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Diary of a Wimpy Kid Program

Kids at my library really seem to respond to book themed parties and programs.  In the past we held a very successful Fancy Nancy Tea Party and Fashion Show and a Twilight Party.   I am planing on doing this program during kids February break from school as this seems to be a time when we get high attendance for programs.

Since these books are most popular with grade 5-about 7 or 8 this should be geared towards older Elementary kids and middle school students.  Most likely some younger kids will be interested in participating as well.


Some General ideas:

• Trivia Game with teams where the winning team gets a prize.  Some trivia questions can be found in this Event Kit.
• The Cheese touch game
• Book read-a-likes
• Discussion of favorite moments
• Have kids decorate a small notebook cover
• Kids fill in and create their own comic strip on their own
• Play Make Your Own Comic
• Personality Game
• Give a copy of one of the books away as a door prize

Read-a-likes:

1. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Eleven-year-old Harriet keeps notes on her classmates and neighbors in a secret notebook, but when some of the students read the notebook, they seek revenge.
2. Dork Diaries (Series) by Rachel Renee Russell
Follows eight grader Nikki Maxwell who chronicles through text and sketches her move to a snooty new school.
3. Dear Dumb Diary (Series) by Jim Benton

Make Your Own Comic
Get kids into groups of 5 (can vary dependent on how many cells you have in your blank comic).  Beforehand create a generic sheet of paper with 5 text boxes made to look like blank comic strips.  Give each child a pencil and here are the directions.  Each person gets a sheet and they have 30 (or 60 to start) seconds to draw something in the first square.  Encourage them to write word bubbles not just pictures if they choose.  Then pass it to the person on your left.  You now have 30 seconds to draw the next box in your neighbors story.  Continue like this until you get your own back then go around the room and see what people wrote.  These are usually hilarious and kids and t(w)eens get a huge kick out of them.  If you have an especially active group invite some of them up front to act out their comic (so long as it's not too violent!)

• Here are two blank comic pages I  created #1 and #2 

The Cheese Touch Game (From DWK Event Kit):

What you’ll need: A small piece of paper or Post-it Note for everyone who wants to play, and a hat or bowl.

Setting up: Draw a small piece of Swiss cheese on a single slip of paper. Fold all of the little slips of paper in half.

Group size: Best for a group of ten to twenty. If you have more than that many kids at the event, it might be best to break them up into smaller groups.

How to play: Players sit in a circle, facing one another. Each player takes a slip of paper out of the hat or bowl. Everyone unfolds their piece of paper and looks at it privately. The player who gets the picture of the Cheese has the Cheese Touch, but this must be kept a secret. The object of the game is for the person with the Cheese Touch to pass it along to as many other people as possible. The person with the Cheese Touch does this by winking at a victim. When a victim is winked at, they have to silently count to five, and then announce to the group that they have the Cheese Touch. That person is now out of the game.The other players are trying to catch the person who has the Cheese Touch in the act of winking. If a player catches the person who has the Cheese Touch, the game is over. Tally up the number of “victims” the person with the Cheese Touch successfully knocked out.When the game is over, the slips of paper are collected again and putmback in the hat or bowl, and players draw again. This game should be played in three or four rounds. The winner can be either the person who passed the Cheese Touch to the greatest number of people, or the person who caught more than one “winker” in the act.


Trivia:
Q. In the book Dog Days what was the name of Greg and Rowley's lawn care service?
A. V.I.P Lawn Service

Q. Who is Rowley's favorite singer?
A. Joshie


Q. What is the name of Greg's least favorite comic?
A. Lil Cutie


Q. What is Rowley's last name?
A. Jefferson


Q. Who does Greg have a crush on in The Last Straw?
A. Holly Hills

Q. What word does Fregly use to let people know he has to pee?
A. Juice


Q. What is Manny's nickname for Greg?
A. Bubby


Q. What does Manny call his blanket?
A. Tingy


Q. What would Greg rather do instead of swim team?
A. Water Jazz


Q. What did Marty Porter have in the second grade?
A. Head lice


Q. Who wins the talent show?
A. Leland


Q. Who's idea was it that Greg start a diary?
A. Mom


Q. What role did Greg play in the Wizard of Oz?
A. A tree


Q. What position on the student government did Greg want to win?
A. treasurer 


Q. What did Uncle Charlie give Greg for Christmas?
A. A Picture of Uncle Charlie


Day of the event schedule:
1. Book discussion about our favorite moments from the book
2. Make Your Own Comics activity
3. Cheese Touch Game
4. Personality Game
5. Trivia
6. Read-a-likes
7. Decorate notebooks
8. Cash in mom bucks

Links:

Event Kit
Blog
Children's Programming Blog