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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Every month, the Medfield Public Library’s Children’s Department hosts a program that combines literacy with gross and fine motor skills development. It’s a program thoroughly enjoyed by toddlers and their caregivers, and undoubtedly a perfect program to attract the town’s youngest readers to the library.
Through the Medfield Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Programs (CFCE), Yvette Sammarco visited the Medfield for “Parachute Play,” which includes a short story, playing with a colorful parachute, and a no-mess craft.
Although Mondays are relatively quiet at the library, “Parachute Play” always proves to liven up the start of the week. “Most of the time, it brings in a lot of people from Medfield and the surrounding communities,” said Yvette. “They love it because it’s something to do on a Monday.”
This month’s parachute entertainment paired well with the season’s first snowfall, as Yvette planned to read “I Love Snow” by Cynthia Rothman and organized a glittery snowflake craft.
In their final activity with the parachute, Yvette instructs the kids to gently shake it as they quietly hiss like snakes.
After the storytime, the toddlers helped Yvette unfold the parachute and practiced shaking it, watching the colorful fabric move in waves. The morning’s parachute playtime utilized music to get the children dancing and refining their gross motor skills as they moved to the beat of the song and Yvette’s instructions.
The children danced in circles around the room, shaking the parachute, and running underneath it. The youngsters’ favorite activity was taking a ride on the parachute; the kids took turns sitting in the middle of the parachute as their caregivers pulled them.
Since several of the children brought their favorite stuffed animals to the program, Yvette invited the kids to throw their soft toys onto the parachute as well. Giggling as their stuffed animals went up into the air, the children didn’t want the parachute fun to end.
However, Yvette had one more activity for the toddlers before they went off to explore the library. With snowflake cutouts, containers of glue, and paintbrushes on the table, Yvette invited the kids to paint the cutouts with glue and sprinkle glitter over them in a plastic bin, allowing the youths to create beautiful, sparkling snowflakes with no mess to worry about.
Even with the excitement of the holidays on their minds, the toddlers will surely be looking forward to January’s parachute activities.
At the monthly ‘Parachute Play’ program at the Medfield Public Library, Yvette Sammarco reads a jumbo picture book called ‘I Love Snow’ to the toddlers.
