Drive-In Movie

Howdy

I planned my first Drive-In Movie this summer.  I don't know who to thank for the original idea but it sure is a keeper. I gathered boxes and supplies for 30 preschool age children. On the table pictured below you can see decorations : license plates, flames, bumpers, racing stripes, lightening bolts, bumper stickers, steering wheels, wheels, and two kinds of gauges.  We made headlights out of silver metallic cupcake papers; they are on the table too but it looks like a white circle from above. The children also had crayons, glue sticks and brass fasteners so the steering wheels could actually turn when attached to the boxes. Our 30 cardboard boxes were gathered from cataloging, so thank you Baker & Taylor for the supplies.

With the supplies set out, we had the movie collection Mater's Tall Tales ready to play on the big screen. Before the movie the children selected their box and supplies.  They set to decorating which took about 15 minutes.  After which we dimmed the lights and started the movie.  The movie was about 30 minutes so the whole program took about 45 minutes; which for preschool kids was plenty long. 

The only negatives to the program were we had a lot of very specific supplies left over that I don't know for sure how to reuse. Also the movie skipped badly at the end and eventually froze.  I would definitely prewatch the movie to try and avoid this for next time.  In the future I would love to repeat this program where the kids can make fire engines, police cars and other specifically vehicles. 

Laura
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Teen Horror Movie Poster Quiz

*Apologies that the PDF link was not working properly earlier*

Howdy
Need another activity for a Teen Halloween Party or a Teen Movie Night featuring a scary film?  Similar to my Movie Monster Quiz Printable from last year, this Horror Movie Poster Quiz is designed for minimal output on your part.  Simply print the 20 pages featuring 20 horror movie posters with their titles conveniently blocked out.  Save a copy of the answer key for yourself. Print enough pages of the last quiz page for each teen or group of teens to have their own.  (Or if you want to save some paper but you have access to a projector and computer, try showing the files as a slide show.) Attach the pictures to a wall, tabletop display pieces or lay them on tables around a room. To make things easier I have given the teens an list of movie titles.  You can make the quiz harder by providing the titles later in the game, say after 5 - 10 minutes or you can just watch them sweat.  Read over the answers and provide prizes to the winning teen, teens or group. 

Horror Movie Poster Quiz PDF

Horror Movie Poster Quiz Publisher

Laura
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Teen Autograph Bingo

Howdy
You would think I might have my teen Halloween program nailed down by now, but I am still tinkering with it.  I felt I needed another warm up activity before I had them wrap each other like mummies and dance to the Time Warp.  I decided to make this Autograph Bingo card to encourage my teens to mingle instead of clumping around the food table.  There is a PDF you can quickly print in a pinch. I also have a Publisher version in case you'd like to make the game harder. (or easier?)  You might have played this before at a conference.  I am pretty sure I played something like this at a Girl Scout Badge Day a million years ago.  Of course, you can change the rules to suit your teens.  Basically, you want the teens to interact with each other and ask simple questions to discover what they all might have in common or what makes everyone unique. I think I might use the bingo cards to help divide the teens into teams for later events.  Good luck!

Laura
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Teen Chess and Checkers Battle

Howdy
Need an inexpensive program that requires few supplies?  Try over sized checkers and chess. You will need access to a printer and a lot of paper plates.  I used two  different  colors. For chess you need 32 plates for the 32 pieces.  For checkers you need at least 24 to start plus extras for if people get kinged or crowned. You will need a way to mark the floor.  If your room has tile squares or carpet squares that are easy to see you might not need to mark the game boards.  I used a lot of scrap paper.  These yellow papers had been 11x17 posters with printing on the back that we had hoarded from summer reading a long, long time ago. Tape would also work to mark the floor but I was fresh out. Each board needs to be an 8x8 grid of 64 squares that are large enough for one paper plate. For checkers you just need two different color plates, I choose yellow and orange.  For chess you will need to print the chess symbols in the file below.  I also cut and pasted the rules for each piece on the bottom of the plate so that new players could have some help.  Those rules are in the Chess Pieces file.  Be careful not to mix up your art and rules.  For extra clarification of the rules I used a graphic on the projector that reiterated how the pieces move.  You can find that below as Chess Rules. 

Teen Anime Club - Miyzaki Twister

Howdy
I had a pin on my Young Adult / Teen Anime Manga Club Pinterest board for Anime Twister.  I made my own version for anime club tonight.  You can print the base for the spinner at the link below.  You will want to print the spinner on one page and then for each of the four characters, you will want to print 6-8 pages to mimic the original Twister game.  If you expect a larger group you could print lots more.  I made the spinner by taping the printed spinner onto a piece of cardstock.  I cut a long triangle or arrow from another piece of card stock.  I didn't measure, I just eyeballed something that was long enough to reach the characters' faces. Using scissors I poked a hole through the arrow, the paper, and the cardstock. I made the hole larger than the brad (brass fastener) that I was using to hold it all together.  I found the trick was to not bend the brad too tightly. If you fold the brad totally flat to the spinner, the arrow won't move.  It was a little flimsy but this way if I want to change the characters it would be easy enough to take the whole thing apart again.  

Teen Black Butler Picnic

Howdy
Last fall I read this great idea for a Black Butler High Tea. Sarah Stumpf Teen Librarian, posted in Teen Services Underground about her program. Her group had hot tea with biscuits.  For my Black Butler Picnic I served iced tea, cookies and orange sherbet.  In addition to Sarah's  inspiration for the program she also provided  templates  for Sebastian's  tattoo and a Black Butler Trivia Power Point. To find both files simply join Teen Services Underground and search for Black Butler. Or under the files listing at the top of the page you will find files downloadable for Black Butler Tattoo step by step.pub and Black Butler.pptx

I did a lot of decorating with doilies because I had them from previous crafts and they made everything look fancy.  I also copied a lot of Black Butler art from the internet and cropped them with clip art frames that looked old or gilded. I hung these in groups around the room and at the end of the night I let the teens take them home. Next time I would make more posters but since I didn't expect over 20 teens not everyone got a poster. I am kicking myself a little for not thinking to make some cool faux candelabras with all the paper towel rolls I have squirreled away. Hopefully I can do this for Halloween and go a little goth. 

First we made our tattoos using liquid eyeliner pens.  A few kids couldn't wait and used their own makers which I don't suggest since their parents aren't likely to be amused.  This activity gave people time to wander in, meet and greet a little before we chose teams for trivia.  My tattoo is the bottom left one that's about the size of a postage stamp. 

My teens divided into two teams; The Butlers and The Chainsaws.  Each team them chose someone to keep score.  Since I didn't want them to get too loud we made up a few rules.  Anyone who knew the answer had to confer with their team, then either raise their hand or stand up.  Last time we did trivia everyone got really excited and there was a lot of yelling.  The winning team got a selection of Pocky, Yan Yans and Panda snacks from the supermarket's international aisle to share. 

Tattoos and trivia took about 20-30 minutes.  After everyone got more snacks we settled in to watch the first three episodes of Black Butler on Netflix.  I think everyone went home happy.  I don't know how I will top this for next year.  I will definitely provide more food because they were like locusts tonight. 

Thank you Sarah Stumpf and Teen Services Underground!

Laura

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Behind the Scenes at the Library

Howdy

The Matheson Memorial Library's Facebook page features a great album called Behind the Scenes at the Library. I love this album. Every year SRP ends and people act like we've closed the whole department. We offer significantly less programming in August compared the schedule for June and July. Of course we are just preparing for the fall, but patrons sometimes think we are all on vacation.  Happily The Matheson Memorial Library of Elkhorn, Wisconsin has tackled the patrons' very important questions :

Did you ever wonder what we do at the library when there are no children's programs? Take a peek to see what's happening behind the scenes over the next few weeks! 

I would be thrilled to have an album like this for our library.  My To Do list is quite lengthy.

imgfave

 Also I really need a nap.  I know we put on a great show and the team gave it their all.  But as with any performance the encore approaches and it's time to wrap up.  If we had to maintain our SRP level of activity throughout the year I think we would get run down and prone to more illnesses. 

Does your library have programing breaks?  How do you use the time?  I told my storytime kids I had to take a break to clean the craft supply closet and all the storytime props.  What reasoning to you give to parents and kids who want a full events calendar year round?

Laura

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Donut Chef

Howdy

For Summer Reading we had a program called Donut Chef.  I used the free online printable Donuts Buddies from Oh Happy Day to create a donut dude.  Basically its a page of arms, legs and accessories.  I was impressed that my teens carefully colored and  assembled their creations for over a half hour.  We used toothpicks to stick the paper parts on our cream cakes.  Several teens wanted to created their own  accessories so some donuts had belts and crazy hair which we stuck on the cakes with frosting. 

I made a Memory Game with Donut Printables from Oh Happy Day. I printed three sets of the donuts and then pasted them on leftover card stock to create a giant table top Memory Game.  You could also tape the cards to a wall or wipe board.

For a really active group try the Jelly Donut Scrabble Scramble. Using scrap paper and our alphabet stamp kit, I stamped and cut out many sets of the alphabet.  The teens had to spell jelly donut.  I spread the letters on the floor in a marked off section.  You can use tape or a parachute to keep the letters from wandering around.  Next decide if the teens will work alone or in teams.  The first teen or team to spell Jelly Donut wins. I read about this on Team Building Activities, the scramble is about half way through the post.

I did have worksheets ready so the teens could draw a fancy new donut that they would then pitch to a Shark Tank style panel of teens.  The teens would award sprinkle stickers based on marketability, taste and visual appeal.  The teens like wearing the stickers that I made with laser printer labels but they didn't want to do the rest of the activity. I'm thinking maybe we make donut stickers next time?

I had planned a passing game using Popsicle sticks and donut clip art pasted on old cds but we never got to that.  Instead we spent a lot of time decorating prepackaged honey buns.  I provided the teens with frosting, food coloring, a variety of sprinkles and colored sugars, as well as plates, plastic knives, little cups for mixing colored frosting and tons of napkins.  

I also learned that Simple Green all purpose cleaner will get frosting out of your pants.  

Laura

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Parachute Play

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*Look for my more recent post  Parachute Play Songs*
You will need a 10' parachute (a bigger parachute or several little parachutes would also work), scarves, bean bags or egg shakers. The concepts are presented by topic. You can share each element in whatever order works best for you and your patrons.

Books
Tap to Play by Salina Yoon

Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great by Bob Shea

The Book With No Pictures by BJ Novak

Scarves
Scarves Up Down and Around by Johnette Downing from The Second Line - Scarf Activity Songs

Scarves On Your Lap Johnette Downing from The Second Line - Scarf Activity Songs

Story Song - Big Plop by Mr. Eric and Mr. Michael from Rockin' Red. I had never heard this song before but it is a really fun alternative to Going On a Bear Hunt. We used the scarves to make the experience more vibrant but its a lot of fun without the scarves too.


Parachute
Song – Fast and Slow by Laurie Berkner from The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band - The song has an alternating rhythm that will encourage the kids go change their speed but it only works if they pay attention.

Popcorn Game with Scarves - Place the scarves in the middle of the parachute. The parachute should be laying on the floor. Pretend the scarves are popcorn. Have the child crouch and hold the parachute edge. Count 1, 2 ,3 and yell popcorn. Jump up to throw the scarves in the air. This works with other soft toys or under-inflated balls.

Song - The Freeze by Greg and Steve from Kids in Motion - This works well as a free dance or you can use the scarves or beanbags. It's a pretty flexible song.

Sleeping Bag Song by Carole Peterson Stephenson from H.U.M. - Highly Usable Music - Here the tune so you can sing it yourself and see lyrics on Macaroni Soup. You can use with a large enough parachute by sitting with your legs under the fabric like it is your sleeping bag.

Rhyme - Ring Around the Rosie - Because who doesn't like falling down over and over? For some reason they always think this is hilarious and most of the adults in attendance know the words and tune.

Rhyme - All Around the Mulberry Bush - When you say 'Pop goes the weasel' you can pop up the parachute. Think about using a plush toy to play the part of the weasel.

Criss-Cross Game - This game depends a lot how your group does at following directions. With everyone standing and the parachute in hand, have the kids lift the parachute off the floor. When the parachute is overhead call out a color and have those children change places by running under the parachute. If your kids are squirrelly use a partner adult, then the parachute is lifted tap two children only to participate each time.


Beanbags 

Kids in Motion
by Greg and Steve

Bean Bag Boogie 1 by Greg and Steve from Kids in Motion - The same cd has a Bean Bag Boogie 2 if you need more content.


Then you say goodbye to the kids and you nap on the parachute.


Laura

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ChopStick Challenge

We have to work
 for our food?

Howdy

I think this is a common theme with all teen programs, you put out a lovely spread of snacks and your often mild mannered young adult patrons turn into a swarm of locusts.  Less then a minute later the food is gone and sometimes so are your program participants.  Now who is going to stay and watch Dragon Ball Z with you?  

I have been encouraging my teens to play with their food. This seems to slow down the gobbling just a bit. I got on Pinterest and looked for any sort of food activity that they could geek and eat. 

Dig in.

Last month I made bowls of trail mix that contained cereal (rice chex and fruit loops), marshmallows (it was going to just be the mini mallows but we found some giant campfire sized marshmallows so I added those too), and jelly beans.  OK its not your momma's trail mix but my teens liked the combo. The idea was to have three foods that were various skill levels on the chop stick scale; easy - marshmallows, medium - cereal, and hard - jelly beans. So instead of providing plates for them to use while shoveling in the food, I handed everyone a pair of chop sticks and a cup.  They had to serve themselves with the chop sticks and then they could eat from the cup.  You still have to watch for double dipping but mostly we only had a few near misses.  Surprisingly my teens didn't roll their eyes or wait for me to finally hand out plates or just dig in with their hands; they quietly dove in and laughed and dropped food and generally had a good time.  And I had leftovers, can you believe it?

But we still get soda, right?

For me the hardest part of this activity was getting the chopsticks.  Yes I can steal a pair or two at a time from the sushi guy at the grocery store.  I wanted a nice supply since I plan on  serving  ramen as a summer reading treat.  I couldn't seem to find chopsticks at the supermarket in with plastic utensils. At some point I even called GFS (Gordon Food Services) who carry a lot of catering supplies.  I was told it was a seasonal item. Because Chinese or Thai food is only eaten in the summer?  No idea what that means.  My coworkers were nice enough to start bringing in their chopsticks and now I have a nice stock of utensils at my desk.  Along with many other incongruous things.  We will  definitely do this activity again.  

Now if only I knew what we were doing at Anime this week? um help. 

Laura

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