Programming Archives

5-min Science/Craft Experiment series

How to make sidewalk chalk: video & written instructions

How to make floating art: video & written instructions

How to have fun with colors: video & written instructions

How to make your own slime: video & written instructions

How to make a butterfly: video & written instructions  

How to make a heart figure (from Feb Book Giveaway): video & written instructions (sheet with images to cut out)

How to make homemade play dough (from Dr. Seuss Read Across America week): video & written instructions

How to make a Cat in the Hat hat (from Dr. Seuss Read Across America week): video & written instructions

How to make a Cat in the Hat pencil holder (from Dr. Seuss Read Across America week): video & written instructions

How to make a Cat in the Hat snack (from Dr. Seuss Read Across America week): video & written instructions 

How to make a pinwheel (from April Book Giveaway): video & written instructions (or if you have less supplies, another written version)

How to do blackout poetry: video & written instructions

How to make rain clouds: video & written instructions

How to make a catapult: video & written instructions

(Return to top)

Activity Sheets

(You can no longer turn in these activity pages to receive a free book, but have fun completing them!)

February Hearts: coloring page 1, coloring page 2, maze, and word find 

Dr.Seuss Read Across America Week: crossword, maze, coloring page, and the ABCs.

April/Spring, Summer, and Earth Day:  Earth Day word find, Spring word find, Summer word find, maze 1, maze 2, crossword puzzle, and coloring pages. 

Read Across Plumas County: color page - dinosaurs; color page - flowers; color page - owl; color page - bookworm; color page - cat; or word find 1 or word find 2.

May 2022 Book Giveaway: word search and coloring pages for turtles, bugs, fish, and butterflies.

October 2022 Book Giveaway: coloring pages for a baby dragon, back-to-school bear, unicorn, and by numbers, and word finds for 'what do you like to eat' and 'types of pets'.

December 2022 Book Giveaway: coloring pages for Hello Winter, penguin, snowman, and winter solstice, as well as mazes for a snowflake or a scarf/hat.

Dr.Seuss Read Across America Week (2023): crossword, coloring page (fish), and coloring page (cat in the hat in snow).

April Book giveaway (2023): coloring pages include a butterfly, Earth Day, baby chick, spring animals, a flower and bee, and a caterpillar and butterfly, as well as a peeps maze, a word find with spring terms, and a word find with Earth Day terms.

(Return to top)

Children Story Time

We currently provide virtual children's story time live, but we recorded several sessions in the early months of COVID-19 for families to view at their convenience. All are hosted by Lori at the Chester Branch and include reading, a simple craft project, and music/movement. (If you are interested in the live version, please contact Lori at Chester Branch at pclibc@psln.com or 258-2742 to be added to the mailing list that provides the meeting link and password.) 

For 4/23/2020: It’s Spring! click here.

For 4/30/2020: Trees! click here.

For 5/9/2020: Spotlight on children’s author/illustrator Chris Van Allsburg! click here.

For 5/21: Sleep! click here.

For 5/28: Sunshine! click here.

For Special Edition: Bicycle Safety with Lisa from Bodfish Bicycles and Quiet Mountain Sport click here.

For 6/11: Animals and their Doctors click here.

(Return to top)

Previous Summer Reading Programs

2021 Summer Reading Program

Greenville Library - The Green Project - The supplemental PowerPoint to the July 6th program of sprucing up the Library garden by planting various types of flower seeds and learning about plant life cycles (by Sara Sotomayor)

Chester Library - Wildfire Prevention with Owlbert and Scared Squirrel (with Lori and Gynell)

2020 Summer Reading Program

Butterflies and Bugs: Life Cycles
The interactive live programming has already passed, but you can still check out the recorded version of Butterflies & Bugs: My How We Have Changed! by clicking this link.  You can also read the information she shares in the video here.

The recorded video for Let's Build a Butterfly (craft project) is available here.  For the craft, you will need a Popsicle stick, crayons or colored pencils or markers, glue, scissors, and decorations like pom-poms. You can print out the template here.

Paws for Reading
The interactive live programming has already passed, but you can still check out the recorded version of Paws Adventure by clicking this link.  You can also read the information she shares in the video here.

The recorded video for Pawsome Bookmark is available here.  For the craft, you will need a ruler, pencil or pen, crayons or markers or colored pencils, scissors, and cardboard (you can use a cereal box) or heavy paper.

A River of Fun
The interactive live programming has already passed. The recorded video for Reading on the River With Lori and Friends: A Reader's Theatre is available here.

Be Creative
The interactive live programming has already passed, but you can still check out the recorded version of Perfect Square by clicking this link. For the craft, you will need (colorful) magazine pages or construction paper, scissors, glue, a hole punch is optional, and a blank piece of paper.

The recorded video for Learning Origami (craft project) is available here.  For the craft, you will need paper and scissors. (If you don't have colored paper, you may want to color it with markers/colored pencils/crayons before folding.)  You can always find a lot more videos of various levels of difficulty online. Check out some other examples of things that have been made. 

(Return to top)

6-Week Drawing Course

Join our recorded 6-week drawing course with Linda from Portola Library. Below you will find 6 lessons on drawing and helpful documents to guide you through the videos. If you have questions about the lessons, please contact Linda at (530) 832-4241 or email her at pclibp@psln.com.

You will learn about the five basic drawing skills concerning line, shape, relationships and proportion, light, shadow and value, and gestalt or the whole. They are based on learning to see to draw as artists do and on Betty Edward's book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". (You can put either edition the Library owns on hold by clicking on the link.)

Before Lesson 1: Please complete two exercises before the first lesson:

1. The first is to draw two preliminary pre-instruction drawings: one of a tennis shoe with loose laces and one of the corners of a room with furnishings. These are to keep so you can compare your progress at the end of the lessons.

2. The next assignment is to do three sets of different types of lines, each example in a 2" x 4" box, that does not need to represent anything but is simply like the lines in the three master drawings: Draw thick and thin, light and dark lines like in Juan Gris' drawing by pressing harder and lighter with your pencil, then draw smooth flowing lines like in Picasso's line drawing, and lastly draw curled lines like in van Gogh's drawing. (Click on the links to see the examples.)

Lesson 1: Drawing I Edges or Contour Line

Helpful Documents: Ways to hold a pencil; edges; blind contours

Lesson 2: Drawing I Relationships, proportions, and Shading in still life

Helpful Documents: how to use your pencil as a ruler to measure; sphere; upside down horse & Donald duck

Lesson 3: Drawing I Value in still life and perspective

Helpful Documents: How to Make a Tortillon in 5 Easy Steps; value scale; scumbling; shapes vs shaded forms; shading types cube cone sphere; books in perspective; Two Point Perspective; textured value scales; thumbnail sketch

Lesson 4: Drawing I Landscape Preparation: Rocks and Mountains, plus supplementary tip

Helpful Documents: stool, rocks, mountains in a crosshatch

Lesson 5: Drawing I Perspective

Helpful Documents: Road uphill perspective; foreshortened object; How to draw winding road or river; one point perspective scene; van Gogh Bedroom in Arles perspective; Winding Road; two point perspective interior; one point perspective hallway

Lesson 6: Drawing I Putting it Together with Trees

Helpful Documents: Elements and Principles of art; foliage types; Hatch mark pine boughs; Juniper type tree; Landscape Thumbnail Sketches; Landscape Tips Page; Palm  leaves; River Reflections; Rule of Thirds; Thumbnail Sketches

(Return to top)