International Games Day

Thousands of libraries around the world celebrate International Games Day every November.  International Games Day is an annual celebration of games, play, libraries and learning. It is co-sponsored by the American Library Association in partnership with Nordic Game Day and the Australian Library and Information Association.

This year was the second year for our library to participate. Our theme this year was “Games are Magic” and we were able to hire a local magician to put on an hour long show for the kids.  We also had a variety of card and board games for all ages to play.  Our library main focus this year was on technology-based game play. 

We were lucky enough to receive a monetary donation to purchase a new Wii U and Playstation 3 game systems last year.  The teens/tweens have regular monthly gaming programs and we hyped the kids/teens up by announcing the unveiling of our new games and systems at IGD. Needless to say, the new video games/systems were a BIG hit with the kids (and kids at heart).  FYI- LEGO Avengers is AWESOME!!!  

The only issue was that we had to limit the kids to 10 minutes of playing time. Four kids can play the Wii U at once, however, there was a big crowd (263!).  Everyone got a chance to play but there was some grumbling and complaining about the limited playtime. 

In addition to the video / board games, I set up five raspberry pi’s with Scratch and Minecraft Pi.  Scratch programming is a computer programming language developed for kids by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to teach kids the basics of coding.  We have been having a monthly tween SCRATCHer club so there was a lot of interest from parents and kids.  

Minecraft Pi is a version of Minecraft developed for the Raspberry Pi that encourages users to open and change the game's code.  Kids can modify their world to be anything they want.  It’s Minecraft plus! We recently started circulating these Raspberry Pi kits and the already lengthy hold list doubled after showcasing the Pi’s at this program.  

The come-and-go / multiple station set-up for this Saturday program was popular with all attendants.  We had many people wandering in and out throughout the day.  Everyone loved the focus on technology based games. I will defiantly be repeating this IGD format again next year. 

Literary Pumpkin Decorating awesomeness!

4 Halloween parties, 2  early release school programs, an after school kids club meeting…..this week has been CRAZY at our library.  

I just have to take some time out of my chaotic Halloween partying schedule to share one of my favorite seasonal programs, the Family Literary Pumpkin Decorating Contest!   The entries have been so creative!   I have no idea how I am going to pick a winner.  They are all my favorite! Enjoy....

Tween Book Club Adventures: in the graveyard

The tween book club voted in September to read a "scary --- but not too scary" book in October. I decided on the wonderful and award winning Neil Gaiman title THE GRAVEYARD BOOK.

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK opens with the tragic story of a small toddler whose parents were murdered in their bed by a man named Jack. This child (later named Nobody or “Bod”) escapes from the murderer by climbing out of his crib, crawling out of his house, and into the neighborhood graveyard. The kind-hearted ghosts who reside in the graveyard shelter him from the murderer and take him into their “home”.


The initial frightening opening scene of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is soon replaced by a wonderfully tender cast of ghostly characters.   Some of the book club participants enjoyed the frightening beginning of the book and some thought it was a bit too gruesome. Everyone agreed that everything else after the murder was pure awesomeness.

While we were  noshing on pizza, a graduate library school student came in and book talked a list of middle grade  "scary --- but not too scary" reads.  She compiled a sort-of-scary readers advisory bookmark and handed them out to the kids.  Afterwords, we got down to the groups favorite part of book club -- crafting!

This month, we crated little graveyard terrariums.  I got this very cute idea from the Harper Collins book/craft Tumblr page.  This page has a few unbelievably clever and adorable book/craft pairings.

I ended the book club by passing out November’s book club pick.  The I SURVIVED series by Lauren Tarshis is "like, totally super cool" with the tweens right now.  We can't keep them on the shelf.  I highly suggest that you check out the Bryce Don't Play: Shark Week blog post for fun activities to go along with this title.

Professional Book Review: Programming for Children and Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Klipper, Barbara. 2014. Programming for Children and Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Chicago: ALA Editions. p. 168. ISBN 9780838912065. $45. softcover.

        

Barbara Kippler’s book, Programming for Children and Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder, is a comprehensive guide for library professionals who are interested in developing programs for children and teens. This book includes a general overview of autism and details unique challenges librarians face when developing programs for children and teens that are on the autism spectrum. It is a wonderful resource for library professional looking to serve this special need population in their library.


Kippler is a veteran special needs educator. Within the ALA, she has chaired the Library Services for Special Population Children and Their Caregivers committee. She has been working on the front lines with children who have autism since 1986. Her journey started with founding a school for autistic children after her two sons were diagnosed with the disorder. Since founding the school, Kippler has developed grant funded sensory story-times, special need library collections, trained librarians in working with autism, and presented at national conferences.


This well organized book has story-time and program ideas broken down by age’s ranging from preschool to teen. Excellent well-developed sample programs for preschool children through teens are scattered through the book. These programs outline shopping/equipment lists, recommended books, room set-up, adaptations, and extension activities. These pre-made program ideas are a valuable resource for busy children librarians who need ready-to-go activities.


The first few chapters give readers a general overview of the autism disorder. Kippler includes both a layman’s explanation and briefly describes the diagnostic criteria for autism before delving into how this affects libraries in chapter two. The second chapter is a well thought out guide to the pre-planning process for librarians interested in starting programs for autistic children. Preparation, training, outreach, funding, and planning are all discussed. Lists of question are provided to guide library professional in developing the goals and logistics of their programs.


This book discuss developing or adapting story-times for children with sensory disorders. There are many well-built story-time example programs in these chapters. Kippler briefly talks about inclusion programs that combine special needs and autistic children on page eight. However, she verbalizes a preference for separate special needs story-times and does not offer many tools for librarians wishing to make their current story-time more inclusive for these children.


Programming for Children and Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder also outlines special autism specific programs for school age children and teens. These chapters included many great suggestions about integrating autistic children into regular programming Moreover, Kippler includes some very good separate program plans for children in this age group. These plans are littered with tips and tricks to make them run more smoothly and to be more all-embracing.

Tween Tech: SCRATCHer club

SCRATCH  is a fun computer programming language developed for kids by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  SCRATCH teaches kids the basics of coding while letting them create original works of interactive art, games, animation, and stories. 

Two months ago, a volunteer came into the library asking to teach monthly SCRATCH programming classes to our tweens.  Theses classes have become so popular they are filled (with waiting lists!) until the end of November.  

I am lucky to have such an awesome volunteer but it is not necessary to have your own SCRATCH expert to run this library program.  The SCRATCH platform is simple enough that any tech savvy library professional could put together (or steal) their own curriculum.  For instance, SCRATCH-ed has a FREE curriculum for introductory classes (including the Power Points and handouts!).

Speaking of free…. the program is completely free to use.  If you have access to computers/internet that is all you need to start classes. 

**one word of caution**  

If students will be posting their projects to SCRATCH online make sure parents know that other kids will be viewing and commenting on them (the comments are monitored to ensure that all are positive).

I have gotten around this issue by asking parents to stay for the first five minutes and help their child register for SCRATCH online.  This enables parent to have access to their child’s account and gives me a chance to remind everyone about cyber safety.  

Community Helpers - a Humane Society school-age program

Last week, our local school district had their first early release day.  Our youth service staff usually tries to have an after school program available for the droves of bored kiddos that descend upon the library looking for entertainment. Games and crafts are usually set out for the kids in order to keep the out of trouble and out of staff's hair.

This month, I decided shake up the regular crafternoon program with a community service twist.  Our local Humane Society's Human Heroes program is for children under fourteen who would like to be involved in helping out the Humane Society but are too young to interact with the animals.  They developed a booklet with easy projects for young kids. The booklet guides kids in making easy beds, toys, and treat for the animals at the shelter.

We had about 18 kids in attendance for this program. I asked a representative from our local Humane Society to drop by and talk with the kids. She spent twenty minutes discussing shelter animals, answering the kids questions, and briefly talking about their youth Humane Heroes program. The kids had lots of wonderful questions and stories!

Before crafting, we read the book Dog vs. Cat by Chris Gall. This book is awesome! Reading this story started a whole new round of discussions about cat and dog antics.

Next, the children got started constructing cat toys for the cats and kittens at our locale animal shelter. The cat toys were made of a dowel rod, twine, felt, jingle bells and a jump ring.  Crafters cut two feathers out of the felt.  They attached the bell to the jump ring and then tied on the feathers with the twine. The other end of the twine was double knotted to the dowel rod for a handle.  This craft was very fun and most of the kids made more than one toy.

The Humane Society loved coming out to the library and offered to join us for another event.  This program was a hit with both parents and kids.  I will definitely be running this program again for our "Every Hero has a Story" themed 2015 summer reading program!

Tween Tech: Gamestar Mechanic

STEAM programming has been promoted and endorsed by the ALA, ALSC, YALSA, National Science Foundation, and Collaborative Summer Reading Program as a way to encourage learning, critical thinking, and exploration. Increasing numbers of youth service librarians are embracing STEAM programs for kids of all ages. 

Technology is my favorite part of STEAM.  I taught basic digital literacy classes for adults in the past, however, computer classes for kids is a new experience for me.  Two weeks ago I started a five session weekly class on video game design.  This program has been so fun and easy.  The kids love it!!! It has been so wildly popular that I am repeating the program in February 2015.  As of this morning, the February 2015 class has filled up as well!!!

I personally knew next to nothing about video game design a few weeks ago. Thanks to a program called Gamestar Mechanic I am now an "expert".  ;)

If you have not heard of Gamestar Mechanic, I highly suggest you visit their website.  An educator/library account costs a measly $2 a student.  That $2 gives the students lifetime access to the Gamestar program.  In 2011, several Gamestar Mechanic game-makers won the Scholastic Arts & Writing Award for games produced in this program. 

Users play a series of missions (or games) and collect “Sprites”.  These sprites are the building blocks the kids use to build their own games.  The program also encourages collaboration and constructive feedback by allowing students can share and give advice on their peer’s games.

The Gamestar Mechanic program comes with a pre-made curriculum that teachers/librarians can download free of charge.  It is easy to use, teach, and administer.  More importantly, the kids have a blast developing system thinking, storytelling, and critical thinking skills through play. 

If video-games are a "thing" with the tweens that frequent your library (and I suspect they are) you can't go wrong with this program.  

Tween Book Club Adventures: Lunch Lady Style

Last month, author Michael Fry visited our tween book club to discuss his novel Odd Squad: Bully Bait.  Kids and parents both enjoyed the experience.  For September’s tween book club pick I looked for a book that:

·        was related to the start of school year

·       reminded the kids about our wonderful author visit at the last book club meeting

·       was an easy read that tweens could get through painlessly while getting used to school/homework again

·        superheroes!

Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta is Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s third graphic novel in the popular Lunch Lady series. I highly recommend any of the Lunch Lady books.  In Author Visit Vendetta, a world famous writer with evil designs visits Hector, Terrence, and Dee’s school.   The lunch lady/superhero in disguise must get to the bottom of his sinister plans and save the school from attack bunnies.

The tween book club loved this month’s pick.  The tweens engaged in a extensive conversation about lunch lady’s super evil fighting gadgets such as spork phones, fishstick nunchucks and spatu-copters.  A few of the kids verbally designed their own elaborate kitchen utensil gadgets in super awesome detail.  The club also had a interesting discussion about what evil superpower they would give attack bunnies.

cyclops bunny

While we were talking and snacking on graham crackers, the club members made their own “attack bunnies”.  I borrowed this idea from DC Public Library's graphic novel club . Attack bunny shapes were cut out of felt using a peep template .  Craft supplies (sharpies, sequence, glitter, glue, etc.) were then set out on the tables and the kids went to town constructing their own diabolical attack peeps. 

We do have a young tween book club participant who does not like crafts.  For the kids who preferred an alternate activity, I set out Lunch Lady finish the story worksheets.

In the book, the lunch lady and students defeated the evil bunnies by throwing stinky socks at them. I devised a "stinky sock bomb game"  for the kids to play.   Evil bunnies were hand drawn on three sheets of construction paper.  Then they were cut out and attached  to three empty water bottles with superglue.  The kids took turn throwing rolled up socks (yes, they were clean and not "stinky") and knocking down the diabolical bunny bottles.



I ended the book club by passing out October’s book club pick.  We will be reading Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. I showed this book trailer to get the kids excited about reading it:

Library Iron Chef

I have seen Iron Chef teen program ideas floating around the web for a few months now.  I decided to borrow this idea and make an Iron Chef completion for the tweens at our library. You can't go wrong with food, kids, and library programs.  If you feed them... they will come.

Age Range: 8-12 (limit 20 tweens)
Time range: 1 1/2 hour
Supplies:
·         Plates
·         Aprons and Paper Chef Hats (from Oriental Trading)
·         Bowls
·         Plastic Silverware (lots!!!!)
·         Saltines
·         Graham Crackers
·         Whip Cream
·         Sprinkles
·         Chocolate/Strawberry Syrup
·         Grape Jelly
·         Sliced Cheese
·         Taco Shells
·         Ice Cream Cones
·         Bananas
·         Maraschino Cherries
·         Bread
·         Butter
·         Lunch meat
·         Marshmallows
·         Candy Pieces
·         Canned Fruit Cocktail

Room Set Up

5 tables for cooking station (for 5 teams of 4 children)

1 table for food station against wall

1 small table and chair for microwave station (with a volunteer/staff member to monitor)

White board to post rules

Some chairs against the wall for parents to sit

Approximate time table

2:00–2:15 --Check-in / distribute hats & aprons / review cookbooks on the table for meal ideas

2:15–2:25 -- Rules / ingredient unveiling / secret ingredient

2 25–2:35 -- Break into teams / make-up team names

2:35-3:05 -- Cooking time

3:05-3:15 -- Judging

3:15-3:30 -- Count votes / award prizes

The tweens choose their “team” by picking an empty seat at one on the tables. We then went over:

Iron Chef Competition Rules

No running 

One person per team at the food table at any one time

One person per team at the microwave at any one time

Only one microwavable bowl and plate may be used per team 

Each course must include the secret ingredient

Each team has to make an appetizer, entrée, and desert

Teams cannot vote for their own creations

If a spoon or fork goes into your mouth do not reuse it!!!!!!!

No finger licking or sampling until voting time

“Library Iron Chef’s –“GO!!!”

After I explained the rules, I unveiled the “secret’ ingredient.  Saltine Crackers!  A local business donated some of the food items including three of the biggest boxes of saltine crackers I have ever seen.  Our poor tween book club ate crackers for two months of meetings after this program.

The teams went to work planning and composing their dishes.  I asked a couple of parents to walk around the room and play sanitation police (SP).  There were several children who kept trying to double dip forks/spoons and lick fingers.  The SPs walked around and made sure children threw away used silverware and washed their hands. Make sure you buy LOTS of plastic silverware!!!

In just an hour, the tweens crafted their edible masterpieces with names like “Super Nova Marshmallow Melt”, “Gooey Cracker Ooze”, and “Rainbow Sprinkle Yum”.  

I originally planned to have staff members judge the tween’s dishes. Alas, there were no brave volunteers.  The tweens judged their own dishes instead.  I had each tween rate their competition’s dishes on a scale of 1-5. The team with the most points was the “winner”.  Everyone choose a book to take home from a collection of middle grade advanced reader copy titles.  The team with the most points got to choose their books first.   

Star Wars Reads Day

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....

Admiral Sackbar Puppet Instructions

Rebel children leave their home base and
head to their neighborhood library. Wookies, Vaders,

Leias, Skywalkers & Storm Troopers descended

on the children’s department to uncover

awesome new Star Wars books and movies.

During this invasion, rebel spies steal
secret plans to make the ultimate in

Star Wars crafts… Origami Yoda,

Princess Labelmaker and

Chewbacca the Fortune Wookie.

Rebel children then race home aboard

their parents starships.  Armed with their new

Star Wars swag, they read and dream about 

Jedi’s defending the people and restoring 

freedom to the galaxy...

The third annual Star Wars Reads Day is October 11^th and our youth services staff is geeking out at the opportunity to share all of our library’s Star Wars literary awesomeness.  Lego Star Wars, Angry Birds Star Wars, Origami Star Wars, graphic novel Star Wars, board book Star Wars, etc… we have it all. For the third annual Star Wars Reads Day, I have decided to recycle an easy and relatively passive origami program.  Our youth services department is usually staffed a little sparse on Saturdays so we need a low key program idea. 

We ran a drop-in Star Wars origami program in the library gallery last year and it was a hit with staff, parents, and kids.  Tom Angleberger, author of the infamous Oragami Yoda books, has a playlist on the Abram Books’ YouTube site. These 5-10 minute videos feature Tom explaining how to construct all of his Star Wars origami characters.

The library’s large television was rolled into the gallery along with several crafting tables.  We hooked up a laptop to the TV and played the Origami Yoda playlist on repeat.  Plain white and colored printer paper was cut into fourths or halves (Tom will tell you what colors and sizes are needed in the videos). 

A free printable Fortune Wookie cootie catcher template can be found on the Origami Yoda website.   

This year, we are also giving away Star Wars swag (stickers, buttons, etc.) to children who visit the children’s reference desk with their favorite Star Wars book.  That’s it!  This is easy-peasy program that will please the mini Jedi's, Padwans, and Rebels. May the Force be with you this Star Wars Reads Day! What will your library/school be doing to celebrate?

LEGO Pictionary

Legos are the BIG thing this year.  Our library hosts monthly Lego free-build sessions after school that are always packed with excited builders.  This month, I decided to put a new spin on Lego programming: LEGO Pictionary!

Age Range: 8-12

Time range: About 45 minutes

Cost: Free (if your library has access to Legos)

Setup/Equipment: 5 tables with 4 seats per table; a whiteboard to keep score; folded paper squares with pictures/words; a bowl to put the papers in

The tweens choose their “team” by picking an empty seat at one on the tables. We then went over:

Da’ Rules

No running

No yelling

Only one builder per team/per turn

Everyone gets a turn to be the builder

The builder may not speak, spell, or pantomime the answer to guessers

The first team to guess what the builder is making out of Legos gets the point

To avoid arguments, I had the youngest in the group be the first builder.  I called the first builders up to the front of the room and had one child pick a folded square of paper out of a bowl.  The squares had pictures/words of the object the builder was to build:

The builders then ran back to the table and started on their assigned object.  Some of the objects were very easy and the kids guessed within two minutes.  I placed a limit of five minutes of building/guessing time.  

The kids had fun playing this game but it grew a bit complicated as late coming kids tried to jump in 15-20 minutes into the game. After 20 minutes, the game dissolved in Lego free play and the kids started making up their own rules/games.  Legos are such a popular and easy and flexible activity that never goes out of style. 

Mythbusters STEM Program

I <3 Mythbusters! Explosions, science, awesomeness…   So, I was uber thrilled to conduct a mythbusters program for tweens this summer. I actually borrowed (and then modified) this program idea from the Tween Scene.  The Tween Scene is an awesome resource for pre-planned tween programs that you can modify to meet your library’s needs. 

Age Range: 8-12

Time range: About 1 hour

Attendance: capped at 20 Mythbusters due to supply limitation

Cost: around $15-$20 in grocery supplies

Shopping List: cornstarch, glass bowls, large metal spoons, paper, lightweight books, tape, pencils, caffeine free cola, pop-rock candy

To start, I set up 5 tables with enough chairs to seat 4 kids per table.  The tweens choose their “team” by picking an empty seat at one on the tables. Next, I presented the tween teams with:

Da’ Rules - 

1. No running
2. No yelling 
3. Your team must agree on an answer – truth or myth – before conducting the experiment
4. You are not allowed to get help from parents or older sibling
5. Each team that guesses the right answer receives four raffle tickets (one for each tween) to the summer reading raffle prize drawing (water park tickets)

Myth #1: A substance can be both a liquid and solid at the same time

First, each team had to decide if this statement was truth or a myth. The team guesses were split down the middle. Half guessed this was a true statement and half guessed myth.  Next, each team received a bowl of Oobleck from our awesome teen volunteer.  The tweens "experimented” with the Oobeleck by squishing, bouncing, dripping, punching, etc… 

***WARNING***

This is VERY messy!  In retrospect, I should have saved this experiment for the end.  Luckily, I had disposable tablecloths covering all the tables.  I just rolled them up with the Oobleck and threw everything away after the kids were done experimenting.  FYI – Oobleck vacuums off carpet when it dries (thank goodness!).

Correct Answer?  Truth   
We showed the following Mythbusters video to explain the answer (while my brave volunteers and I cleaned up their colossal mess):

Myth #2: Paper can support a book

First, each team had to decided if this statement was truth or myth (only one team guessed myth).  Each team was then given one piece of paper, tape, and a stack of light weight books:

Correct answer? Truth – The teams could have folded paper accordion style or rolled it into a tube using the tape.  The youngest team completed the challenge very quickly.  I was impressed!  The participants then had a blast competing with each other to see whose structure could hold the most books (the record was 16). 


The teams watched the following YouTube video explaining the science behind their constructions:

Myth #3: Eating pop-rock candy and drinking coke will make your stomach explode

This was, by far, the favorite myth of the program!  Teams spent five minutes debating the truth of the myth while daring each other to try the combination first.  The following video explains the history behind this myth:

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/pop-rocks-minimyth.htm

The End

After sugaring the kids up….I passed out the SRP raffle tickets.  I directed the tween Mythbusters to a cart full of science experiment literature and book-talked a few of them.  This program was well worth the cleanup after.  I will defiantly be repeating this program again next year.  Possibly with a different set of myths?   

Here comes Babymouse!

BABYMOUSE: CUPCAKE TYCOON is the thirteenth graphic novel in the award winning BABYMOUSE series. The BABYMOUSE series chronicles Babymouse’s adventures in hilarious dialog and black, white, and pink illustrations. Who can resist BABYMOUSE's pinktastically creative antics?  Not me!  Neither can the kids.  These graphic novels fly off the library shelves as soon as they come in. 

In CUPCAKE TYCOON, Babymouse’s school library is having a cupcake selling fund-raiser thanks to the library sprinkler accident caused by her overactive imagination. Babymouse is determined to outsell all the other students and win the “special” prize.  

I read this book and had visions of  library cupcake decorating awesomeness.  Unfortunately, my co-workers envisioned colored icing stains and embedded carpet sprinkles.  I have conducted food tween programs in the public library meeting rooms before.  They were....messy (steam clean the carpet the next day messy).  Oh well. 

The publisher's website has downloadable BABYMOUSE comic fill-in worksheets so children can create their own BABYMOUSE graphic novel. I have used similar downloadable templates for a tween graphic novel book club.  This was very fun and the kids took templates home so they could  continue creating. Have any other tween librarian conducted any BABYMOUSE Awesome BABYMOUSE programming?  I would love to hear about it!

BABYMOUSE Book Trailer:

Holm, Jennifer & Matthew Holm. 2010. BABYMOUSE: CUPCAKE TYCOON. NY: Random House. ISBN 978-0375965739.

Tween Book Club Adventures

I have been running a very fun and popular Tween Book Club since March.  The tween book club meets once a month to discuss a book/graphic novel they read the month before.  This summer I decided to shake things up by having a Book 2 Movie club once a month in the afternoon.  It was a HUGE success! 

Due to time constraints, the tween book club not able to watch the movie. Instead, I picked two very popular book-to-movie choices for June and July and planned several activities around them. 

June - HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON by Cressida Cowell

The movie How to Train your Dragon 2 came out the day before the book club meeting. I convinced a generous local movie theater to give me four free  opening weekend tickets.  I then devised a book vs. movie trivia quiz to challenge the club’s dragon training knowledge while we noshed on pizza.  There were some hard core dragon fans in attendance.  This contest was very competitive and fun!

Next, I broke out the library’s two huge plastic tubs of donated Legos.  We sat in a circle on the floor while building Lego dragons.  The kids came up with their own creative dragon names and dragon training stories while we were building.

July – THE LIGHTNING THIEF by Rick Riordan

June’s book club was a little chaotic due to the high number of people in attendance (96!).  I decided to approach July’s book club a little differently.  I broke the book activities into stations and allowed the kids to rotate through at their own pace.  Each station generated many awesome book/movie discussions.

Station 1: Book vs. Movie Trivia- This one was easy!  There are so many differences between the book and the movie.  The Camp Half-Blood Wiki has a comprehensive list to draw from:   http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/Percy_Jackson_and_the_Olympians:_The_Lightning_Thief/Differences_from_the_book .

Station 2: Camp Half-Blood Archery – I set up the Wii on our large television.  The kids had a blast taking turns playing Wii Resort archery.

Station 3: Shield Making -  I borrowed this idea form the KC Edventures Blog:  http://www.kcedventures.com/blog/percy-jackson-movie-birthday-party .  To keep costs down, I purchased inexpensive cardboard cake rounds instead of pizza pans to make the shields. I placed various craft supplies such as markers, crayons, glitter, construction paper, etc. out on the table and let the kids go to town.   This was by far the most popular and creatively awesome station!

Station 4: Greek Mythology Go-Fish- A free printable game can be found here: http://bogglesworldesl.com/greekmyths_flashcards.htm

Station 5: Write Your Name in Greek -  The Percy Jackson Event Kit on Rick Riordan’s website has a English to Greek letter translation chart: http://www.rickriordan.com/Files/Documents/event_kit_riordan.doc. I tacked this chart up next to a white board and put out some whiteboard markers.  The kids all took turns translating their names into Greek.   Some of them even put their Greek name on their newly created shield.

The End-

I always try to save five to ten minutes at the end of the book club to book-talk and pass out the next book.  Do you run a Tween Book Club at your library?  I’d love to hear about your experiences!