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.