The Southbury Public Library Youth Services department is pleased to announce its event list for October for children and teens. All programs are generously sponsored by the Friends of the Southbury Public Library. For more information and to register online please visit our website: www.southburylibrary.org/events.
Children’s Programs:
Tunes & Tales (Recommended for Ages 5 & Under) – Thursday, October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 10:30-11am, Storytime Room, No Registration Required. Join Jen for a morning filled with music and stories! Children will sing, dance, and explore musical instruments.
Take or Make Craft (All Ages) – Saturday, October 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, Youth Services Department, While Supplies Last. Stop by the Youth Services Department on Saturdays to make a thematic paper craft. Make it here or bring it home. Crayons and glue available in the library. Appropriate for all ages. Young children may need assistance.
Makerspace Morning (Ages 5-11) – Saturday, October 3, 11am-12:30pm, Storytime Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. Join us to explore, think, and create in our mobile makerspace! Choose from a wide range of materials to create something new and unique, or complete a craft project using provided instructions.
Drop-In Storytime (All Ages) – Monday, October 5, 19, 26, 10:30-11am, Storytime Room, No Registration Required. Join Jen for an all-ages storytime! We'll share books, rhymes, and songs, and a small craft will be available to make with us or take home.
ARTuesday (Recommended For Ages 5 & Up) – Tuesday, October 6, 5-6pm, Storytime Room, No Registration Required. Do you love art? Join us for a playful, messy, and expressive art experience where there is no right or wrong. Come play and experiment with a variety of art mediums and themes. Please wear something you don't mind getting messy!
Family Giant Games Night (All Ages) – Tuesday, October 6, 20, 6-7pm, Second Floor, No Registration Required. Join us for an evening of Giant Games! Drop in between 6-7pm to enjoy a variety of traditional, larger than life, board games. This event is perfect for families or a group of friends; if a group is not made of middle schoolers and above, an adult must be present.
Toddler Time (Ages 2-3) – Wednesday, October 7, 10:30-11am, Storytime Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. Parents and caregivers are invited to join their toddlers ages 2 and 3 for stories, songs, and a sensory activity.
Dia de los Muertas Art (Ages 6-11) – Thursday, October 8, 4:30-5:30pm, Storytime Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. Join art educator Miss Jill for an exciting afternoon creating a Dia de los Muertos project. During this hands-on workshop, young artists will learn about the rich history and traditions of this vibrant festividad (holiday). Participants will create and decorate a colorful paper calavera (skull) mask that they can proudly wear home. To bring their creations to life, children will use a variety of materials including pastels, paint markers, stickers, and more.
Bats are the Best! (Ages 6-11) – Saturday, October 10, 2-3pm, Storytime Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. During this program about bats, let us take you from fearing this often-maligned animal to loving their uniqueness and appreciating how beneficial they are to the planet. While there are no live bats in this program, we will use a fun photo/video presentation and interactive activities to count down all the reasons why bats are simply the coolest, and why they need to be saved.
Build Your Own Sticker Book: Famous Women (Ages 6-11) – Tuesday, October 13, 6-7:30pm, Kingsley Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. Join us for a Build Your Own Sticker Book program, celebrating the lives and contributions of inspiring, influential women! You will leave with a wonderful sticker book that you can read again and again! This is a great program to enjoy as a family.
Let’s Draw Monsters! (Ages 7-11) – Thursday, October 15, 4:30-5:30pm, Brown Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. Award-winning cartoonist Rick Stromoski will show you how to draw creatures, goblins, ghosts, and all things Halloween-y! Rick will have signed copies of his graphic novels after the program.
Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health (Grades 1-5) – Friday, October 16, 11am-12pm, Storytime Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. The Gizmo program is a supportive, data-driven & evidenced based program for youth that seeks to enforce strong bases for mental health wellness and emotional processing. The program approaches mental health wellness in a safe, non-threatening way that gives youth the opportunity to develop self-care and emotional response skills, guiding them in identifying stressors, developing healthy coping mechanisms, and teaching them how to identify safe & trusted adults in their lives to help them along the way. Kids will participate in a read-along, followed by guided activities, facilitated by a mental health professional, and aimed at stimulating healthy peer/adult conversation about trust, safe relationships, and general mental health wellness.
Halloween Craft with the Southbury Garden Club (Ages 7-11) – Saturday, October 17, 11:30am-12:30pm, Kingsley Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. The Southbury Garden Club returns to lead us in creating a beautiful (and spooky) ghost and pumpkin craft!
LEGO Club (Grades K-5) – Tuesday, October 20, 4:30-5:30pm, Storytime Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. Join us for an afternoon of LEGO fun! We’ll provide the LEGO bricks, and you bring the creativity! You can free build, or work off of instructions.
Young Artists (Ages 2-5) – Wednesday, October 21, 10:30-11:30am, Storytime Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. Come enjoy a morning of free art exploration! Children ages 2-5 can create using a variety of art materials and their imagination! Caregiver participation required.
Family Trivia Night (All Ages) – Friday, October 23, 6:30-8pm, Kingsley Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. Join us for another Family Trivia night! Work together as a family team to answer our trivia questions! We'll have a variety of topics, including kid-centric knowledge, general information, and questions aimed at parents, too. The family who answers the most questions correctly will win a $100 gift card to Riverview Cinemas!
Food Explorers: Cinnamon Sugar Dippers (Ages 6-11) – Tuesday, October 27, 4:30-5:30pm, Kingsley Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. Join Food Explorers for a brand new delicious recipe! You'll be making Cinnamon Sugar Dippers by creating your own from scratch dough, learning how to mix, knead, roll and shape. Dippers will be cooked until crispy, rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with homemade whipped cream on the side.
Yoga for Kids (Ages 2-5) – Friday, October 30, 11-11:45am, Kingsley Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. CT Yoga instructor Nick Switz, certified with five years of experience and training from Radiant Child Yoga, guides children through a playful class. The class is guided throughout with yoga-based games and captivating stories, fostering creativity, cooperation, and body awareness. The class ends with a calming guided story, offering a moment of reflection.
Pick Up a Halloween Goodie Bag (All Ages) – Saturday, October 31, Youth Services Department, While Supplies Last. Stop by the Youth Services circulation desk to pick up a Halloween goodie bag! We would love to see your costumes, but they are not required.
Halloween Parade (All Ages) – Saturday, October 31, 10:30-11am, Entire Library, Registration Required. Join us for a Halloween Parade! Let's meet outside the front doors of the library at 10:30, then parade through the first and second floor! Bring your treat bucket, because there will be trick-or-treating on both floors! Costumes encouraged but not required.
Teen Programs:
Teen Crochet Club (Grades 6-12) – Tuesday, October 6, 20, 6:30-7:30pm, Upstairs, Registration Required - Space Limited. Join us for our crochet (and knitting) club, open to both new and experienced crafters alike. If you’re already working on a project, bring it with you. If you’re new to knitting and crocheting, get started with us! We will have basic knitting and crocheting supplies available. Attend one or both meetings.
Food Explorers: Pumpkin Pie Granola Cups (Grades 6-12) – Wednesday, October 14, 4-5pm, Kingsley Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. Join Food Explorers to make Pumpkin Pie Granola Cups! This recipe is vegetarian and nut free, but will contain other allergens.
Navigating Big Feelings & Identifying Trusted Adults (Grades 5-8) – Friday, October 16, 1-2pm, Brown Room, Registration Required. Anyone can experience big feelings and face problems in their lives that are too hard to handle on their own; being able to identify these feelings and knowing who to go to for help are important. We’ll engage in conversations, activities, and crafts focusing on identifying tough feelings, while learning about some options to safely work through those feelings and identifying Trusted Adults to go to for help.
Mini Yarn Pumpkins (Grades 6-12) – Thursday, October 22, 6-7pm, Storytime Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. Join us to make mini yarn pumpkins! With no sewing or crocheting, these tiny crafts are easy and gourd-geous! All supplies provided.
Family Trivia Night (All Ages) – Friday, October 23, 6:30-8pm, Kingsley Room, Registration Required - Space Limited. Join us for another Family Trivia night! Work together as a family team to answer our trivia questions! We'll have a variety of topics, including kid-centric knowledge, general information, and questions aimed at parents, too. The family who answers the most questions correctly will win a $100 gift card to Riverview Cinemas!
Teen Advisory Board (Grades 6-12) – Tuesday, October 27, 6-7pm, Tutor Corner Upstairs, Application Required. Do you want to make a difference in the Teen Department? Consider joining the Teen Advisory Board! We meet once a month to discuss ideas for the Teen Department and work on special projects. Membership application required, but we are seeking new members! You can find out more and sign up if you are interested at southburylibrary.org/TAB.
Reading Programs for Children & Teens:
October Monthly Mini Reading Challenge (Grades K-12 & Adults) – October 1-31, In Person and Online at southburylibrary.beanstack.com. Join us for our next Mini Monthly Reading Challenge, themed around Library Card Sign Up Month in October! Read for five hours (about 1-3 books for elementary, middle, and high school readers) and get a SurPRIZE. Continuing this month: you can track your reading on a paper bookmark instead of on Beanstack and adults can join in, too!
1000 Books Before Kindergarten (Birth to Entering Kindergarten) – Ongoing, On Paper and Online on Beanstack. Read a book (any book!) to your newborn, infant, or toddler and keep track with a paper log or on Beanstack. Repeats count! 1000 books may seem like a lot, but if you read 1 book a day for 3 years, that’s 1095 books! 10 books a week for 2 years is 1040 books, and 3 books a day in one year is 1095 books. Every book you read you get one sticker, and if you finish you can get a certificate, small prize, and your picture on our wall of fame if you’d like! Pick up a paper log from the children’s department or visit southburylibrary.beanstack.com to get started online. For 0 to Entering Kindergarten.
100 Books Before Graduation (Grades 9-12) – Ongoing, Online at Beanstack. Read 100 books before High School Graduation! 100 books may seem like a lot (and it is), but it works out to about 1 book every 2 weeks. When you sign up, get a special tracking bookmark to fill out as you read. Make it to half way and get a $5 Gift Card to Dunkin' or The Bakery. Read 100 books and get a special throw blanket! Every 10 books you read, pick out something from the prize box (pins, pens, animal sticky notes, and more!).
Please visit the Southbury Public Library website at www.southburylibrary.org/events for program details and registration information. Visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SouthburyLibraryYouthServices/