Which is how I came to be representing my library system at our local PBS station's bookfest. This year was my third at this event, and I looked forward to blending the two themes of literacy and healthy habits by sticking a bunch of fruits and vegetable magnets up on an enormous 3' x 4' white board and letting the kids write the names of the ones they knew with dry erase markers.
That activity quickly evolved into multiple variations, depending on the child wielding the marker. For example, if a child was too young to write the name of the food, we talked about what letter it started with and wrote that. Some children just circled the picture, some just scribbled with the marker. Some simply got a kick moving the magnets around. (And yes, some parted unwillingly and/or tearfully with the markers. Such is life.)
To make the magnets, I copied selected foods from Lois Ehlert's Eating the Alphabet and then cut, laminated, and hot glued magnets to the back. This is the kind of thing I would keep in a drawer if I worked in a library, to be used for another program, or even to set out as a self-directed activity on a rainy day. Because you really can't go wrong with a white board. (Ever.)
I also gave out paperback copies of the book, while they lasted, introducing Lois Ehlert's wonderful work to some families who were new to it.
Good day had by all. My very favorite moment of the day came from a boy who whipped through naming all the fruits and vegetables and was looking for a bigger challenge:
Him: Do you have any other foods?
Me: Like..?
Him: Like something from the grains group?
More stories from the whirlwind of May next week!
*The opportunities, obviously. I do not jump on children.
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