Good Hair Day

Posted on by

wig montageBecause if you don’t look good…we don’t look good.

We read The Hair Scare by Jeffrey Fisher (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2006). Radbert has a talent for cutting hair, and his styles are simply amazing. Soon, the king comes knocking, demanding the best haircut of all time. Radbert delivers, but it is NOT to the king’s liking. He royally decrees that there will be no more haircuts, triggering a slew of shaggy dos, unkempt tresses, and general hair sadness. The king once again seeks out Radbert. Once again he asks for a haircut. But when the haircut is revealed and the moment of truth arrives, the haircut takes matters into its own hands!

You’ll need:

  • 1 plastic top hat (I bought mine from Oriental Trading Company).
  • A selection of 12″ x 18″ construction paper
  • A selection of 9″ x 12″ construction paper
  • A selection of craft ties
  • A selection of sparkle stems
  • A selection of foil star stickers (optional)
  • A selection of ribbon
  • Markers and unsharpened pencils for curling.
  • Scissors and tape for construction

We prepped the 12″ x 18″ construction paper in advance by fringing it lengthwise to create long locks. We used “natural” hair colors: black, brown, red and yellow. For more daring dos, I stocked up on smaller sheets of construction paper in multiple colors.

In addition to the construction paper, I offered craft ties, sparkle stems, ribbons, and star stickers to add flair. The craft ties worked especially well as barrettes and headbands. I also brought out the Bling Bin for extra touches.

To make your hair more wig-like, I would recommend cutting the brim off your plastic hat. This does, however, make it more wobbly. If the wobble is going to be a problem, leave the brim on (or wait until the very end to cut it off).

hat brimsBefore we got started the project, I gave the kids four quick “style” tutorials. Namely, the hair poof, the mohawk, the crimp & curl, and the crown.

1) THE HAIR POOF

Fringe a length of construction paper, and tape it to the front of the hat.

hair poof 1Bunch the ends together at the top…

hair poof 2Then tape it on the top of the hat.

hair poof 3Your hair poof is complete!

finished hair poof2) THE MOHAWK

Fringe two pieces of construction paper (I used contrasting colors to make it easier to see in the example).

mohawk step 1Tab the bottom of each fringe, then tape the tab to the top of the hat. The tab of both fringes should be pointing outward, causing the fringes to lean in and support each other.

mohawk step 2Finish by crimping the hair!

mohawk finished3) THE CRIMP & CURL

To add body and texture, employ the crimp & curl! Basically, this involves folding or curling the fringe strands. An accordion fold (i.e. folding the paper back and forth in squares) produces a nice crimp. Curls are produced by wrapping the fringe around a marker or pencil. Markers create long curls, pencils create tight curls.

crimp & curl4) THE CROWN

Since there was a king in the book, I offered a construction paper crown option with large gemstones available through the magic of hot glue. Attach optional mustaches, beards, and goatees to face with foam mounting tape.

model 4After the tutorials concluded, the kids took off running…or styling really. Check out some of these amazing dos!

The sleek “Band with Bows”

hairstyle 1The “Side Spider Surprise”

hairstyle 2The “Absolutely Adorable Duo”

hairstyle 3The “Crimped and Casual” (very popular with shark and dragon wranglers this year).

hairstyle 4The “Little Mermaid”

hairstyle 5The “Stacked Sparkler”

hairstyle 6The “Straight Up Sassy”

hairstyle 9The “Gravity-Defying Ponytail” and “King Gleaming Locks”

hairstyle 8The “Rapunzel Updo”

hairstyle 7

Programs for Teens

Posted on by

teen programsLast month, I gave a keynote address at the NJ Library Association & NJ State Library Youth Services Forum. I always like to leave time at the end for questions, and here is one question I wish I could have answered better and more thoroughly. Hence, this post.

Q: What sorts of programs do you do for teens?

A: My library does have some opportunities for teens, but…

Most of my work is with preK – grade 8. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, I’m a single staffer, so my program roster is limited to what I can manage by myself (currently, I’m juggling two weekly story times, a weekly classroom program, a bi-weekly children’s literary club, an author interview program, a publication, an annual writing contest, this blog, occasional weekend programs, the launch of a new program for underserved kids, and the development of new online middle school programs).

Secondly, I primarily read children’s chapter fiction. YA is not my territory (I also joked that YA is scary to me. I mean, do I really want to revisit all the pain and suffering I went through as a teen? Even if it does mean scoring an awesome sparkly vampire boyfriend?).

That said, my library does offer some opportunities for teens, and I thought I would share them here, along with some suggestions for developing teen programs. Here’s our current programming:

  1. Teens can submit writing pieces to the Picture Book Press, our children’s literary quarterly.  Click the title to read An Ode to the Radish, one of my favorite haiku poems of all time. It was submitted by a 17 year-old.
  2. Our annual writing contest, 350 for 50, has three age categories. The top age category is for 14 -16 year-olds. Click the title to read The Pit, last year’s winner in that category.
  3. Princyclopedia, our (former) massive annual event was for ages 4 -14. You can get a little taste of what Princyclopedia was like in the beginning of this post.
  4. Cotsen Critix, our children’s literary club, is all about books, writing, and doing unusual activities related to literacy. Initially, the club was for children ages 8 & up. So I worked with a number of 13 – 16 year-olds. Unfortunately, it was a difficult to develop content that was appropriate for such a wide age span, so the current age range for Cotsen Critix is 9 -12-year-olds.
  5. Cotsen sometimes offers specialized Saturday programs for teens such as Elvish 101, a 2-hour workshop devoted to learning to read, write, and speak Quenya, the high language of J.R. Tolkien’s elves. During a program break we sipped New Zealand spring water from crystal goblets and munched on lembas bread. Elen sila lûmenn’ omentielvo!

Presently, I’m developing some collections-based programs for middle school students, but someday…oh someday…I would love to do high school lectures based on Cotsen’s collections. Depictions of war in picture books, gender identity as evidenced in children’s magazines, analyzing the zeitgeist of period artwork…I’ll get there someday! By the way, if you’d like to learn a little more about Cotsen’s collections, click here to visit the curatorial blog).

In the meantime, here are my top four recommendations for developing teen programming.

  1. Offer Experts. Whenever possible, I staff my programs with specialists. Some are hired, and some are volunteers. A geologist at a Journey to the Center of the Earth event, a University lecturer at a Chemistry of Magic program, professional stage fighters at a Robin Hood event, a historical reenactor bringing a past century to life, a local artist or student poet leading a creative workshop. I try to create opportunities for teens to engage in a mature, intellectual dialogue that satisfies their curiosity and encouraged their interests.
  2. Collaborate. I like to work one-on-one with teens on creative projects. Currently I’m working with a high school junior to create a full-size Cinderella dress out of trash. We’ll feature it in the Picture Book Press and display it at princess program we’re developing for the spring. Not only do I get to work with a fantastic young mind, but I can offer her an opportunity to engage in a creative collaboration while still (and this is important) managing to meet deadlines.
  3. Ask. If you’re stumped, put together a teen focus group and ask them what they want, what they need, and if they could really use a particular program. With the investment of a little time (and possibly a couple pizzas) you could gain a treasure trove of information (or at the very least, some insight into the minds of your target group).
  4. Fun is good, but…it might be that the needs of your population are homework help, computer skills, English as a second language, or locating resources to get them through tough times. Movie screenings, trivia contests, and gaming conventions are great, but there’s nothing wrong with focusing your resources on the not-so-glamorous-but-very-much-needed programs. Especially if your time and budget are limited.

    Postscript: In Fall 2015, we launched a new program for teens called First Draft. Writers ages 13-17 can submit creative writing and personal essays, and Princeton University student editors give their constructive feedback! For more information, click here.

One Brave Birdy

Posted on by

one brave birdyEven the littlest bird can have a big adventure, especially if it braves our avian obstacle course and finishes by landing in a cozy treetop nest!

obstacle courseWe read Pepito the Brave by Scott Beck (Dutton Juvenile, 2001). Unlike his brothers and sisters, Pepito doesn’t want to leave the nest. He’s afraid of heights! But leave he must. So Pepito climbs down the tree and embarks on a most unbirdlike adventure that involves running, jumping a fence, swimming a river, and burrowing under a busy road. But all roads lead back to the nest, and Pepito discovers that maybe, just maybe, he’s brave after all.

You’ll need:

  • 1 box (I used a 2” x 4” x 4” box)
  • 1 small craft stick (mine was 2.5″)
  • A 25″ piece of clear elastic beading cord
  • Masking tape
  • 1 piece of construction paper for body (approximately 4.5″ x 12″)
  • 2 rectangles of construction paper for wings (approximately 2″ x 3.25″)
  • 1 cone water cup
  • 1 pipe cleaner for bird feet
  • 2 large wiggle eyes
  • A few pieces of paper crinkle
  • 1 balloon stick but you can also use PVC pipe)
  • Masking tape
  • Obstacle course (more details later!)
  • Crayons for decorating
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Hot glue

First, you’ll need to prep and rig the string on your bird box. Begin by wrapping the elastic beading cord around the craft stick, then secure it with masking tape.

bird cord stepsNext, cut a slit in the box from an outside edge to the center.

box step 1Slide the craft stick with the elastic cord into the slit, and pull until the craft stick is up against the “roof” of the box and the cord is sticking out of the top.

box step 2With the cord in place, tape the slit firmly shut (the tape is little hard to see in this image).

box step 3The cord is finished, now for the bird! Wrap the box with construction paper. Make sure there is about 2″ sticking above the top of the box. Fringe it to create your bird’s crest. Just be careful not to cut the cord!

fringed crestRound one edge of your construction paper rectangles, and then fringe to create wings. Hot glue to the sides of the box.

wing instructionsFor the beak, use crayons to color just the tip (i.e. less than 1″) of the cone water cup, and then snip off the tip and hot glue it to the box, along with the wiggle eyes. To make a tail, you can use the construction paper scraps on the table, or you can twist the pieces of paper crinkle together and tape it to the back of the box.

tailNow for the feet! Cut the pipe cleaner in half and bend to create feet. You can go for the “single foot look,” or make individual birdy toes. Up to you! Attach the pipe cleaners to the bottom of the box with tape.

bird feetThe final step is to attach the bird’s cord to the rod. Wrap the free end of the cord around the end of the rod, and secure with masking tape.

fly cordYour bird is now complete! Three cheers for Pepito the Brave!

finished birdYou can fly the little birds around your story time space and end things there, you can make a paper bag nest (see instructions below), or you can tackle the full-fledged obstacle course!

obstacle course labledThe simplest part of the obstacle course is the river. You’ll just need a blue bed sheet. The trees, fence, and tunnel, however, need to be constructed. So here we go…

To create a tree, you’ll need:

  • 1 sturdy tube. We used the roll off some heavy-duty butcher paper. If you don’t have a tube, you can place the nest on a chair, a shelf, or a table.
  • 1 bag of rocks, coins, or sand to weigh the tree down
  • 1 oatmeal container, lid removed
  • Extra paper to stuff in tree base
  • Green and brown construction paper
  • Green poster board
  • 1 brown paper lunch bag
  • Hot glue

Fit the bag of rocks, coins, or sand into the bottom of the tube. Then, holding the bag in place, lower the tube into the oatmeal container. Pack wads of paper in the gaps between the tube and the oatmeal container to keep the tree from wiggling. If you’d like, you can wrap the oatmeal container with brown construction paper, and add some green construction paper “grass” fringes.

Now for the tree top. We neglected to snap images of this during our story time prep, so I’m recreating it here with a paper towel tube. To make a tree top, cut a foliage shape from green poster board, then cut two slits in the center.

tree steps 1 and 2Slide the slits into the tube…

tree step 3…and hot glue the poster board to the interior of the tube.

tree step 4To make the nest, roll the mouth of the paper bag outward and downward until you have a small nest.

nest stepsThen hot glue it to the top of the tube. We added little red apples (made out of self-adhesive foam, bits of brown pipe cleaner, and fabric leaves, but this is optional).

glued nestSince we had two tubes, we made two trees (one for shorter kids, and one for taller kids). We didn’t want anyone over-stretching, falling, and completely felling a tube tree.

finished treesFor the tunnel & fence, you’ll need:

  • 1 copy paper box with lid
  • A box cutter
  • 1 piece of green poster board
  • 2 pieces of black, 12″ x 18″ construction paper
  • Yellow masking tape
  • 1 piece of green, 12″ x 18″ construction paper
  • 1 piece of white poster board
  • Extra green construction paper
  • Packing tape
  • Hot glue

Use the box cutter to make tunnel entrances in the short ends of the copy paper box. Then cover the long side of the tunnel with green poster board “grass” (alas, I was out of green, so I used pink). Secure with packing tape. Then cut a black construction paper “road” and hot glue it on top of the “grass.” We also used yellow masking tape to make lines on the road, and hot glued some green construction paper grass fringe on the bottom.

finished tunnelTo make the fence, cover the outside of the copy paper box lid with a 12″ x 18″ piece of green construction paper. Then cut pickets out of the white poster board and hot glue to the box lid. I also used a black Sharpie marker to outline the fence pieces. Add some grass at the bottom if you like.

finished fenceSet everything up and you’re ready to run the course! Birdy can run up, jump the fence, swim the river, burrow through the tunnel, and land in the nest. I recommend demonstrating the course before you turn kids loose on it (especially the tunnel – some kids kept trying to shove their birds through first instead of leading with the rod).

I wanted kids to earn a reward sticker after completing the course. So I wrote encouraging things on name tag stickers and asked the kids to decorate them. My idea was to collect the decorated stickers and randomly hand them out (so you’re providing encouragement for someone else? Get it?).

Well, it didn’t work. Some kids put the stickers on right away. Some wanted to keep theirs. Some didn’t get around to decorating their stickers. So I had to quickly bring out some different stickers as rewards. If I was to do it all over again, I would just make the stickers myself and hand them out!

reward stickersIf you like bird projects, you might also want to check out this one and this one!