by Jaime Pfisterer
All over the country, librarians have been attending Zoom meetings trying to navigate the new world COVID-19 has forced upon us. We’ve talked about new procedures that have to be put in place like masks for all employees, curbside pickup, disinfecting surfaces, and book drop quarantine. Even when libraries fully open to the public again, all patrons will need to wear masks and services will have to be spaced apart. One of the problems that has been discussed are the toys in the Children’s Rooms. Parents and caregivers will usually bring their children to the library to check out books but also for playtime. But now librarians will have to remove the toys or have very few out in order to stop the spread of the virus.
At my library, I’ve been hosting a program called Power Play where children and teens can come and play games, do STEM activities, and make crafts. Since the beginning of the quarantine, I moved Power Play to Facebook Live and even offered sessions for adults. One of the challenges I had was trying to think of materials that most people had at home. My solution was having my projects be paper-based since paper is an item in most households. So when the problem was brought up about not having toys in the library, I thought that paper toys may be the best answer.
Paper toys are inexpensive, efficient, and are easily disposable. A child can make the toy for themselves, play with it, and take it home. Even, if the child leaves it behind, the librarian can simply throw it away. Paper toys may be the sanitary playtime solution that we have been looking for during this COVID-19 Pandemic.
I created a Pinterest Board filled with Paper Toy Resources, which you can view all of here. Some of the Pins are embedded below. You can view one of my programs at this link.
Jaime Pfisterer is a Reference Librarian at the Red Bank Public Library.