With Coronavirus disrupting our in-house programming, Youth Services have had to find new, creative ways to serve our patrons. One of the latest ways has been Grab & Go Bags. These activity kits are meant to let patrons take a library program home and give kids and teens something fun to do while cooped up in the house. New Grab & Go bags are available every two weeks and are given out while supplies last. There are three ages families can choose from, preschool, elementary, and teen. Each bag has a range of activities specific to the targeted age group's developmental and learning stage, with each branch coming up with activities for its patrons. The bag contains a flyer with activities, directions, book recommendations, a literacy tip or joke, and the supplies needed for the craft, STEM challenge, or activity. For example, at Post Road, our elementary Grab & Go bag featured fairytale-themed activities such as Humpty Dumpty losing his shell in a dissolving eggshell experiment, building a catapult to launch the cow over the moon, fairytale writing challenges, and a unicorn game to play with the family. This bag has been very popular, though, I heard from one exasperated mother exclaim that if she sees a ping pong ball cow fly across her living room one more time, the catapult might mysteriously disappear!
Other than excited kids launching cows in the house too eagerly, patrons have been loving the Grab & Go bags. Staff across all the branches have shared stories of whole families marching out the door, each with their children excitedly clutching the bags to their chest. Even our curbside patrons shared their love of the bags with staff getting phone calls from patrons telling us how much their children enjoyed the activities and how perfect they were.
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