Earth Day

I hope to make a couple of posts with ideas for Earth Day. I made this flyer for the library with ideas from around the web for making crafts from recyclable materials.

 

Every Hero Has a Story

The 2015 Collaborative Summer Library Program theme is Every Hero Has a Story, which I am very excited about because SUPERHEROES!

I'll be posting every superhero-related idea, craft, book, and more that I come across. I'm sure this is going to be a very fun summer!

First up: Star Wars posters.

These posters can be found at the American Library Association online store.The first three feature artwork from/based on the Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger. The fourth is great to hang near audiobooks.

Play-doh Planets

A really fun thing to do if you have some extra Play-doh is making some planets!

Exhibit A: Tiny Earth made from play-doh

I only had yellow, red, blue, and white play-doh, so in order to make green and other colors they had to mix some of the play-doh up, which is great for learning about primary and secondary colors. I included these sheets on the tables for them to work with.

I can't find where I got the two sheets above, but if you've seen them please let me know the link.

One-Page Solar System Activity Printable

The one-page solar system activity printable was a sheet I wanted to give out for kids to take home, but the copier wasn't working so that didn't work out.

Kids Press Magazine has another great illustration of the planets (Pluto included).

Some other fun things I found among my searches:

Post about Laika the Astronaut, a book I didn't know existed (Note: I've tried to read the graphic novel Laika by Nick Abadzis, but my heart will break.)

The book A is for Astronaut: Space Exploration from A to Z has Laika featured for the letter L, and in the P for Planets page, Pluto is included. 

One patron made all the planets plus the sun!

If you are interested in making the play-doh planets scaled, check out these awesome instructions over at STEREO NASA.   

Stem Sheets also has some cool planet flashcards.

The Murder of Patience Brooke by J.C. Briggs

Check out my review of The Murder of Patience Brooke by J.C. Briggs at Dickensblog! I really love this book and can't wait for the second, Death at Hungerford Stairs.

Plastic Egg Crafts

Have some extra plastic Easter eggs? Why not make a bee or a bird/chick?

You can make a nest out of a small Dixie cup and some strips of brown paper.

Other awesome ideas:

Egg Cupcakes

Elegant silver ring box

Tiny teacups with plastic eggs and buttons

If you have tea lights, you can make fireflies that really light up

Book Totes

There are several library book tote ideas out there that I really love. The one for this project came from Spoonful.com (although Disney changed their urls once again, so the link does not work but I'm keeping it because it will make me feel better to link to it on here as my source. I've tried visiting their Family Fun site to search for the bag, but haven't had any luck so far.).

Oriental Trading has book totes in several sizes. I used acrylic paint (you can find it at Wal-Mart for 97 cents to two or three dollars in many colors) and adhesive buttons also from Oriental Trading. You can also dress up your tote with stickers! 

I attempted to make it as nice as the example on Spoonful, but alas, it was not to be. When the paint was dry, I wrote the names of some of my favorite books on the spines with permanent marker. I brought in my blow dryer to speed up the drying process, but also had bags where the kids could put their totes in if they weren't completely dry by the end of the program.

                                              

Here are some other great book tote ideas:
Bookish Book Totes for Kids @ BookRiot
Personalized Library Tote @ Ink and Squid
Library Tote Bags @ Occasionally Crafty

Tell a Fairy Tale Day

Happy Tell a Fairy Tale Day!

While searching for images of The Steadfast Tin Soldier, I came across this beautiful book sculpture at saaraa.com. The Steadfast Tin Soldier is my most favorite fairy tale, and I have a small collection of different versions of the tale. One of my favorite renditions of the tale is the short performance in Fantasia 2000. I encourage you to take some time to view it, you will not regret it!