Read Me Like a Book

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Perhaps our simplest project yet, this little table card codex doubles as an immediate ice breaker at any party, gala, program, or reception! Just pop it by your place setting, and let the other guests read your (abbreviated) autobiography!

You’ll need:

  • 1 extra large binder clip (ours was 3″)
  • 1 Read Me Like a Book template printed on 8.5 x 11 card stock
  • Pen

We’ll begin with the little book! You can simply cut and fold a page directly from the template, or you can add a poster board book cover, as I did in the example project. To create the book holder, flip the two silvers handles of the binder clip upwards. Stand the clip on its base, then pull the handles until they lean backwards at an angle, like so:

Place the book on top of the base, leaning the spine back on the silver handles. Done!

Hint: if you’re displaying these at an outdoor party with steady breezes, we highly recommend securing the book to the handles with a piece of tape.

Pop’s Top 5: Gross Giggles

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cockroach pizza boxLet’s face facts: most kids (and even some adults!) find gross things funny. They like fart jokes, quips about underwear, burps, bugs, and just saying the word “poop” can send the conversation into a 15 minute spiral. Well, kids…this post is for you. We did a round up of story time projects that involve a wee bit of gross humor. May it bring you giggles and joy!

#1 ULTRA-BRIGHT UNDIES

illuminating underwear

It took a over decade and 450 story times, but we finally offered an underpants story hour, complete with a customized string light project. Inspired by the magnificent book Creepy Pair of Underwear! Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown, the team who also brought us super creepy carrot fun.

#2 WHALE-SIZED POOPER SCOOPER

While this book, I Won a What?, was ultimately about taking care of a pet whale, if you watch the video in the post, you’ll see that whale care includes taking them on walk, bathing them, and yes…scooping up pom pom poop.

#3 ROACH RACER

cockroach pizza box

A pizza box, magnets, drinking straws, and rubber roaches were the winning combination at To Be Continued, our chapter book story time for kids ages 6-8. We read the most excellent Measle and the Wrathmonk, one of my son’s favorites books back in the day!

#4 MAMMOTH UNDIES

mammoth haircut

Returning once again to underpants, we have the truly hilarious book Hot Hot Hot in which woolly mammoths Oscar and Arabella try to beat the heat. The craft project was a decorative underwear reveal on a slightly alarmed mammoth.

#5 SKUNK SPRAY

back of skunk

The skunk is perhaps the most infamous creature in the animal world, with a startle reflex that just keeps giving. We read Please Don’t Upset P.U. Zorilla and then story time officers made deputy skunks with the unique capacity to spray plastic bags. And yes, we do have a training video.

HONORABLE MENTION: MEDIEVAL MUCKRAKERS

best event sign ever

While not technically a story time project, we couldn’t end this post without including our grossest, most popular event sign to date. It completely stole the show at a 2012 Robin Hood event. Click here to read about yuck-worthy Medieval jobs, and if you need some help unseeing it, please enjoy this complimentary copy of Medieval Vogue, which was also featured at the event.

UFO Repairs While-U-Wait

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It’s a beautiful day in the galaxy, but if your spaceship’s hyperdrive starts to hyperdroop, bring it into our full service UFO repair station! We even clean windows!

We read We Are Definitely Human by X. Fang (Tundra Books, 2024). When a giant crash startles Mr. Li from his bed, and he discovers three strangers who assure him they are DEFINITELY human. A kind man at heart, Mr. Li invites the strangers back to his house and offers to help them repair their ship…errr…car. Soon, the whole community is pitching in, and the strangers depart for further adventures feeling good about the humans of planet Earth.

This book is totally hilarious, with perfect comedic timing in both its text and illustrations. It was an absolute pleasure to read aloud – make sure to leave time for laugh breaks!

You’ll need:

  • 2 sturdy paper plates
  • 1 strip of poster board (approximately 1.5″ x 22″)
  • 1 clear plastic drinking cup (I used a 2.75″ tall plastic cocktail glass)
  • Flying saucer decorating materials (more on this below!)
  • Scissors, stapler and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • Hot glue

The UFOs we crafted for this story time are almost identical to the zip line ships from this 2015 post (you’ll find the full instructions here). Basically, the UFO is two paper plates with a circlet of poster board between them, a plastic cup cockpit, and a lot of fun supplies (tin foil, embossed foil paper, sparkle stems, dot stickers, and some glitter stars).

finished saucer

We did makes some modifications. We skipped the rocket boosters underneath this time, swapped the pom pom alien for a toilet paper tube alien, and replaced the paperclip on top of the cockpit with a loop of clear beading cord.

But the thing that really made this story time one of the best of the year so far? The UFO repair shop!

I’ve been working with kids for decades, and sometimes I forget how powerful a box, tin foil, strand of lights, mesh tubing, and drinking straws can be. That’s basically all I used to create this repair shop. But the reaction to the set up was so powerful – customers lined up for a solid 20 minutes, coming back repeatedly with new and unique problems their UFOs were experiencing. I would hand them them the repair “wands” and we would boop and bleep our way to fixing the engines.

We also managed to do a bit of upcycling…you might recognize the strand of red lights from Katie’s awesome 2019 holiday creation, or the white coveralls from our story time stint as sanitation superstars.