Polar Express Pajama Storytime

In my last blog post (written 5-minutes ago) I mentioned how I have fallen way too far behind on my blog posts lately. The holidays, lots of days off, and Winter Reading Club planning got me bad this year-- typical December! My goal is to write TWO posts in ONE day and this is the second of these posts. With that said, just like with my last blog post, this one might seem terse (or have lots of weird-yet-entertaining type-os), but here it is! Post #2 of the day: my Polar Express Pajama Storytime, held at our branch library.

This program, for all ages, was super fun and a repeat (although modified a little) of my 2015 Polar Express PJ Storytime (held at our Main library).

Before the kids entered the room, they each got two things: a round trip tickets to ride on the Polar Express (These found on Keepin' It Kool in Kinderland, except I resized them to be a little bit larger) and a candy cane glow stick (just for fun!).  Then, when they got in, I had everyone sit in the back of the room, so I could read them the story. Two things to note about this:

1. I tried SO HARD to use my e-book copy of The Polar Express. I wanted to have the lights out and the kids relaxed, gazing up at the pictures projected on the wall as I read the words. This is what I did back in 2015 and it really worked great! At our branch library, where this year's version was held, we got a Smart TV and I thought it would be perfect for creating the magical, Polar Express-y atmosphere I wanted... except I totally failed at using it.  I had it all perfectly set up and blu-toothed (?) but after I got back from my dinner break, I just couldn't, for the life of me, get all the required devices to be friends with each other again. They must have gotten in a fight while I was eating my apple! Anyway, with 10-minutes to spare before the start of the program, I gave up and decided to read the good ol' fashioned book. While it may have been a little less cool and a little less magical, it worked anyway. I guess when you're dealing with Chris Van Allsburg, the book is enough by itself!

2. I always have anxiety about reading longer titles to kids. I imagine them getting antsy and bored and not paying attention. The Polar Express is one of the few "long books" that I ever read out loud, but this amazing group totally made it fun! They were SO into it-- even filled in catchy phrases like "Why, to the North Pole of course!" and "The first gift of Christmas!" It wound up being so cute and interactive! Definitely nobody got bored!

I had two crafts for them:

The first was a sort of make-your-own-Polar-Express that included lots and lots of assorted Ellison Die Cut train pieces with white paper, crayons, and glue sticks. The second craft was quick but pretty: Big silver bells to string on red ribbon along with a "Believe" charm from Oriental Trading so families could make and take home their own bell like the one from Santa's sleigh.

I also made a little hot chocolate bar! It had hot chocolate (obviously), marshmallows, candy canes, whipped cream, and fun Santa cups!

What worked least: Me taking pictures! The program was great but I totally dropped the ball on picture-taking, which is very unusual for me! The hot chocolate bar, the bell craft, and (apart from what you can sort of see in the first picture) the tickets and glow sticks are totally not pictured at all! This is so unlike me and I'm kind of mad about it! The program though-- it was great.

What worked best: The book! Go figure! It was "long" and I didn't use the Smart TV and yet, still, it wound up being the best part of the program. I guess you just never know!

Polar Express PJ Storytime

Inspired by last year's post from my good friend, Book Girl Nadine, this past Thursday night I finally got to host my own version of a Polar Express Pajama Story Time! I was SUPER excited about it-- bought my supplies about 5 months in advance, and set the program room up about 3 hours ahead of time. I even brought slippers in to work, despite the fact that I intensely dislike dressing up in a costume of any kind. 

Anyway, by a few minutes before program time, here's what I'd prepared:

1. The things you get when you check in: round trip tickets to ride on the Polar Express (These found on Keepin' It Kool in Kinderland, except I resized them to be a little bit larger) and candy cane glow sticks so the kids could (a) get something cool immediately and (b) walk into the dark room safely (even though it totally wasn't very dark at all).

2. I quickly made masking tape train tracks to follow into the room. I stole this idea from The Gala Girls Polar Express Party, but I definitely didn't remember it correctly because the version that I made was lot less cool. But it didn't matter. The tracks were still fun for everyone to follow into the room and only took a few minutes to make.

3. The craft stuff: Lots of assorted Ellison Die Cut train pieces, Jumbo 2" bells, glue sticks, large white construction paper, crayons, red velvet ribbon (pre-cut into strips), thin twine-like yarn, and "Believe" charms from Oriental Trading (hiding in that Dixie cup seen above).

4. I made a little hot chocolate bar! It had hot chocolate (obviously), a big plate of marshmallows, cinnamon sticks (which one boy ate straight up!), mini candy canes, spoons, a small plate of Christmas Tootsie Rolls (confession: I brought these in from home because I had a million and was trying to get rid of them), and water bottles.

Tickets, please!

Another thing I was super excited about was reading The Polar Express with both the book and the ebook! I had the kids sit on the floor, like I would in a regular storytime, but then, in addition to having the hard copy of the book with me, I had the ebook projected on the wall, nice and big so everyone could see the illustrations really well. This created such a mood!

To me, The Polar Express is at least 65% about the pictures. I had this vision of the kids relaxing in their PJs in the quasi-dark room, staring up at the pictures from the book as I read the words to them. And that kind of worked! Many of the kids still looked at me, despite the fact that I tried to draw their attention to the projected book repeatedly. But a few of the kids got the idea; one boy even lay on his back staring up at the ebook as I read! But either way--the darkish room, the classic story, the kids in PJs, the candy cane glow sticks... it was an atmospheric night! I think (I hope, anyway) that it was the kind of night Chris Van Allsburg would approve of.

After the story, it was time to move on to hot chocolate and crafting. The kids were super well-mannered as they waited in line at the hot chocolate bar. I poured them each a small amount of hot chocolate in a Christmas hot cup (which I pre-made with Swiss Miss packets and hot water, then let cool for about 45 minutes in a hot carafe meant for the Keurig). After they got their cup, they walked down the line of "toppings" and customized their drink. Basically though, they all took everything. Despite this, to say I overbought stuff would be an understatement. We had quite a bit of leftovers (I guess I'll be making marshmallow igloos in Books n Play for Pre-K this week).

Once everyone was settled with their beverage, it was time for crafting. If you haven't already guessed, the kids made 1. A fancy sleigh bell (a craft more about the product) and 2. A train scene (a craft more about the process).

The bell was a cool, "The First Gift of Christmas" type bell made with Jumbo 2" bells, red velvet ribbon (which I pre-cut into strips), thin, twine-like yarn, and "Believe" charms from Oriental Trading.

This was super easy and quick. The kids strung the big bells through the velvet string and tied a knot at the top (most with help from me or their parents). Then, I had them string the tiny "Believe" charms on a piece of super thin, kind of rusticy-looking yarn, and then tie that string through the big bell too. Voila! Like I said, this was a quick craft with a nice looking finished product.

Next, the kids made train scenes. I told them they could create their own Polar Express, or any other kind of train they wanted and had about a billion pre-cut Ellison Die Cut train pieces for them to pick through. Coupled with white paper, glue, and crayons, they were set and able to be creative. Here are some of the finished products:

What worked least: It was all really great! One thing that didn't go exactly as I'd planned (but still worked) was that the kids were more into looking at my physical copy of The Polar Express instead of relaxing and gazing up at the ebook projected above them. Had I planned on this happening, I may have ditched the ebook altogether and just turned on the lights so they could see the book better. But also, then the candy cane glow sticks would be pointless and the whole vibe of the room would have been different. So really, I'm not even 100% sure I'd have changed anything at all.

What worked best: They LOVED those silly tickets! It's always so funny when something so simple is the highlight of the program, but in this case, the tickets totally made it! Go figure!

Anyway, happy everything to everyone! May 2016 bring us all luck, love, and happiness. ❤