National Pancake Month

So, going along with idea of developing programs around monthly observances, we did a program last February called "Pancakes & Pajamas" since February is National Pancake Month. Children ages 3-7 came to the library on a Saturday morning in the pajamas to have some pancakes for breakfast. My part-time Children's Librarian, Linda, did most of the leg work. I showed up with my electric griddle and my electric frying pan to make the pancakes.

She read the story Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle and did the infmaous felt board story, Flip Flap Jack.  The pancakes were still cooking so not every child could be fed at one time. (We thought about this prior to the program.)  So the children played a version of hot potato, that we called 'pass the pancake.' The child that was caught with the pancake when the music stopped then got to go to the table to start eating their pancakes. It was a great game to play since there was no real winner, and no real loser- in the end, everyone got to enjoy a plate of pancakes!

Bubble Gum

One way we like to develop programs at my library is by honoring monthly, daily, or weekly observances.  The first Friday in February is Bubble Gum Day. Since we were doing a Valentine's program for our afterschool kids earlier in the month we pushed the bubble gum idea towards the end of the month. So this past Tuesday, I hosted a Bubble Gum program for children in grades K-3.

Originally, I had thought about making bubble gum with the children. But one of the key ingredients- gum base- is not easily found and I didn't want to drive myself crazy looking for it. So I decided that instead of making bubble gum, we'd have a bubble gum blowing contest in between our stories and craft.

Here's an outline of how the program went:

1- Shared some facts about bubble gum with children. These are cut into strips, folded up and placed in a basket for children to pick out of.
2. Read Pop: The Accidental Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy
3. Shared some more facts about bubble gum
4. Read Lester Fizz: Bubble-Gum Artist by Ruth Spiro
5. Bubble gum blowing contest- children lined up against wall and was given one piece of Double Bubble. See who can blow the biggest bubble, see who could blow the most bubbles in a minute, see who could blow the tiniest bubble, etc.
6. Craft- gumball machine. I found a template online for a gumball machine and printed them out on card stock.  Have the children color the gumball machine and then glue pom poms for gumballs inside the globe of the machine. I stuck a magnet on the back so it could be used as a fridge magnet. See below for my sample.

Here's what didn't work out so well- the bubble gum blowing contest. Many of the children that attended the program had no front teeth which made it hard for them to blow bubbles. Also, some of the children didn't know how to blow bubbles- this was the first time they would get a chance to do that. But I can tell you this much- it is not easy to teach someone how to blow a bubble. It's even harder to teach someone who doesn't have any front teeth!

I think in the future this might work well as a tween program- having a bubble gum blowing contest, and even making the actual bubble gum. But overall, the children had a great time- and it follows the one idea I always try to convey- that they have a postive experience at the library, because that is what will keep them coming back.

Librarians are superheroes, too!

One program idea that I took away from the Statewide Summer Reading Workshops in 2009 was to have a superhero program for preschool aged children. We read a couple stories about some not so well-known superheroes (like Adventure Annie!) and then made our own cape out of a plastic tablecloth and yarn, along with a mask to match. We then paraded our superhero costumes around the library so that all of the patrons knew they were safe! Check out the fierce Allison below!

My part-time Children's Librarian, Linda, took things one step further and actually made me a Super Librarian costume for the program. While I clearly don't resemble the prototype of the original Super Librarian, I don't mind stepping into the costume at all:-)

Captain Underpants

One of the meetings I regularly attend is the Children's LMX Meeting. Children's Librarians who work at libraries in Middlesex County meet once a month to exchange ideas, act as a sounding board, and pass along information. At one of my first meetings in 2008, every librarian brought two program ideas to exchange- one for preschool children and one for school-aged children.  This is where I 'borrowed' the Captain Underpants program I had at my library in the Summer of 2009.  Thank you Edison Public Library!

There are several parts of the program:

1) When the children arrive, the first thing they should do is make a nametag for themselves which is based on the initials of their first, middle, and last names. For example, my initials are CPM- there was a silly word associated with each letter which would then create a new Captain Underpants superhero name. My new name was "Buttercup Banana Chunks."

2) Once everyone has a new name, distribute a short test based on Captain Underpants Trivia.  This acts as an icebreaker just to see howgreat everyone's knowledge of Captain Underpants actually is.

3) Terd Tossing Contest- prior to the program, I had two teen volunteers unwrap midgee sized tootsie rolls which would be used as terds (they washed their hands first.)  I divided the children into two teams- each child was given 5 terds to toss into their team designated toilet, one at a time of course. The team who was able to get the most terds in their toilet won.  I bought two toilet seats for about $10 each @ Big Lots and perched them on top of garbage cans.

4) Craft- each child decorate a pair of underwear. Some had Spiderman and some had little flowers:-)

Overall, the program was a great success. I geared it toward children ages seven and up (so that they could do the trivia test on their own) and it ran about 45 minutes to an hour. I've had several requests to do another one, so I may be revisiting the outfit below at a later date.

The kids loved my outfit- they couldn't quite figure out why I was dressed the way I was. My thinking behind my fashion choices was that I was dressing how I would if I were actually a character in the Captain Underpants' series.

Yes, I am wearing underpants on my head. I have on black spandex pants (from track my sophomore year of high school), boxer shorts on top of the spandex pants, a Rutgers T-shirt, my fluffy pink flip-flop slippers, and pink diva sunglasses. I'm also wearing a name tag that says "Buttercup Banana Chunks"- my new Captain Underpants superhero name.

In case you were wondering, I am standing between the two toilet seats that we used them for the "terd tossing" game.

If you want templates for any of the aspects mentioned in this program, shoot me an email: chrissie.mcgovern@gmail.com.

You can do this too at your library!

Well, since I started this librarian gig I've been thankful for all of the program ideas that have been shared with me- either through my colleagues at other libraries in New Jersey, or those ideas that I have "borrowed" from other libraries across the country.

Programming is by far, my favorite part of being a Children's Librarian. Sure, I like to buy books with other people's money...but where else can I wear underwear on my head at work and it be acceptable?

I'm hoping I can share my programming ideas with other librarians through this blog. Why constantly re-invent the wheel? I'm hoping not only to share programs that have been successful in my library, but to pass along some duds too. Who knows...maybe someone out there will be able to take my dud of a program and turn it into a great one!