Library Amazing Race Program

So I adore planning big events where I get loads of kids to come and explore the library..... they are kinda my thing. This summer the SRP manual had a great program idea called Dewey's Amazing Race based on the premise of the TV show "The Amazing Race." I thought it sounded right up our alley and would be a good way to keep a large group of kids entertained for about an hour and learn about the library!

Basically it works like this; there are 10 activity stations throughout the building and outside. I will break the kids into teams of 3 or 4 (dependent on how many kids show up). They will get a map of the grounds and where each of the activities are. At each station is a stamp and a stamp pad. Each team stamps their map when the station is complete. Each team who completes all 10 stations gets a prize (temporary tattoo) I have teen volunteers at the stations that are more involved to help out. They are also coming early to help do all the set-up.

Rather than make the teams finish each station in order let them jump around to alleviate congestion.

Station 1, 000: World Record Plunge Based on the Guinness Book of World Records students will replicate a feat from the book. One of the coldest inhabited places is Resolute, Canada, with an average temperature of -16 degrees Celsius. Participants plunge their hands into a bucket of ice water to retrieve a small toy at the bottom. Volunteer present
Station 2, 100: Spooky Treats Participants create an edible ghost by wrapping a lollipop in tissue, tying a piece of yarn around the neck, and using a black marker to make a face.
Station 3, 200: Goddess Golf Teams use crochet mallet to put the ball through arches labeled with the names of gods and goddesses. Each player must hit through 2 arches to move on. Volunteer present
Station 4, 300: Endangered Eggs Egg and Spoon. Players carry a picture of an endangered species that is taped to a wooden egg with a spoon and place them in a bucket labeled "Safe Place."
Station 5, 400: Guten Tag Participants match words for hello from different countries to the proper countries. They must get them all right to move on. Volunteer present
Station 6, 500: Under the Sea Participants will explore sea shells and petrified sea creatures using microscopes. Volunteer present
Station 7, 600: Fruit Kebabs Fruit Kebab from the Middle East. Cut up bananas, strawberries, apples, and other fruit using plastic knives. Place the pieces on toothpicks and eat carefully. Have kids finish eating before they move on to the next station. Volunteer present
Station 8, 700: Take off and Landing Participants make paper airplanes to be flown into buckets labeled with a foreign city. City suggestions: Tokyo, Rio, Rome, Paris. Volunteer present
Station 9, 800: Mad Words Have teams complete a Mad Lib
Station 10, 900: Where in the World? Hang up a large map of the world, give them a list of 4 countries they must find to advance. Volunteer present

Final station, have their map checked and get reward!

Endangered Animals for Station 4

Alternative to Summer Reading Incentives

For the past few years I have heard of libraries offering kids the option to donate to a non-profit organization instead of receiving prizes for summer reading. We give out a lot of fun little plastic toys, erasers, etc but I really want to teach kids life lessons whenever I can. (don't worry I am not preachy with them!)

This year for a change I set aside a little bit of the money I would normally use on summer reading incentive prizes to be used to donate to several non-profit organizations. This has turned out to be a huge success! This is how the program worked:

I created "Make a difference in the world" certificates (template) and placed them in the prize box. For every ten stickers a child gets on their reading chart (15 minutes=1 sticker) they get to pick a prize from the box. For these donation certificates kids must trade in 20 of their stickers and the library will donate $1.00 to the charity they choose. The charities I had as options include the local animal shelter, the Humane Society of the United States, and the Red Cross.

The real sacrifice for the kids is that they can have to give up not one but two prizes to donate to a charity. Parents are really excited about this program and love seeing their selfless children make such decisions.

At the end of the summer I send each charity a check along with a letter wit the names of all the kids who donated and how many hours they read to make their donation.

If there are issues with using public funding to run this program hook up with a local business and have them sponsor it. You can have a finite amount of dollars put away for the program. Be sure to research the charity you choose to make sure it fits with the libraries mission and is legit.

Kids Summer Reading Incentives

I love shopping for summer reading incentive prizes. Though this year I felt guilty about just giving away cheapie plastic stuff that will just take up space in the world so I tried to lean more towards useful prizes instead of pieces that will just break.

Oriental Trading is a great place to buy prizes. I have lived and learned what not to buy because often the quality of items is pretty low. This year I think I did a pretty rad shopping job if I do say so myself.

The way I run our summer reading for kids is children keep track of how many minutes they read or are read to. For every 15 minutes they read they can place a sticker on their reading chart. After a child gets 10 stickers (2.5 hours of reading) they can pick a prize from the prize box. Some kids come every week to get a prize and some only collect huge payloads once or twice over the summer. I put new prizes in the box each week with the prizes getting progressively better as the summer goes on.

Here are the prizes I offered this summer:

Oriental Wooden Bookmarks (not a big hit)
Oriental Wooden Fans (huge hit)
Stuffed Panda Bears (big hit)
Skateboard and Truck Erasers (hit)
Stackable Pencils and Adjustable Erasers (surprising hit)
Metal Skull Rings and Plastic Animal Print Rings (boys and girls love)
Parachute Monkeys (leftover from last year, still a hit)
Frog Finger Puppets (popular with toddlers)
Eye Bulge Critters (squeeze them and their eyes bug out, kids loved this)
Rainbow Crayons (not a huge hit, come on kids these are awesome!)

Waterguns (moderate hit)
Knight and Alien Rubber Duckies (they love the twist on traditional rubber duckies)
Glitter Stickers (moderate in popularity)
Country Flag Keychains (duds)
Sports Necklaces (popular)
Chinese Characters Wooden Bead Bracelet (okay, not as popular as I thought)

Funny Books for Boys

This is a list of great books that will make your boy patrons LOL!

Series:
Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
Lunch Lady series by Jarrett J Krosoczka (graphic novel)
Far Side Comics by Gary Larson (graphic novel)
Weenies series by David Lubar
Time Warp Trio by Jon Sciezka
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Shredderman by Wendelin Van Draanen
Double Fudge by Beverly Cleary
Guys Read edited by Jon Sciezka
Mr. Chickee by Christopher Paul Curtis
Bunnicula by Jame Howe
My Weird School by Dan Gutman
Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold (easy reader)
Walter the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle (picture book)


Stand Alone Titles:
6th Grade Nickname Game by Gordon Korman
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Frankenstein Make a Sandwich by Adam Rex (picture book)
Frankenstein Takes the Cake by Adam Rex (picture book)
Knucklehead by Jon Scieska (biography)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
My Rotten Life by David Lubar
Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder by Jo Nesbo
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Sciezka (picture book)
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Sciezka(picture book)
A Pig Parade is a Terrible Idea by Michael Ian Black (picture book)
A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee (easy reader)
Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein (picture book)



-Some content from guysread.com

Travel to China

As part of the One World Many Stories summer reading theme this program will bring kids to China through crafts, cooking, and folktales.

The recipe we will make:

Cold Sesame Noodles (p.14 from the book Recipe and Craft Guide to China by Joanne Mattern)

1 pound thin spaghetti or lo mein noodles
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 cup tahini (can use peanut butter but why not spend an extra few dollars and give kids and authentic experience)
1/2 cup vegetable broth
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup chopped peanuts or chopped green onions

1. Fill saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Cook noodles about 8-10 minutes or until just soft. Drain and add 1 tablespoon sesame oil, mix and set aside to refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Place Tahiti, broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugr in a jar with a lid. Cover and shake well. Place in fridge about 1 hour.
3. Place the cold noodles on a serving dish. Top with Tahini mixture and mix well.
4. Garnish with chopped peanuts or chopped green onions if you want to. Serves 4 people.

Bubble Tea

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chilled, cooked large tapioca pearls (if substituting smaller tapioca, use 1/3 cup, can be purchased in Asian food market)*
1 cup crushed ice
1 cup very strong chilled black tea (or orange pekoe tea or Lichee tea, try and go for decaf for kids sake!)
1 cup milk, or to taste
Honey or sugar to taste

Directions:
Place the pearls in a large clear glass. Combine all remaining ingredients in a cocktail shaker (or cans with lids so the kids can help out), and shake vigorously until the mixture is frothy.
Pour into the glass, and serve with extra-thick straws.

How To Cook Tapioca Pearls:

6 to 8 cups water (the ration is a minimum 7:1 water to tapioca pearls)
1 cup tapioca pearls
In a large pot (Make sure the pot is big enough so boiling tapioca water will not spill over) over high heat, add water and bring to a boil.
Slowly stir in the tapioca pearls so that they do not stick together (after 1 minute, the tapioca pearls should float). Reduce heat to medium and let boil, covered, for approximately 15 minutes; turn the heat off and let the tapioca pearls site, covered, for an additional 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove from heat, rinse the tapioca pearls in cold water, and drain.

NOTE: The cooking time above is a general guideline. If you shorten the cooking time, you will get chewier tapioca balls. Cook longer and you will get less elastic tapioca balls.


Crafts:

Paper Cutouts (p.37 from the book Recipe and Craft Guide to China by Joanne Mattern)
Chinese people often use paper cutouts to decorate their homes. They cut out pictures of animals, flowers, or decorative designs and tape them to windows or doors.

Materials
-Construction paper in 2 different contrasting colors
-Pencil
-Scissors
-Glue

Trace template and cut out. Glue the cutout design to a darker piece of construction paper.

Paper Tangrams

Book:
Tiki Tiki Tembo by Arlene Mosel

Cinderella Around the World Program

This is a program I am doing for grades 3-5 as part of the "One World, Many Stories" summer reading theme. I will read a couple Cinderella tales from around the world. The group will help me make a list of common elements that make these Cinderella stories. Class will be broken up into groups of three or four and will compose their own 1 page Cinderella story to read in fron of the class. Sillyness is encouraged! I will have Volunteens going around and helping each group.

* Post program note: Only had 3 of the kids show up! So instead of writing our own Cinderella story on our own we went around a circle and each told one line of the story. The end result was pretty hilarious and the kids and myself had a ball!

The Books:


Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal by Paul Fleischman

(Blend of worldwide tales)

The Rough-Faced Girl by Rafe Martin

(Algonquin Indian) * Read aloud

The Gift of the Crocodile by Judy Sierra (Indonesia)

Domitila adapted by Jewell Reinhart Coburn
(Mexico)




The Korean Cinderella by Shirley Climo
(Korea)



Fair, Brown & Trembling by Jude Daly
(Ireland)

The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo
(Egypt)




Kongi and Potgi by Oki Han
(Korea)

Cendrillon by Robert D. San Souci
(Caribbean)

Sootface by Robert D. San Souci
(Ojibwa Indian)




Smoky Mountain Rose by Alan Schroeder
(Appalachia)
*possible read aloud





Yeh-Shen by Ai-Ling Louie
(China)





Adelita by Tomie dePaola
(Mexico)





Little Gold Star by Robert D. San Souci
(Spanish)




Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe
(Africa)




Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl (Cinderella section)

Booklist: Books About Self Esteem

-From Listserv, compiled by Bridget R Wilson, Youth Services Librarian


The Fast and the Furriest By Andy Behrens
Shredderman Series By Wendelin VanDraanen
The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy By William Boniface
Schooled By Gordon Korman
A Week in the Woods By Andrew Clements
The Boy Who Owned the School By Gary Paulsen
S.O.R. Losers by Avi – a seventh grade soccer team made up of the
non-athletes
The 18th Emergency – Betsy Byars (a boy going through being bullied and
thinking his way out of every emergency but being bullied)
Almost anything by Daniel Pinkwater (Lizard Music, Snarkout Boys, Alan
Mendelson the Boy From Mars) generally feature boys who are “different”
Slake’s Limbo – Felice Holman (loner boy goes to live in the subway)
Maniac Magee – Jerry Spinelli (more a boy hero to a loner boy)
Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon, by Patti Lovell
I'm gonna like me by Jamie Lee Curtis
Jim Hensen's muppet's in flip flap flop by Stephanie St. Pierre
'Stick Up For Yourself!: Every Kid's Guide to Personal Power and Positive
Self-Esteem' by Gershen Kaufman, Lev Raphael, and Pamela Espeland
Welcome Comfort by Patricia Polacco
Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Kinney

Great Book for Summer Reading Cooking Programs

 

The Around the World Cookbook, 2008, DK Publishing by Abigail Johnson Dodge is a really fun book to inspire cooking programs in the library.  With easy recipes and  great colorful pictures this cookbook is wonderful for all ages.  Pair up a recipe from a region with a book from your collection.  Read the book aloud  and work with the group to cook an appropriate recipe.  For example read the Russian folktale "The Turnip" then cook the recipe for Roasted Beets (close enough!) You could even go one step further and incorporate a little food/garden lesson on how root vegetables are grown.  

I am planning on a potluck family dinner this summer as part of the summer reading theme "One World, Many Stories."  This cookbook could be used by patrons to help choose a dish to make and bring to the dinner.