Winter Wonderland Party

I hosted this event in January, but you could also do it in December or February. 

We read a few wintry books: Fox Versus Winter by Corey R. Tabor, Out Cold by Ryan T. Higgins, and Cold Turkey by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Kirsti Call. 

We had a snowball fight with fake snowballs. I got them from Amazon. 

We built snowmen with Play-Doh and accessories from Amazon. 

We went ice skating indoors using wax paper as skates on the carpet. 

We went on a Winter Animals Scavenger Hunt. I used a free clipart set from Teachers Pay Teachers. Find it here. 

I sent the kids home with plenty of activities: 

• I Spy Snowmen (Paper Trail Design)
• Coloring Page from Out Cold (Publisher's Website)
• Spiral Snowman Craft (krokotak)
• Winter Bear Coloring Page (krokotak)
• Recipes for snow dough, white play dough, and salt dough. The first two are from Imagination Tree (my favorite source for play dough recipes) and the last is from Unsophisticook. 

Soup's On Around the World by Denyse Waissbluth

Taste the World Book 2

Do you like soup? Let's travel the world and learn more about this delicious and versatile food!

Thoughts: I'm so glad the author and illustrator collaborated again to bring readers an around the world look at soup. Everyone has a soup and I was delighted to learn about some I'd never heard of before. I like that if you're reading this to younger kids in a storytime setting you can just use the large text and abbreviate the description to suit their attention spans. The illustrations are colorful and inviting. I like how detailed the soup ingredients are in the illustrations. I love that the author and illustrator shared their favorite soup recipes at the end of the book. Pair with 10 Hungry Rabbits by Anita Lobel, Is That Wise, Pig? by Jan Thomas, 10 Hungry Pigs by Derek Anderson, House Mouse by Michael Hall, Duck Soup by Jackie Urbanovic, Carrot Soup by John Segal, or Every Color Soup by Jorey Hurley for a soup-er storytime. Pair with Teatime Around the World and Delicious! Poems Celebrating Street Food from Around the World by Julie Larios to tour the world in food and drink. 

Get a curriculum guide from the publisher here. Don't miss the  first Taste the World book: Teatime Around the World. 

Themes: Soup, Food

(Review copy provided by publisher. Illustrated by Chelsea O'Byrne. Greystone Kids, 2025.)

Monthly Scavenger Hunts

Right before the world changed in 2020, I had started having a scavenger hunt as one of the activities at my library programs. I think the firsts were my 2018 Dr. Seuss Party and my 2018 Pete the Cat Party. During my 2021 Summer Program (held outside), so many children told me they remembered the scavenger hunts from the parties and missed doing them. 

I decided to create monthly scavenger hunts in the kids section. I've used book characters, book covers (Dr. Seuss and poetry books), but my favorite is using free clipart sets from Teachers Pay Teachers. I try to be intentional when planning the hunts and focus on these concepts: colors, shapes, emotions, numbers, and alphabet. 

A few of my favorite creators on Teachers Pay Teachers are Rainbow Sprinkle Studio - Sasha Mitten, P4 Clips Trioriginals, and Krista Wallden - Creative Clips Clipart. 

To create the scavenger hunt: I select the theme, print and laminate the hunt pieces, create a hunt sheet and a sign for display in the branches. I also curate an activity packet. krokotak, Paper Trail Design, and Monday Mandala are some of my favorite sources of activities. If needed I label the hunt pieces. This usually needs to happen with colors as there are never 12 unique colors. One of our branch assistants is colorblind so this also helps her and I've seen parents working with kids on letter recognition during the hunts. 

I'm just now started to recycle my hunts. November's hunt is from 2023 and December's is from 2022. 

I've been doing the monthly scavenger hunts since September 2021. Average monthly participation across four library branches has went from 70 in 2021 to 213 in 2025. 

Weekly Lego Challenges

Prior to 2020, I was hosting a Lego Club at my library branches as least three times per year. The pandemic changed that and weekly Lego challenges were my way of still engaging children with STEM learning even if we couldn't meet in person. 

I've continued with the Lego challenges even though I'm hosting in-person events again. There are some children who will likely never attend a library program for various reasons: scheduling, transportation, etc. These Lego challenges help conquer those barriers to access. 

The challenges post to our library Facebook pages and groups on Friday mornings at 10:00am. They are also posted in the library branches. I get a few emails from parents, but mostly I hear stories about how the kids always know to ask what the challenge is on Fridays. 

I use Canva to create the images and a variety of sources to create the challenges. Brownielocks, Holiday Insights, and even Wikipedia (search the date) are my favorites. I will also use my storytime themes. Challenges usually fall into a few broad categories: animal, food, color, number of pieces. 

I don't see myself stopping these anytime soon. The ability to schedule posts makes the challenges easy to maintain. 

Flora and Friends ABC by Molly Idle

An alphabet of birds. Old friends and new. A few surprises. 

Thoughts: Such a delightful and sursprising alphabet book. I love the unexpected foldout pages and the use of letters together. Flora and Friends ABC will be a lovely addition to a bird themed storytime. I might even try an ABC bird activity with the kids and see what birds they come up with. Pair with Bring on the Birds by Susan Stockdale, Plume by Isabelle Simler, Today at the Bluebird Cafe: A Branchful of Birds by Deborah Ruddell, Beautiful Birds by Jean Roussen, or Bird Show by Susan Stockdale. 

Don't miss the other Flora books! 

• Flora and the Flamingo 
• Flora and the Penguin 
• Flora and the Peacocks
• Flora and the Ostrich 
• Flora and the Chicks 
• Flora and Friends Colors

Themes: Alphabet, Birds 

(Chronicle Books, 2023.)

Mini Ren Faire for Teens

One of my former library teens now a library employee talked me into hosting this event. In the end, it turned out well, but the decorating took a lot of time and we had too many activities for the two hours. 

The decorations were simple: I borrowed castle wall curtains from a friend and we used these to cover most of a history mural in the library's meeting room. Black table cloths, parchment paper signs, battery operated candles, a few candle holders, and some burlap. 

The Snacks (The Tavern): Pickles, Olives, Cheese, Crackers, Assorted Dried Fruit, Chessman Cookies, Apple Cider (Apple Juice), Root Beer, Ginger Ale

Arrival Activities

• Shakespearean or Medieval Insults
• Shakespeare Insult Generator by brendan kelso on Teachers Pay Teachers 
• Make Your Own Medieval Insult by Sense of Wonder on Teachers Pay Teachers 
• Trivia: Ed Sheeran or Shakespeare: The Tempest Quotes Game by Matthew Jenkins on Teachers Pay Teachers 
• Name Generators (found on Pinterest: Dragon Name x4, Enchanted Forest Name, Heroic Name, Tournament Name, Royal Name x2, Fairy Name, Fantasy Name, Woodland Fairy)

Gaming:

• Dice Games: Raffle, Zara, Hazard, Passage
• Other Games: Queek, Nine Men’s Morris, Fox and Geese, The Game of the Goose

Here There Be Dragons Crafts

• Dragon Eggs (Styrofoam eggs and thumbtacks)
• Dragon Eyes (instructions from Craft Your Happiness)

Armory Crafts

• Make Your Own Sword (dowels, pool noodles)
• Make Your Own Shield (flat cardboard, markers; see Coat of Arms Printable from Happy Strong Home) 

Coloring

• Medieval Designs & Stained Glass from Dover Publications free samples
• Medieval designs from Color Our Collections 

We also had a scavenger hunt devised by the library teen turned employee. 

The Princess and the (Greedy) Pea by Leigh Hodgkinson

Have you every wondered why one pea would make the princess's mattresses so lumpy? Well, here's an explanation. 

Thoughts: How fun! I've loved Leigh Hodgkinson's books ever since I read Goldilocks and Just One Bear back in 2013. This story was so unexpected. I love that it's form is like This Is the House that Jack Built. The Princess and the (Greedy) Pea will be such a fun addition to either a fairy tale or food themed storytime. The illustrations are colorful and I love the addition of onomatopoeias when the pea is eating. During storytime, I think I will have the kids repeat them after me. Pair with Federico and the Wolf  by Rebecca J. Gomez, A Cooked-Up Fairy Tale by Penny Parker Klosterman, Little Red Hot by Eric A Kimmel, and The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza written by Philemon Sturges for a fun foodie fairy tale storytime. Also try this poem:  “Recipe for Fairy Tales” from Follow the Recipe: Poems about Imagination, Celebration & Cake by Marilyn Singer. 

Themes: Fairy Tales, Food 

(Candlewick Press, 2023.)

Flamingos Are Pretty Funky: A [Not So] Serious Guide by Abi Cushman

All you could ever want to know about flamingos and more! 

Thoughts: Facts mixed with fun equals a fascinating nonfiction book for kids. I know so much more about flamingos than I did before I read this book. I love the use of speech bubbles for most of the jokes. If I was sharing this during storytime, I might shorten it and only share parts as it's quite lengthy in text for storytime. Like the other title in the series, Flamingos Are Pretty Funky remind me of The Truth About... series by Maxwell Eaton III. The illustrations are fun. I especially like the different personalities the flamingos get--the makeup artist, the exercise fanatic. Oh, and you can't forget Joey the Snake. His interactions with the flamingos are great. Pair with Fussy Flamingo by Shelley Vaughan James, Sylvie by Jennifer Sattler, Flamingo Bingo by Heidi E. Y. Stemple, Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle, For Pete's Sake by Ellen Stoll Walsh, Pinky Got Out! by Michael Portis, or Pinky Crashes the Party by Michael Portis for a flamboyant flamingo storytime. There's also a flamingo poem in On the Wing by David Elliott. Visit the author's website for activity sheets and a craft. 

Don't miss the other title in this series: Wombats Are Pretty Weird.

Themes: Flamingos, Elementary 

(Greenwillow, 2024.)

Life Size Sorry Redux

I've been playing Life Size Sorry with my library teens since 2014. I first blogged about it here. 

Last year I decided to give my original set up a face lift. I use the game pieces from this free clipart set on Teachers Pay Teachers from P4 Clips Trioriginals so I matched my color scheme to those and created a new board layout in PowerPoint. I think it looks much better. I don't laminate the pieces for two reasons. First, it makes them more of a slip hazard. Second, I'd have to clean them each time and I'm much too busy for that. 

When we played this summer, I modified the rules so you could move from start on any forward moving card. This sped the game up nicely and kept the teens from getting bored. 

10 Dogs by Emily Gravett

10 dogs and 10 sausages. It seems like simple math, but dogs love sausages. Of course there's going to be a battle or three. 

Thoughts: Another fun book from Emily Gravett. Love how the numbers rearrange and you can teach kids multiple ways to make 10. my favorite illustration is the little dog in the teacup. 

Themes: Dogs, Counting 

(Boxer Books, 2023.)

10 Cats by Emily Gravett

1 sleeping mama cat, 9 playful kittens, and 3 cans of paint. 

Thoughts: What a simple, fun book! So many ways to share in storytime. The illustrations are lively and colorful. I love the expressions on all the cats' faces throughout the book. 

Themes: Cats, Counting, Paint, Color Mixing

(Boxer Books, 2022.)

Halloween Party

I hosted this party in 2023 as my special event day for one of my libraries fell on Halloween. 

We played a few games. 

Halloween Bingo from ZippyGrove on Etsy

Pin the Spider on the Web from Ella Claire and Co

Pumpkins Scavenger Hunt (of my own devising using several free clipart sets on Teachers Pay Teachers)

We read a few books: There's a Ghost in This House by Oliver Jeffers, The Dark by Lemony Snicket, and Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds. 

For our craft, we made paper spiderwebs using a free resource from TeachStarter. 

I had a couple of things for the kids to take home: Funky Bat Halloween Craft from TeachStarter and Activity Sheets for There's a Ghost in This House. 

11 kids attended. Counting adults the total attendance was 17. I would definitely do this program again. 

Bearnard Writes a Book by Deborah Underwood

sequel to Bearnard's Book

Bearnard and his friend Gertie love to read his book, but wouldn't it be nice if Gertie had her own book? Bearnard volunteers to write it. There's only one problem: he doesn't know how to write a book. A visit to Storybook Land should sort that. 

Thoughts: What a fun adventure Bearnard and Gertie go on! It's a fun story that also teaches the basic steps in writing a story. Would love to share this with older kids and then have them write their own stories. Pair with How to Write a Story by Kate Messner, The Story of a Story by Deborah Hopkinson, and Let's Tell a Story! Fairy Tale Adventure by Lily Murray (also available in Jungle Adventure, Space Adventure, and Pirate Adventure). 

Themes: Bears, Books, Writing, Elementary 

(Illustrated by Misa Saburi. Henry Holt, 2022.)

Bearnard's Book by Deborah Underwood

When Bearnard is invited to be in a book, he's thrilled. At least until he tries to imitate bears in other books. Can he be in a book? 

Thoughts: What a fun book! I like the nods to other bear books (Winnie-the-Pooh, Paddington Bear, Baby Bear). I love that Gertie is a great friend and always encouraging Bearnard. The illustrations have bold outlines. If you like books that have Easter eggs, check out Breaking News: Bear Alert by David Biedrzycki. 

Activity kit is available on the publisher's website here. 

Themes: Bears, Books

(Illustrated by Misa Saburi. Goodwin Books, 2019.)

17 Years of Blogging

Seventeen years ago today I started my blog What Is Bridget Reading? for a grad school project. Where has the time gone? I've had my degree for 16 years and I'm coming up on 15 years in my position as youth services librarian. After all this time, I can still definitively say that I love books, libraries, and working with children and teens in libraries. Here's to many more years of loving what I do and blogging about it. 

Shark Week Party

Shark Week is a popular event and it seemed like a good idea to use it for a teen library program. I've hosted this event twice: 2015 and 2022. The parties are similar, but I like to think my planning style has become more streamlined. 

Snack are a big party of a Shark Week Party. They are themed and we had the following: 

• Shark Teeth (Bugles)
• Sour Watermelon Sharks 
• Goldfish 
• Life Preservers (gummy ring candy)
• Shark Fins (tortilla chips)
• Chum (salsa)
• Swedish Fish

We played the following games:

• Hit the Shark  as suggested by Bryce (shark target, pool noodles for spears)
• Shark Bite 
• Sharks vs. Dolphins 
• Shark Scavenger Hunt (I used the Shark Matching Game from Natural Beach Living.)

All in all a simple, but very fun party for teens.

A Mischief of Mice by Christie Matheson

A forest mystery paired with groups of animals. Where did the mice go? 

Thoughts: What a unique way to incorporate collective nouns into a story. Animal group names or collective nouns are one of my favorite things. I even did several events one summer using them as a theme. See those events here. I love the forest setting and the mystery. I can't wait to use this for a fall themed storytime. The extra information in the back of the book will likely spark an interest in collective nouns with a new generation. 

Find an activity kit and educator guide from the publisher here. 

Other Books That Use Collective Nouns

• A Troop of Kangaroos by Lisa Mundorff 
• A Curious Menagerie by Carin Berger
• An Ambush of Tigers by Betsy R. Rosenthal
• A Tower of Giraffes by Anna Wright

Themes: Fall, Collective Nouns 

(Sourcebooks, 2024.)

Not-a-Box City by Antoinette Portis

companion to Not a Box

Building a city all by himself, Bunny doesn't want any help. But height, strength, and artistic ability soon sway him. 

Thoughts: I'm so glad Bunny is back and still using his imagination. I love all the new characters and details of the finished city. Looks like the library is the biggest building in the city. I wholeheartedly approve.

Find activities for Not a Box on the author's website here. (Here's hoping there will be some activities for Not-a-Box City soon!)

Themes: Boxes, Building, Rabbits, Working Together

(Harper, 2024.)

I Survived Event

The I Survived book series by Lauren Tarshis continues to be a very popular series at my library so I decided to host an I Survived Event in April this year. Many librarians have done this before. I took a deep dive into their events and picked what would work best for me logistically. 

The event featured three books: 

• I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii, 79 A.D.
• I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906
• I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912

At the beginning of the party I had the kids vote on which book they'd like me to read the first chapter of. After 4 parties, I'd read the first chapter in all three books. 

We then moved on to the activities. I had three stations set up.

• Volcano Blast: Build a volcano and watch it erupt. 
• Earthquake Challenge: Build a Lego house and see if it can withstand an earthquake. 
• S.O.S. Titanic: Build a boat that can float with and without passengers. 

For details about the supplies, procedures, and resources, see the post on my Storytime by Bridget site. 

I Am Happy! by Michael Rosen

How do you feel when you're happy? The puppy in this book shows you how he feels and what he does when he's happy. 

Thoughts: Bright, colorful, and full of joy! This will be a great book to use for an emotions themed storytime. The illustrations are full of movement and emotion. 

Don't miss the other books in the I Am series! 

• I Am Wriggly
• I Am Hungry

Themes: Emotions, Dogs 

(Illustrated by Robert Starling. Candlewick Press, 2023.)

Party Rex by Molly Idle

It's Rex's birthday! Here's your guide to celebrating with him at his party. 

Thoughts: Happy Birthday, Rex! Can you believe the first book came out 11 years ago? I've enjoyed sharing the Rex books in storytime and Party Rex will be no different. The illustrations are soft-colored and inviting. I love illustrations that are created with colored pencils. My favorite illustration is on the copyright page...the stuffed animals enjoying a little birthday cake. I'll definitely be using the Rex book heavily next summer when the theme is all about dinosaurs. 

Don't miss the other books in the Rex series! 

• Tea Rex
• Camp Rex
• Sea Rex
• Santa Rex

Download extras on the author's website here.

Themes: Dinosaurs, Birthdays

(Viking, 2024.)

Squishmallow Party

Pop culture parties are almost always a hit at my libraries and this Squishmallow Party was no different. I hosted four parties in March. Total attendance was 151 and of that 92 were children. 

The party started with a Show and Tell Your Squish session. Two of the parties had a large number of children (31 and 37) so I had to pivot a bit. Building on the storytime song "If You're Wearing Red Today," I had a look at the Squishmallows and then had the kids stand up and do some actions based on their Squishmallows. For example, if your Squishmallow is a cat, stand up and toss your Squish in the air. I shared a bit from the book Squishmallows: The Official Collectors Guide. For smaller numbers of children, I had a Squish Toss game planned. Three turns to get your squish into 3 buckets. (Note: these will need some weight added to them if you don't want to be constantly resetting the game)

We then moved onto the craft segment of the party. I considered several options, but knew I needed to keep the craft time at about 15 minutes. The other options I considered were design your own Squishmallow (drawing and coloring) or paint a Squishmallow. I stumbled upon some Make-a-Face Sticker Books from Dollar Tree that reminded me of Squishmallows. These were created by The Clever Factory and I used the Animals and Funny Foods. I ran low at some point and supplemented with Beary Fun and Caticorns. Each sticker book had 6 pages. (Note: I'm saving the leftover stickers for another project...maybe design a creature with my teens.) This was a super simple craft. I provided copy paper and each kid got to pick 1 sticker page to make.

After crafting, there was a photo op in the room. I used cute wrapping paper for the backdrop and banners I got on Teachers Pay Teachers from Hot Mess Homeschool Mama. 

Once every one was done crafting and taking pictures, we went on a Squishmallow Bigfoot hunt in the children's section of the library. I used table numbers from Alt-3 Academics on Teachers Pay Teachers to create a very simple scavenger hunt. 

After the hunt, I sent kids home with an activity packet that included the following: 

• Squishmellow Roll and Draw (Art Workshop on Teachers Pay Teachers)
• Design Your Own Squishmallow Worksheet (Miss Buchko's Art Room Resources on Teachers Pay Teachers)
• Color Scarlet the Strawberry, Sunny the Bee, and Wendy the Frog (Monday Mandala)