Valentine Public Library

STORY TIME: Pre-K
2024-08-09 09:30 - 10:00 (America/Chicago)
This Week’s Theme: 🍦 Ice Cream! 🍦
Join us for some summer fun this August at the library! Our storytime is designed for pre-K kids and takes place every Friday morning from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. Each week features a unique theme, including a story and a craft activity that matches the theme.
What to Expect:

Themed Story Time: Listen to an engaging story each week.
Craft Activity: Create a fun craft related to the story’s theme.

Bring your little ones for an enjoyable and creative start to their day! And don’t rush off after storytime—stay for some “Fun with Friends” time in the kid’s corner. The kids can play while their caregivers connect and socialize. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and build community bonds.
Special Treat: The kids will be making their own ice cream! If your child cannot have ice cream, we will have Goldfish crackers available as an alternative snack.
Who: All toddlers and preschool-aged children accompanied by an adult are welcome!
Date and Time: Every Friday, 9:30 am – 10:00 am
We look forward to seeing you and your little ones there!

Origami Fun!
2024-08-15 15:30 - 17:30
Calling all kids in 1st grade and above! Join us for a creative couple of hours at the library where we’ll be exploring the art of origami and coloring.
Kids will have the opportunity to:

Create: Use origami techniques to make fun and unique paper creations.
Color: Bring their creations to life with colorful designs and patterns.
Take Home: All their artistic masterpieces to show off or gift to someone special.

Come by, unleash your creativity, and take home some wonderful handmade treasures!

STORY TIME: Pre-K
2024-08-16 09:30 - 10:00
This Week’s Theme: 🔷🔺🔵 Shapes!🔵🔺🔷
Join us for some summer fun this August at the library! Our storytime is designed for pre-K kids and takes place every Friday morning from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. Each week features a unique theme, including a story and a craft activity that matches the theme.
What to Expect:

Themed Story Time: Listen to an engaging story each week.
Craft Activity: Create a fun craft related to the story’s theme.

Bring your little ones for an enjoyable and creative start to their day! And don’t rush off after storytime—stay for some “Fun with Friends” time in the kid’s corner. The kids can play while their caregivers connect and socialize. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and build community bonds.
Who: All toddlers and preschool-aged children accompanied by an adult are welcome!
Date and Time: Every Friday, 9:30 am – 10:00 am
We look forward to seeing you and your little ones there!

"Shh! I'm Reading" Book Club Meeting
2024-08-19 16:00 - 17:00
Our next “Shh! I’m Reading” book club meeting will discuss Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata.

STEM Activity: Bouncy Balls
2024-08-20 15:30 - 17:30
Bounce into creativity! Kids in 1st grade and above are invited to join us for a fun-filled STEM event where you’ll get to create your very own bouncy balls! This hands-on activity combines science and creativity for an unforgettable experience.
What to Expect:

DIY Bouncy Balls: Learn the science behind bouncy balls as you mix, mold, and create your own colorful, bouncy creations.
Fun Science Experiments: Discover the chemistry that makes these balls so springy and take home some interesting facts about the materials used.
Materials Provided: All supplies needed for making your bouncy balls will be provided. Just bring your enthusiasm!

STORY TIME : Pre-K
2024-08-23 09:30 - 10:00
This Week’s Theme: Elephants!
Join us for some summer fun this August at the library! Our storytime is designed for pre-K kids and takes place every Friday morning from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. Each week features a unique theme, including a story and a craft activity that matches the theme.
What to Expect:

Themed Story Time: Listen to an engaging story each week.
Craft Activity: Create a fun craft related to the story’s theme.

Bring your little ones for an enjoyable and creative start to their day! And don’t rush off after storytime—stay for some “Fun with Friends” time in the kid’s corner. The kids can play while their caregivers connect and socialize. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and build community bonds.
Who: All toddlers and preschool-aged children accompanied by an adult are welcome!
Date and Time: Every Friday, 9:30 am – 10:00 am
We look forward to seeing you and your little ones there!

STEM Fun: Straw and Paper Airplane Workshop
2024-08-27 15:30 - 17:30
Calling all future aviators! Join us for an exciting hands-on STEM activity where we’ll be making airplanes out of straws and paper circles. This fun and creative workshop is perfect for kids in 1st grade and above!
What to Expect:

Design and Build: Learn how to create your own paper airplanes using simple materials like straws and paper circles.
Flight Challenges: Test the flight distance, accuracy, and creativity of your designs.
STEM Learning: Discover the science behind aerodynamics and how different designs can affect flight.

Materials Provided: All materials, including straws, paper circles, and markers for decoration, will be provided. Just bring your imagination!

Story Time: Pre-K
2024-08-30 09:30 - 22:00
This Week’s Theme: Airplanes!
Join us for some summer fun this August at the library! Our storytime is designed for pre-K kids and takes place every Friday morning from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. Each week features a unique theme, including a story and a craft activity that matches the theme.
What to Expect:

Themed Story Time: Listen to an engaging story each week.
Craft Activity: Create a fun craft related to the story’s theme.

Bring your little ones for an enjoyable and creative start to their day! And don’t rush off after storytime—stay for some “Fun with Friends” time in the kid’s corner. The kids can play while their caregivers connect and socialize. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and build community bonds.
Who: all toddlers and preschool-aged children accompanied by an adult are welcome!
Date and Time: Every Friday, 9:30 am – 10:00 am
We look forward to seeing you and your little ones there!

Stay, Play, & Put Away: Building Day at the Library!
2024-09-03 15:30 - 17:00, 2024-09-24 15:30 - 17:00
🎉 Calling all builders of every age – it’s time to let your creativity soar at our library’s Stay, Play & Put Away Building Day! Whether you’re a kid, a teen, or even a grown-up who loves to build, we’ve got the ultimate collection of building supplies like Legos, K’NEX, Magna tiles, structure sticks, and Strictly Bricks! 🏗️
Bring your imagination and show off your building skills as you create epic structures, wild designs, or whatever your heart desires. While we can’t let you take your creations home due to material shortages, we will display your amazing creations for everyone to admire right here at the library!
📅 Come on over, have fun, and get building! 🌟

STEM Activity: Monster Mouths
2024-09-05 15:30 - 17:00
Join us for a fun and hands-on STEM activity at the library! Kids in 1st grade and above are invited to engineer a creature with a giant mouth that can move using air pressure. Let your creativity soar as you design, build, and discover how to make your creature come to life with science!

Story Time: Pre-K
2024-09-06 09:30 - 10:00
This Week’s Theme: Foxes!
Join us for some summer fun this August at the library! Our storytime is designed for pre-K kids and takes place every Friday morning from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. Each week features a unique theme, including a story and a craft activity that matches the theme.
What to Expect:

Themed Story Time: Listen to an engaging story each week.
Craft Activity: Create a fun craft related to the story’s theme.

Bring your little ones for an enjoyable and creative start to their day! And don’t rush off after storytime—stay for some “Fun with Friends” time in the kid’s corner. The kids can play while their caregivers connect and socialize. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and build community bonds.
Who: all toddlers and preschool-aged children accompanied by an adult are welcome!
Date and Time: Every Friday, 9:30 am – 10:00 am
We look forward to seeing you and your little ones there!

Stay, Play & Put Away: Building Day at the Library!
2024-09-10 15:30 - 17:00, 2024-09-17 15:30 - 17:00

Melted Crayon Art
2024-09-12 15:30 - 17:00
Calling all creative kids in 1st grade and above! Join us for a colorful and exciting craft project—Melted Crayon Art! Watch as your crayon shavings transform into beautiful masterpieces with a bit of heat and imagination. Let your artistic side shine and take home a unique creation!

Story Time: Pre-K
2024-09-13 09:30 - 10:30
This Week’s Theme: The Alphabet!
Join us for some summer fun this August at the library! Our storytime is designed for pre-K kids and takes place every Friday morning from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. Each week features a unique theme, including a story and a craft activity that matches the theme.
What to Expect:

Themed Story Time: Listen to an engaging story each week.
Craft Activity: Create a fun craft related to the story’s theme.

Bring your little ones for an enjoyable and creative start to their day! And don’t rush off after storytime—stay for some “Fun with Friends” time in the kid’s corner. The kids can play while their caregivers connect and socialize. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and build community bonds.
Who: all toddlers and preschool-aged children accompanied by an adult are welcome!
Date and Time: Every Friday, 9:30 am – 10:00 am
We look forward to seeing you and your little ones there!

Color at the Library!
2024-09-19 15:30 - 17:00
Coloring- It’s not just for kids! This activity is a great way to decompress and relieve stress. We invite kids in 1st grade and up through adults to join us this week to let out your inner artist and create something beautiful! Whether you love coloring in the lines or going outside them, there’s something for everyone!

Story Time: Pre-K
2024-09-20 09:30 - 22:30
This Week’s Theme: Sunflowers!
Join us for some summer fun this August at the library! Our storytime is designed for pre-K kids and takes place every Friday morning from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. Each week features a unique theme, including a story and a craft activity that matches the theme.
What to Expect:

Themed Story Time: Listen to an engaging story each week.
Craft Activity: Create a fun craft related to the story’s theme.

Bring your little ones for an enjoyable and creative start to their day! And don’t rush off after storytime—stay for some “Fun with Friends” time in the kid’s corner. The kids can play while their caregivers connect and socialize. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and build community bonds.
Who: all toddlers and preschool-aged children accompanied by an adult are welcome!
Date and Time: Every Friday, 9:30 am – 10:00 am
We look forward to seeing you and your little ones there!

DIY Book Craft: Paper Apple
2024-09-26 15:30 - 17:00
Get ready for a creative DIY Book Craft at the library! Join us to make a charming paper apple using upcycled book pages. This cute project is perfect as a decorative piece for your home, a thoughtful gift, or a treat just for you. Come craft with us and bring a little literary-inspired fun into your day! Perfect for 1st grade and above to Adults. Supplies provided.

Story Time: Pre-K
2024-09-27 09:30 - 10:30
This Week’s Theme: Apples!
Join us for some summer fun this August at the library! Our storytime is designed for pre-K kids and takes place every Friday morning from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. Each week features a unique theme, including a story and a craft activity that matches the theme.
What to Expect:

Themed Story Time: Listen to an engaging story each week.
Craft Activity: Create a fun craft related to the story’s theme.

Bring your little ones for an enjoyable and creative start to their day! And don’t rush off after storytime—stay for some “Fun with Friends” time in the kid’s corner. The kids can play while their caregivers connect and socialize. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and build community bonds.
Who: all toddlers and preschool-aged children accompanied by an adult are welcome!
Date and Time: Every Friday, 9:30 am – 10:00 am
We look forward to seeing you and your little ones there!

DIY Book Folding Take-Home Craft: Witch Silhouette
2024-10-01 - 2024-10-31
Get crafty with a witchy twist!
Looking to add some creative, spooky flair to your home this season? Whether you’re getting ready for Halloween or simply love a good DIY project, join us at the Valentine Public Library for a unique and magical DIY Book Folding TAke Home Craft! We’ll guide you through making a witch silhouette using upcycled book pages, giving old books a new life in the spirit of the season.
This crafty project is the perfect way to bring a touch of literary-inspired magic into your day! Whether you want to create a one-of-a-kind piece of decor for your home, a thoughtful handmade gift, or a little treat just for yourself, this project is sure to bring out your creative side.
No need to worry about gathering supplies—we’ve got everything you need to bring your witchy silhouette to life. However, we anticipate this will be popular so visit us early in the month before supplies run out!
Embrace the spooky season vibes and share your creations with us on social media. We love to see the spin our patrons put on the craft!
*While supplies last!

Stay, Play & Put Away: Building Day at the Library!
2024-10-01 15:30 - 17:00, 2024-10-15 15:30 - 17:00
🎉 Calling all builders of every age! 🎉
Get ready to unleash your creativity at our Stay, Play & Put Away: Building Day at the library! Whether you’re a kid, teen, or even an adult who loves to build, we’ve got an awesome collection of supplies, including Legos, K’NEX, Magna-Tiles, structure sticks, and Strictly Bricks.
Bring your imagination and build epic structures, wild designs, or whatever you dream up! While we can’t send your creations home, we’ll proudly display them at the library for everyone to enjoy.
📅 Every Tuesday in September
🕒 Drop in from 3:30 to 5:00 PM and let the building fun begin!
Let your creativity soar and have a blast with us! 🌟

STEM Challenge: Build Your Own Catapult Launcher!
2024-10-03 15:30 - 17:00
Ready for some hands-on engineering fun? Join us for an exciting STEM Challenge where you’ll get to craft your very own catapult launcher! Using simple materials like cardboard tubes, rubber bands, and ping pong balls, you’ll design, build, and test your catapult to see how far you can launch your ping pong projectiles.
This interactive challenge is perfect for young engineers and creative thinkers. You’ll not only have fun building but also learn about physics, force, and angles in a fun and engaging way.
When you build a catapult, you’re learning about some important ideas in physics—the science of how things move. One key concept is force. A force is simply a push or pull that makes something move. In your catapult, when you pull back on the launcher (the part you’re building with the cardboard tube and rubber bands), you’re storing energy. This stored energy is called potential energy. The more you pull back, the more potential energy you’re building up.
When you release the launcher, the potential energy turns into kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion. The catapult flings the ping pong ball forward because the rubber bands quickly snap back to their original shape, pushing the ball into the air. This is an example of how energy can change from one type to another—potential to kinetic!
There’s also the idea of trajectory, which is the path your ping pong ball will follow after it’s launched. The angle at which you release the ball will change how far and high it flies. By experimenting with different angles and forces, you can figure out how to make your ping pong ball fly the farthest. That’s how real engineers design machines—by testing and tweaking until they get the best results!

Story-Time: Pre-K
2024-10-04 09:30 - 10:30
This Week’s Theme: Space!
Join us for some summer fun this August at the library! Our storytime is designed for pre-K kids and takes place every Friday morning from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. Each week features a unique theme, including a story and a craft activity that matches the theme.
What to Expect:

Themed Story Time: Listen to an engaging story each week.
Craft Activity: Create a fun craft related to the story’s theme.

Bring your little ones for an enjoyable and creative start to their day! And don’t rush off after storytime—stay for some “Fun with Friends” time in the kid’s corner. The kids can play while their caregivers connect and socialize. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and build community bonds.
Who: all toddlers and preschool-aged children accompanied by an adult are welcome!
Date and Time: Every Friday, 9:30 am – 10:00 am
We look forward to seeing you and your little ones there!

Stay, Play & Put Away: Building Day at the Library!
2024-10-08 15:30 - 17:00
🎉 Calling all builders of every age! 🎉
Get ready to unleash your creativity at our Stay, Play & Put Away: Building Day at the library! Whether you’re a kid, teen, or even an adult who loves to build, we’ve got an awesome collection of supplies, including Legos, K’NEX, Magna-Tiles, structure sticks, and Strictly Bricks.
Bring your imagination and build epic structures, wild designs, or whatever you dream up! While we can’t send your creations home, we’ll proudly display them at the library for everyone to enjoy.
📅 Every Tuesday in September
🕒 Drop in from 3:30 to 5:00 PM and let the building fun begin!
Let your creativity soar and have a blast with us!

Story Time: Pre-K
2024-10-11 09:30 - 10:30
This Week’s Theme: Fire Safety!
Join us for some summer fun this August at the library! Our storytime is designed for pre-K kids and takes place every Friday morning from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. Each week features a unique theme, including a story and a craft activity that matches the theme.
What to Expect:

Themed Story Time: Listen to an engaging story each week.
Craft Activity: Create a fun craft related to the story’s theme.

Bring your little ones for an enjoyable and creative start to their day! And don’t rush off after storytime—stay for some “Fun with Friends” time in the kid’s corner. The kids can play while their caregivers connect and socialize. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and build community bonds.
Who: all toddlers and preschool-aged children accompanied by an adult are welcome!
Date and Time: Every Friday, 9:30 am – 10:00 am
We look forward to seeing you and your little ones there!

Happy 80th Birthday Smokey Bear!
2024-10-11 15:30 - 17:00
Celebrate Smokey Bear’s 80th Birthday at the Valentine Public Library!
Join us for a fun-filled event honoring everyone’s favorite wildfire prevention mascot, Smokey Bear! This exciting celebration is brought to you in partnership with the Niobrara Council and UNL Extension Cherry County.
We’ve got plenty of activities planned to make this a memorable event for kids in grades Kindergarten and up! Here’s what you can look forward to:
🎯 Games: Test your skills with outdoor-themed games and activities.
🎁 Prizes: Walk away with some fun Smokey Bear goodies and prizes.
🔥 S’mores: Enjoy roasting marshmallows and making your own delicious s’mores treat!
🎨 Button Maker: Get creative and design your very own custom Smokey Bear button as a souvenir to remember the day.
This is the perfect chance for kids to learn about wildfire safety while having a blast with their friends. Whether you’ve known Smokey for years or are just meeting him for the first time, you’re in for a BEARY good time!
Come celebrate this important milestone with us, and don’t forget to spread the word! It’s going to be a smokin’ good time that you won’t want to miss!

Halloween Agamograph Craft!
2024-10-17 15:30 - 17:00
Get ready for some spooky fun with our Halloween Agamograph Craft! In this creative activity, kids will make their very own agamograph—a special type of art that changes its image when you move it. Using simple materials, you’ll design two Halloween-themed pictures that will shift as you tilt your craft, revealing a surprise image like a pumpkin turning into a bat!
This activity is a fun way to explore and get into the Halloween spirit! Come create some Halloween magic and take home your very own moving masterpiece!
Why should I encourage my kids to attend?
As kids craft their anamographs, they’ll learn about the science of optical illusions and how our eyes and brain work together to interpret what we see. Here’s how it works: you draw two pictures, and then you cut them into strips and mix them up. When you fold the paper like an accordion, your eyes only see one set of strips at a time. So, from one angle, you see the first picture, and from another angle, you see the second picture. Your brain puts it all together, and it looks like the picture is changing! This is all thanks to how your eyes and brain work together to process information. Your brain tries to make sense of what your eyes are seeing, but in this craft, we’re playing a little trick on it! Optical illusions like this teach us that sometimes, what we see isn’t always exactly what’s there. It’s a cool mix of art and science!
This activity is a fun way to explore get into the Halloween spirit! Come create some Halloween magic and take home your very own moving masterpiece!

Story Time: Pre-K
2024-10-18 09:30 - 22:30
This Week’s Theme: Pumpkins!
Join us for some summer fun this August at the library! Our storytime is designed for pre-K kids and takes place every Friday morning from 9:30 am to 10:00 am. Each week features a unique theme, including a story and a craft activity that matches the theme.
What to Expect:

Themed Story Time: Listen to an engaging story each week.
Craft Activity: Create a fun craft related to the story’s theme.

Bring your little ones for an enjoyable and creative start to their day! And don’t rush off after storytime—stay for some “Fun with Friends” time in the kid’s corner. The kids can play while their caregivers connect and socialize. It’s a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and build community bonds.
Who: all toddlers and preschool-aged children accompanied by an adult are welcome!
Date and Time: Every Friday, 9:30 am – 10:00 am
We look forward to seeing you and your little ones there!
