Storytime on Screen at the Old Greenbelt Theatre!

Storytime on Screen at the Old Greenbelt Theatre is a fun, free weekday activity in Prince George’s County to check out with your toddler to preschool-aged child!  Storytime on Screen is held from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. the second and fourth Mondays of every month in partnership with the Prince George’s County Memorial Library Service.  The beautiful, historic theatre opens its doors during these hours just for this program; this means there’s no worrying about your child being too loud or getting some wiggles out running up and down the theatre aisles during story time.

Storytime on Screen at the Old Greenbelt Theatre

Upon entering, kiddos are greeted with their own bag of freshly popped popcorn.  What a treat! To begin the program, PGCMLS’s awesome librarian, Ms. Nancy, popped on stage and warmed up the crowd with a couple of fun sing-a-longs. My kiddo’s favorites included “Make New Friends But Keep the Old” and then “This Little Light of Mine.”  Ms. Nancy warmly encouraged the kiddos to sing along AND also signed the songs so all of us got a chance to learn some sign language. Really cool. The songs were followed by colorful, punctuated readings of stories including “Leon and the Magic Brush” and “Ben’s Trumpet,” the illustrations of which were projected onto the large theatre screen for all to see.

Following storytime, an episode of The Reading Rainbow was projected onto the big screen.  This was a wee bit too advanced for me and my gal so we got up out of our seats and did some exploring around the historic threatre, learning about Greenbelt itself in the process.  Did you know that Greenbelt was settled in 1937 as a public cooperative community – one of three in the country – as part of the New Deal?  Me, neither!  😉  We also got a fab photo opp with our gurl, Eleanor Roosevelt. So much history here to observe and absorb.

Arts & Crafts at PGCMLS’s Storytime on Screen

Afterwards, the kiddos got crafty – making some masks – with the courtesy and guidance of the lovely folks from the PGCMLS. I definitely plan on including Storytime on Screen into our menu of fun, free morning activities with the little lady.  Honestly impressed with this program and the fine folks of both the Greenbelt Theatre and PGCMLS.

Tips for Attending Storytime on Screen

If you can, plan to get there around 10 a.m. so that you can explore the area and let the kiddo(s) run around before heading inside.

Pack a lunch to eat on one of the benches just outside the theatre.  Alternatively, walk on over to the the Greenbelt Co-op Supermarket for some good stuff to nosh on!  (And they have wine/beer there, too.  You know, for later.)

There’s two hour parking in a nearby lot.

The Old Greenbelt Theatre is located at 129 Centerway, Greenbelt, MD 20770.