the 1st Annual True Play Conference in Anji County this past May but just couldn't make it.... good news!  The presentations are all now online and available for free!

Follow this link to see the whole list.

My personal favorite presenters were:

Ms Cheng  the founder of Anji Play

Cas Holman, play materials designer

Principal Sheng Yi from Jiguan Kindergarten in Anji

Dr. Mariana Brussoni who studies risk in play

Dr. Andreas Roepstorff from Aarhus University discussing the paradox of studying/analyzing true play

I also really liked some of the points that Peter Mangione made in his presentation.

And of course, here's a link to my presentation in case you'd like to watch that.

We're hard at work creating the schedule for the 2020 True Play Conference!  details soon!

Top Ten Wild Rumpus innovations and experiments: 2019 edition

Every year we try new things at the Wild Rumpus (it's constantly changing just like the schools in Anji!).  Here are a few of the new things we're trying out this year:

1. Pre-series orientation for all staff and volunteers:
This one was a no-brainer.  I can't believe it took us four years to actually organize an orientation, but I guess in year's past there weren't quiiiiiite this many people on the crew and mostly we were still scrambling just to keep up.  This year, we invited all volunteers to attend one of two orientations were we gave a brief introduction to the Anji Play approach, talked about how the Wild Rumpus structure is different than the Anji Schools' structure, then talked through roles/responsibilities and what they should expect to see and do at a Wild Rumpus.  We didn't do an official survey afterwards, but verbal feedback was 100% positive and this will be part of our routine every year from now on.
Verdict: This one's a keeper!

2. Post-Rumpus Huddle + Just Press Record app:
Last year, this happened spontaneously once or twice and it worked so nicely we decided to make a quick post-Rumpus staff/volunteer reflection time part of the schedule for every program.  Holly discovered an app called "Just Press Record" that not only records (by just pressing one button) but also transcribes (albeit not always accurately) everything that's said on the recording.  And then all recordings created while signed in to the same account will also show up on a website making it SUPER SIMPLE to grab quotes for our weekly Rumpus Report (a winning innovation from 2018).  Bonus: there's also an Apple Watch version of the app! Fancy apps aside, the conversations that happen at the end of the night are my absolute favorite part.  It's a chance for everyone to share and reflect on what they've just observed while it's still fresh in their mind.  I hear SO many great stories that were simply lost in the past because I'd never asked (good grief)! This clearly fits in with the Anji Play model which incorporates reflection not just for the students but also for the teachers and the principals and the administrators and up and up and up...
Verdict: definitely a keeper.

3. Sprocket Printer:
I've been trying for years to figure out how we can display photos of kids playing at the Wild Rumpus itself.  I have no classroom walls to showcase them on -- one of our parks doesn't even HAVE any walls! One of the biggest hurdles has been remembering to print the photos when I get back into the library and then remembering to take those printed photos to the park the next time and figuring out how to display them.  This year, we are trying the Sprocket Printer by HP.  It's a wireless photo printer that makes little 2x3" sticky-backed photos and it's only about the size of two cell phones stacked on top of each other. We are also using the photos as an incentive to get people to try the GooseChase app described below as we've promised to print a photo that they submit in the app for them to keep as a souvenir.  We've already had two (admittedly RAINY) weeks of the Wild Rumpus and so far, I've printed only one photo for a Wild Rumpus participant on it.  Maybe next week, I'll ask a volunteer to go in and choose a few demonstration photos to print and post on our new sandwich board sign...
Verdict: Jury's still out on this one.

4. GooseChase App:
One of my goals is to try to get more parents taking pictures and videos of their kids during Anji Play events. Our newest librarian lead, Jane Kelly, discovered this fantastic app called GooseChase. It's a photo scavenger hunt app and is free to download.  We were able to create a different scavenger hunt for each Wild Rumpus event this summer and include prompts like, "Take a picture of your child doing something that surprises you." or "What was your favorite kind of play as a child?  Write and tell us about it." I love the usability and the functions of this app (enough that we actually paid for the EDU upgrade to test it out) and I can see using it in lots of other library settings as well.  Unfortunately, so far we haven't been getting a lot of participation yet.
Verdict: Jury's still out.

5. Portable battery packs:
Another innovation by Holly Storck-Post! With an iPad that stays on the trailer for book circulation,  an iPod touch that stays on the trailer for volunteers to use to take photos during the program, the Sprocket Printer, a mobile hotspot and a bluetooth speaker, there's a lot of things that need to be charged at the parks.  And not all of the parks have power outlets.  Enter the portable battery pack.  Each of the lead librarians gets a battery pack that they can charge up between programs (I keep mine plugged in in my van) and then they can use that to recharge any and all devices at the park on their night.  The one we got is small and light enough to fit easily in my apron pocket while I walk around at the park, has two USB ports so I can charge multiple things at once and it holds enough power to charge up all of those devices if need be.  Plus, Ms. Cheng uses a battery pack whenever she's recording kids, so it must be the right thing to do.  :)
Verdict: BRILLIANT.  TOTALLY WORTH IT.

6. "Ladder" bookshelf:
We like to incorporate circulating books at our Wild Rumpus events (of course) and last year we were lucky enough to land MPL's Book Bike at two out of three weekly events (one park was too far to bike), but this year it didn't work out and so we were looking for something interesting to display books on (we've learned from experience that just putting them out on a table or a book cart does NOT garner much attention), but also something that wouldn't take up much room on the trailer and wouldn't be difficult to set up or take down.  Enter this ladder-y looking bookshelf from Displays2Go.  I love that it has a ladder tie-in and it meets all of our requirements.  Even ducks like it.
Verdict: usability is great (though it is a bit fragile), it remains to be seen whether we'll see much interest in book circulation.

7. Plank wagon:
The incredible maintenance crew of MPL worked together to design a new, sturdy plank storage and mobility vehicle for us.  Last year's design (my own design and construction) was tall, skinny and had to be strapped to a tree or a pole for fear of it tipping over and smooshing someone.  This year, they retrofitted an affordable and sturdy garden wagon with these modifications (see above).
Verdict: SO much easier to roll and way more stable!  We had one bolt fall off and this many planks on one wagon is VERY heavy and the kids are rather interested in riding around on it, so we'll see how it fares over the course of the summer.

8. DeWalt chests:
I bought two of these heavy duty black plastic storage "chests" to store and transport blocks.  I asked the maintenance crew to add two dividers to each one and drill small airholes on the sides below the lip of the lid so that no kids could get stuck in there for way too long.  I love that they have an extending handle like a suitcase and only one set of wheels so that they are less tempting for kids to dump all the blocks out and play bumper cars with them.  They can totally handle the weight of all these blocks too!  Sadly, we found out recently that our trailer is overweight (pro-tip: get a double-axle trailer!) and we had to remove some of the heavier things that aren't getting as much play and the blocks topped that list.  We did add in some mover's dollies to one chest and our Rig-a-ma-Jig Jr. sets for rainy day use to the other chest.
Verdict: Way nicer to use in every way than the wooden book trucks we hauled blocks on for the last few years, but might be overkill for what they're currently hauling around.

9. Staff lanyards:
Another Holly suggestion!  We got lanyards (with clear pockets that ziploc shut!) for all staff and volunteers to wear during the program that include their name and pronoun preference.
Verdict: I always forget to grab my official library nametag, but this one is easy to keep in my purse and bring every week.  Plus, they're cheap to buy in bulk in case someone forgets to bring theirs back they can make another one.
Verdict: Why didn't we do this earlier?

10: Whistles:
What do you do if there's a lost kid in the park?  Or some other emergency situation?  How can you get the attention of the lead librarian quickly or get the whole crew's attention for an announcement? Why a whistle of course!  Suggested by this year's awesome practicum student: Nicole Isaacs!
Verdict: haven't had to use them yet, but it's reassuring to have them there.

Last year's winning innovations that carried through to this year:
--Weekly Rumpus Reflections meetings with all staff and any volunteers who'd like to attend

--Weekly Rumpus Reports (one pagers with photos/stats/quotes/anecdotes and the adult tip of the week) that go to library management and program partners

 --Neon clothespins for kids without photo permissions (though I LOVE that Nicole Hershberger of Cicero Library is using tyvek wristbands instead of clothespins--so much easier to see!)

--matching staff aprons with pockets!  Makes us easier to identify as staff and gives us pockets to hold all of the different handouts and clothespins, etc.

1st Annual True Play Conference, May 2019

 

 This past May I had the incredibly good fortune to be able to return to Anji County, China for a third time, this time to attend the First Annual True Play Conference. I was extra excited that this time I was able to bring along the amazing Holly Storck-Post who is my Anji Play partner extraordinaire (I am SO grateful for her love of spreadsheets and google drive wizardry!) and we were thrilled to be joined by the director of Madison Public Library, Greg Mickells and his wife.

We toured six different Anji kindergartens over the course of two days (whew!) and as always, I learned new things.  One of my big takeaways this time was that the schools of Anji are constantly changing and evolving and always in response to the children -- the teachers are paying such close attention to what is engaging the children and thinking about what changes to the school might enable them to delve even deeper.  They went so far as to add new HILLS to the play areas this time!  In the photo below, the kids were discovering that if they laid ladders end-to-end like this down a hill that they could sled down the hill much more quickly.

 Perhaps the most rewarding part of this trip was being able to watch my colleagues fall in love with Anji Play just as I did on my first trip.  Look at the smiles on their faces:

 I was also extremely honored to be asked to speak about the Wild Rumpus program during the conference.  There were about 300 people in the audience but I didn't find out until later that the live broadcast was estimated to have reached about 4 million viewers!  (gulp!)

 We are very honored that Madison, Wisconsin has been chosen as the site for the Second Annual True Play Conference on July 10-12, 2020 and are excited to host it along with One City Early Learning Center, El Mundo de Ninos,  and other friends of Anji Play here in Madison. 

 

 Mark your calendars!  More details will be posted here (and on Anji Play's website and Facebook page) as they become available. 

(I can't guarantee that the food in Madison will be this cute though!)