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 ..read more

    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 ..read more

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 ..read more

 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 int ..read more

  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 ..read more

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 ..read more

  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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 dos ..read more

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 tha ..read more