Stay at Home Story Time: Meet Yasmin!

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Illustration of a map and paint brush.

Find inspiration, activities, and resources for a stellar Stay At Home Story Time created by our librarians with your family in mind. 

Read "Meet Yasmin!" by Saadia Faruqi with us and you can become an explorer, artist, fashionista, and builder, too! This book and activity set is suitable for preschool through second grade children.

PARTICIPATE:

Read the eBook Meet Yasmin! by Saadia Faruqi by signing into Overdrive. If your card is inactive or yo

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An illustration of a young girl posing in a closet.
u don't have one yet, you can get temporary access by registering with your phone number. Public school students can also use their school library card number for access (Forgot or don't know? Visit this page​ for options to call, text, or email your question to a staff member. 

Yasmin is a spirited second-grader who's always on the lookout for those "aha" moments to help her solve life's little problems. Taking inspiration from her surroundings and her big imagination, she boldly faces any situation, assuming her imagination doesn't get too big, of course! A creative thinker and curious explorer, Yasmin and her multi-generational Pakistani American family will delight and inspire readers.

Independent or new readers can read this book for themselves or to you, but the concepts and story line are suitable for reading aloud to preschool age children too. You can read it all at once or do a chapter a day. 

Tip: Yasmin is from a Pakistani/American family and you may not recognize how to say some words. Don't worry, they aren't difficult at all and if you flip to the back of the book you can practice learning how to say them together. 

CONNECT:

  • You may or may not be going to the farmer's market or grocery stores together with your little ones, but you can still explore together while social distancing. If you are, challenge your little one to make a map of the farmer's market or grocery store you went to like Yasmin did or see if they can remember some of the landscape from memory. Take a walk throughout your neighborhood and ask your child to make a map. This is a good activity for memory and spatial recognition. Alternatively, have your child make a map of your home. 
  • Encourage your child to find their own art style like Yasmin did. You can watch some of the links below for fun art techniques.
  • Build like Yasmin and her classmates did. You can use blocks or toys, but other household items may be fun too. Think cardboard boxes, toilet paper tubes, or maybe even a pillow fort- just get creative!
  • Have a family fun or funky fashion show like Yasmin and her Nani. 
  • Check out cool Yasmin-themed games and coloring sheets in this activity booklet

DISCOVER: 

  • Try some fun new art techniques like Meri Cherry's Salt Painting and Squish Painting from Picklebums​. You may not have dropper or pipettes at home, but you can also use a plastic straw cut into pieces and your finger to trap liquid inside the straw to use as a dropper. Alternatively, you could even just use a paintbrush and let the liquid drop right onto the salt. You might turn it into a science experiment by trying some painting with sugar instead of salt. 
  • Discover a new recipe! Try making a mango lassi using the recipe page in the "Meet Yasmin!" book. If you don't have mango pulp at home and can't make it to the store, substitute a different fruit. Be sure to tell us how it turned out!

Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at @alachualibrary. Share your story time photos, artwork, and projects with us online or by emailing them to info@aclib.us.

By Rachel on June 3, 2020