Miss Shelley shares books, activities, videos, and resources to help children on the path to reading.
Browse the latest activities for early learners
BingePass gives you 7 days of unlimited streaming
With hoopla’s BingePass and your Oak Park library card, you can get unlimited streaming for seven days with a single borrow! Let’s get started… How do I use hoopla’s BingePass? …Educational app recommendations for preschoolers
Experts at the Educational Development Center say that digital media can help young children make sense of their world, especially when screen time is facilitated and guided by parents or …29 things to do with little ones this winter
Winter is here, and as the days grow cozier, your public library and the Collaboration for Early Childhood have put together a bunch of fun ways for families and kids …Early Bird Learning videos: A virtual tutorial for babies, toddlers & preschoolers
Did you know that children’s staff have created more than 400 early learning videos since March 2020?! You can watch them all in a YouTube playlist and find them organized …38 things to do with little ones this fall
It’s a beautiful season! From playful family adventures to creative fun, fall is for connection and new ways to learn and grow. Take a peek at all the exciting happenings …New year, new transitions! Videos & books for early learners
Welcome to the -ber months: September, October, November, and December! Most people celebrate the start of a new year in January. Not me. I graduated from library school more than …What kind of library kid are you?
There are so many ways to use your library, and we’ve rounded up a few special ones for kids and families here. Not all of them require a library card, …Celebrating Disability Pride for young learners & caregivers
July 26 marks the 25th anniversary of signing the Americans With Disabilities Act into law, and July as a whole marks the 25th anniversary of Disability Pride Month. As always, …44 things to do with your little ones this summer
There is so much to do and explore during the summer! Together with the Collaboration for Early Childhood, we’ve put together a collection of activities and free, fun, local community …Normalizing autistic acceptance: Videos & books for early learners & caregivers
Happy Autism Acceptance Month! In the past, we’ve shared information about: Celebrating autism pride. Neuro-affirming resources for autistic people and their caregivers. Why many autistic people prefer to celebrate autistic …33 things to do with little ones this spring
Longer, lighter days this season make it easier to fit more into each and every one. Your public library, in partnership with the Collaboration for Early Childhood, has put together …Sharing scary & not-so-scary stories: Videos & books for early learners
By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris The sun is setting earlier, and nights are lasting longer. This is the time of year when our “Chills and Thrills” bin of picture books …Kids summer reading: Kids as young as 2 can join the fun!
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Most people look at summer as a time to relax and have fun. For Children’s Services Librarians, it’s our busy season! We’ve spent the past …Autism acceptance & pride: Videos & activities for early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Happy Autism Acceptance Month! To understand why we’re celebrating… Let’s start at the beginning: What is autism & why acceptance? There are two brain types: …9 ways to encourage spontaneous, meaningful language
Library staff love to talk about the importance of language and play for kids: It helps them explore their world, learn about themselves and the people around them, get ready …Be kind to yourself: Videos & resources for grownups & early learners
We often come back to the topic of emotions and social-emotional learning with our kids. Sometimes it may feel like we’re repeating ourselves! But we keep returning to the topic …Celebrating AAC, ADHD & Down Syndrome Awareness Months: Activities for early learners & support for caregivers
October is a big month! Many kids are excited for Halloween, of course. We finally enter an autumn that will last a while; that’s usually pretty great. Sometimes we even …‘Won’t you be my neighbor?’ Videos & activities for early learners
“You’ve made this day a special day, by just your being you. There’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.” …Talking about emotions: Activities for early learners
By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris It’s never too early to talk about emotions with children, even babies and toddlers. The end of summer and start of new autumn routines is …Disability Pride Month: Activities for early learners & caregivers
July is Disability Pride Month! It’s been celebrated since 1990, when President HW Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, though many non-disabled people have not …Visiting the Main Library Children’s Services: A virtual tutorial for kids & families
By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris Sometimes kids and adults get nervous about visiting a new place for the first time. We get it! It can be useful to know what to …Happy Autism Acceptance Month! Videos & activities for early learners & caregivers
April can be a challenging month for many autistic people. Many organizations that aren’t run with or by autistic leaders have campaigns about “lighting it up blue”—furthering stereotypes that autism …Share sounds: Videos & books for early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian The grasshopper chirpeth, the lamb bleateth, the owl hooteth. Animal sounds are found in so many books and songs for children, including the first-known picture …Learning through gardening: Videos & activities for early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Have you ever explored the little side yard of the Maze Branch Library (pictured above)? It’s not exactly quiet, because it’s right next to the …Exploring social-emotional learning: A new virtual tutorial for caregivers & early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian At the library, we often hear from parents, teachers, and other caregivers that social-emotional learning (SEL) is important to you. What exactly is SEL? Let’s …Spring sensory play: Videos & activities for early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Play is how kids learn. We say this so often because it’s one of the most important things for adults who raise or work with kids …Nature fun: Videos & activities for early learners
Jenny and I are huge fans of nature programming at the library. We’ve offered nature classes for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, elementary-aged kids, and kids of all ages with disabilities, for …Women’s History Month: Videos & activities for early learners
How young is too young to introduce kids to history? There’s no such thing as too young! There are so many delightful and age-appropriate ways to share information on fascinating …Scary things in the news: Videos for early learners, resources for caregivers
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Scary things are back in the news. Even when we try to insulate children from the news, we often underestimate how much they can overhear …Get moving! At-home activities & videos for early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Who else is watching the Winter Olympics? I love my regular dive back into curling, which always feels like such a fun, accessible and possible …Dress-up imaginative play: Videos & books for early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian It’s been a week since Halloween: is your kid still wearing their costumes? Dress-up imaginative play is such an important part of childhood! You know …Celebrating disability awareness: Activities & videos for early learners
October is the month especially set aside to celebrate and recognize various disabilities, including Augmentative and Alternative Communication Awareness Month, something dear to my heart as my brother uses a …Rhythm & rhyme & harmony: Videos & activities to help early learners practice self-regulation
This week, I shared a video on using breathing to regulate your body when you’re feeling stressed or getting too excited on a fun day. A lot of the songs …Sharing books when you don’t feel like reading: Videos & activities for early learners
What do you think of when you see a book? Are books something stressful? Boring? Magical? Exciting? Something in between? It’s okay to not always feel excited about books or …Beyond ‘Twinkle Twinkle’: Videos & activities for early learners
This week, the Fred Rogers Center shared an article from Zero to Three about the power of music for infants and toddlers. It ties music to key early development skills: …Wild, witty, wonderful words: Videos & activities for early learners
Marvelous! Splendiferous! Sensational! There are so many delightful and fun words that exist. The more words that kids know, the easier it will be for them to decode and read …Sounds, science & snow: Videos & activities for early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian What kind of things do you hear during the winter? When there’s a lot of snow on the ground, it can actually be very quiet! …How to help young kids process upsetting events in the news
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Well, 2021 has certainly begun right where 2020 left off: with a lot of tough topics. Even our youngest kids know when big or upsetting …Take a sad year & make it better: Videos & activities for early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Every year, our final Early Bird Reader tip we send via text (Want weekly early learning tips from the Oak Park Public Library? Sign up …Virtual learning & fun for early learners: Songs to set a mood
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Songs are powerful! When we plan our storytime classes, we organize them to build energy and then calm kids down before we send them back …Fun in the snow? Say it ain’t so: Videos & activities for early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian I’m one of those odd ducks who loves winter and snow and is excited to get this season started. I know—my co-workers shake their head …Fun with sounds: Videos, activities, books & music for early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Miss Jenny and I both love building fun sounds into our storytimes and our videos. Sounds, especially unexpected ones, get and keep everyone’s interest and …Sing, sing a song: Videos & activities for early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Mr. Andy, one of our past librarians, always used to tell caregivers that he could remember the words to “Sweet Caroline” much better than he …Storytelling: Videos & activities for early learners
Sometimes, at the Children’s Services desk, small kids come up to the desk and proudly read a book to us. Their caregiver will laugh and say they memorized it or …Virtual learning & fun for early learners: Whoosh, bang, boom
By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris When we think about talking with our smallest kids, there are so many sounds involved: animal sounds, choo choo sounds, airplane sounds. These may feel …Let’s learn & practice new words: Videos & books for early learners
By Shelley Harris, Children’s Librarian Miss Jenny and I have been sharing a lot of words this week—big ones like “disappointed” and fancy ones like “scarlet.” The more words kids …Raising kids? Top 5 reasons you need your library
Know someone without a card? Help us spread the word! Learn more about getting and using your card » #1: You get to say yes more! No late fines and automatic renewals? …
