Flannel Projects: Organization!

I have discovered very quickly that the organization (or lack-thereof) I have at my home "office" is not working for the long-term. I have flannels and other materials I brought home with me from the library I work at all over the place. Plus, there were baggies of flannel already at home that had been donated from a friend. All of the colors were in various bags throughout my dining room office. I cannot think straight in chaos especially if it is visible!

So, today, I devoted an hour or so just to organizing my flannel! I found some gallon-sized baggies I already had on-hand. I separated scraps by color. 

And then I moved them into a crate I had at my home. I organized them alphabetically, not by rainbow, which will be easier for me to keep in order.

Then, I organized the full-sheets of flannels by color and found a cardboard box to keep them in.

All while having lots of help to do all of this!

All-in-all, a fairly successful project. And I have space for the printer that my dad gave me for the duration of this telework situation. Now I have a clean (and less overwhelming!) work space, however temporary it stays that way! You can see what it looked like before HERE. 

Flannel Projects: Rabbits & Unicorns (and more webinars!)

This past week, I have focused on quite a few webinars about self-care and mindfulness to keep mentally/emotionally healthy during this pandemic. It is so important to take care of ourselves and I am finding it especially important as I try to balance telework and taking care of my toddler. My husband works in emergency services so many days are me doing both without help. That being said, on the days he is home I am able to work mostly uninterrupted...

1. Idaho Commission for Libraries Info2Go! session on Self-Care During a Pandemic.
This webinar I found especially helpful in truly explaining why we are all experiencing stress and anxiety, as well as giving an analogy as to why it is important to take care of ourselves. The tips are wonderful to refer back to and share with coworkers, family, and friends.

2. Ohio State University is presenting weekly webinars about reducing stress, maintaining mindfulness, and staying calm. 
I watched the first week about cognitive behavioral tools to keep anxiety/depression at bay. It was a reminder to me, back to my undergrad years when I majored in psychology, about how important of a muscle our brain is. I appreciated her reminder about trying to see the silver lining, even in the midst of stress, to this. I have gotten to spend so much time home with my son and I want to be able to appreciate it. 

3. The Effectiveness Institute has been regularly adding free webinars to their site in response to COVID-19. 
You do have to check their site regularly, to keep up with new upcoming webinars, and they are only offered live. But I watched one about thriving in chaos. They gave a ton of great tips and led a really wonderful discussion about ways to handle stress during the pandemic.



One big picture theme throughout? EXERCISE!!! Every single webinar I have watched has reminded viewers that, to alleviate our stress response and keep depression at bay, it is so important to exercise. Walking, yoga, running, etc. Focus less on the news/social media, and more on you and your immediate surroundings. So here's to adding more exercise and mindfulness to my daily activities!



Flannel Projects:
This past week, I have been working on flannel rabbits and flannel unicorns. 

For rabbits, I have usually done a variant of Elephants in the Bathtub, and just used rabbits instead.

For unicorns, I have done a variant of Elephants on a Spider's Web.
One unicorn went out to play,
On a bright and sunny day.
He had such enormous fun,
He called for another unicorn to come! "HEY, Unicorn!!!"
Count up...2, 3, 4, 5

Flannel Projects: Owls and Butterflies

This week it seems that my projects have leaned toward things that fly! In the midst of webinars and planning for the next storytime session, I have made flannel butterflies and owls.


Flannel Butterflies:
One rhyme that one of my LA's came up with for Five Butterflies is:
Five butterflies in the garden, oh what a sight!
Now the purple butterfly has taken flight.
First she flies up high, then she flies down low,
Then she flies round and round, before she has to go.
Count down...4, 3, 2, 1 while changing the color of the butterfly

Flannel Owls:
For five owls we have used this rhyme:
Five hoot owls, sitting in a tree.
One flew away! Now how many do you see?
1, 2, 3, 4...
Count down...

Flannel Projects: Seashells and Whales (AND professional development)

As I mentioned in my last post, my county (and then my state) announced a Stay-at-Home order. I was not sure how it was going to affect my work since we are considered essential. 

For now, we have been approved to telework unless they need additional help at the Emergency Operations Center. So, I am spending the time planning for my next storytime session, making flannels, and watching webinars for professional development. 

For the time being, this is my messy work-from-home station with flannels all over the place and my computer up-and-running with webinars!

Flannels:
This week I have focused on some ocean-themed flannels. I made flannel seashells and whales.

With my seashells, I usually use the rhyme:
Five little seashells, lying in the sun.
____ picked it up and took this one home.
You can use puppets or use names of people/characters.

For my whales, I reused a flannel rhyme that can be repeated each line:
One little whale went out to play,
On a bright and sunny day.
He had such enormous fun,
He called for another whale to come.
Count up 2, 3, 4, 5...

Webinars:

1. One of my library assistants shared a link from Infopeople of archived webinars specifically geared toward Children's Librarians. Infopeople has tons of other archived webinars, as well!

2. You can also find hundreds of library-related archived webinars via WebJunction. They separate them based on a variety of categories like collections management, programming, children's services, and advocacy. 

3. Booklist has online archived webinars from the past few months. They also have upcoming webinars listed as well, so you can learn about upcoming and new children's (and adult) releases.

4. School Library Journal has online events and professional development. Some are even all-day-long!

As I learn about new professional development and webinars, I will share along with my flannel projects that I am working on!