January Holiday Activities, 2012

Bookings for holiday activities commence today. All bookings and/or payments are to be completed online via the library website. Bookings are essential for all activities.

For more details on the activities please view the attached flyer.

January Holiday Activities

Information for the January holiday activities will be released on Monday 5th December 2011. Bookings and/or payments will commence from Monday 12th December 2011. All bookings and/or payments are to be completed online. No refunds. Bookings are essential for all activities. Age groups apply for activities and have been stipulated by the workshop facilator or performer.

All activities are for individual bookings, large groups (e.g. vacation care) can not be accommodated.

See library website from Monday 5th December for more details.

Storytime @ Camden & Narellan Library

Next year a few of our regular storytime attendees will be starting primary school. To celebrate this the theme for this week will be focusing around the first day of school.

The book that we will be reading is "The First Day of School" by Toby Forward. This story focuses on the new experiences that the children will experience on their first day of school.

During this week we will also have a mini graduation for children leaving storytime to start school next year. These children will be presented an award to thank them for being a very special member of our Storytime family.

Storytime @ Narellan - 2nd & 4th November 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Narellan is "Down on the farm".

During storytime we will be singing farm themed songs such as Old Macdonald had a Farm and 5 Little Ducks.

For the craft we will be making Mother Goose.

The book to be read during this session is:

Silly Little Goose by Nancy Tafuri.

Storytime @ Camden - 1st & 3rd November 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Camden is "Down on the farm".

During storytime we will be singing farm themed songs such as Old Macdonald had a Farm and 5 Little Ducks.

For the craft we will be making a baby chick.

The book to be read during this session is:

Hoppity Skip Little Chick by Jo Brown.

Holiday Activities announced

During the September/October holidays Camden Library Service will be holding a tonne of fun activities for children and teens aged 5 to 18 years. From crazy chemical conundrums to skateboard scultpture skillfulness, don't miss out on these!

Bookings will be taken from Monday 19th September.

Bookings are to be completed online. To book and/or make payments, visit the library website and click on the link provided under the heading 'Holiday Activities - Information and Bookings'.

For activities that require a payment at time of booking, no refunds are given unless activity has been cancelled.

In a nutshell, come and join us for:

Kids - Mime, theatre, cartoons, chemistry, and art!
Tweens - Manga, sculpture!
Teens - Song writing, blogging, and Skateboard Art (Paint a deck! Thanks to Decked Out Skateshop).

Check out the flyer for more details.

Book Week at the Library

Last week at Narellan and Camden Libray children who attended storytime were invited to dress up to help celebrate Children's Book Week 2011.

To view all the photos taken at the Book Week storytime sessions visit our children's facebook page.

Storytime @ Camden 23rd August 2011

Today at Camden Libray children who attended storytime were invited to dress up to help celebrate Children's Book Week 2011.

Below are some of the photos taken at storytime:



For other photos from today's storytime check out our children's facebook page. Look for the album titled "Storytime - 23rd August 2011"

Dress up for Storytime

To help celebrate Children’s Book Week 2011 come to storytime dressed up as your favourite character on the following dates:

• 11am, Tuesday 23rd August (Camden)

• 11am, Wednesday 24th August (Narellan)

• 11am, Thursday 25th August (Camden)

• 10am & 11am, Friday 26th August (Narellan)

Mayor at Narellan Storytime

On Wednesday 3rd August the Mayor of Camden, Greg Warren, came to visit storytime. Mayor Warren helped sing some of the songs and read the story of the day, Let's Use It Again by Andrew Hopgood.

Please find below some photos:

The Mayor is coming to storytime

To celebrate Local Government Week the Mayor, Greg Warren, will be joining us at Narellan Library on Wednesday 3rd August at 11am for storytime. The Mayor will be reading the story of day and joining in with the songs.

We will also have a special visit from the Council's Environmental Education Officer, Denise Franovich. Denise will be joining us to talk about the importance of recycling.

So, come and join us at storytime to help celebrate Local Government Week with the Mayor and Denise.

Crocodile Encounters

Today at the Narellan Library we held a Crocodile Encounters Show. During the show the children got to touch and see a Blue Tongue Lizard, Bearded Dragon, Frilled Neck Lizard, Goanna, 2 meter Olive Python and a small Crocodile. The show was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

To view the photos from the show visit our children's library facebook page. You will find the photos in the album labelled 'Crocodile Encounters - 14 July 2011'.

Also, if you want to learn more about crocodiles and reptiles check out the attached booklist. All of these books can be found at Camden or Narellan Library.

Mask Making Workshop

On Wednesday 12th July 2011 Camden Library held a mask making workshop for children aged 5 to 9 years.

All the children who attended the workshop had lots of fun and created some wonderful masks.

Photos from the workshop can viewed on our children's library facebook page under the album labelled 'Mask making workshop - 12 July 2011'.

Sounds Like Music - Mic Conway

On Thursday 7th July Mic Conway performed 'Sounds like music' at Narellan Library. The performance was full of music and laughter. Fun was had by all.

To view the photos from the performance visit our children's library facebook page and look for the photo folder labelled 'Sounds like music - 7 July 2011'.

Lego Robotics Workshop

Today at Narellan Library we held a Lego Robotics Workshop for 8 to 12 year olds. Using a laptop and the new NXT Lego Mindstorm robots, participants learnt how to program lego robots to perform various moves. Fun was had by all that attended.

To check out the photos from the workshop visit our Camden Library Kids facebook page (www.facebook.com/camdenlibrarykids).

Looking for something else to do after the workshop. Visit Fizzics Education's website to view over 100 free science experiements (http://www.fizzics.com.au/).

Dangler Workshop Photos

Check out the photos taken at the Dangler Workshop today at Narellan Library. Visit the 'Camden Library Kids' facebook page ( www.facebook.com/camdenlibrarykids ) and look at the photo album titled 'Dangler Workshop - 4 July 2011'

The School Holidays have started

Today is the first day of the school holidays. Today at the library we had a 'Dangler' workshop where kids got to make wonderful artwork out of recycled material to dangle from their door frame or window. Pictures of the activity are to come.

All the children (5 to 12 years) and tween (8 to 14 years) activities are now all booked out. They have certainly been very popular.

We now only have spots available in the activities for teens (12 to 18 years). These activities include podcasting, reverse garbage workshop and a beat box workshop. Some of these activities incur a fee and payment is required at time of booking.

For more details contact Narellan Library on 4645 5039.

July School Holiday Activities

During the July School Holidays Camden Council Library Service will be running several school holiday activities for children and teens. Bookings are required for all activities.

Bookings will be taken from Monday 27th June.

Where a cost is involved payment must be made at time of booking.

Further details view the attached brochure.

July School Holiday Activities 2011

Details for the July School Holiday activities will be released on Monday 20th June 2011. Stay tuned for more details to come.

Money Smart Website

This website is a guide to budgeting for your baby and is provided by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and covers parental leave, government assistance, baby expenses, childcare and child legal protection. It also includes a budget planner and savings calculator.

For more information visit:

www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/life-events/having-a-baby

Raising Children Network: Babies

This site covers nutrition, development, feeding and bonding. There are also videos, articles and great step-by-step guide called 'Parenting in Pictures'.

For more information visit: http://raisingchildren.net.au/babies/babies.html

Food Standards - Pregnant Women

This page gives straightforward advice on nutrition for optimum health during pregnancy. Further information via links, downloadable fact sheets, is provided.

For more information visit:
http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumerinformation/adviceforpregnantwomen/

Magic Craig @ Narellan Library

Come and join us at Narellan Library on Saturday 4th June @ 10.30am when magician Magic Craig will perform his wonderful magic act.

The performance is FREE and is open to children of all ages. No bookings are required.

Prepare children from birth for reading and writing

Early Words is passionate about supporting families and communities with early literacy. Children do not wait until school to learn literacy skills. Literacy begins at birth. Give children a stronger, confident start at school.

The Early Words website includes everyday activities and information. Early Words also a range of tip sheets in a number of different community languages.


Early Words also have a Youtube Channel
( http://www.youtube.com/user/WatchEarlyWords ) which focuses on early literacy.

National Simultaneous Storytime @ Narellan Library

Tomorrow 170,000 Australian children will read the same book at the same time.

It’s fun, it’s feathery and at 11am tomorrow, Wednesday, May 25, it will have at least 170,548 children spellbound. It’s "Feathers for Phoebe" by Rod Clement, this year’s book selection for National Simultaneous Storytime.

Narellan Library will be holding National Simultaneous Storytime at 11am during our regular storytime session.

A feature event in the Australian Library and Information Week (ALIA) calendar, National Simultaneous Storytime is Australia’s biggest single storytelling event. It is celebrated in schools, public libraries, kindergartens, childcare centres and bookshops. This year, 1,102 simultaneous readings will take part across the nation, including, for the first time, children with vision and hearing impairments, and children in detention centres.

You can now download an animated, fully-voiced podcast of “Feathers for Phoebe” in different media formats for display on Interactive White Boards and Data Projectors.


TIP: right click on the link and select ‘Save Link As / Save Download As’


Download the Podcast in MP4 Video (QuickTime/M4V format – 102MB)
( http://www.alia.org.au/storytime/resources/NSS2011Podcast.m4v )

Download the Podcast in AVI / DivX (Windows / AVI format - 89MB)
( http://www.alia.org.au/storytime/resources/NSS2011Podcast.avi )

Watch the Podcast on YouTube
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlPDb2H6Ppo )

Camden Play Day - 22nd May 2011

To help celebrate Families Week, Camden Council in partnership with local children's services will be holding a Camden Play Day at Kirkham Oval on Sunday 22nd May 2011.

Entry to the event is FREE and there will be lots of FREE activities for children and their families.

For more details refer to the attached brochure.

Family Week Celebrations - May 15 to 21, 2011

Management and staff of YMCA would like to invite you and your family to attend the Families Week Celebrations held at Mount Annan Leisure Centre during May 15 to 21.

More more details refer to the attached brochure.

Music for Little Ones - Tom Harding

Join us at Camden Library on Saturday 14th May, 10.30am for Music for Little Ones presented by Tom Harding.

'Music for Little Ones' is an exciting hands on session exploring the skills needed by the muso’s of tomorrow! Drumming generates lots of fun with embedded mathematics, listening skills,aural interpretaion and musical triggers. With body percussion and fun movements to both classical and original children’s songs,each child gets to sing, move and drum.

The FREE performance is suited for children aged 2 to 6 years.

BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL!

Contact Camden Library on 4654 7951 for more details.

FREE 'Library Kids' performances @ Camden Library

During the month of May Camden Library Service will be holding Children’s Performances on Saturday mornings at Camden Library. All performances are FREE and are for children aged 2 to 6 years.

BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL!

See attached brochure for more details.

Camden Library Service at the Camden Show

On Friday 8th April staff from Camden Library Service will be at the Camden Show to do storytime in the goat tent.

If you are in the area why don't you come and visit us and join in with the stories and songs.

Storytime @ Narellan - 30th March & 1st April 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Narellan is Animals - In the Pond.

During storytime we will be singing duck and pond themed songs and making a duck puppet for the craft.

The book to be read during this session is:

Little Twitching by Phil Cummings.

Storytime @ Camden - 29th and 31st March 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Camden is Animals - In the Pond.

During storytime we will be singing duck and pond themed songs and making a duck puppet for the craft.

The book to be read during this session is:

Little Twitching by Phil Cummings.

Storytime @ Narellan - 16th & 18th March 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Narellan is Animal Adventures - Pets.

During storytime we will be singing animal themed songs and making dog ears for the craft.

The book to be read during this session is:

Grumpy Gloria by Anna Dewdney.

Storytime @ Camden - 15th & 17th March 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Camden is Animal Adventures - On Safari.

During storytime we will be singing animal and safari themed songs and making a Tiger Hat for the craft.

The book to be read during this session is:

We've all got bellybuttons! by David Martin.

BIBS @ Camden - March 2011: Tactile Baby

The theme for BIBS at Camden this month is Tactile Baby.

During the BIBS sessions this month we will be singing songs and reading books related to touch and sensory play.

Sensory play is currently seen as one of the key areas of play for babies and young children and a crucial part of development.

Sensory play is play that involves the use of one or more of the five senses - touch, sight, smell, taste and hearing.

Objects that offer different tactile and texture experiences are also beneficial in helping children to develop a sensory 'feeling' vocabulary, i.e. words to describe how things:

-Feel: soft, hard, cold, smooth, rough, squishy...
-Smell and taste: sweet and sour....
-Look: Big, little...
-Sound: Loud, quite....

BIBS @ Narellan - March 2011: Sea baby

The theme for BIBS at Narellan this month is Sea Baby.

During the BIBS sessions this month we will be singing sea themed songs and reading sea themed books.

Below is an example of a song that we will song during the session:

(to the tune of 'the wheels on the bus')

The fish in the sea go swim, swim, swim,
swim, swim, swim, swim, swim, swim,
The fish in the sea go swim, swim, swim,
All day long.

Puppet Tricksters @ Narellan Library - 19th March 2011

Come and join us at Narellan Library on Saturday 19th March to see Puppet Tricksters. This performance is part of the 'Library Kids' program and is aimed at children aged 2 to 6 years.

Puppet Tricksters is presented by renowned puppeteer Dennis Murphy and is a great puppet show that highlights much loved tricksters from various cultures who out manoeuvre bullies and survive on their wits.

The performance is FREE and no bookings are necessary.

Time: 10.30am

For more details contact Narellan Library on 4645 5039.

Mime-O-Rama @ Narellan Library - 12th March 2011

Come and join us at Narellan Library on Saturday 12th March to see Mime-O-Rama. This performance is part of the 'Library Kids' program and is aimed at children aged 2 to 6 years.

Mime-O-Rama is presented by renowned physical theatre performer, Dennis Claire and is a great introduction to expressing imaginative ideas using your body. Dennis uses his skills in mime, movement, mask and visual theatre to get the message across - there is many ways to communicate and tell stories!

The performance is FREE and no bookings are necessary.

Time: 10.30am

For more details contact Narellan Library on 4645 5039.

Storytime @ Narellan - 9th & 11th March 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Narellan is Animal Adventures-Elephants.

During storytime we will be singing elephant and jungle themed songs and making an Elephant puppet for the craft.

The book to be read during this session is:

Riding on an Elephant by Heather Heyworth

Storytime @ Camden - 8th & 10th March 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Camden is Animals - Farm.

During storytime we will be singing animal and farm themed songs and making a Cow puppet for the craft.

The book to be read during this session is:

Around the House the Fox Chased the Mouse by Rick Walton.

Monday Night Storytime @ Narellan - 7th March 2011

Monday Night Storytime occurs at Narellan on the first Monday of each month.

The theme for this months storytime is Author Study - Margaret Wild.

During storytime we will be singing various songs and making a Pocket Dog puppets for the craft.

During this session we will be reading 2 books by Margaret Wild:

Pocket Dogs and Chatterbox.

Matthew Doyle's Wuruniri Cultural Program @ Narellan on 5th March

Come and join us at Narellan Library on Saturday 5th March to see Matthew Doyle's Wuruniri Cultural Program. This performance is part of the 'Library Kids' program and is aimed at children aged 2 to 6 years.

Matthew Doyle's Wuruniri Cultural Program is an introduction to Aboriginal culture for the young child through dance, stories and dideridoo.

The performance is FREE and no bookings are necessary.

Time: 10.30am

For more details contact Narellan Library on 4645 5039.

Storytime @ Narellan - 2nd & 4th March 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Narellan is Animals - Farm.

During storytime we will be singing animal and farm themed songs and making a Cow puppet for the craft.

The book to be read during this session is:

Around the House the Fox Chased the Mouse by Rick Walton.

Storytime @ Camden - 1st & 3rd March

The theme for this weeks storytime at Camden is Animal Adventures-Elephants.

During storytime we will be singing elephant and jungle themed songs and making an Elephant puppet for the craft.

The book to be read during this session is:

Riding on an Elephant by Heather Heyworth

Library Kids

During the months of March and May Camden Library Service will be holding children’s performances on Saturday mornings. All performances are FREE and are for children aged 2 to 6 years. March performances are being held at Narellan Library, whilst the May performances will be held at Camden Library. Bookings are not required at Narellan performances whereas bookings are required for the Camden performances. Click on the links provided for more details.

Reading Magic

Reading Magic by Mem Fox is an introduction for parents about reading aloud to their children. In this book Fox explains that babies are born learners, discusses the importance of books in the home, and stresses the value of a read-aloud ritual.

Reading Magic is thought to be a must for every parent and for anyone who would like to know how children learn to read.

Storytime @ Camden - 22nd & 24th February 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Camden is On the Wild Side....Jungle Animals.

During storytime we will be singing jungle themed songs and making a Hippo mask for the craft.

The book to be read during this session is:

I am a Hippo by Linda Bygrave

Storytime @ Narellan - 23rd and 25th February 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Narellan is On the Wild Side....In the Jungle.

During storytime we will be singing jungle themed songs and making a tiger mask for the craft.

The book to be read during this session is:

Tiger by Nick Butterworth

Camden Kids Website

Camden Kids is a website for parents and carers of children aged 0-12 years, dedicated to providing links to parenting information, support and resources in the Camden Local Government Area.

The website aims to make accessing information simple and easy for parents, carers and community workers, and covers a whole range of needs when raising a child in Camden.

Storytime @ Camden - 15th & 17th February 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Camden is On the Wild Side....In the Jungle.

During storytime we will be singing jungle themed songs and making a tiger mask for the craft.

The book to be read during this session is:

Tiger by Nick Butterworth

Storytime @ Narellan - 16th & 18th February 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Narellan is On the Wild Side....In the Jungle

During storytime we will be singing jungle themed songs and making a Hippo mask for the craft.

The book to be read during this session is:

Greedy Grumpy Hippo by Stuart Trotter.

Healthy Kids

Are you looking for new ideas for school lunches that are healthy and nutritious. Check out the new Healthy Kids website. The Healthy Kids website provides information, resources and ideas on physical activity and healthy eating for children and young people.

The Healthy Kids website is a joint initiative of NSW Department of Health, NSW Department of Education and Training, Sport and Recreation, a division of Communities NSW and the Heart Foundation.

Starting School and Dinosaurs!

Is your child starting school? Does your child love dinosaurs?

If you answered yes to both of these questions, then Harry and the Dinosaurs Go to School by Ian Whybrow is the book for you.

This book is the perfect story about starting school from the much loved Harry and his bucketful of dinosaurs.

Storytime @ Camden - 10th February 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Camden is On the Wild Side... Crocodiles.

We will be singing crocodile songs and making a crocodile craft.

The book we will be reading is:

Doodle Bites by Polly Dunbar.

Storytime @ Narellan - 9th & 11th February 2011

The theme for this weeks storytime at Narellan is On the Wild Side....Dinosaurs.

During storytime we will be singing dinosaur songs and dinosaur crafts.

The book to be read during this session is:

Tyson the Terrible by Diane & Christian Fox

Library Lovers Week @ Storytime

To help celebrate Library Lovers Week come to storytime dressed in red on the following dates:

Tuesday 15th February, 11am @ Camden Library

Wednesday 16th February, 11am @ Narellan Library

Thursday 17th February, 11am @ Camden Library

Friday 18th February, 10am and 11am @ Narellan Library