SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES PROGRAM

On Saturday, March 25, 2006 , 11 participants braved alternately rainy and snowy weather to learn about The Spiderwick Chronicles series of books by authors/illustrators Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi.

Each participant received a tree nametag (cut with Ellison die) as they arrived. They were also invited to sign up for a variety of door prizes that were given away at the program’s conclusion.
Children’s Librarian Barb Scott presented a short Powerpoint show on the series of books, their creators. Many were unfamiliar with the series, which follows the Grace children (Mallory and identical twin brothers Jared and Simon) through the strange things that take place when they and their mother move into her Aunt Lucinda’s run-down estate. The children meet a variety of strange characters, including brownies, boggarts, faeries, ogres and other creatures! Once the presentation was over, many expressed interest in reading the series!

Participants were then invited to partake of five different craft tables to make Spiderwick-themed crafts. You will see examples of all of these crafts displayed in the group picture that was taken. These tables were:

1. Unicorn Toilet Paper Roll Craft—Patterns for the unicorn’s body, legs, head, and necklace were colored, cut out, and pasted onto a toilet paper roll. A hole was then punched in the back of the roll and several pieces of white yarn pulled through and tied to make a tail!

2. Griffin Coloring Page—The Grace children end up with a griffin in their garage as a result of the griffin’s run-in with some particularly nasty goblins. After learning that griffins are a creature that is made up of both an eagle and lion, participants were asked to color a picture that would be kept and displayed with pictures take of the day’s event.

3. Dress a Sprite!—Participants were given a sprite pattern, similar to a paper doll. This was to be colored and cut out. They could then dress their sprite in a variety of paper hats and outfit pieces (which where colored, cut out and glued onto the sprite’s body).

4. Morph into a Wood Elf!—Participants received a wood elf mask to color, cut out, and decorate with leaf, berry, and flower shapes, which were colored and cut out of a second piece of construction paper. To complete the mask, a craft stick was glued to side for participants to use to hold the mask up to their faces!

5. Make a Fairy Headband—This craft was definitely the hit of the day! Pre-packaged kits were purchased from Oriental Trading Company that contained the chenille stems, the beads, the ribbons and the flowers that made up the headband. The beads were beaded onto the chenille and the band fitted to the participant’s head. Then the different-colored ribbons were hot-glued onto the backs of the flowers. These were left to dry for a short minute, then these were glued onto the area where the fitted headband came together. These were so cute that a couple of the moms made one as well!

Participants also enjoyed snacks as part of the program. Served were both chocolate chip and blueberry mini-muffins, pretzels, fruit snacks and punch.

A drawing for door prizes was also held at the program’s conclusion.