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!

Super Hero Training Camp

This past Saturday, my coworker and I had our Super Hero Training Camp program and it was awesome! While it took a lot of planning, a lot of shopping, and a lot of setting up, it was totally worth it. And although the turnout was smaller than I'd have liked, the kids that did come had a great time. Plus, I think the smaller crew was easier to manage, since a program like this automatically riles everyone up.

In the early planning stages, we started by scouring the internet for different "obstacles" for the kids to do. After lots and lots of Pinteresting, we narrowed it down to a collection of things that seemed both fun and do-able for us. We decided to have eight obstacles in total--mainly, because eight looked neat and pretty on the certificate. We also decided that, as the kids completed each obstacle, they would earn a star sticker in the given spot on their certificate. Here is what that looked like (sans stickers):

The certificates can be downloaded here!

The day-of set up was rough. We wound up only having an hour to do it, which was tight for sure since there were so many things to set out and assemble. But with the two of us plus a super-handy page, we were able to hustle and get the program together quickly.

When the kids came in the room, we started by having them put their names on their certificates. Once they did that, we took the certificates from them and then had them color a super hero mask (punched from the Ellison Die machine) and a name tag that included information like their super hero name and their super hero powers. I found these name tags on Sunflower Storytime.

It should be noted that, from this point forward, I only referred to the kids by their self-appointed super hero names: Ice Girl, Fire Main, Girl in Red, etc.

Here is the crew, about to complete their official super hero training.

And then it was time for... drum roll please... the obstacles!

1. The Brick Smash

This was inspired by a story about my husband who, as a child, regularly pretended to be The Incredible Hulk, setting these brick blocks up in a wall and then busting through it with his Hulk Hands. For our first obstacle, we set the brick blocks up like a wall, sitting them on top of the box we store them in so that the whole formation would be kid-height. Then we let the kids just straight up punch through the wall (although we lacked Hulk Hands). They were all totally into it. Who wouldn't be? And as it turned out, the quick re-setting-up of the wall between kids wasn't even that annoying.

2. The Ring of Fire

I was excited for this, but also kind of nervous that (1) someone was going to dive carelessly and hurt themselves or (2) the structure would fall apart after the first kid dove through it and then it'd be ruined. There was no need for me to worry though; they LOVED it and it stayed together perfectly! We made it by setting up a hula-hoop up between two chairs, with Gorilla Tape holding it in place. Then we taped yellow and red streamers from the top and this Firehouse Heroes Fire Garland from Oriental Trading along the the upper rim. It was complete with an air mattress for landing and it was ready to be flopped on!

Fun-wise, I'd say this was the highlight of the afternoon for the kids.

3. The Kryptonite Search

Fun-wise, I'd say this was the opposite of the highlight of the afternoon for the kids. The obstacle was simple, but not the most exciting of the bunch. For this one, we filled a cooler up with black, shredded paper, then stuck green glow sticks from the dollar store, "kryptonite," in the mess for the kids to find. We told them they could only use kitchen tongs to search, not their hands, but it still wound up being too easy. I think the main problem was the glowstick/shredded paper ratio. There were just too many glow sticks--so many that it was almost easier to find one than to not find one. Next time: A larger container with way more shredded paper and way less glow sticks would make this a little more of a challenge, and thus, probably more fun.

4. Bomb Destroying

For this obstacle we had the group work as a team to destroy all the black balloons, "bombs," as fast as possible. This was good in that it was a bit of a lesson in problem solving, but bad in that the bigger and more athletic kids naturally took over. As a former non-athletic kid, I could feel the smaller kids' frustration here. Luckily, the smaller kids had two super hero librarians to make sure that everyone had a fair shot and that wound up being just fine. There were 12 "bombs" to destroy and in general, I think the kids really enjoyed the challenge of destroying them by stepping on them, pushing them up into corners of things, and, as seen below, sitting on them. They were excited and giggling throughout this whole obstacle and I was really impressed with their unabashed ability to pop balloons with all their might, as opposed to cautiously slicing the bottom with a scissor while holding it as far away from them as possible...as some non-athletic librarians may do.

5. The Super Drill

The Super Drill was our take on football's Tire Drill. We used pool noodles taped into circles instead of tires so there'd be less height to leap and less chance of injury (also, they're cheaper). The kids enjoyed hopping through the circles in different ways. This was a quick one to set up, made no mess, and the kids enjoyed it--a win all around. Plus, if we ever do this program again, the noodles are already taped.

6. The Laser Maze

I have been looking for an excuse to do a masking tape Laser Maze for probably two years now. It's a little bit of a challenge to set up because it has to be done in a hallway or other narrow area, but it's every bit as fun as it looks--I tried it! (Sidenote: If no hallway is available, you could probably improvise by attaching the lines of tape between a wall and a row of chairs but I think it'd be restrictive, height-wise, so a hallway is best if you've got one.)

The one problem we had here was that, by the time we got to the Laser Maze, some of the tape had fallen down. Next time, I'd use a stronger tape, possibly book tape or duct tape to attach the red masking tape to the walls. Luckily, the kids didn't care at all and had a good time going through anyway. So did the non-athletic librarians.

7. Target Practice

This was an easy and fun obstacle because we already owned this Tar Grip Toss Game from S&S. We had the kids stand in one of the pool noodles from the Super Drill above and toss 3 tennis balls each. They liked this and probably could have kept tossing for a while if there wasn't the incredibly tempting next obstacle...

8. Lava Pit Crossing

Throughout the entire program the kids were asking us what the pool, "lava pit," was filled with. Like, no matter what we were doing, their attention kept going back to the lava pit. Over and over we told them it was hot lava but eventually they deduced that it couldn't be hot lava because then, if they burned themselves, we'd get fired. This was probably true. So then we told them it was cold lava, but one of the kids said, "No, because when lava gets cold it turns into rock." Hm. So it stayed a mystery because telling them the truth would kill the magic; it was water with pool dye for color and Alka-seltzer tablets for fizz. We set this one up by first filling the pool*, then using a wood board from Home Depot attached with Gorilla Tape to two stools we had in the library already. The board was pretty wide, so walking across was pretty un-challenging, but I think the kids enjoyed it anyway since it hovered over the mysterious, red liquid lurking below.

*Sidenote: When we filled up the lava pit initially, we used a 3-gallon water bottle from a water cooler, dumped it in, and refilled it 4 or 5 times. We had some help from our Maintenance Department, mostly just because we were in a hurry, but overall, filling the pool wasn't a tough job. Emptying it, however, was a whole other challenge. We couldn't figure out how to do it without spilling water (red water) all over the place. So we wound up asking Maintenance to use their mop bucket and somehow, they emptied the lava pit and it didn't even take that long. They're really amazing sometimes.

After the eight obstacles, we had water bottles ready at the Hydration Station, which a kids few took and a few kids didn't. Then last, we ended the program with some cape decorating. The capes were made of garbage bags (found on Our Life in Action) and the kids decorated them with different kinds of tape, scissors, and sheets of foam. Then we trimmed the capes to fit each child correctly and attached them around their necks with Velcro. They had become official super heroes! Even though these were made at the very end of the program, it still allowed the kids to go home with one more thing and also, it looked cute in our group photo.

What worked best: The Brick Smash, Ring of Fire, and Laser Maze were definitely the three most fun obstacles of the day. If we do this program again in the future, I would do those three obstacles again exactly as they were. And I'd probably not change the Target Practice or Lava Pit Crossing either really.

What worked least: The kids were a little bonkers by the end of the program because, well, how could they not be? After doing things like popping balloons and diving through a hula-hoop onto an air mattress, what could we really expect? While yes, this program was one hype-up after another, I think that if we ever do it again, I'd want to do it as a family program, so more kids of different age ranges could be included but their parents would be there to keep them in check. This would help keep the crazy down, I think.

At last, we can all rest easy knowing there are six young super heroes patronizing our library!