Whether streamed at home or picked up curbside, the remote offerings from the Port Townsend Public Library are giving at-home kids something to do.

Lots of somethings, actually.

The library’s Youth Services Division presents regular happenings, both via Zoom and premade to-go kits, for kids of varying ages (2 to 11, roughly) that combine stories, music, crafts, and academics in both virtual and physical activities.

“A lot of people have gotten Zoom burnout, I think,” said Hilary Verheggen, library manager for youth services. “We’re trying to do a combination of occasional video Zoom programs, like our weekly family story times and our monthly Sing-a-Ling program with Keeth Apgar from Harmonica Pocket; those are our regular Zoom programs. But then we’re also doing for kids … the take-and-make bags for different age groups.”

The idea, Verheggen said, is to connect with all patrons, those who can visit the library and those who cannot.

“We are trying to provide as much as we can to be accessible for different parts of the community,” she said.

Though the holidays will pause the schedule until January, the library’s regular youth offerings will soon again happen regularly.

Every third Thursday, from 10:30 to 11 a.m., Apgar leads a Zoom-based Sing-a-Ling session, mixing playful music with engagement designed to encourage early literacy and imagination.

Calling Apgar “a local treasure,” Verheggen said the monthly show is always highly anticipated by library regulars.

“He’s super engaging with the kids,” she said. “He mixes in a lot of early literacy. He’s worked really hard to gain an understanding of early literacy and it shows.”

Sometimes Apgar will read aloud to the kids, or maybe turn a beloved book into a song. Often, he’ll write an original tune based on input from the audience gleaned during an initial Q&A.

“It’s great to see the kids dancing in their living rooms, so much fun to watch,” Verheggen said.

It’s also great for him, Apgar said, a boost much needed after COVID shrank his world.

“When COVID struck and all my gigs were getting cancelled I went into a cocoon,” he said. “It took me a while to get over the shock of losing all that work and actually want to perform virtually. I gave myself that time.”

While there are lot of things you can’t do in a virtual show, the musician explained, there are other doors, so to speak, that inevitably opened.

“With a camera in my face I can play with doing close-ups,” he said. “I can show my audience a tiny bell that makes a wee tinkling sound. Try doing that with
100 wiggly preschoolers in the room. I have played with bringing out matchbox cars and toy airplanes, stuffed animal unicorns, and music boxes with intricate metal gears and cogs. So many possibilities! These playful props are tied into the songs I’m playing.”

Regarding the use of music to introduce youngsters to reading, Apgar said he only knows what he has seen — and heard.

“I’m not a scientist, but numerous studies show music helps develop the left side of the brain associated with language,” he said. “Music literally makes our brains work harder.”

Lyrics are, after all, just stories.

“Studies show children develop a greater understanding of vocabulary and grammar through music,” Apgar said. “Sometimes I’ll hold up a big letter to introduce a song and have kids voice the letter along with me. Take an L, for example. To make an L sound you tap your tongue on the top of your mouth behind your front teeth. Or a P gives off a little explosion of air from between the lips. Try it! When you stop to think about this it seems crazy, but it’s so normal we don’t even notice it.”

The goal is to make the leap from letters to rhymes and, ultimately, reading.

“A spoonful of music — the melody, the rhythm, the harmonies — sweetens the deal and gives us something to pour our voices into,” Apgar said. “The rhythm of the guitar or handclaps get us in sync and singing together.”

In the same time slot on the other Thursdays throughout the month, the library hosts a family storytime session.

“We usually combine storybooks that myself or my youth services associate Chloe [Vogel] will read,” Verheggen said. “We usually just read the books ... and then we kind of intertwine flannel board stories along with some songs.

“I love to read the story first and then have the kids tell me the story as we do it on the flannel board.”

Parental feedback has been extremely positive.

“They love them,” Verheggen said. “We’ve got a handful of regulars who come every week. They just love getting to spend time with their kids and have folks read to their kids; it’s just a special activity they can do with their kids every week.”

The Apgar performance tends to appeal to young kids of various ages, and although the story sessions are geared primarily to those 2 to 6 years old, Verheggen said both slightly older and younger people have attended and fit in without a problem.

For those seeking something they can actually get their hands on, the library is offering two versions of takeaway craft bags, available without registration or preorder via curbside pickup during regular library hours.

Each week, the regular craft bags (also designed for those aged about 2 to 6) feature artsy projects to be done at home.

“I generally create those with the theme of the story time that week,” Verheggen said.

A recent wintertime-themed story was thus accompanied by a craft bag with components and instructions to help kids create their own paper snow globes.

Twice a month, for slightly older kiddos (6 to 11, give or take) the library assemblies take-and-make STEAM-centric kits.

“Sometimes we do simple things, like I had a marshmallow and spaghetti constellation kit,” Verheggen said. “I gave different constellation cards out in the kit and the kids can build them out of their spaghetti sticks and marshmallows — and then eat them if they so choose.”

Past kits have included basic origami instructions and a computer coding project.

Both types of bags are available while supplies last — which sometimes isn’t very long.

“They do go before the end of the week,” Verheggen said. “We’ve had a really good response to those.”

Visit www.ptpubliclibrary.org/library for a complete list of upcoming events.