Dr. Seuss Party 2019

We did the first few pages of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish on the flannel board and then read selections from it as well as I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!

We made Lorax Mustaches for our craft. I got the template here and manipulated it so I could get 3 to one page of cardstock.

We played Horton's Pink Clover Relay Race and Dr. Seuss Bingo. We went on a Cat in the Hat Scavenger Hunt.

The kids took home the following coloring pages: Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss, Horton, and the fish.

I displayed books by and about Dr. Seuss.

Star Wars Tea Party

I have wanted to do a Stars War event for several years. It just never worked out. This year, however, May 4 fell on a Saturday. I was inspired to do a Star Wars Tea Party from a post on Storytime Underground on Facebook.

To decorate I used black tablecloths and Star Wars blueprints I got from The Navage Patch. I printed at May the Fourth Be with You sign, created a menu, printed water bottle labels, and soda bottle labels.

I also had a bookmark display that found at Emily's Literary Hoots blog (the site is currently down!).

We made pool noodle light sabers.

We went on an asteroid and droid hunt. The inspiration came from here. I added the droids from here. The kids got to trade their asteroids and droids in for suckers.

The refreshments were Yoda Soda, R2-TEA2, Star Wars Water, Edible Ewoks (chocolate teddy grahams), Han Rolos, and light sabers (Twizzlers).

 To take home I had coloring pages (here & here) and Build a Droid activity sheets.

I also had a Star Wars Would You Rather game, but never got around to using it.

Little Women: A Celebration

I hosted this program in December 2014 in honor of the 20th anniversary of the 1994 film. Little Women just celebrated its 150th publication anniversary in 2018.

I read A Little Women Christmas by Heather Vogel Frederick.

I had the following books and movies on display. Some were from my personal collection.

• Copies of Little Women
• Books about or set during the Civil War
• Little Women & Me by Lauren Baratz-Logsted 
• Little Women and Werewolves by Porter Grand
• March by Geraldine Brooks
• Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen 
• Louisa and the Missing Heiress by Anna MacLean
• Beyond Little Women: A Story about Louisa May Alcott by Susan Bivin Aller 
• Little Vampire Women by Lynn Messina 
• Louisa May’s Battle: How the Civil War Led to Little Women by Kathleen Krull 
• The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick
• An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott 
• The Quiet Little Woman; Tilly's Christmas; Rosa's Tale: Three Enchanting Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott 
• Film Versions of Little Women (1933, 1949, 1978, 1994)

I had several options for games: Rigmarole, Compliments, Authors, Tangrams, Ribbon's End, and Name the Nursery Rhyme.

For a craft, we made cup and ball toys using dixie cups, masking tape, and string.

For refreshments we had apple cider, popcorn, licorice, nonpareils (Sno-Caps), and Necco wafers.

Little House Party

I hosted this event in honor of Laura Ingalls Wilder's 150th birthday in February 2017.

I read Going West or Dance at Grandpa's. Both these titles are from the My First Little House Books series. 

I shared information about 19th Century Candy, pioneer games from American West Heritage Center (Pioneer Life under Helpful Downloads), an article from Reminisce magazine (Feb/Mar 2017), Map from The World of Little House by Carolyn Strom Collins & Christina Wyss Eriksson (pp. 8-9), and chores in Laura's time (See “Housekeeping on the Prairie,” Chapter 5: On the Banks of Plum Creek, pp.55-58, The World of Little House by Collins & Eriksson)

I prepared packets with the following information: 

• Laura Ingalls Wilder in US Census Records
• Songs from the Little House books
• Books about Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Books for Fans of the Little House series
• About the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Award Winners, 1954-Present

I play music that would have been around when Laura was a girl: 

• Pop! Goes the Weasel 
• Oh, Susanna 
• Old Dan Tucker 

We made two crafts: dancing button strings and nine patch quilt squares with srapbook paper.

I had an activity table set up for String Games with the following: 

• String (yarn) cut in 5-6 foot lengths
• Cat’s Cradle: A Book of String Figures by Anne Akers Johnson 
• Cat’s Cradle, Owl’s Eyes: A Book of String Games by Camilla Gryski 

We played the game Kitten in the Corner. 

We had gingersnaps, lemonade, Necco Wafers, and conversation hearts for refreshments. 

Teen Event: Chances Are

Another program from summer 2016 (Get in the Game: Read), this event focused on dice games. To be specific, Yahtzee, Farkle, the minute-to-win-it challenge A Bit Dicey, and dice drawing games from Expressive Monkey. Yahtzee and Farkle could either be played life size or normal.

Flannel Friday: Find the Rocket Ship

I based this set on Heather's.

I used this image as a pattern for my moon and this one as a pattern for the rockets. For the aliens, I borrowed them from my monsters.

The idea is simple. The kids are looking for the rocket ship. I think it's hiding behind one of the moons. Kids are getting smarter every day so I hid aliens under the moons that weren't hiding the rocket ship. I also plan on using this when I do aliens storytime. We'll be looking for an alien not rocket ships.

A fun addition to my space themed storytimes during my "A Universe of Stories" Summer Reading Program.

Important Links:
Flannel Friday Blog/Website
Flannel Friday Tumblr
Flannel Friday Pinterest
Flannel Friday Facebook Group

Life Size Games with Teens

A few years ago the CSLP theme for teens was "Get in the Game: Read." With that theme in mind, I planned several game events for teens during the summer. Life size games had become quite popular so I decided to make that one of my events. The teens could play life size Yahtzee, Memory (fandom themed), Connect Four, and Tic-Tac-Toe.

Supplies for Life Size Yahtzee: buckets, dice (Dollar Tree), clipboards, pens, score sheets, instructions

Supplies for Life Size Memory: the cards (I used images from Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Divergent, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Alice in Wonderland, Star Wars, LOTR & Hobbit, and Supernatural.)

Supplies for Life Size Connect Four: red & black paper plates, shower curtain, painter's tape, packing tape

Supplies for Life Size Tic-Tac-Toe: masking tape, frisbees