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!  

Beanie Baby Adoption Zone!

Last year, we stopped giving physical prizes (aside from books and gift certificates) during SRP.  Naturally, we were left with a closet full of loot.  One of the treasures in the closet was a tub brimming with Beanie Babies.  Of course, we had no choice but to offer a Beanie Baby Adoption Zone program. 

The set-up: I made simple adoption certificates with spaces for participants to fill in their names and their new pets' names.  I also made "My Pet" sheets, with space for a drawing of the new pet and spaces to write interesting tidbits about the pet, such as favorite foods.  We provided pencils and crayons, as well as pipe cleaners and pony beads for making collars.  I gathered up a bunch of pet-themed books and had those on display.  The Beanie Babies themselves were spread out on our long window ledge in the Storytime Room.  We hung a fabric curtain in the room for our portrait studio corner. 

The structure: We had participants sign up for one of three half-hour sessions on a Saturday afternoon.  Each session was limited to 15 children, and we didn't have to turn anyone away.  This program was open to ages 5 and up, and our oldest participant was 12.  We started with a read-aloud of "Let's Get a Pup!" said Kate by Bob Graham.  Then each child got to choose a Beanie Baby (I called letters of the alphabet, and kids with corresponding first letters of first names got to choose; we had about 5 kids choosing at any given time, so it went quickly).  Then kids had time to fill out their adoption certificates and "My Pet" sheets, make collars, and visit the portrait studio to pose for family photos. 

The verdict:  This was a really fun way to use up some supplies we had on hand!  Once everything was set up, the program itself was very smooth to run. 

Read It and Eat Book Club: Spy School

Read It and Eat is our monthly book club for 'tweens.  Read more about Read It and Eat here! 

What We Read: Spy School by Stuart Gibbs

What We Did: While the kids ate, we discussed the book.  Then we created our own secret agent ID cards, took turns trying out a laser beam obstacle, and got silly with a disguise relay.  For the relay, we split into two teams, and each team had a pile of disguise elements, such as a hat, a pair of costume glasses, a wig, a bow tie, etc.  I set up cones at one end of the room, and kids took turns putting on all of their team's costume elements, running around the cone and back to the start line, and handing the costume off to the next person. 

Highlight: The relay was a huge winner!  We could have done this all night and the kids would have been thrilled.  I was a good reminder that kids sit most of the day in school, and they like to move around! 

DIY Travel Games

Last Saturday, we hosted a DIY Travel Games program for 'tweens.  The event was an hour long, and we limited registration to 15 participants because we needed some special supplies (and because some of the projects involved detailed instructions/small pieces).  We ended up with 13 plus several adults who stayed to help their children. 

We created these projects:

Altoid Tin Tic-Tac-Toe

Velcro Shape Sticks  (We covered our sticks with patterned duct tape before adding the Velcro; each person made a set of seven sticks, and even though this craft is geared toward younger kids, the 'tweens loved them!)

Bubble Wrap BINGO


What worked well:
Having a few adults stay helped a lot!  Also, the one-hour time frame was perfect (a lot of our programs are 45 minutes, but that wouldn't have been enough time). 

Notes for next time:
In the middle of the Tic-Tac-Toe project, I realized that I could have made my life a lot easier by purchasing two different colors of glass marbles and self-adhesive magnets, like the ones at American Button Machines.  This would have eliminated the need to cut out all kinds of little circles of scrapbook paper and glue them onto magnets/marbles. 

I would be tempted to provide small stickers next time, too, for the Bubble Wrap BINGO.  This way, kids wouldn't need to draw pictures or write words or letters under each bubble.  Another option would be to use smaller paper (we used 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock), which would mean fewer bubbles. 

If we had had more time, it would have been fun to decorate bags or carrying cases for the travel games!

Star Wars Origami

Over the weekend (on May 4th, of course!), we offered Star Wars Origami for all ages.  This wasn't the first time we've offered this program, but it was the first time I've really felt like it went smoothly.  We had 64 people come through during the one-hour program (mostly school-age boys... a lot of grown-ups stayed, too, thankfully!); here's how we organized it:

• We advertised the program for all ages, and we included "drop in anytime" in the event listing so that patrons would know they didn't need to arrive at the very beginning or stay the entire time. 
• I set up a table with the following supplies, in this order, along with copies of Tom Angleberger's Origami Yoda books:
• Photocopies of the instructions for the Universal Puppet, C3-PO, R2-D2, and Yoda (all based on the Universal Puppet, all from Tom Angleberger's books)
• Photocopies of the instructions for the 5-fold Yoda and the Lightsaber, also from Tom Angleberger's books
• 8 1/2 x 11 paper in green (for Yoda), yellow (for C3-PO), and white.  The patterns we used all call for rectangular paper, which is really handy. 
• Crayons, colored pencils, and magic markers for adding details
• I set up an additional table with the following supplies:
• Star Wars stickers
• A very special R2-D2 stamp and an ink pad
• Drawing paper and colored pencils, crayons, and magic markers
• Copies of Star Wars Thumb Doodles, Star Wars Origami, Star Wars Folded Flyers, You Can Draw Star Wars, The Star Wars Craft Book, and Star Wars Mad Libs

Patrons came in and as I greeted them, I pointed out the items on tables and suggested that they start with the Universal Puppet.  The vast majority of participants stuck with the Universal Puppet and the creations that can be built off of that model, as well as the 5-fold Yoda and the Lightsaber.  A few ambitious souls tried some of the projects in the books on the second table.  Younger kids loved having the Thumb Doodles, and the Mad Libs were great for kids who needed something other than origami to keep them busy.  The stickers and R2-D2 stamp provided extra flair for anything and everything! 

The best part: all of our materials are safely packed away in one tub, ready to be pulled out for a future Star Wars Origami event! 

Rainbow Loom Fans Unite!

Toward the beginning of January, we hosted a Rainbow Loom Fans Unite! program.  This event was open to ages 7 and up, and participants were welcome to bring their own supplies.  The library had five looms (which was plenty) and a variety of colors of bands (which we ended up not really needing) available.  Kids and families came and went as they pleased for an hour, many staying the entire time.  We didn't ask for sign-up.  I brought our library's three iPads to the program, and participants used them to access online video tutorials. 

What worked well:
In the promotional materials for this program, I included this line: "No formal instruction will be provided."  This went a loooong way in letting families know that this was not a class; it was a drop-in event that would give Rainbow Loom enthusiasts a chance to create together and share their skills. 

Because we purchased looms and bands for this program, we'll be able to easily repeat it in the future with no monetary investment.  Unless, of course, we want to buy some of the fancy bands (tie-dyed, scented, or camo, anyone?).

What could have been better:
In retrospect, I should have scheduled this event a little bit later in the year.  We had several attendees who had received looms as holiday gifts, and some of them (with their frustrated parents) came to the event hoping to "crack the code" and learn how to turn unsuspecting rubber bands into wearable art.  I was able to help these families make basic bracelets, and other attendees were more than willing to lend a hand, too, but if they had had a few more weeks to try out the looms on their own, they might have had more independent success. 

Read It and Eat Book Club: The 13-Story Treehouse

Read It and Eat is our monthly book club for 'tweens.  Read more about Read It and Eat here!

What We Read: The 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

What We Did: While the kids ate, we discussed the book.  Then we broke into groups of 4-5 people each, and we completed the marshmallow challenge.  This challenge fit well with the book because of the building element, and because the book features a marshmallow machine. 

Highlights:
The kids were happy as clams working in groups on the marshmallow challenge!  Bonus: it was easy and cheap to prepare. 

I would totally, totally recommend this activity for a book club!  The book was a good one, too; it was a quick read with lots of pictures and tons of silliness, and we had a great discussion about which genre it might be considered.