Stranded Inside a Submarine: A 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Virtual Escape Room

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dreamstimemaximum_199472607_cropped1We are delighted to present our newest Katie-designed escape room! While on vacation with your family, you take a tour of the SS-010 Goby, a decommissioned military submarine. But what unfolds is an unexpected adventure! Solve the puzzles to navigate the sub and make your escape…

Ready to begin? Click here!

Interested in our other virtual escape rooms? Solve a case with Sherlock Holmes here, search for pirate’s gold here, and step inside a museum of scientific discovery here! Want to try to design your own room? You’ll find Katie’s helpful tutorial here.

Oh, The Places You’ll Snow!

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We’ve had PLENTY of snow this winter, and the last storm to blow through resulted in an unexpectedly zany backyard colorscape! The blue and yellow snow mound you see above is a nod to the striped tower on the cover of Dr. Seuss’ book, Oh, The Places You’ll Go! (I couldn’t resist adding a smiley face too). And today is Dr. Seuss’ birthday, so it’s timely as well!

You’ll need:

  • Snow
  • A box of liquid food coloring
  • Spray bottles filled with water

dye bottles 4

I used McCormick brand food coloring and spray bottles I found in the housecleaning section of my local grocery store (I’ve also seen them at Dollar Stores and in the beauty/travel size section of Target). I filled the bottles with warm water, then dribbled in dye until the desired color was achieved. Then we headed out to the backyard!

backyard 4

This photo was taken at the very beginning of our adventures…I’m afraid I don’t have a crazy “after” photo! But the kids painted a multi-color path around the yard (and constructed a micro sledding hill as well). I decorated a little higher, spraying the snow along the top of our fence:

snow hedge 3

We also made some hearts on the opposite side, for the neighbors to enjoy…

heart in snow 4

A couple hints:

  1. Fill the water bottles to the top, so you don’t have to keep going inside to refill.
  2. Make sure the tops are screwed on tightly. Hah!
  3. Wear gloves (fleece or knit). Bulky mittens make it difficult to operate the spray lever.

Did this project make a huge mess? Actually no! I thought it was going to be much worse. Our clothes didn’t get stained, and I didn’t even need to wash our gloves afterwards. The melting snow has NOT left dye on anything, including foliage or the wood fence.

If you’re looking for another Seuss-inspired activity, but need to keep it indoors, check out our Seuss mini golf post! Here, you’ll find instructions for making inexpensive putters and holes.

You’ll also find suggestions for putting together a custom course! You can build it with recycled boxes, plastic cups, paper tubes, old pool noodles…and just about anything else you can haul out of your closet!

oh the places you'll go 2

As part of our library’s mission of diversity, equity, and inclusion, we would like to share a link to a statement from Dr. Seuss Enterprises addressing their commitment to action regarding the content of six particular Seuss titles

Studio Snapshots: Jarrett & Jerome Pumphrey

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Today we’re visiting the studio of Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey, talented brothers with amazing combined backgrounds of creative direction, entrepreneurship, graphic design, technical writing, illustration, and fatherhood. Their delightful picture book, The Old Truck, utilized a colorful stamping technique – you can read more about it, as well as try it yourself, on their website! Based in Texas, the two are hard at work on their second picture book The Old Boat, which will be released next month.

Photo 1: We each have our own studios. This is Jarrett’s and serves as the space we use to collaborate. At the center of the space is a giant, sturdy workbench. It’s perfect for all the printmaking activities we get up to. We’re right in the middle of making a bunch of prints for preorders of our new book THE OLD BOAT.

Photo 2: We keep our flat file storage under the bench. We use some of the drawers for storing supplies, but mainly, they store all the stamps and prints we make for every project we do.

Photo 3: This is Whiskey. She’s our studio assistant. Her primary duty is to lie down right in the way so we’re constantly almost tripping as we move around the space. She keeps us on our toes.

Photo 4: We like to be surrounded by the work of creators we admire, so on one wall Jarrett has a collection of original art from illustrator friends and favorites.

Photo 5: And then on the opposing wall, he has a library of books.

Images courtesy of Jarrett & Jerome Pumphrey