Summer Reading Week 8

This week I had 22 events with a total attendance of 339. 

Here's a breakdown of the week:

• 5 community story times
• 4 community school age events
• 2 day camp story time
• 8 day camp school age events
• 2 movies
• 1 special event (Alice in Wonderland Event)

This week the story time theme was Digging Machines. Loved reading the new book Dig, Dogs, Dig: A Construction Tail by James Horvath.  The school age event theme was Digging Up Trouble with Tricksters. I enjoyed sharing trickster tales from both America and other countries. The activities suggested by Beyond the Book Storytimes Blog (tricky photographs, tricky nature, and tricky words) were fabulous. Librarian friends on Twitter suggested a few tricky games: Duck, Duck, Goose and Trickster Says. The 2nd Alice in Wonderland Event had a low attendance. I'm beginning to wish that I had just used it as one of  my weekly themes.

Next week, I also have 22 events that include my last Alice in Wonderland Event for ages 7-12 and the last visits from the day camps. Reading logs are due next week and events end. The 10th week is presentation of certificates & prize bags as well as the grand prize drawing.

#FlannelFriday: Lunch by Denise Fleming

While making the pieces for "Gopher in the Garden," I realized I only needed to make a few extra pieces to have a set to go with Lunch by Denise Fleming. I used Microsoft Office Clipart as patterns for the fruits and veggies and a coloring sheet for the mouse. I used this set during my Digging in the Vegetable Garden preschool story time this summer.

Summer Reading Week 7

This week I had 22 events with a total attendance of 456. 

Here's a breakdown of the week:

• 5 community story times
• 4 community school age events
• 1 day camp story time
• 6 day camp school age events
• 2 movies
• 1 special event (Alice in Wonderland Event)
• 1 teen event (movie night)
• 2 performances by a comedian/juggler/magician

This week the story time theme was Digging Animals. The school age event theme was More Animals Underground. We focused on sand diggers (crabs and sea turtles) and again I used a game suggested by the CSLP manual. The Alice in Wonderland Event and the teen movie night both had low attendance, but everyone had fun.

Next week, I also have 22 events that includes my 2nd Alice in Wonderland Event for ages 7-12.

Angry Birds™ Live Event

The first inspiration for this event came when I saw National Geographic Angry Birds: 50 True Stories of the Fed Up, Feathered, and Furious by Mel White in a Scholastic Book Fair at one of my branches. I decided then and there to have an Angry Birds event that would pair nonfiction with the ever popular game.

 

 After that I started finding other librarians' Angry Birds™ programs including Bryce Don't Play, The Show Me Librarian, Teen Librarian Toolbox, PUBYAC, & Future Librarian Superhero.

Several of my ideas also came from Pinterest. Check out my Angry Birds Event Pinterest board for more inspiration.

To start the program, I asked the kids why the birds are so angry. Of course they told me because the pigs had stolen their eggs and planned to eat them. We then went on an egg hunt in the children's section. Finder of the most eggs received an Angry Birds™ Coloring and Activity Book.

After the egg hunt, I shared from the National Geographic book: the different levels, the Angry Birds, and a few real angry birds (Northern Cardinal, Canada Goose, and Blue Jay).

After sharing the book, it was time to play a life size version of the game. I had been saving flat pieces of cardboard for months and had a plethora of paper towel roll tubes from past crafts. We used wadded up sheets of green paper as pigs. Our projectiles were rubber ducks, small bouncy balls, Ping-Pong balls, and practice golf balls.

Depending on the number of kids, they either formed teams or worked individually. I borrowed the idea of levels from Bryce over at Bryce Don't Play. I challenged the kids to build 5 different structures. The first was one level high, the second two, and so on. After successfully building and destroying the five levels, they received the ultimate challenge: to build and destroy the largest structure possible.

Once everyone finished the game, we used an activity sheet from Expressive Monkey to draw our own Angry Birds™. I also had photo props for the kids to ham around with (beaks & eyebrows). I found the patterns on The Party Animal Blog.

To end the event, we had snacks (Angry Bird fruit snacks, Angry Bird Cheese Nips, and Kool-Aid), I gave out packets of Angry Bird Coloring sheets, and the kids could check out books from a Nonfiction bird book display.

 

 

I did this event twice this spring. A total of 32 kids and 26 adults attended. I'll definitely be using this event again in the future.

Cinderella Around the World Event

Ever since I saw the idea for a Cinderella Around the World Event in the 2011 CSLP Manual (One World, Many Stories), I knew I wanted to host such an event. But 2011 was my first year doing a summer reading program and I just did the weekly events without any extra events.

Finally in the spring of this year, I was able to plan and host my own Cinderella Around the World Event. This event was for girls ages 7-12. I had 10 girls and 8 adults including me attend.

I began with a Mix & Match Cinderella on the flannel board. Thanks again to Melissa Depper for sharing her idea with me. This was an easy, visual way to explore the many versions of Cinderella from around the world. The age of the girls attended skewed a little younger than I was expecting. As such, they only wanted to use the pieces they were familiar with (pots & pans, fairy godmother, glass slipper, and pumpkin coach).

After that I read Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleischman and shared the poem "Cinderella's Double Life" from Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by mArilyn Singer.

We then moved on the craft portion of the program. I recycled a few ideas from my previous Fancy Nancy parties. The girls made necklaces and fancy ponytail holders so we would be ready for the ball. They also colored/decorated their very own glass slippers.

Then they did tangram puzzles. This was a nod to the Chinese Cinderella and from the book Teaching with Cinderella Stories from Around the World by Kathleen M. Hollenbeck.

 

We played Pin the Jewel on the Crown and the girls posed with some photo props (wand, clock, and crown). We had refreshments and gave gave away door prizes (Disney Princesses jigsaw puzzles).

 

I had a display of Cinderella Versions and Variants (with book list) and country books.

 

A few activities we didn't have time for were a Cinderella Mad-Lib I found on PUBYAC and the ball gown wrap (Use toilet paper and/or crepe paper to make someone a ball gown.)

 

I'd like to do another event similar to this, but open it up to other fairy tales. I hope you enjoyed my reflection. If you have any ideas to share, please leave them in the comments. 

Summer Reading Week 6

This week I had 21 events with a total attendance of 416.  Day camp groups were back in session this week.

Here's a breakdown of the week:

• 5 community story times
• 4 community school age events
• 1 day camp story time
• 9 day camp school age events
• 2 movies

This week the story time theme was Underground Insects. I really liked reading One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes. The kids really liked marching around the room with "The Ants Go Marching" playing. The school age event theme was Insects Underground. The games suggested by the CSLP manual (Ant Toss & Longest Worm Relay) were a hit. I substituted black rocks for plastic ants.

Next week, I have 22 events. These include my 1st Alice in Wonderland Event for ages 7-12, a teen movie night, and 2 performances by a comedian/juggler.

#FlannelFriday: Five Dinosaurs

Patterns came from Mel's Desk. I used the rhyme in the Dig Into Reading manual "Five Enormous Dinosaurs." Before using the rhyme, I had the kids identify the dinosaurs and their colors.