All Things Bright and Beautiful

all things bright and beautiful

All creatures great and small gather in this colorful jungle city, which doubles as a beautiful sun catcher! This was such a simple project – clear sheet, tissue paper, glue, and scissors – but it’s been one our patron’s favorite story time projects this year!

We read Animal City by Joan Negrescolor (Chronicle, 2018). Nina loves to visit Jungle City and read stories to her animal friends. While each animal has a favorite (the flamingos, for example, like Mythology), the story they like best? The very book you’re reading! This book is absolutely gorgeous, and we tried to capture the artist’s color and shape play with our project.

You’ll need:

  • A clear plastic sheet (more on this below)
  • Tissue paper
  • Scissors and glue for construction

The key to this sun catcher project is the clear plastic sheet. We used 16″ x 20″ archival mylar sheets (one of the perks of being a rare books library!). But you can use thinner clear cellophane wrap, which is sold in the gift wrap section of Michael’s Craft store. Another possibility? Parchment paper, found in the supermarket baking aisle alongside the aluminum foil. It’s opaque, but still lets plenty of light through.

To create your sun catcher, cut, arrange, and glue the tissue shapes to your clear sheet. We purchased pre-cut tissue circles and squares, but also had larger tissue sheets available to customize. We recommend using glue sticks, which allowed for better control and dried perfectly clear (even the purple ones!).

sun catcher artist at work We also recommend markers, just in case kids wanted to add details, or draw  expressions on their animals…

animal expressionWhen your creation is complete, tape it to a window or door and admire the shapes and colors. It’s especially cool when the colors overlap!

sun catcher and artist


James Herriot fans…today’s blog post title was for you! Animal city, indeed!

Let’s Do Donuts

lets do donutsThe shop is open, the customers are arriving, and you, the donut chef, must make the most delicious, different, and decadent donuts you possibly can. But wait, there’s more! Your donut shop doubles as a matching game, thanks to the coupons tucked behind the counter!

We read The Donut Chef by Bob Staake (Golden Books, 2008). A donut chef owns a very popular donut shop. But when another donut shop opens on the very same block, the two chefs start competing for customers. They keep their shops open later, up the frosting level, and introduce unique flavors such as “Peanut-Brickle Buttermilk” and “Gooey Coca-Mocha Silk.” As things escalate, the donuts get weirder. There are square donuts, calamari donuts, pointy donuts, and cone donuts. So when little Debbie Sue walks in and orders a plain glazed donut, the donut chef is completely taken aback. Plain? But he whips one up and Debbie Sue loves it. And as his customers clamor for more of those plain glazed donuts, the donut chef realizes what his customers really want. Simple, delicious, donuts.

You’ll need:

Here’s the finished set with all its pieces. If you don’t have a clear plastic box to make a display case, don’t worry! I’ll have an alternative display option for you a little later in the post.

donut shop with partsFirst, glue a piece of patterned paper (or construction paper) to the top of the corrugated cardboard base. It’s OK if it doesn’t cover the entire base. Decorate a box with patterned tape and/or markers (we also used star stickers). Hot glue the box to the base, but not smack in the middle. You’ll need to leave a little room in the front for your shop signs, and a little room on the right-hand side for an extra counter.

donut shop step 1Fold, then tape a piece of tagboard to the side of the box to create the extra counter.

donut shop step 2Set the base aside for a moment, it’s time for donuts! Because we wanted to display, remove, and reset the donuts on the tray, we made them magnetic. Use markers to decorate various foam beads like “donuts,” then attach a little piece of self-adhesive magnetic tape to the back. Attach a matching piece of magnetic tape to a tagboard “tray.” We made 2 trays of donuts for our shops.

donuts on trayI made display cases for the shop using leftover plastic boxes from this firefly lantern project. As you can see in the photo below, I slid a triangular white poster board base inside the plastic box, then placed the donut tray on top.

display caseIf you don’t have a plastic box, just use the triangular base! To keep your donut tray from sliding off, tape a small piece of plastic drinking straw to the bottom of the base.

simple standYour shop will need a cash register, and you might recognize the one on the template from  this lemonade stand story time (which, curiously, also featured a book by Bob Staake). First, fold the bottom tab of your register inwards like so:

cash register step 1Then, fold both sides downwards from the base like this:

cash register step 2Curl the tab around to meet the opposite side of the register

cash register step 3Then secure the tab with tape. Hot glue (or tape) the register to the extra counter.

cash register step 4I couldn’t resist adding a napkin holder to the set too. It’s a folded piece of silver poster board with little bits of paper towel tucked into it. Hot glue (or tape) it to the counter.

napkinsThe blank signs on the template get colored in and attached to folded pieces of tagboard.

shop signAnd finally…the giant donut sign! Write the name of your shop on the banner, and tape (or glue) it across the giant donut. Tape the sign to a wooden dowel, then tape the dowel to the side of the extra counter. Here’s a finished stand with a display case:

finished shop with caseAnd here’s the version with the simple display stand. Both are totally adorable.

finished shop with standWe had some blank white visors in the art cabinet (from Discount School Supply – 24 cost $9), so I dug them out and we decorated them with the names of our donut shop as well.

donut shop visorYour shop is ready, now you need to entice your customers to try some donuts! We developed a simple coupon matching game for the kids. Print the coupons from the template, then draw donuts on the coupons that match the donuts in your case. As your customers arrive with their coupons, see how fast you can find and match their orders!

donut couponsMake sure to hot glue (or tape) an envelope to the back of the counter for convenient coupon storage.

coupon envelopeWe wish you the sweetest success in all your donut endeavors!