This was my simplest Discovery! program for good reason: it was the end of the session and I had two presentations during the month of November to prepare for. I purposely planned the most intense programming towards the beginning when my energy would be up.
The Plan
Brief Art Storytime
The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle
A Day With No Crayons by Elizabeth Rusch
Monsters Love Colors by Mike Austin
Flannelboard: “Mouse Paint”
Free Art
I made sure to explain to parents and caregivers what a product art is and what process art is. Today, the group was going to concentrate on the process of creating and not making a product. I had different craft supplies out — paper, paper bag, paper plates, crayons, feathers, buttons, glue, scissors, markers, felt scraps, etc. The important point of today’s program was to have the kids enjoy doing their art. Furthermore, this was about letting them touch the supplies without saying “No, do it this way.” (Obviously, if it was a safety I did ask them to intervene.)
Here’s just a few pictures of the day:
How It Went
The kids loved the book selections. A few of my boys were excellent at color identification and color mixing. During “Mouse Paint”, they proclaimed loudly, “Those are the PRIMARY colors and those are the SECONDARY colors.” (Librarian pride!) I had several parents and caregivers compliment me on giving the kids the freedom to explore these materials without providing a sample. Overall, while this was a shorter program (about forty-five minutes instead of an hour), this was also a huge success in my book.
storytime katie 
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