Very Punny

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Need a quick way to limber up your brain? How about some visual puns? I remember loving these waaaaay back in elementary school, and was lucky enough to revisit the fun  with Thinklers! A Collection of Brain Ticklers! by Kevin Brougher (Missing Piece Press, 2000). The book is full of position puzzles, commonyms, rhymes, and riddles. Honestly, the Mysterious Benedict Society, and their creator, would be in heaven.

After we tried a pile of Thinklers! puzzles, I encouraged kids (ages 9-12) to create a few visual puns of their own. Stumped? No worries! All the answers are at the bottom of the post…

Lady Gaga
The Bottom Line
The Hunger Games
Knockturn Alley
Potluck
Scrambled eggs
Let the cat out of the bag
Step up
Three blind mice
Throw your hat in the ring

Most Uncommon

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most uncommon

Coins, buttons, and yo-yos? There IS a connection between these three things. Granted, it’s a very uncommon connection…

We read The Uncommoners: The Crooked Sixpence, written by Jennifer Bell, and illustrated by Karl James Mountford (Crown Books, 2017). When Ivy and Seb Sparrow’s grandmother breaks her wrist, it sets off a very unexpected chain of discoveries. The siblings quickly learn that a subterranean world exists underneath their feet. It teems with common objects that do uncommon things (flying vacuum cleaners, healing buttons, lemon squeezers the shed light, for example). Ivy and Seb also learn that they are part of a family with a dark, secret past…a past that is coming back to haunt them and threaten the lives of all the citizens of Lundinor.

This book was perfect for To Be Continued, our chapter book story time for kids ages 6-9. Time was tight towards the end of the book and our summer break, so I devised these quick activities for the hands-on portion of the program.

In the book, Ivy comes to possess a coin – a slightly bent one-pence piece made of silver that warms in her hand. The coin is very significant, as are other objects in the story. Happily, I had a large bag of old coins that were donated to the library by my lovely neighbor, Leonore. I spread them out on tables, and kids got to examine them and take home a pile for their personal collections. As you can see, they were VERY intent on this task!

kids examine coinsNext came a mysterious package tied with an old brass button (buttons have healing powers in Lundinor):

mysterious wrapped packageInside the package was a yo-yo. That’s right. A yo-yo.

In Lundinor, yo-yos are uncommon. Meaning, they are weapons that create whirlwinds to fend off murderous selkies and giant grim-wolves. I loved this concept and wanted to share it with the kids. But I didn’t want it to be just ANY yo-yo. So I bought Duncan “Lime Light” yo-yos that change color as you spin them!

duncan limelight yo yoI bought these directly from Duncan’s website for $5 a pop. And because it’s currently Duncan’s 90th anniversary (wow!) they were 15% off and free shipping. The kids loved them, of course!

yo yo lights

Sneak Peek: The Secret Garden

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champagne glass butterfly feederTomorrow, our library is kicking off the programming year with a Secret Garden event at Morven Museum & Garden. Today, we have a sneak peek at one of the hands-on projects, a champagne glass butterfly feeder!

This project is based on the one designed by Leslie Garisto Pfaff for FamilyFun magazine. Leslie mounted her feeder on a 4-foot garden stake using a bit of vinyl tubing. We simplified ours down to a “tabletop” version.

You’ll need:

  • 1 plastic champagne glass
  • 1 plastic pot scrubber
  • Craft foam
  • Scissors for construction
  • 1 batch of homemade butterfly nectar (recipe below)

Cut leaf and flower shapes from craft foam. Cut slits in the centers, then slide the foam shapes up the stem of a plastic champagne glass. Pop a plastic pot scrubber in the top, and you’re done:

side view of champagne glass butterfly feederTo make the homemade butterfly nectar, mix 9 teaspoons of water with 1 teaspoon of white sugar. Pop it in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Pour the nectar on top of the pot scrubber…your butterfly buffet is ready!

If you’d like to send kids home with a print out of this recipe, you’ll find that template here.