Making Mugs for Dad at Mineola Library

A red cart in the community room carried 20 colorless travel mugs expressing the sentiment “World’s Best Dad,” Thursday afternoon, awaiting the crayons and markers of children from the age of two-and-a-half to kindergarten to color them before being given as gifts Sunday for Father’s Day

Inside the mugs were three sheets of paper for the children to color and decorate. One sheet read “World’s Best Dad” with a giant “#1” and drawings of basketballs, soccer balls, and footballs, while another read “Dad... you’re out of this world” and included illustrations of planets, while the third said “I love you with all my heart.”

This is the first time the library has offered crafts or Father’s Day, but children’s librarian Meredith Minkoff knows all craft events are usually very popular with the children.

“We usually get a good turnout with the younger kids,” she said. “During the summer, we fill up very quickly.”

A total of 20 children had signed up to design the travel mug for their dads, sitting with their parent or caregiver in the community room.

“What do you think daddy will drink out of this mug?” one mother asked her daughter, who was happily coloring away at something her dads could use every morning.

. “Coffee,” the young girl replied without skipping a beat. One child suggested that his father could even drink juice out of the mug.

Some fathers even came along to watch their children craft their present, with one displaying his admiration for the hand-colored mug.

“They’re beautiful, I love them,” he said as his son handed him the completed project.