I ♥ Babymouse Party

We had a party to celebrate our love for Babymouse!  The event was one hour long and open to grades 1-7, and we asked participants to register so that we could be sure to have plenty of supplies.  At the beginning of the program, we talked briefly about the book series and I introduced the activity stations.  For the remainder of the hour, we moved freely between stations.  Everyone had a chance to do every activity, if they wanted to; some decided to focus on one or two activities, repeating them several times.

 Two stations were inspired by Extreme Babymouse:

Pipe Cleaner/Craft Stick Snowboarder

 

Make a Flying Skier (STEAM!)-- 

this activity was very popular, and we found ourselves measuring and trying different configurations in no time. 

 

Cupcake Wrapper Challenge, inspired by Babymouse: Cupcake Tycoon

(use cupcake wrappers and a variety of art supplies to make anything your heart desires... we had flowers, butterflies, necklaces, monsters, and lots more)

  

Make-Your-Own Mouse Ears (of course!)

I provided a template, felt, glue, and scissors, and participants were welcome to add their own creative touches or create something totally different.

After making their ears, Babymouse fans stood in front of the white board to pose with Babymouse herself.  Photo op!

 

We also set out coloring sheets and fill-in graphic novel pages from the Babymouse website.  These were popular during the program, and a lot of attendees took sheets home, too.

One last station was the book display; every last Babymouse book was checked out by the end of the program! 

Garfield Fans Unite!

 On June 19, we celebrated the birthday of everyone's favorite lasagna-loving cat.

 

We had a bean bag toss...

 

 

button-making...

 

 

coloring sheets, a trivia quiz, and fill-in-the blank comic strips...

 as well as party favors (Garfield bookmarks), snacks, Garfield & Friends on the big screen, Garfield books for browsing, and a speed gift-wrapping game. 

 

Our Garfield books are well loved by patrons of all ages, so this event was a natural fit for our library.  It was so popular that I'm considering purchasing a Garfield costume for next year! 

 

I had planned to serve lasagna and cake at this program, but we asked for sign-up so we could find out about food allergies.  Am I ever glad we did that!  Knowing in advance the types of allergies we'd be working with (including tomato, gluten, and dairy) helped me to purchase party-worthy snacks that everyone could enjoy. 

 

Participants were free to choose any combination of activities, in any order, and stay as long as they liked during the 45-minute program.  Having a self-serve structure helped eliminate waiting in line for one-person-at-a-time stations (like button making and the gift wrap game); there were plenty of things to do, and everyone had the chance to try every activity, if they chose to do so. 

 

The gift wrap game was surprisingly delightful.  I bought several rolls of birthday-themed gift wrap on clearance at Target, and I brought in two small boxes and a Garfield pin (which I had serendipitously found in a drawer a few days prior to the program).  We started with both boxes wrapped in gift wrap, one of the boxes containing the pin.  I had a volunteer staff the gift wrap game table; she timed kids as they unwrapped both boxes, moved the Garfield pin to the other box, and wrapped both boxes back up.  Simple?  Yep.  But they LOVED it.  I think the fact that we were encouraging them to use gift wrap and Scotch tape with abandon helped a lot. 

 

The button-maker was, as always, a hit.  I purchased a one-inch American Button Machine personally six years ago, and it has been a fabulous investment.  I highly recommend them!  We had a volunteer at our button station, and he helped each participant choose a Garfield or Odie graphic and transform it into a piece of wearable bling. 

 

Many happy returns of the day to Garfield!