Build a Stuffed Animal

While there isn't a ton to say about Build a Stuffed Animal, this program was just wayyy too cute to leave out of my blog entirely.

So here's a short and sweet (seriously, so sweet!) post:

Mostly thank you to Noah's Ark Animal Workshop and my colleague, Andrea, for actually organizing the order from them, for me the biggest challenge of this program was selecting books to read for storytime. Andrea did the mass stuffed animal order--half snow owls, half polar bears--and we were provided with most of the stuff we needed from Noah's Ark: the unstuffed animals, stuffing, wishing stars, birth certificates, and hats for the stuffed animal pals to wear. They also provided a book for us to read but it was definitely not something I'd ever choose for a storytime, so I put that off to the side, and decided to pick my own.

Some things about the program, in chronological order:

1. As the kids arrived and signed in, I asked them to choose their animal immediately. Having this done ahead of time really minimized fighting and confusion later on. This way, once we were in the program, I was able to just go down the attendance list and hand each kid the animal they'd chosen in advance. It was easy and painless!

2. To match our selection of unstuffed animals, I decided that I wanted to read one book about polar bears and one book about owls (Snow owls were a little too specific for book-finding). Since I had kids all the way from age 4 through 4th grade, I had to choose very carefully. Ultimately, I chose Adrif: An Odd Couple of Polar Bears by Jessica Olien and then Wow! Said the Owl: A Book About Colors by Tim Hopgood. They both really worked well! Yay!

3. Once I finished the books, I handed out the pre-chosen stuffed animals. Then I put pile of stuffing in the middle of the circle and let them dive in and get filling. Except I made the mistake of saying the words "Dive in," and got some literal diving in. I've since learned my lesson.

4. The whole process went pretty quickly. They stuffed their animals, made a wish on a wishing star (which I didn't get a picture of--man!), tossed the star inside, and Velcro-ed up their animals. It all happened so fast! It was cute but I think I should have found a way to slow it all down. The whole thing took probably took 10 minutes.

5. I handed out hats for the animals (to the kids that wanted them) and had the kids fill out their birth certificates. This was cute but also kind of quick. Then they put everything in an (included from Noah's Ark) tote bag, and were set to go! Here are some finished products:

What worked least: I was a little quick. Even after reading two stories, this program still ended almost 10-minutes early.

What worked best: I mean, they made a stuffed animal. The finished product was the program. I could have literally just put out the animals and stuffing, and done nothing else, and everyone would have been happy. It might seem redundant but the best part was, well, building a stuffed animal!