• By Margaret Adam and Kizzy Lewis-Phillips
• Posted Friday, March 18, 2016

Enjoy Sensory Storytime for Children on Saturday, March 19

Sensory Storytime welcomes children two years of age and older, especially focusing on those with special needs. Story-based therapeutic activities aim to engage children with sensory integration challenges or autism spectrum disorders.

Why Sensory Storytimes? This program gives freedom within a structured space to children with special needs. It aims to include families who may feel excluded by expectations that children should be able to sit still, listen quietly, and understand a story by looking at its pages when held before them.

How Is Sensory Storytime Different from Regular Storytime? Regular children's storytimes may or may not include the following features: deliberate sensory input, increased interaction, freedom to move around the room, use of visual schedules, and play time with bubble-blowing as the last part of the program.

During Sensory Storytime, librarians are sensitive to children who may show delayed motor skills, atypical social skills, or unease with noise or crowds. Additionally, caregivers are welcome without feeling that they need to explain their children's behavior beyond basic vigilance for safety purposes. For more about libraries and autism, click here. Click here for The Autism Consortium.

Come enjoy Three Little Kittens (who lost their mittens) and Pete the Cat at 11 am on Saturday, March 19th, at the Southside Branch Library. Librarians will stimulate sight, sound, and touch to explore the concepts of CATS and COUNTING. Typically developing siblings and all children in the community are welcome.

Meet new friends at Sensory Storytime at the Southside Branch Library at 11 am, Saturday, March 19th. Click the words in blue, "Southside Branch Library," above, for driving directions.