Swampscott tots get read on arts and science

SWAMPSCOTT – Every Tuesday morning at 10:30 in the children’s room, the Swampscott Public Library offers an interactive reading and arts and crafts program for young children. Over the summer, it is focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and in the fall, it turns the page to more artistic projects.”Each week I read them one to two books, and then they do an art project based off of something in the story,” said librarian Jenn Runyan, who runs the program.”We read ?Chicka Chicka Boom Boom,'” she said. It’s a children’s story about a bunch of letters that climb up a coconut tree. “Then I gave them cutouts of the shapes of trees and letters and they glued them however they wanted to on the page.”The program is geared toward children between the ages of 2 and 4, but Runyan also sees 5- and 6-year-olds participating. Each week, around 15 to 20 children attended this summer, and some weeks there were up to 30, Runyan said.”We try to choose projects that a 2-year-old can do a little of, but a 4-year-old can also do. And it will keep them entertained,” said Laurie Souza, the head of circulation at the library. “The 2-year-old will have fun, but the 4-year-old will probably get more out of it.””I don’t care how old they are as long as they want to participate,” Runyan said.Last year, the program began focusing on STEM for six weeks each summer. One of the projects was to read a book on the five senses. Runyan then put together paper bags with 10 different items inside. They included things like a whistle for hearing, a cotton ball and a piece of sandpaper for feeling, scented markers for smelling, and a sugar cube for tasting.”It was popular,” said Runyan. “We’re hoping to continue on throughout the school year. Our science area is getting bigger.”Now that the summer is closing in on its final chapter and children are going back to school, the focus will be more on arts. While the kids in the program are generally too young to be going back to school, a lot of them have older siblings who will be, Runyan said.”Since September is the month they go back to school, we’ll do something with the alphabet one week,” she said.”I think it incorporates some stuff that they may not get to experience at a younger age,” Runyan said. “We get to introduce them to new things.”We do try to incorporate some kind of learning,” she said. “Some of the things are about learning basic knowledge, like colors and shapes. It works a lot on their motor skills.”For a lot of kids, it’s more about the social interaction,” Runyan said. “The parents stay and sit at the back of the room and the kids will sit at the front of the room during the story. Then the parents usually help the kids with their projects. It’s good because a lot of parents work, and it’s good for the parents and kids to interact.”Next week, Runyan plans to read “Planting A Rainbow” by Lois Ehlert.”It talks about gardening and each color and how to grow things,” she said. “For the project, I’ll give them tissue paper and they can rip it and crumple it up and glue it to the paper to make flowers.”The program will run throughout the school year, focusing on artistic projects, and Runyan said it is likely to focus on STEM again next summer.