Children's Programs

Check out all our programs on our event calendar.  Cancellations due to weather will be announced the morning of on Instagram and Facebook. 

Stay Connected

The Library is a great place for kids!

We offer many activities for children to enjoy, including:

  • Two touchscreen computer stations
  • DVDs, Books on CD, and Music CDs for children
  • Family-friendly magazines available for browsing and checkout
  • A colorful and welcoming program room
  • Programs for kids from birth through 5th grade
  • Puppets, with many puppet & book kits available for checkout
  • Nature backpacks available for checkout
  • Playaway Launchpad tablets available for checkout
  • A 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program that develops literacy from a young age

Reading Suggestions

Check out the Reading Suggestions page for librarian curated booklists on many topics and genres!  

Homework Help

Homework HelpNow is an online resource that offers live tutoring, video lessons and study resources for students in elementary school and beyond.

1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Why 1000 Books?

Studies indicate that the more stories a child hears aloud, the more rapidly he or she begins reading independently.

Research also suggests that:

  • Children under five fall under what linguistic researchers refer to as the “critical period” for developing language.
  • Early reading for toddlers has been linked to a better grasp of the fundamentals of language as they approach school age.
  • Children who develop a love for reading experience a feeling of mastery and an increased sense of self-efficacy.

How to Participate

  1. Retrieve a 1,000 B4K folder from the children’s area on the Ground Floor of the Staunton Public Library or print out the materials at home. Write your child’s name on the front. 
  2. Color in a frog for every 10 books that you and your child read together.
  3. Once you have completed a sheet by reading 100 books, bring your folder to the Library. A circulation desk staff member or children’s programmer will initial the completed page, and your child can add a star sticker to the raindrop on the Board of Honor.

  4. Upon completion of 10 sheets (1,000 books), participants are rewarded with a new book, a stuffed frog, a certificate of achievement, and gift cards generously donated by The Split Banana, Co. and Pufferbellies Toys & Books.

Literacy Resources for Children

The links below will guide you to more literacy resources outside the library: 

DayByDayVA
An online family literacy calendar, activity guide, and resource center. Each day the website suggests short-but-fun activities to help develop pre-reading skills and offers a short animated video for families to watch together.

Early Literacy Tips
A tip sheet for caregivers created by our Children's Programmers

Educate Station
Educate Station content is created by a team of experienced and passionate educators from across the United States. Our educators bring vast subject-matter expertise, teaching credentials, and many years of experience as classroom teachers and curriculum developers. Through the content we create, we aim to provide ready-to-use, hands-on activities for kids to do at home or at school.

Explora
With a user-friendly interface, Explora is a research experience platform designed to meet the unique needs of both student research and classroom instruction.

Gale in Context: Elementary
Gale In Context: Elementary (formerly Kids InfoBits) transforms elementary education with trusted information on topics in social studies, science, language arts, and more. Access videos, magazine and news articles, images, and books in an age-appropriate, ad-free resource with tools designed to develop research skills.

Just for Kids
Just for Kids is a kid-safe, advertisement-free, media platform where young patrons can learn, explore and enjoy. Stream  videos, audio files, interactive games and activities including Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Franklin, Arthur,  The Berenstain Bears, and more!

Novelist K-8 Plus
Can’t decide what to read next? Use Novelist to discover your next favorite author, series, or title!