Children’s Programs
ALL OF OUR PROGRAMS ARE ALWAYS FREE!
1,000 Books Bonanza
Stop by the Children’s Room to sign up for 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten, and get a free canvas bag to kickstart your 1,000 book journey. Any child who has not yet started Kindergarten can participate. Reading together helps children develop a love of reading, introduces them to new vocabulary, and teaches them important early literacy skills that will help them when they enter school.
Music City Strings 2025-2026
New London Community Orchestra is offering a new session of free violin lessons for children in grades 4-9. Instruments will be provided at no charge, and children may take their violin home to practice. Lessons are in small groups with professional teachers. Masks are required. Violin lessons are an excellent experiential enrichments activity that’s been shown to increase educational attainment. Fill out the form below to register:
https://form.jotform.com/61886278899180
June 2026
Take Home Craft Kits
Available All Month – First Come First Serve
Rainbow Hearts: Make a unique heart using only strips of paper. Suitable for all ages!
Rainbow Headbands: Are you looking for a fun new hair accessory? Come make one using ribbons and a headband! Best for ages 3 and up.
Rainbow Flowers: Make a colorful flower using only paper! This craft is suitable for all ages.
Rainbow Pinwheels: Design and create your own pinwheel! Best for ages 3 and up!
Interactive Movie Kits
Available All Month – First Come First Serve
Interactive Movie Kits are fun for the whole family! Kits include a list of prompts for your family to do throughout the movie plus props and crafts! Each kit comes with enough supplies for 4 people. DVD’s are available to check out on a first come first serve basis, but kits can be taken with or without the movie if you use a streaming service or have the movie at home.
June Lineup:
Over the Hedge: When Verne and fellow woodland friends awake from winter’s hibernation, they find they have some new neighbors: humans! RJ, is an opportunistic raccoon who shows the others how to exploit the suburban bounty laid out before them.
Elemental: In a city host to a variety of elements, hot tempered, fiery Ember meets the emotional, heart-on-his-sleeve Wade. As they navigate precarious situations, their stark differences bring them closer.
Make it Mondays: Canvas Paint Prints
Mondays 3pm – 5pm
For June, stop by the Children’s Room to make some creations using our very own fabric stamps! We have a variety of canvas totes, tee shirts and more! Take and Make what you want. Dress appropriately because we will be using fabric paints that do not wash out! Happy creating this summer to kick off June!
All-Ages Story Time
Wednesdays 10:30am – 11:30am
All ages story time and playgroup! Enjoy stories, songs, and a chance to play!
Best for children ages 4 and under. No registration required!
Art Class with Miss Dana
Thursdays 5pm – 6pm
Do you love creating art? Try coming to the library on Thursday evenings to take an art class with Miss Dana! Each week, we’ll be working on a new project, so be sure to swing by! No registration required.
Baby + Me Playgroup
Fridays 10:30am – 11:30am
Join us for a story time and play group! Baby + Me is designed for babies to socialize and for caregivers to meet each other! We will do a short lap story and then turn on the music and take out the toys for time to socialize. A great opportunity for new parents to meet and babies to play!
Cooking for kids with Food for Your Soul
Wednesday, June 3rd and Wednesday June 17th – 4pm-5pm
Registration is required! Come cook up something amazing and join us in the Community Room or Board Room!
This program is best for children ages 3-10! Please indicate any food allergies upon registration and bring a hat & apron to class. Registration is required for each individual day.
Wednesday, June 3rd – Registration: Cooking for Kids! – LibCal – The Public Library of New London
Wednesday, June 17th – Registration: Cooking for Kids! – LibCal – The Public Library of New London
Baby & Me Playgroup: Baby Rave
Friday, June 5th 10:30am-11:30am
Miss. Meghan is back! Join her in baby and me playgroup! Come sing songs, dance to some music, read books, and blow some bubbles!
Paper Flower Craft
Friday, June 5th – All Day!
Get crafty on a Friday and make some paper flowers with us in the Children’s Room!
Bug Garden Craft
Tuesday, June 9th – All Day!
Summer Reading Kick-Off: Plant a Seed. Read!
Saturday, June 13th -11am-2pm
Come by the library to sign up for summer reading! Who is elegible? You, children, teens, and adults! It is ALL free! There will be stations filled with activities for you to do, icecream and more!
For Children, we will have raffle tickets when you sign your child up for summer reading! Raffle tickets go towards weekly prizes, track your minutes and have your child climb their way up our beanstalk! The more minutes you track, the more raffle tickets children will get to win prizes! Plant a Seed. Read! Summer fun! Also, have your child sign up for our newest Pokemon Club during the 8 weeks of Summer Reading! Have a teen interested in Pokemon? Sign them up too! Ages 5-12 are welcome to join!
SATURDAY’S LINEUP OF EVENTS – ALL ARE WELCOME TO STOP BY THE STATIONS!
Community Room:
Seed Planting Station
Cookie Decorating Station
Fairy Garden Station
Painting Station
Henna Tattoo Station
TeenRoom:
Flower Bouquet Making
Outside: 1-3pm – Robin’s Ice-cream Truck
Summer Movie Night Monday’s: Community Room
4pm-6pm
Join us in the Community Room for a Summer filled movie night at the library! Popcorn and light snacks will be available! Bring your favorite blanket, stuffed animal, or pillow and enjoy a free feature film.
We ask that your child not be unattended during the screening. Thank you and enjoy the movie!
Below is our Summer Movie Lineup:
Mondays in June:
6/15: FernGully: The Last Rainforest (Rated G)
6/29: WALL-E (Rated G)
Mondays in July:
7/6: A Bugs Life (Rated G)
7/13: Antz (Rated PG)
7/20: Bee Movie (Rated PG)
7/27: The Wild Robot (Rated PG)
Mondays in August:
8/3: The Lorax (Rated PG)
Summer Pokémon Club: Children’s Room
2pm-3pm
Does your child love Pokémon? Sign up for our Pokémon Club or stop by the Children’s Room to partake in different Pokémon themed activities, games, and more!
Best for Children ages 5-12 but all are welcome to join in the fun!
Tuesdays in June:
6/16: Pokémon Go! Join in, make new friends trade, battle, and just Pokémon!
6/23: Pokemon Scavenger Hunt: Grass Type Pokémon
6/30: Magikarp Pokémon Candy Sushi Making
Tuesdays in July:
7/7: Pokémon Bingo
7/14: Poke ball Terrarium Making
7/21: Mewtwo Strikes Back Movie Streaming (Rated G)
7/28: Poke ball Cookie Decorating
Tuesdays in August:
8/4: Pokémon Clay Making
8/11: Pokémon Party
Celebrate Juneteenth: Handprint Craft
Thursday, June 18th – All Day Outside!
Just stop by the Children’s Room first to grab your materials!
Amazing Adaptations: Jurassic Classroom
Monday, June 22nd – 4-5pm
Community Room
Crests, horns, frills, plates, spikes, spines, teeth, claws: when it comes to adaptations, dinosaurs are the all time winners! Students will get to observe some of the amazing adaptations for themselves, and use their science skills to figure out what they were for.
Ideal for younger elementary school children (2nd – 3rd grade)
Woven Rainbow Fish Craft
Wednesday, June 24th – All Day!
Take Pride in what you make! Come to the Children’s Room and craft a Rainbow Fish! Craft inspired by the book, The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister.
Cardboard Ponds
Friday, June 26th – All Day!
Refreshing is making a cardboard pond in the Children’s Room!
Seed to Plant: Niantic Children’s Museum
Tuesday, June 30th – 4pm-5pm
Dissect a seed to find the baby plant and take a journey through its life cycle (seed germination, growth, flowering, pollination and seed dispersal). Look at plant parts using our Root Tank and discuss plant needs as you plant something of your own.
Join us in the Community Room with the Niantic Children’s Museum for this hands-on program and dissecting a seed as part of our Plant a Seed Read Summer Program! Great for ages 4-12! No registration required!
Saturday Morning Bilingual Storytime with Miss. Dana
Saturday, June 27th – 11:30am
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Children’s Room
860-447-1411 ext. 103
Head of Children’s Services
Children’s Librarian
Meghan Soucier
msoucier@plnl.org
860-447-1411 ex. 104
Children’s Librarian Assistant
Dana Santillana
dsantillana@plnl.org