A librarian in Virginia recently sent an email asking the following question:
“I attended the mgol workshop at the Library of Virginia in September of 2010 and am doing the 10 part program a tmy Public Library. It is going very well. I have one question: Do you circle around the room giving everyone a stuffed animal kiss? If so, at what point in the program do you do that? I seem to remember that from the workshop, but couldn’f find it in the workshop materials.”
The answer: You are right, the puppet gives the kiss towards the beginning of the program but not at the very start. If we sing “The Eency Weency Spider” followed by”The Great Big Spider”, then the spider puppet will give everyone a kiss for singing his song. If we sing “Good morning, Mrs. Perky Bird,” then Mrs. Perky Bird will go around giving the kiss. It’s best if the puppet kiss is somewhat related to an activity, and that it occurs sometime during the Rhymes and Reads section to set a nice tone for the rest of the program.