Think Spring

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three flowersWhat could be better than this lovely bluebell, orchid, and dandelion? How about an entire garden full of this fantastical flowery headgear?

gardenWe read My Garden by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books, 2010). While a little girl is helping her mother in the garden, she daydreams about her own garden. In her garden, the flowers change color according to your thoughts, chocolate bunnies pose no threat to your lettuce, colorful jelly bean bushes bloom, the air is full of birds and butterflies, and the strawberries glow like little lanterns at night. Beautiful!

You’ll need:

  • A circle of white poster board (approximately 10″ in diameter)
  • A pencil
  • 1 long strip of poster board (approximately 2″ x 20″)
  • 1 shorter strip of poster board (approximately 2″ x 15″)
  • Pieces of poster board, assorted colors
  • Pieces of construction paper, assorted colors
  • Pieces of tissue paper, assorted colors
  • A selection of pipe cleaners, assorted colors
  • A selection of pom-poms, assorted colors
  • 2 rectangles of green poster board (approximately 5.25″ x 10″)
  • 2 pieces of green britelace
  • Green masking tape
  • Scissors, stapler, tape, white glue and/or glue stick for construction
  • Markers for decoration
  • Hot glue

Press the circle of poster board up to your face and use a pencil to trace an opening for your face in the center. The top of the face opening should be under your eyebrows, and the bottom should be just below your lips. For this particular project, it’s best if the face circle is on the small side (my face circle, for example, was 5.5″ in diameter). Once the circle is traced, cut it out.

circleNow for the straps. Tab one end of the long construction paper strip and staple it to one side of the circle. Then hold the circle up to your face and wrap the strap around the back of your head. Make sure the strap is fairly snug, then tab it and staple to the other side of the circle.

strap 1Next, lay the shorter poster board strip over top of your head. Measure for snugness and staple the short strip to the longer strip. You now have two straps – one that fits around the back of your head, and one that rests on the top of your head.

strap 2 Now it’s time to decorate! Use markers, poster board, construction paper, tissue paper, pipe cleaners and pom-poms to create your flower. I made 3 example flowers – a bluebell, a pink orchid, and a yellow dandelion.

flower examples I figured I wouldn’t have to sell girls on this project, but I thought boys might be a little hesitant to become flowers. So the dandelion was designed to be appealing to boys, as was the color / name choice for the bluebell. We had 9 boys and 3 girls at this story time. I’m delighted to report that not a single boy balked at being a flower.

With your headdress complete, it’s time for leafy wristbands! Cut fringes, leaf, or petal shapes out of your green construction paper rectangle.

wristbandsThen wrap it around your wrist and staple. Make sure you staple the wristband a little loose so you can slip it on and off easily. Next add construction paper fringes, green masking tape highlights, twisted green pipe cleaners, green britelace “vines”…whatever strikes your fancy!

finished wristbandYour project is complete, but we’re not done with this post just yet. This weekend kicked off the world-famous Philidelphia Flower Show and my assistant Joani celebrated by wearing her orchid headdress to the event! Just look at this image and tell me it isn’t the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen.

joani with butterflies

Is This An Ancient Code?

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large alunnoBefore I answer this question, I must tell you that, in addition to conducting story times, author interviews, and creative literacy programming at my library, I also teach children about our rare books and special collections.

The Cotsen Children’s Library is part of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Princeton University. We have six centuries of illustrated children’s books, manuscripts, original artwork, prints, and educational toys. It’s part of my job to engage and educate young scholars with these fantastic materials.

Sometimes I select and write about collections items like the one featured in this post. Sometimes I’ll exhibit special materials at Cotsen Critix, our children’s literacy group for 9 to 12 year-olds. But our most extensive program was Cotsen in the Classroom, in which I would take reproductions of collections materials to K-5 classrooms. Students learned about Beatrix Potter’s nature drawings, Japanese street theater from 1930, Hans Christian Anderson’s paper cuts, school in the 1700’s, illuminated manuscripts, and 19th century geographical objects (click here to read a post about the program).

minimSo…to return to the question that stated this post…is this an ancient code? Actually, they’re minims! Minims were a type of writing used in the Middle Ages when writing materials were very expensive. Letters are reduced to short vertical lines with small flourishes added at the top and bottom, which allowed scribes to write faster and use less ink.

super close up minimThe minim above, however, is quite elaborate. That’s because it was created by Venetian master scribe and artist Francesco Alunno for his calligraphic masterpiece, the Alunno Manuscript. Created between 1539 and 1550, The Alunno is considered one of the most beautiful manuscripts produced during the Renaissance. It was created at a time when the art of handwriting was disappearing. A new Renaissance invention, the printing press, would soon replace scribes and their manuscript pages forever.

Interested in learning more about the collections? Cotsen also has a curatorial blog, which you can visit by clicking here.

Rothschild Alunno Manuscript
Created in Venice, 1539-1550
Cotsen Children’s Library, Princeton University Library

Kinetic Kites

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kiteNo wind in the sky? No worries. With a little arm action, these kites fly indoors!

flying kiteWe read Ping-Li’s Kite by Sanne Te Loo (Front Street, 1998). Captivated by the beautiful kites in the sky, Ping-Li goes to Mr. Fo’s shop to purchase kite-building supplies. As he departs, Mr. Fo warns Ping-Li not to offend the Emperor of the Sky by flying an unpainted kite. But Ping-Li can’t resist a little test run. Unfortunately, his unpainted kite is spotted by the Emperor of the Sky, who hauls Ping-Li up to his dragon ship. Furious at the boy’s cheek, he demands that Ping-Li make the most beautiful kite in the sky or forever remain his prisoner. Clever Ping-Li paints a portrait of the Emperor on his bold and beautiful kite, winning both the Emperor’s admiration, and his freedom.

You’ll need:

  • 1 large rectangle of white poster board for kite (approximately 12″ x 19″)
  • Hole punch
  • Pieces of white poster board for decorative templates
  • 1 pencil
  • A selection of tissue paper (cut into 8″ x 10″ rectangles)
  • A selection of crepe paper streamers (approximately 23″ long)
  • 1 balloon stick
  • A selection of color masking tape
  • A length of string (mine was 45″)
  • Scissors, stapler, and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

First, cut the kite shape out of the large poster board rectangle. After some trial and error, we determined that this shape works best. Note that the top is rounded. You don’t want any sharp corners on the top of your kite, lest it bonk you on the head!

kite shape 1Punch two holes on the right and left of the kite:

kite shape 2Now it’s time to decorate! I created a selection of poster board templates (tiger, butterfly, fish, bird, and dragon) and invited kids to trace their favorite onto the center of the kite with a pencil. When the tracing was done, they used markers to decorate the kite. I also circled the program area, Sharpie in hand, to add legs and wings to dragons, fierce eyes to tigers, antennae to butterfly, etc.

templatesWith the body of the kite decorated, select at least 3 crepe paper streamers, and staple them to the bottom (and only the bottom) of the kite. Then, fringe the tissue paper rectangles and tape them to the lower section of the kite.

fringesNot only do the fringes look great, they sound great! As the kite is circling around you, they pop and snap just like a real kite up in the sky.  If you’re interested in adding a tissue paper rosette, crumble up a tissue paper rectangle, then staple it to the bottom (and only the bottom) of the kite. Make sure to attach an even number of rosettes on the kite, so it remains balanced.

rosettePlace the kite face-down on a table. Thread the balloon stick through the two holes.

kite stick 1Wrap a 5″ piece of color masking tape around the left-hand side of the stick.

kite stick 2Next, use your fingers to push the poster board up against the taped end of the stick. The goal is to make your kite curve away from the stick slightly (so it can get some lift when you swoop it around on the string). The curve should look something like this:

kite stick 3Keeping the poster board curved, wrap a 5″ piece of color masking tape around right-hand side of the stick.

kite stick 4Then use scissors to cut off the excess stick.

kite stick 5The final step is to attach the kite string. I tried a couple different types of string and determined that this heavier string was easiest for kids to grip while still allowing the kite to fly.  Definitely don’t use yarn. It’s way too stretchy!

kite stringKnot one end of the string tightly to the center of the kite stick, then make a small “x” of color masking tape over the knot. Fold each piece of tape down tightly to secure the knot.

string stepsReady to fly your kite? Go to a clear, open space (if you have lots of little kids, make sure they s-p-r-e-a-d o-u-t and don’t cluster together). If you are right-handed, use your right hand to hold the string approximately 1.5 feet from the knotted end. Hold the other end of the string in your left hand. If you are left-handed, reverse the above instructions. Extend your right (or left) arm (i.e. the arm closest to the kite) outward and:

  1. Twirl in a circle and watch the kite spin around with you.
  2. Use your arm to circle the kite around your head like a cowboy lasso.
  3. Swoop the kite in a criss-cross / infinity symbol motion in front of you.

All three methods of flying worked at our story time, even though the criss-cross / infinity symbol motion yielded the best results (as demonstrated by the talented Mr. Ian).

final kite