Munchkins With Mommy & Donuts With Daddy

Nestled comfortably between Mother's Day and Father's Day, last Wednesday, May 25th, I hosted a program called Munchkins With Mommy & Donuts With Daddy to celebrate parents in general.

In the past I have discussed how there are some programs I'm super excited about and then there are other that seem fun when I first plan them, but then kind of mediocre when the time really comes to do them. But this was one of the former! This program included 4 different crafts, 2 books, and best of all, Dunkin Donuts! What was not to be excited about?!

I had 15 kids + 15 parents signed up for the program and I enthusiastically set the room up hours in advance. But, sadly, I had a very disappointing turn out. It was THE most beautiful day--sunny, hot, and the first of its kind since last summer. And in a town with a playground, pond, candy store, and multiple ice cream shops, I found that the lil' ol' library just couldn't compete on the first summery day of the year. I wound up with 4 kids and 3 adults. A major let down.

Those numbers considered, you might say that I over-prepared crafts and I overbought donuts and munchkins (luckily there was a teen program later that night that my coworker could use the leftovers for). Anyway, here was my very ambitious donut/munchkin display:

When the kids came in, I served them a snack first. I made sure to not let anyone touch the donuts, only me and only with gloves. Once they were set with their goodies, I sat them down for books. First, I read Meet the Parents by Peter Bently, followed by Pete the Cat: Rock on, Mom and Dad! by James Dean. The kids enjoyed them both and I think the parents did also.

Then it was time to move onto the crafts. Like I said, I had 4 crafts. I set them up like stations for the kids and parents to move around between freely. Here's what we had:

"I Wished For You" Finger Paint Craft

This was a quickie, made with younger siblings in mind. I found a picture of a dandelion stem online, altered it a tiny bit, added some text, printed it on card stock and let the kids finger paint on colorful seeds. It was inspired by this gem on Pinterest. Here, in fact, is a younger sibling enjoying himself:

Tissue Paper and Traced Hand Bouquet

I found this craft somewhere on the Internet (probably Pinterest) and thought it was perfect for this program. I had paper for hand-tracing, pre-cut green stemps, pre-cut tissue paper squares, white paper, pre-cut/pre-measured blue paper for matting, and glue sticks. With the parents' help, almost every craft (not that there were than many) came out really similar to my sample seen above! (See the top photo for proof!)

I Love You To the Moon And Back Collage

I think this one, of all of the crafts, had the most steps. First, the kids had to color a piece of construction paper like the night sky. I put out a sky colors-- black, blue, and purple. Then, they had to glue popsicle sticks on like a ladder. Next, there were pre-cut circle moons and pre-cut "I love you to the moon and back" sayings to glue on. Then, last, they added star stickers. I got a mixed bag of products, but I think they had fun making these.

Popsicle Stick Frame Magnets

The last, and probably simplest of the crafts were the popsicle stick frame magnets. I had popsicle sticks, markers, glue, magnet tape, and pre-cut square inserts to make gluing easier. This was pretty self-explanatory but allowed a lot of creative freedom and was totally liked by everyone!

What worked least: Nothing worked least per say, it just all worked eh. Sometimes it's so hard to have a super lively program with such a small turn out. Seven people total, as lovely as they were, just didn't make the program as exciting as I'd hoped.

What worked best: Pete the Cat. Typical Pete!