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.

3, 2, 1... Blast Off!

Librarian friends, I am tired. I wasn't going to blog about "3, 2, 1... Blastoff!" because, honestly, my coworker, Jen (of National Oreo Cookie Day Taste Test, and of two Elephant and Piggie Parties), did the brunt of the prep work for it. But it was cute and fun and successful so, other than me being tired and the program being a whole month ago, why not give it a quick post? Summer is over now; things have quieted down; and I'm ready to discuss it. So, here goes.

This program, for kids entering grades K-2, began with two stories, chosen and read by me. First was How To Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers and next was Bitty Bot by Tim McCanna. I just think How To Catch a Star is SO SO sweet. It's about a boy who wants to catch a star to keep in a jar. It's so innocent and touching, with those gorgeous and full-of-wonder illustrations that Oliver Jeffers does so well. The kids really enjoyed this! So much so that I was almost afraid to ruin a perfectly good storytime by reading another book, but I went for it anyway. I chose Bitty Bot, which is told in rhyme (or, as I called it, "a giant poem") and about a robot who builds himself a rocket and heads to the moon for an overnight adventure. The kids liked this one too! 

I think I have said this here before, but I am always kind of surprised when the kids are super-engaged through the storytime portion of my programs. Maybe I shouldn't be, since I expend a lot of effort choosing engaging books and reading them in a way that I hope is interesting to the kids, but yet, I am. I always am.

After the stories (against my will, but with lots of convincing from Jen) I did a full out, Musical Kids style, Rocketship Run with the kids. This was my first time ever doing a song with school age kids and I was nervous! I thought they'd think it was too babyish! I tried to make it fun and silly, sort of like, "Come on! Let's do this silly, babyish thing together!" I seriously LAID ON the enthusiasm, probably as sort of a defense mechanism...

Guess what? IT TOTALLY WORKED. It was seriously so much fun. Like, I couldn't believe the great time that we were all having playing with cardboard rocketships on sticks and dancing around to a Laurie Berkner song. Big kids! Doing Rocketship Run! So awesome!

I have written about this song time and time again, but this is my Rocketship Run "kit:"

In Musical Kids, when I hold up one of these signs, the kiddos all run up and touch their rockets to it, like they're really "going" to the sun/moon/etc. I'VE NEVER TOLD THEM TO DO THIS, and yet every week, it happens. It's so funny! They totally invented it and it's continued on from week-to-week and from class-to-class. For years! Because a handful of the school-age kids in this program were "Musical Kids graduates," they immediately did this! In fact, they were super into it. Seriously ya'll, this was awesome! I am SO glad I reluctantly agreed it it!

Then we moved on to the crafting, which, again, I can take absolutely ZERO credit for, other than, I guess, agreeing to it. This craft was Jen's baby. It was astronauts with photos of the kids faces (which she took of them as they arrived and had our clerk, Mary, print out while I did the storytime) glued on black paper that she spritzed with watered down white paint to make a cool, starry effect. I feel unqualified to discuss the prepping of this in detail but it looks like kind of a lot of work, honestly. Lots of cutting and spritzing. 

Here are the kids decorating their astronaut selves:

 

As the crafting wrapped up (when there was about 5-minutes left in the program), Jen ushered the kids over to the astronaut snack tasting table, where I was waiting with samples of different astronaut fruits for them to try. Fun fact: We meant to order ice cream! Either I messed up or Amazon messed up, but either way, we got fruit instead! Luckily, it worked out and was, possibly, even more fun since we got FIVE different types of fruit instead of ONE type of ice cream. We sampled cinnamon apples, peaches, bananas, grapes, and strawberries.

The consensus: The bananas and peaches were the stand-out faves; nobody liked the grapes except for me; the strawberries were decent but you can get the same thing in cereal; and the apples were "fine." 

Now, here are some of the finished crafts:

What worked least: I think the timing got a little rushed at the end but it wound up not being a big deal. Ideally, I think we would have wanted the tasting to go on a little longer, but in reality, 5-minutes was actually plenty of time for them to take a bite of each thing and discuss it a bit. Probably, 10 minutes would have actually been too long anyway.

What worked best: Rocketship Run! SO MUCH FUN.

Baby Bugs

Lots of librarians say they like school age programs best because they'd prefer that the parents aren't in the room with them, but I'm the opposite! Baby programs are my favorite programs of all, and it's mostly because I love being with the parents!

Baby Bugs was a simple, bug-themed, stories and songs program for the youngest of kids and their grown ups. This was my plan (red = ipod, blue = song I sing, green = book):

1. A New Way to Say Hello by Big Jeff
2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (with storytime prop kit) *
3. Buzz Buzz Buzz by Laurie Berkner (with shakers)
4. Itsy Bitsy Spider  (+ Great Big Spider and Teensy Weensy Spider)
5. Hello Bugs by Smriti Prasadam-Halls **
6. Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me ***
7. Ants Go Marching by Ralph Covert (parachute + mini bugs) #
8. Colors Over You (parachute + mini bugs) ##
9. Thunder and Lightening (parachute + mini bugs) ##
10. Blow a Kiss by Laurie Berkner (mini bugs + bubbles)

* I've written about our wonderful Very Hungry Caterpillar kit in the past before, but it's truly one of my favorite storytime props of all time! It consists of signs with each of the things the caterpillar eats through, all with giant holes in the middle, and a fun caterpillar puppet that turns into a butterfly. Here is a picture I found of it.  When I use this kit, I distribute the signs from it to the kids before I read the book. Then, as I work my way through the story, I make the caterpillar puppet chomp through each child's sign, tickling them a little as I do. The kids LOVE this. They shriek with glee when they get tickled!

I didn't take any pictures while we were reading this book and using this kit, but here are a few pictures that I took two years ago, of kids holding up the signs:

** I have a class set of the board book, Hello Bugs by Smriti Prasadam-Halls. This is such a great book for babies because it has mostly black and white pictures, shiny parts on each page, and really simple, repetitive language. I passed out the books to the parents and babies and they had about 3-minutes to read them together. Then we read it again together as a group.

*** Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me can best be explained by Dana of Jbrary:

# Ants Go Marching by Ralph Covert was the song I used for the babies to play on top of the parachute. I dumped out some butterfly and firefly finger puppets (these and these, both from Folkmanis) and let the babies and parents play with them together while we all shook the parachute around them and listened to the song. I showed the adults that the fireflies actually lit up if you squeezed them, but it was hard to see in the bright library lights.

## Colors Over You and Thunder and Lightening were bonus, not-bug-related parachute songs. They're two of my favorites and I was only planning to do them if there was time at the end. There was!

What worked least: Eh, when push came to shove, Buzz Buzz Buzz wasn't as lively of a shaker song as I'd imagined it being. It was fine and worked for the theme (and I am always very partial to Laurie Berkner songs!), but I just prefer something that's super super SUPER upbeat with babies and toddlers, as well as something with a simpler beat that easier to shake the shaker along with.

What worked best: I started off really strong with, what I perceived was the best part of the program-- The Very Hungry Caterpillar book and props. These props are such a great way to read this slightly longer book to really young kids without losing them (even babies!) and it really makes the story come alive! It is literally ALWAYS a hit!

Unicorn Party

I had TWENTY kids from grades K-3 at my Unicorn Party last week! That's a record for school-age programming for me and, despite my (sort of secret) lack of enthusiasm about unicorns, everyone had a great time at the program-- even me!

I had lots of activities planned for the evening-- too many in fact! Kids were taking piles of stuff to go because they didn't have time for the snack or the second craft. The funny thing is that I was worried that I didn't have enough to do. In fact, I was mad-dash, last-minute Googling "Unicorn Party Games" up until about an hour before the program when I finally had to tell myself to just cool it and let the chips fall where they may.

We started everything with unicorn names on unicorn name tags. This was at check-in, before the kids actually came into the program. Thanks 100% to this The Frugal Sisters blog post, I printed this sheet full of names and these tags to fill in. This was a great way to have a good little ice breaker right away. It uses the first letter of your first name + the month you were born to determine your unicorn name. Here are a few kids with their silly name tags:

In case you're on the edge of your seat wondering, my unicorn name is Shimmer Peachy Pie. My daughters are Royal Midnight Truffle and Starlight Peachy Pie. My husband is Sunshine Midnight Truffle. My cat is Prince Lemon Drop. Anyway...

It took me TWO HOURS to set up the room for this program! I had two crafts, two snacks, a couple of decorations, and a small storytime and Bingo area in the corner. Here are some set up pics:

The first thing we did once the program officially started was read a story. And the best part about this storytime was that the book I read was a brand new book that was just released 2 weeks before the program! So it was new to everyone! In fact, I actually read the kids the advanced reader copy! It was such a cute book for this age range with a positive "love everyone" message:

Unicorn Day by Diana Murray

The kids really liked the book! For some reason, I am always sort of surprised when my books go over really well with large groups (Is that a horrible thing to say?), but I definitely love when it happens! The kids all caught on to the story immediately and even liked pointing out things that they saw in the illustrations-- mostly the baby unicorns, but also the horse who was not having too good of a time, and the tiny fairy that appeared on some of the pages. One boy even got up to point out the "teenager" unicorn he spotted. Enthusiasm!

Next up was Unicorn Bingo. I made this! 

Here is a link to download my Bingo boards (there are 20).

Here is a link to download the Bingo calling cards that go with it (there are 30).

Program fun fact: Kids always always always love Bingo! I went a little all out and used these fun pink and purple unicorn M&Ms as Bingo markers and then gave out these cute, bendy unicorn toys as Bingo prizes -- both from Oriental Trading!

Big shout out here to my HELPER who stepped over and around the crowd to help me distribute prizes as needed. One of my favorite library families includes an awesome big sis who's just aged out of many of our programs, but who's offered to "help out" instead. My goodness, I had no idea how much help I needed when I accepted her offer that evening. Zara, if you ever read this, YOU WERE A LIFESAVER!

Once each kid won a bendy unicorn, we moved on to crafts. There were two. The main craft was unicorn mask making, which was a collaging craft. We used these kits and the kids really liked it.

A little note, if there is even the slightest chance it'll help someone: There are a lot-- I repeat, a lot-- of pieces to punch out in these kits. Especially since I had two of them. Learn from my mistake and PRE PUNCH THEM OUT.

 Here are a few finished products:

It was at 5:15pm (which was the technical end time of the program) that we all sort of scrambled to get everything else that we hadn't gotten to in. Another huge thanks to my helper, Zara, as well as our clerk, Mary! It was at this point in the program when things started to get super busy and I really leaned on them! They cut elastic cords, poured cups of water, and collected the Bingo cards from around the room. They opened the plastic bags that craft #2 were in (this super cute wooden unicorn wind chime from Oriental Trading), served cookies, and helped kids glue pieces. This madness would have been actual utter chaos if not for Zara and Mary!

Basically, from 5:15 until 5:30-ish, the kids grabbed and ate cupcakes and cookies, finished up their masks, took pictures, and colored their wind chimes. Phew! Whatever they didn't get to, they scooped up to do/eat at home. We ended in a total whirlwind but everyone loved it and all the parents were super happy at pick-up!

Here are two cute, colored-in wind chimes:

What worked least: Even though this program was a major success, I can think of a ton of ways that I should have run it differently. First, I really should have pre-cut the string for the masks but I just did not anticipate the kind of turnout and madness that I wound up having. Yet this was a small step that I could have taken and, I think, it would have prevented a good amount of craziness. Next, I should have skipped the wind chime craft completely. It was too much. I bought the wind chimes about a week before the program thinking that the mask craft wasn't enough, but I think I would have relaxed a bit if it just wasn't even there. The mask was PLENTY. Third, I needed a person on food duty. Because the end of the program got so rushed, the food serving wasn't very organized and a designated food-server would have made things go more smoothly.

What worked best: Despite the full on paragraph of "what worked least," this program was awesome! The kids loved it and the parents loved it! One mom told me that "everyone was talking about the unicorn party." I love a good program compliment! That's a win!