Community Connections

A list of activities to help you engage with your community in new and meaningful ways.

Elementary Missions for Paper Log

Activities in this mission are for patrons tracking their summer learning using the paper logs available at the Traveling Library.

High School Missions for Paper Log

Activities in this mission are for patrons tracking their summer learning using the paper logs available at the Traveling Library.

Kindness Counts

Do something nice and show kindness to others! These activities are great ways to show your generosity.

Middle School Missions for Paper Log

Activities in this mission are for patrons tracking their summer learning using the paper logs available at the Traveling Library.

Preschool Missions for Paper Log

Activities in this mission are for patrons tracking their summer learning using the paper logs available at the Traveling Library.

Random Acts of Kindness

Small gestures make the most difference on a daily basis. It's easy to get so preoccupied with our own lives that we forget about others, but with just one simple act of kindness, we can change the way someone else's day goes, and we can better ourselves and the world in the process. This challenge is designed for you to take the time to do something for someone else — and hopefully they will pay it forward to the next person!

Random Acts of Kindness

Small gestures make the most difference on a daily basis. It's easy to get so preoccupied with our own lives that we forget about others, but with just one simple act of kindness, we can change the way someone else's day goes, and we can better ourselves and the world in the process. This challenge is designed for you to take the time to do something for someone else — and hopefully they will pay it forward to the next person!

Random Acts of Kindness (Round 1)

Choose a random act of kindness from the list below or chose how you want to spread kindness in the community!

Random Acts of Kindness (Round 2)

Choose a random act of kindness from the list below or chose how you want to spread kindness in the community!

Random Acts of Kindness (Round 3)

Choose a random act of kindness from the list below or chose how you want to spread kindness in the community!

Random Acts of Kindness (Round 4)

Choose a random act of kindness from the list below or chose how you want to spread kindness in the community!

Share the Joy

Let's work together! Complete the activities below with your little one.

Read

Reading together develops vocabulary and comprehension, nurtures a love for reading, and motivates children to want to learn to read. Shared reading (interactive reading) is an important way to help children get ready to read. Reading with children will show how books and written language work and that stories have a beginning, middle and end.

Space Exploration

A new planet has recently been discovered in our solar system! Help us collect data about this strange new planet by completing the activities below. Maybe this new planet will become your new home!

Astronaut Training

So you want to be an astronaut...  NASA is looking for some new recruits. Do you have what it takes? Complete the following steps to learn about what is needed to become an astronaut with NASA!

Sing

Singing emphasizes many early literacy practices, and it contributes to oral language development by slowing down language and making it easier for children to hear the words. Singing is also a great way to increase children’s vocabulary as children’s songs and nursery rhymes include many new and uncommon words. Songs are a natural, fun way for children to learn language. When children sing, they hear different parts of words, pay attention to the rhythms and rhymes of language, and develop listening skills.

Space is Neat

True or False. Are these space facts true? Or simply made up? Take a guess. You have a 50/50 chance of being right!

Type true or false into the completion box for each fact listed.

Talk

Talking with children helps them learn oral language, one of the most critical early literacy skills. Children learn about language by listening to parents and caregivers talk and joining in the conversation. Talking in a way that encourages children to talk will help them understand what they later read. When children listen to spoken words they learn: how letters and words sound, the meaning of words, how words can be put together to communicate ideas, information and feelings.

Name That Planet

There used to be nine planets in our solar system, and now there are only eight! Think you can guess which of the eight planets are left? Using the provided clues, guess the correct planet and type your answer below each one. Only correct answers count, so keep trying and name that planet!
No need to worry if you guess wrong - you have an unlimited number of guesses for each planet!

Write

Just like reading, writing teaches children that print has meaning, letters represent sounds, and written words represent the oral words they use every day. Scribbling and writing help children learn that written words stand for spoken language. For children, writing: begins with developing small finger muscles which will build dexterity for scribbling, then drawing, and eventually writing letters, helps develop hand-eye coordination, and helps build awareness that print has meaning.

Play

Play is an essential part of childhood and is one of the best ways to learn language and literacy skills. As children engage in many types of play and across many scenarios, they talk with a wide variety of adults and peers, therefore developing their oral language, narrative skills, and vocabulary. When children play, they: develop narrative skills through imaginary play, act out real situations, learn communication, cooperation, construction and much more!