Blinded by Science

The annual Spring Fling at the library this year was all about science. The decorations doubled as photo props with goggles, test tubes and lab coats. 

The cookies were delicious in the shapes of test tubes, beakers and flasks.

We explored sound waves with a hands-on dancing oobleck experiment.

Now that you've got a taste, I'll take you on a tour. After scanning their hands and coming through the quarantine curtain, the children identified these every day objects as if they were looking at them through a magnifying glass. Can you name them all?

We explored air flow by balancing ping pong balls on a current of air created by a blow dryer.

The precipitation began when the shaving cream clouds filled with blue condensation at the weather station.

Each child made their own color wheel. What does blue and yellow make?

You have to look the part while experimenting, right? So we made mad scientist goggles with crazy hair.

Gumdrop molecular models, yum. Is that a double helix I see?

Oh, water beads. Children of all ages (and lots of adults, too) are fascinated with these little spheres of water. I added an element of play by placing the translucent pipe builders with them.

I'm so happy we had lots of older children since we hold this annual event during Spring Break week. Youngest to oldest had a blast with science!

My favorite activity explored static electricity. It was probably the easiest experiment to set up. I just blew up the balloons and placed them next to a basket of wool items. The kids stuck them everywhere, all over the wall and each other. Even babies had fun with this one!

Who can build the tallest tower? I hung bulletin board paper on the wall to mark the progress of each group. The tower had to stand on its own for 30 seconds. I took this picture half-way through the program, so there were actually two towers taller than this one!

I had so much fun planning this event and I can't wait for Summer Reading Club 2014 "Fizz, Boom, Read!" Sharing with Tuesday Tots and Kids Co-op.

Spring Carnival

Each year we hold a Spring Fling, a literacy-based party with a different theme each year. Our theme this year was a Spring Carnival. My camera has been out of commission for months, so the photos were generously shared by my favorite library mama, Cecy. They feature her adorable little boys, E and T. 

Temporary Tattoo Booth

Once again, I used the whole meeting room to hold this event. Originally I planned to have the carnival outside, so some of the games didn't fit in the room. I set those up in the children's area by the tree house. When guests arrived, they entered their guesses for the jelly bean and gumball containers. The winner took home all the candy! Then, they stopped by the temporary tattoo booth.

Crafts

I always set up several crafts at different levels, since the program invites all ages. I used the die-cut to punch out top hats and elephants to decorate for the younger children. The older children made a paper plate toss game. We had popcorn for a snack, but saved the cotton candy for a craft using cotton balls dyed with tempera powder paint and toilet paper rolls.

Ring Toss Craft

After the initial half hour of fun and games, I started the cupcake walks. All the cupcakes were donated by co-workers, Connie, Mattie and Robyn. I used the storytime puzzle mats with numbers taped to them. Every child had the opportunity to win a cupcake, so this activity was easy-going and fun. Bobo helped me by stopping the music.

Cupcake Walk

The children played lots of games to win tickets for prizes. The first game I planned when we chose the theme was the one where you knock down the cans, I still can't find the proper name for it. We make lots of homemade play dough, so I used salt containers to be knocked down. The children also played beach ball bowling and egg-racing with a set bought from Oriental Trading. I set up a couple of accuracy games like tossing bean bags into baskets and shooting ping pong balls with a squirt gun.

Basket Toss

I found most of these ideas on Martha Stewart's site. A carnival would be a great, inexpensive option for a birthday party. You will need good weather. Most of the items used in the games were purchased at the Dollar Tree. I bought the temporary tattoos from Oriental Trading, who also has lots of prizes available. If you'd like to see how I organize my ideas, see my pinterest board.

Beach Ball Bowling

In the past, the attendees for the Fling have been preschoolers. I am happy to say, this year we had a wonderful mix of all ages. The games and crafts were appropriate for varying levels. Bobo's favorite part of the Carnival, as well as most participants, was the Sharp Shooter game.

Sharp Shooter

Some of my favorite carnival books are: Spot and His Grandparents Go to the Carnival by Eric Hill, Paddington Bear and the Busy Bee Carnival by Michael Bond, Karen's Carnival by Ann M. Martin. The Goosebumps series also has some spooky carnival stories which are popular, but those were my favorites when I was in middle school and now I'm terrified of clowns. I'm not saying that is the cause...

Winner for favorite activity

I'd like to thank my two helpers for this program. Miss Angela and Kristi. It wouldn't have been half as fun without you!

A very merry UN-birthday to you!

Each year we hold a Spring Fling, which is basically a big literacy-based party. This year, I suggested we have an Un-Birthday party based on Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I had lots of ideas and I didn't get to use them all, but everyone had a blast. I dressed up like the Mad Hatter for the occassion. Pictured Below: Miss Courtney and Bobo, age 2



Down the Rabbit Hole
I started off the event by decorating the treehouse across from the program room. I hung signs saying This Way, That Way, White Rabbit Went That Way, Wrong Way all around and from the ceiling. I hid a Cheshire Cat in the tree for the children to find while they were waiting. I used our die-cut machine to make White Rabbit paw prints out of white cardstock. I taped those to the floor to lead the children to the "rabbit hole," which was just a large box covered in green paper with a tunnel cut out. They had to crawl through the rabbit hole to get to Wonderland where the stories and Mad Hatter Tea Party would be held.



A Very Merry Un-Birthday to you, to you!
I started off by singing "The Un-Birthday Song" by Robert Sherman. You can find a copy on the Alice in Wonderland soundtrack. I sang it through a couple of times until the children could join. Then, I read Alice in Wonderland adapted by Deborah Hautzig. It is an Easy Reader 3rd level, so I read the first 10 or so pages. I wanted to be sure everyone knew where the activities and songs were coming from in case they hadn't heard the story or watched the movie.



Hokey Pokey
I also added some traditional birthday party activities to the mix during our story time. We all got in a great big circle around the mats and sang the Hokey Pokey. Then, Linda and I acted out A Birthday for Cow by Jan Thomas. Linda held the book while using a mouse finger puppet for the actions. I played the parts of the Pig and the Duck. I used a felt turnip and other props from the book. You can really ham this up by being super silly.

Ten Little Candles
Next, we acted out my favorite birthday fingerplay, which as far as I can find is a traditional one without a source to quote:

Ten little candles on a birthday cake. (hold up ten fingers)
Wh! Wh! Now there are eight. (blow each thumb in turn and fold down)
Eight little candles in candle sticks. (hold up eight fingers)
Wh! Wh! Now there are six. (blow each pinky and fold down)
Six little candles, not one more. (hold up six fingers)
Wh! Wh! Now there are four. (blow each ring finger and fold down)
Four little candles, red and blue. (hold up four fingers)
Wh! Wh! Now there are two. (blow each middle finger and fold down)
Two little candles, one by one. (hold up two fingers)
Wh! Wh! Now there are none. (blow each forefinger and fold down)

Happy Un-Birthday, Itsy Bitsy Spider!
Of course, the itsy bitsy spider had to make an appearance. I think this is every child's favorite song. Jo Kay found a great version of the original to sing and make into a prop story. She had already made a large cake out of styrofoam rings. My favorite part about the song is the traditional one is worked in at the end, so the children can start singing with you.

The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the UN-birthday cake,
he ate up all the frosting,
and got a tummy ache,
and when they brought the ice cream,
he ate even more,
and the itsy bitsy spider fell sick upon the floor.
They took him to the doctor because he felt so bad,
it was the worst tummy ache that he ever had,
and when they brought the medicine it was WAY TOO SWEET,
just a drink of water would be a great big treat,
so the itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout,
down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

Sing Merry Un-Birthday
This song is an adaptation of an adaptation. I believe I got the original adaptation from Rob Reid's Family Storytime. It is sung to the tune of "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain."

Sing merry un-birthday, shout hooray! (hooray)
Sing merry un-birthday, shout hooray! (hooray)
Sing merry un-birthday, sing merry un-birthday, merry un-birthday, shout hooray!

Light all the candles and then blow (whew, whew)
Light all the candles and then blow (whew, whew)
Light all the candles, light all the candles, oh light all the candles and then blow.

Eat cake and ice cream till we’re full (yum, yum)
Eat cake and ice cream till we’re full (yum,yum)
Eat cake and ice cream, eat cake and ice cream, eat cake and ice cream till we’re full.

Shake Your Shakers
I passed out all the musical instruments and let the children play them to the Un-Birthday Song. They love playing rhythm sticks, bells, rattles, shakers and anything I've made to make noise. I try to do something with instruments every program as it is a great crowd pleaser.

If You're a Mad Hatter Say
What birthday party is complete without singing "If You're Happy and You Know It"? Or what program for that matter? I added a verse to this traditional favorite "If you're a mad hatter, say A Very Merry Un-birthday to you." Then, I ended the story session with a reprise of the "Un-Birthday Song."

Mad Hatter Tea Party



I originally planned to have one really long table like the Mad Hatter. We had so many guests, I had to split them in two. So, we had two really long tables set up for 40 children. I used a lime green table cloth with two teapots with balloons tied to them for the center pieces of one table and dyed coffee filter flowers in Queen of Hearts baskets for the other table.




The tables were set with aqua and purple plates (in different sizes), yellow cups, and pink napkins. On top of that were either orange or pink treat bags. The treat bags had a scented bookmark with a cupcake on it and said, "Celebrate with Books!" a Skittls pack with a white rabbit on it, mini bubbles, pencil with balloons on it and Wiki Stix. All the crazy colors set the stage.

You May Now Eat Your Craft

I thought it would be fun, and let's face it--MESSY, to let the children decorate their own cupcake. I got chocolate and vanilla cupcakes from Kroger un-iced. I got regular vanilla icing from the store and used food coloring to match the colors of the party. I also had 6 bottles of different sprinkles to put on top. It was so fun to see all the different versions of cupcakes. Some of the little ones ate their cupcake as soon as they got their hot little hands on them. I also served popcorn and pink lemonade. Pictured above: Ethan, age 5 Pictured below: Best Dressed Winners



Jolly Caucus Race

After the snack and craft, it was time for the games to begin. We played Pin the Caterpillar on the Mushroom. Linda made the mushroom out of pink and white polka dot felt I found at Hobby Lobby. I used the die-cut machine to cut different colors of caterpillars. We used a colored scarf for a blind fold, so the children could decide how much they wanted to see. The little ones had fun just sticking the caterpillars on the board.


One Lump or Two Toss was a huge hit. I found large stryofoam cubes at Hobby Lobby and made a large tea cup out of poster board to tape on a box. The children had to toss the "sugar cubes" into the tea cup. All ages liked this one.



Instead of having traditional musical chairs, I used our floor mats for a safer option. After each round, I took out a section of the floor mats to make the area smaller and smaller. I think we ended up fitting 15 children on 3 mats. Don't ask me how. Then, they all got a treat for being winners. It was so funny to see them all piled up.

Paint the Roses Red. I didn't want to use paint for this game because I wanted to be able to use it over and over. Children love to play the same games repetitively. I used the die-cut machine to punch out 20 white hearts and laminated them. Then, I hung up a green poster board with a brown trunk and tacked the hearts on there. I set out red washable markers for a relay race. Each person from the team had to completely color in a heart. After the race was over, we could spray the hearts and wipe them off for the next teams.



As you can see, we had a wonderful program. The only thing I would change would have been to have a longer party. We didn't have time for two crafts and the children would have played the games for much longer. I'll keep that in mind for next year! Pictured below: Isaiah, age 3. Special thanks to Linda Palmer, South Branch and Jo Kay Biesecker, Main Library for helping make this Spring Fling so special.