Tape Town!

Tape Town was AWESOMEEEEE. It's a lot to write about--SO many details--but here's my attempt to cover at least most of it.

I got the idea for Tape Town from a children's librarian's Facebook group that I'm in. Someone in that group did a program, also called Tape Town, that was really a totally different thing (it was more like a mini town made of toy things like matchbox cars and blocks, connected by tape roads). Here is the lesson plan that that librarian shared. Again, it's totally a different thing but it's what inspired OUR version of Tape Town.

Anyway, it was clear from the other librarian's lesson plan that this was going to be a two-librarian program, so I immediately recruited some assistance. Jen and I gathered ideas for our version of Tape Town for a month or so leading up to the program. The plan was that we'd have five different "places" to visit in a "town" connected by and made of masking tape roads, then have the kids get from place to place by scooter (which, conveniently, we already had!).

First, I'll share some pictures of the room. It took Jen and me FIVE solid hours to set this whole thing up. Making the tape roads around the room was super labor-intensive (and actually sort of complicated until I got in the swing of it). If you are planning to do this (and especially if, like us, the room you're using is carpeted) DO NOT WEAR A DRESS TO SET IT UP. I repeat, DO NOT WEAR A DRESS TO SET IT UP. I wore a dress and I regretted it immediately. I had rug-burned knees after literally minutes of crawling around and wound up scooting instead to alleviate this pain. But scooting on a scooter totally goes against everything I know about "dress etiquette" and I was just so uncomfortable the whole night from holding my body in ways I wouldn't normally hold my body. It was so dumb. It could have been easily avoided if I'd just worn pants instead. So learn from me. WEAR PANTS. And better yet, wear THICK pants.

Anyway, here are some room pics:

Now I'll discuss each of the five places that the kids could visit (in no particular order):

------ The Veterinarian ------

The Vet's station was made out of a rocking boat like this that we use for our Parent Child Workshop program. We turned the boat on its side and it immediately looked like a front desk! We marked the area around it off with tape and added the following:

• An assortment of pet stuffed animals
• Two doctor kits (this one from Amazon for $10 each!)
• Ace bandages
• A vet costume that Jen had at home (but it's available here on LakeShore Learning)
• A table and our coat rack covered with white, plastic table covering
• Some signage

------ HPL Cafe (The Restaurant) ------

We used the stage area of the auditorium for our restaurant and it worked out perfectly. We had plaid bunting flags (these from Oriental Trading) tied from one side of the stage to the other and they marked the area off really nicely. They really separated the restaurant off from the rest of the room and it actually felt kind of intimate! For the restaurant we used: 

• 2 cafe tables with 2 chairs each
• A book cart for keeping things somewhat together and organized
• These bunting flags from Oriental Trading
• A ton of play food that we had for Parent Child Workshop
• Picnic plates (these from Oriental Trading) and plastic cups and utensils
• Some other misc. plates and things
• Menus that Jen made by making fake meals out of the play food and taking pictures
• A chef costume that Jen had at home (but it's available here on Lakeshore Learning)
• A hostess station which was just a music stand turned flat with napkins and a pitcher on it
• Flameless candles (I had these at home)
• Some signage

------ The Post Office ------

This was what we were calling our "least exciting" station because (1) we had the last amount of stuff for it, (2) we decided that kids don't even go to the post office that much anymore, and (3) it just LOOKED the least exciting. But surprise! The kids totally loved it! Here's what we had out on the table:

• Large-size index cards for postcard/letter writing
• Envelopes
• Pencils
• Pretend stamps (these from Oriental Trading)
• A postal worker costume that Jen had at home (similar to this one on Lakeshore Learning)
• This mailbox from Melissa and Doug (but we don't have any of the other pieces seen in the link!)
• Sme signage

------ The Library ------

What library's Tape Town would be complete with a mini local library? We borrowed some furniture from our actual children's department (thanks to our maintenance department for doing all the heavy lifting here) and it wound up looking really cute and cozy. While at the Tape Town Library, the kids could sit and read a book, decorate a bookmark, or decorate their own pretend library card. Here's what we used (besides our borrowed furniture):

• These Magic Color Scratch Bookmarks from Oriental Trading
• Index cards (for bookmarks)
• Crayons
• One of our actual library stamps (that we'd use to stamp flyers or giveaway bookmarks)
• A bunch of picture books and board books
• Some signage

------ The Grocery Store ------

The kids loved this stop in our town and I think if I were a kid, I'd be loving it too. We set it up in sort of a squared off "U" shape so that the kids would be in the middle with the food to buy on two sides of them and the check out area on the third. Besides book carts, a stool, a piano bench, and a cardboard box, we used:

• A little puppet theater stage turned around to be a produce stand (This is an old toy from Parent Child Workshop similar to this one.)
• A ton of play food that we had for Parent Child Workshop
• Shopping baskets
• Old, emptied food packages (pasta boxes, cereal boxes, etc.)
• Two of these cardboard cash registers with play money
• Reusable shopping bags
• A roll of black plastic table covering on the piano bench meant to make it look like a conveyor belt
• Some signage

Like I said, this program was SO awesome. Rather than my usual "What worked least" and "What worked best" wrap-up, here are just some general notes on the program (I guess I'm really in a listy mood today):

• The scooters were fun but weren't an integral part of the program. And actually, same goes for all the tape! It looked cool; it added a little more fun; but the real shining star of this program were the 5 different places we had set up. Half the time the kids just walked from one place to another and forgot about their scooters anyway. And, because we only had 6 scooters, we limited the program to 6 kids per session. BUT if we did "Mini Town" instead of "Tape Town" and took that whole element out, we could probably have more kids per session. And also, we could also probably fit a whole additional place in the middle of the room (school? car wash?) since we wouldn't need all that road/floor space for the traveling. But then again, the scooters and the tape roads really make the room look super fun. And they also make this program extra different from others. So... it's a thought.. something to mull over.
• Just a general reminder that this program took five hours to set up. And it was exhausting. And the program itself was exhausting too. But man, it was SUCH a hit. The kids and parents loved it. One mom was even inspired to comment that she loves the library and that it feels like a little family when she comes here. We like to hear things like that!
• IN SHORT, THIS WAS SUPER FUN AND WE HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN AND WE LOVED IT.

Construction and Building Competition

For the past three Julys, my coworker, Corinna, and I have planned a fun, Summer Reading Club-themed competition at our branch library. Two years ago we hosted Super Hero Training Camp; last year we hosted Olympic Training Camp. And this year, we did a Construction and Building Competition. They have all be SO MUCH FUN. (But I am already racking my brain for activities to accommodate next year's music-theme and coming up completely empty).

To start, we gave each kid a hard* hat that was labeled "Construction and Building Competition" on the front and had their name written on the back, which, to be silly, I wrote as their first initial and their last name (ie: S. Jones).

*Hat was not actually hard at all.

We sat them all down and talked to them about things like how Corinna and I were the "site managers" and how they had to follow our rules in their construction projects. Then it was time to begin the activities, which went as follows:

Marshmallow Towers

The goal of "Marshmallow Towers" was to create the most aesthetically pleasing marshmallow-and-toothpick creation possible. It didn't have to be big. It didn't have to be strong. It just had to look pretty. We gave them 10-minutes, and off they went. When the time was up, we had to declare a winner. Corinna and I knew for sure that we wanted one winner and no "loser." We also knew that we didn't want to be the decision-makers. So we had the kids come up to us one at a time, whisper their favorite (other then their own) in our ear so nobody could hear, and then calculated the results. Luckily, there wound up being a clear winner.

Bridge Building

Split into two teams (Boys vs girls, naturally), the goal of Bridge Building was to make a bridge between two tables that supported the most weight. It didn't matter how ugly or pretty it was-- it just had to be strong. We gave the kids 15-minutes for this one (they kept asking for more and more time!) and had them use piles of popsicle sticks (both the thin kind and the thick kind), masking tape, and sticky putty (this kind).

They did a great job and I was surprised how much weight the two bridges were able to bear. Once their time was (finally) up, we tested the bridges--first with one rock, then with two rocks, then with a whole pound of rocks. Although the 1 lb bag had to be place strategically on the strongest part of the boys bridge, both bridges were able to hold an entire pound of rocks! How exciting! Then we tried two pounds and, of course, both bridges broke. So it was a tie!

I got the idea for this contest from The Ardent Teacher.

Human Bridge Tester

The wood plank and baby pool, in some form or another, have become summer competition staples. Two years ago, in Super Hero Training Camp, we dyed the pool water red, called it a lava pit, and had the kids cross over the pit on the plank. Last year, in Olympic Training Camp, we had the kids run through  the pool as the "swimming" portion of our "triathlon" and used the plank as a balance beam. But this year was the easiest! We filled the baby pool with water, put the plank of wood over it (attached with duct tape to two stools), called it a bridge, and had the kids "test" it by walking across it and making a silly pose/face in the middle. There was no judging or winning for this event; it was just for fun.

Ultimate Oreo

The goal of Ultimate Oreo was to build the tallest Oreo cookie possible in 5-minutes. I found this game on Stumingamescom, but decided to have the kids work individually instead of as teams. Using nothing but a bunch of Oreos and a plastic knife, they had to make the tallest, craziest, most ultimate Oreo cookie possible. They needed to have one cookie on the bottom, as much frosting as possible in the middle, and one more cookie on top. Then, after 5-minutes, we stacked the "ultimate cookies" up next to each other to see who'd made the tallest one. This was what it looked like:

Spoon & Block Catapults

This was a catapult building contest that involved wooden blocks, plastic spoons, rubber bands, and  ping-pong balls. The kids had to band the spoons to the blocks, then use that to catapult ping-pong balls across the room. Initially, this was a contest to see who could get theirs to soar the farthest, but it quickly just became noncompetitive catapulting. In fact, it became more of a cooperative game, as the kids were encouraging and helping each other! Great to see!

Cookie Head Tower

After lots of Googling for ideas, this was the last game that I found, here. Again in teams (and again, boys vs girls), the kids had to choose one member from each team to be the "cookie balancer" (ideally, this is the person who can lie on the floor the most still and not laugh). Then the other two members of the each team had 2-minutes to stack Chips Ahoy on the cookie balancer's head, as high as possible. If the cookies fell, they had to start over. The boys definitely giggled less, but in the end, once both towers had fallen and been rebuilt several times, the girls squeaked by--2 cookies to 0 cookies. Mostly though, this was just about having fun and giggling.

Tower Destroying

As a "reward for all their hard work," this final activity gave the kids a chance to destroy something instead of build something. Except the irony here is that, after the tower was destroyed once, the kids were all excited to rebuild it for the next person in line. Again, cooperation and helping each other were big themes here!

At the end of the hour, we gave the kids certificates, took a group photo, and let them snack on some (clean) Oreo and Chips Ahoy cookies.

What worked least: I think this may have been the last year for our wood plank. While everything worked out totally fine, the Human Bridge Tester activity gave me a bad case of wood-breaking anxiety. Our wood plank had a great, three-year-run, but I am ready to say goodbye to it.

Work worked best: Totally surprisingly, Bridge Building was awesome! It was so satisfying to see the kids work in teams (with other kids they'd never met before) and make bridges that could support a whole pound! And they really enjoyed it much more than I'd expected them to!

Olympic Training Camp

Following the success of last year's Super Hero Training Camp, my coworker, Corinna, and I decided to do a similar program to correspond with this year's reading club theme (as well as the upcoming Olympic games). It was SO MUCH fun. Presenting... Olympic Training Camp!

We came up with 9 "Olympic type" events:

1. Passing of the Torch (aka Opening Ceremonies)
2. Balance Beam
3. Hurdles
4. Target Practice
5. Long Jump
6. Super Drill
7. Cross Country Skiing
8. Triathlon
9. Passing Out the Medals and Certificates (aka Closing Ceremonies)

While it got a little wild in the room (what can you really expect?), it was a total success. The kid's LOVED this stuff!

First, we gave each kid a score sheet, downloadable here, so we could have them all keep track of their progress. (Even though we gave them all 10's for everything that required judgement and scores like "green" and "orange" for things that required actual aim or agility.) I think the kids may have caught on to the fact that the score sheets were sort of bogus, but they were a fun way to keep track of the events anyway. Plus, I think they contributed to making it feel slightly more like a competition.

Here are more details on each event:

Passing of the Torch

First, we explained the details of the (real Olympic) opening ceremonies a bit to the group. Then we had them run a relay around the room with our homemade Olympic Torch. They got in a line, then one at a time, ran around the perimeter of the room, passing the torch to the next kid as they returned to the start. They got silly and started tossing the torch and we all giggled about throwing fire. Ah, making light of fire... good times, good times.

Here's a close up of the awesome torch we had, thanks to our super-artistic page:

It's made from two toilet paper rolls taped together and construction paper. I really can't comment any further on the making of the torch as our page is more or less a craft wizard.

Balance Beam

Our first "real" event was the balance beam, made from a wood beam taped on each end to a stool. It was kinda wide and really didn't require much balancing skill. In fact, it was the same beam we used last year for our Lava Pit Crossing so, to make things slightly less boring, we told the kids to do a pose when they got to the middle of the beam, and that it was that pose, not their ability to walk across, that they'd be scored on (a 10, of course). This was fun, but I think the kids felt sort of silly doing it. Also, they were all a little nervous about the beam breaking under them--rightly so, probably, though all was fine.

Hurdles

Visually, I think the hurdles were one of the highlights of the program. They just looked irresistible. Look at them set up in all their lime green glory:

They were made with pool noodles, these traffic cones from Oriental Trading, and a fair amount of duct tape. In fact, not only were the noodles duct taped to the cones, but the cones were also duct taped to the floors. We alternated high and low to keep it challenging, but not too challenging.

We let the kids get across however they wanted, either over or under, and we timed them. Then we had them write their times on their score sheets. It was fun and there was justttt the right amount of competition.

Target Practice

This was an easy one for us because we already owned this game from past events. In fact, did you know that both Super Heroes and Olympians train using the same target for practice? True story. The Tar Grip Toss Game is from S&S and can be purchased here.

This was one of the events where we had the kids write a color on their score sheets. I think every one of them scored either "red" or "orange." It was very scientific.

Long Jump

This was the other event where the kids wrote colors on their score sheets. The Long Jump was fun, basically free, only took a few minutes to set up, and was well-liked! Score! We simply used masking tape to make lines (somewhat arbitrarily) on the floor and bam--the Long Jump was born!

Super Drill

The Super Drill was our take on football's Tire Drill and a repeat event from last year. We used pool noodles taped into circles instead of tires so there'd be less height to leap and less chance of injury (also, um, they're cheaper). The kids enjoyed hopping through the circles in different ways, and this year there was an added challenge: the pool noodles weren't all taped to each other. So, as the kids went, some of the noodles sort of shifted or lifted up around them. Lots of giggles! Everyone gets a 10!

Cross Country Skiing

I got the idea for Cross Country Skiing from Mrs. Bretz Music Room blog. I needed one more event and, when I saw this, I knew it was the one. Of course, we changed it a little. I made a bunch of skis pretty easily from oaktag and, once we were in the program, we decided to up the competition and have the kids go two at a time and race each other.

So two raced, then everyone kept racing the winner until we had an overall champion. Here is where everyone's competitive spirits really came out! They had to get across the room, touch the wall, and have both their skis still under their feet--the last proving to be the biggest challenge for these eager beavers. It was a fierce competition and there was even cheering from the sidelines!

Triathlon

Running, biking, and swimming. Those were the events of the triathlon--the last event of the program. First, we had the kids run in place for one minute. Next, we had them get onto their backs and do the bicycle (as seen above) for one minute. Then last, it was time for swimming.

The kids had been eyeing the pool from the second they walked in the room, yet when the time finally came time to use it, everyone was pretty shy and squeamish. We used the kiddie pool that we've had a while. It's the same one we used last year for our Lava Pit Crossing (and used to use for catching rubber ducks at our summer carnival). For the swimming portion of our triathlon, we told the kids to take their shoes off, then walk through the water and also move their arms to pretend that they're swimming. Most of them opted out of the arm part. A few asked if they could leap over the pool (uhhh, no).

This was surprisingly not a huge mess. Here's the event in action:

Passing Out the Medals and Certificates

Upon completion, everyone got one of these medals from Oriental Trading, one of the certificates seen above (both designed and signed by yours truly), a water bottle, and a hearty handshake. Then we took the group picture seen at the top of these post and sent them all on their merry ways! Overall, an absolute success!

What worked least: The overall level of chaos in the room grew and grew throughout the hour, coming to head just before it was time to send the kids home. It was annoying, but also, it's irrational to expect a group of kids this age to be completely calm and quiet when presented with a room of obstacles like pool noodle hurdles, the long jump, and a kiddie pool filled with water. So while it was a little crazier than ideal, it was totally fine. Really, they were pretty good kids.

What worked best: The hurdles and the long jump were probably the two most successful events of the day. Not only were they really visually appealing, but they were the most fun too!

Click here to view all the pictures from this program!