In celebration of my first professional development seminar, I’m writing my first post on after school programs for school aged children. Last year I secured funding to run a Lego Club. For more information on what you need and what to buy, click here to view PUBYAC’s archives of “Lego Compilation.”

No matter what the age of children, all of my programs from babies to teens are book-based. The children always listen to a story before we do an activity…even with my Lego Club. At first, I thought the kids would moan and groan about a story but luckily I was wrong! I invite the children to sit on carpet squares and settle down while I read a story. I mix in fiction, non-fiction, and conceptual stories and when I’m done reading I give them the Top Secret Lego Challenge of the Day. I’ve been doing this program for the past year and I don’t think I’ll ever run out of ideas! Here’s my “syllabus” so you can share with your kids. And if you live in Connecticut and are planning on attending CLA on Monday, April 29, 2013, please come to my seminar to get more school aged programming ideas!

(Note: I assign each child a number at the beginning of each Lego session. I get their parent’s email address and email the photo of their creation each week. We’re a small library and I don’t have room to display their pieces. We have to break everything down and clean up at the end of each club meeting.)