That Blue Dog Party

Pop Culture events are guaranteed to draw crowds. This past spring I finally hosted my own blue dog party--an homage to the ever popular Australian cartoon. 

I knew attendance would be large so I had to design this event differently. I planned stations to be placed in the meeting room and children's section of each library. Ideally, the parents and kids would flow from one area to another. 

I found a lot of inspiration in librarian Facebook groups and from the official website. 

Here are the stations: 

Grannies Photo Booth 

Zoo

Bus

Keepy Uppy

Coloring & Headbands 

Scavenger Hunts (Long Dog and Gnomes 

Storytime: I read one story from Bluey Awesome Storybook Collection (Mum School, The Pool, Grannies, Bob Bilby, Charades, and Camping). 

Door Prizes: Wooden Gnomes to Paint 

I hosted four parties with a total attendance of 305 (about half of that number was children). 

Party Like the Kratts & Cat

I'm the PBS NC Rootle Ambassador for one of the counties I serve. My role is to promote PBS Kids and all the resources it has to offer children and parents. One of the ways I do this is presenting a PBS Kids based program twice a year. 

I used two PBS Kids Shows, Wild Kratts and Nature Cat, to introduce resources on PBS Kids, PBS Kids for Parents, and PBS Learning Media as well as showcase nonfiction books about animals. 

The event started with watching some clips from the shows. 

Wild Kratts

• Activate Turkey Power 
• Who Are You Calling Turkey?
• Secret Turkey Lurk
• The Awesome Possum 
• Opossum Powers

Nature Cat 

• Squirreling Away Food Part 1
• Squirreling Away Food Part 2

After watching the clips, I shared a few books. 

• I See a Kookaburra: Discovering Animal Habitats Around the World by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
• Creature Features: 25 Animals Explain Why They Look the Way They Do by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page (Use masks)
• What’s Your Favorite Animal? by Eric Carle & Friends

Then the kids made animal tracks using toothpicks and Play-Doh. The idea came from PBS Kids for Parents. I provided Nature Cat's Animal Track Match printable and some books (Wild Tracks!: A Guide to Nature’s Footprints by Jim Arnosky, Crinkleroot’s Book of Animal Tracking by Jim Arnosky, Crinkleroot’s Book of Animal Tracks and Wildlife Signs by Jim Arnosky) to give them ideas. 

We ended with a scavenger hunt: Wild Kratts and Nature Cat characters. 

And I had 3 activity packets for the kids as well as a Rootle on the Go sheet for parents so they wouldn't forget all the resources I shared. 

Wild Kratts

• Let’s Talk & Let’s Do Cards (PBS Learning Media)
• Draw Your Own Creature Power Suit for Chris (PBS Kids for Parents)
• Draw Your Own Creature Power Suit for Martin (PBS Kids for Parents)
• Invent a Creepy Cool Creature for Martin & Chris (PBS Kids for Parents)
• Creature Tracker (PBS Learning Media)
• My Creature Adventure (PBS Kids for Parents)

Nature Cat

• Let’s Talk & Let’s Do Cards (PBS Learning Media)
• Nature Cat Coloring Sheet (PBS Kids for Parents)
• Nature Cat Storytelling Puppets (PBS Learning Media)
• Makin’ Tracks with Crayons (PBS Kids for Parents)
• Make Leaf and Bark Rubbings (PBS Kids for Parents)
• Track Your Daily Weather (PBS Kids for Parents)

Steve Jenkins

• What’s Your Favorite Animal? Activity Page
• Where Does Your Favorite Animal Live? Activity Page
• What Does Your Favorite Animal Like to Eat? Activity Page
• Creature Features Activity Page

Holiday Movie Nights 2022 and 2024

 I usually host a Holiday Movie Night as my special event in December. 

The format is simple: a short holiday film, make an ornament, go on a scavenger hunt, and receive a take home activity packet. 

(My library system has a public performance license from Swank.)

In 2022, I showed Olaf's Holiday Adventure. We made beaded jingle bell ornaments and went on an Olaf hunt. The Olaf clipart came from Disneyclips. 

In 2024, we watched Mickey's Christmas Carol, made beaded jingle bell ornaments, and went on a cookie scavenger hunt. 

The clipart for the scavenger hunt came from Teachers Pay Teachers. 

See my other Holiday Movie Night Posts: 

2018

2019

Bruce the Bear Party

Bruce is one of my favorite picture book characters so I decided to host a Bruce the Bear Party in the fall. 

I took inspiration from Annamarie over at Book Cart Queens. I borrowed her craft and scavenger hunt. 

I've stopped reading books first at events like these as latecomers often miss the books altogether. 

We started off with a game that was inspired by Bruce's Big Move and I developed into something I could do in a library meeting room: Frying Pan Ball! 

Supplies needed: 

• Toy Frying Pans (I got mine at Dollar Tree)
• Play Balls 
• Laundry Baskets 

How to Play: 2 kids per laundry basket. They use the frying pan as a racket and try to get their balls in the basket. 

For the book portion of the program we read Mother Bruce and then did a couple of activities. I had a couple of extra books (Bruce's Big Move and Hey, Bruce!) as well as a movement song (If You're Grumpy and You Know It) from Library Village if the kids wanted more books or more activities. 

On the flannel board, the kids took turns looking under eggs. I call this What's In an Egg? 

Then we played Find the Goslings with an egg carton full of plastic eggs. A few of the eggs had yellow pompoms in them to represent the goslings. 

We then moved on to the craft: Mother Bruce Ears & Gosling Craft. Templates were provided by Annamarie over at Book Cart Queens. I just provided scissors, string, and tape. 

Finally It was time for the Find the Goslings Scavenger Hunt. The templates were again provided by Annamarie over at Book Cart Queens. 

After the scavenger hunt, I gave the kids a take home activity packet that consisted of the following: 

• Coloring Page from Bruce's Big Move 
• Coloring Page from Hey, Bruce!
• Hibernating Bear Craft from krokotak
• Mice Craft from krokotak

I would definitely do this again and maybe even use it as a special storytime. 

The Ice Cream Vanishes by Julia Sarcone-Roach

Squirrel can make snacks disappear...or at least he wants to and tries very hard to do so. He is unsuccessful until he discovers the perfect snack--ice cream. With help from his friend Bear and with all the other park animals as an audience, Squirrel is finally going to make a snack vanish. 

Thoughts: Such a fun book! I like how exuberant Squirrel is. The painted, pen and pencil illustrations add a further touch of whimsy to the story. My favorite illustrations are Squirtrel in his "top hat" and the vanished ice cream on Bear's bottom. Pair with Hat Tricks by Satoski Kitamura and Warning! Do Not Touch! by Tim Warnes for a magical storytime. 

Themes: Bears, Squirrels, Magic 

Don't miss these other  books by Julia Sarcone-Roach!

• The Bear Ate Your Sandwich
• There Are No Bears in This Bakery

(Alfred A. Knopf, 2023.)

Out Cold by Ryan T. Higgins

Bruce is back! It's winter in Soggy Hollow and all the animals are enjoying the season...except for Bruce. He's stuck inside with a cold. The mice know just how to cheer him up. 

Thoughts: Bruce is one of my favorite characters and he doesn't disappoint in his latest adventure. Those mice...sheesh! I think they mean well. They're just like a trio of rambunctious toddlers. I look forward to sharing Out Cold in a storytime in January. The illustrations are colorful and detailed. My favorites are always Bruce's expressions. 

Find activity sheets here. 

Themes: Bears, Winter, Bruce, Sniffles 

Don't miss the other Bruce Books! (Links to my reviews.)

Picture Books:

• Mother Bruce
• Hotel Bruce
• Bruce’s Big Move
• Santa Bruce
• Bruce’s Big Storm
• The Bruce Swap
• Hey, Bruce!
• Bruce and the Legend of Soggy Hollow
• Be Quiet

Board Books:

• 1 Grumpy Bruce
• Peek-a-Bruce

Little Bruce Books:

• Spring Stinks
• Thanks for Nothing!
• Beach Bummer (May 7, 2024)

Early Readers:

• Bruce’s Big Fun Day
• Ballet Bruce

(Disney Hyperion, 2023.)

Why Do Elephants Have Big Ears? Questions--and Surprising Answers--About Animals by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

This informative nonfiction book features questions and answers about 19 different animals. 

The animals: camel, bat, aye-aye, zebra, flamingo, spotted skunk, hippo, giraffe, sloth, naked mole rat, giant squid, chameleon, proboscis monkey, red-eyed tree frog, polar bear, wombat, hatchetfish, narwhal, African elephant

Thoughts: If you know me at all, you know that Steve Jenkins and Robin Page are my favorite creators of nonfiction books for children. The cut paper collage illustrations are fascinating and eye-catching. The facts are presented simply. The back matter features more information about each animal as well as a bibliography. Throughout the book, the size of each animal is shown in comparison to average human size. I can't wait to share this new book with first and second grade classrooms. This would pair well with What's Your Favorite Animal? edited by Eric Carle and various animal poetry books like The Beauty of the Beast edited by Jack Prelutsky and National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry edited by J. Patrick Lewis. 

Themes: Animals, Nonfiction, Elementary 

(Little, Brown and Company; Hatchette Book Group, 2023.)