MY LITTLE PONY PARTY

I did this program in the fall of 2017.  I had several stations set up at tables in the Children's Room.  They were:

• Rainbow Sprinkles Cookie Station:  I used the pink strawberry wafer cookies for this.  They were able to dip the end of the cookie into white dipping chocolate and then dip in or spoon on sprinkles.
• Also offered Rainbow Dash Fish Crackers (rainbow colored Goldfish crackers)
• My Little Pony Hoof Decorating:  I had several colors of nail polish available.  Participants could choose color/colors.
• My Little Pony Masks:  I had copies of several different pony masks.  Participants colored, cut them out and glued onto a large craft stick.
• My Little Pony Bingo:  This was a popular game!  The BINGO board can be found at www.artsyfartsymama.com    We used Skittles as our playing pieces.  When a BINGO was called, that person got to choose a My Little Pony sticker.
• We also had a photo op, where we had Pinkie Pie drawn onto a large display board with the face area cut out.  Participants could go behind it, stick their head through and have a picture taken.
• All participants received a baggie with stickers and a coloring book that I had put together at the end of the program.

Stickers were ordered through Smilemakers.  

NATIONAL SOMETHING ON A STICK DAY

March 28th is National Something on a Stick Day.  This day just begged to be programmed!

Here is what we offered:

• Chocolate doughnuts on a stick (popsicle stick inserted)
• White powdered doughnuts on a stick (popsicle stick  inserted)
• Hot dogs (sliced) on a stick (toothpick)
• Cheese (sliced) on a stick (toothpick)
• Rice Krispie treats (cut in half and popsicle stick inserted)
• Cake pops
• S'mores fixings (marshmallows, graham crackers, package of 12 snack size Hershey bars)
• Tootsie Roll pops

For dipping, we had white and chocolate melts in two small crockpots, bowls with sprinkles, and spoons.

My director bought a cake pop maker for $3.00 at a Goodwill and it worked like a charm!  Takes 4 minutes from start to finish.  I will say that chilling the cake mix overnight did help with the consistency (making it thicker).  I made up some cake pops ahead of time and continued to make them throughout the program.

I also purchase a Hershey's S'more Maker at a local Goodwill, but did not have the chance to try it out prior to the program.  So, for the s'mores, we had a small microwave available.  Great s'mores were made in 10 seconds.

I also offered a simple craft, which was a bookmark.  This was a jumbo craft stick and stickers adhered to it.

Next time around, we plan to add mini corndogs on sticks, and I've also seen the plans for Easter Peeps Fruit Kabobs.  

MUG CAKES!

Want a super-simple program that's bound to be a big hit?  Well, this is it!

I have done this program a couple of different times.  Once was in the winter for a day that kids were out of school (looking back into my file, it was Martin Luther King Day); the second time it was done as a spring-themed program.

You can make the mug cakes with either real mugs (the first time, I purchased 88 cent mugs from Wal-mart) or use Dixie Cups.

Here are a couple of recipes that I have used:

1 MINUTE DIXIE CUP CAKES

You will need:
1 package of cake mix (any flavor)  (I've done chocolate and funfetti....funfetti is my favorite for this)
Water
3-ounce or 12-ounce Dixie Cups
Toppings:  Frosting, sprinkles, chocolate chips (for the chocolate ones) ice cream.  All of these are optional.

For the 3-ounce cup:
3 tablespoons cake mix
1 tablespoon water
Stir, stir, stir!  I let the participants use a small popsicle/craft stick to do this.  Batter should be thick.  Place in microwave for 45 seconds.  Batter will likely run over the sides of the 3 ounce cup.  Switch out to a 5-ounce cup and this doesn't happen.  Let cool for one minute and add toppings, if desired.

For the 12-ounce cup:
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cake mix
1/4 cup water
Stir, stir, stir!  Batter should be thick.  Place in microwave 1 minute,10 seconds.  Let cool for one minute and add toppings, if desired.

We have also done crafts once the kiddos have made their mug cakes.  For the winter one, it was a picture of a mug that they could decorate and add real mini marshmallows to.  For the spring one, it was a simple flower crown.

I always have a handout of additional mug cake recipes to give to parents.

SCAVENGER HUNTS!

SCAVENGER HUNTS!

I got this idea from a meeting of children's librarians some time back, and it is such an easy and fun monthly passive activity for our young patrons!

We just finished up our Summer Reading Program (Libraries Rock!) and are on the last of three monthly hunts for rock/stone formations.  June was Ohio rocks/statues, July was national rocks/statues, and August is international rocks/statues.

To set it up is super simple!  Choose 12 items, print them out in color and then add an alphabet letter (cut from Ellison 4-inch dies) to the picture.  Laminate, cut out, and then hide around your area.  Have a sheet with smaller pictures of each of the items with a line next to them for patrons to jot down the alphabet letter.

Our hunts in June and July were super popular, as completion of them got the participant an extra entry into prize drawings at the end of the Summer Reading Program.  We had nearly 200 hunts done during each of those months!  Prizes ranged from bookmarks to LEGO bracelets (left over from last summer's Summer Reading Program, plastic ducks, suckers, Smarties candy, etc.

Here are some ideas for hunts:

• September is National Chicken Month.  I found 12 different pictures of chickens wearing hats/clothes.  I am thinking of using Easter eggs with some sort of candy inside as the prize.
• October is a perfect month to do monsters or something else Halloween-related.  I am doing monsters this year, and the prize is a small rubber monster finger puppet.
• November this year is foods associated with Thanksgiving dinners.
• The 12 days of Christmas just begs to be used!  Or you could do items associated with Christmas, such as trees, cookies, elves, Santa, etc.  I did the 12 Days of Christmas last year and the prize was a candy cane.
• For March (and this is where I got the original idea), large eggs had book characters on them.  The participants had to match the color of the egg with the character on them.  For a prize, they received a plastic Easter egg with a candy bar inside.

NATIONAL MONSTER DAY

Since August 15th is National Monster Day, I decided to have an all-day craft that folks could just drop in and do.

I had to "frankenstein" two sets of instructions, as neither of them worked well on their own.

Here is how I constructed the yarn monster:

Cut cardboard pieces 3" by around 5 1/2".  Since the cardboard can easily start to bend once the yarn wrapping is started, I rubber-banded two pieces together.  You could also hot glue them together as well.

You will use the 5 1/2" length to wrap your yarn around.  Wrap the yarn 150 times around the cardboard.  Once you have reached the last wrap, cut off the yarn.  On one side of the cardboard, tie a knot around the center of the yarn.

Flip the cardboard over and cut through the center of the yarn.  This is your hair pom pom.

At this point, if you wish to use the pipe cleaners as shown in the picture, wrap it around the pom.

Use a 3-ounce Dixie cup turned upside down, and hot glue the pom to the top of the cup.

Add googly eyes,

My sample did not have the eyes hot-glued to the pipe cleaner.  I simply hot-glued on two large googly eyes to the front.  I also wrapped a pipe cleaner around the pom and wrapped it around a pencil to achieve some curls.

You could add more than one set of eyes, if you wish.

This would be a great Halloween or anytime craft!  Also, with the Summer Reading Program theme next year (2019) being space, these could easily be made into space aliens with green yarn and sparkly pipe cleaners!