Tag Archives: book

It’s a Total Pigsty

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Where there’s rubbish, disorganization, and debris, you will find a happy herd of piggies, ready to roll! The perfect indoor game to combat the winter blahs…it’s trash time!

We read Pigsty by Mark Teague (Scholastic, 1994). Wendell Fultz’s bedroom is a total pigsty. Ordered by his mother to clean it, Wendell is shocked to find an actual pig on his bed. As the mess in his room grows, so does the number of pigs, until finally Wendell is overwhelmed. He asks the pigs to pitch in and clean up. They do – and then depart for dirtier climes. One of my favorite books, and so fun to read aloud!

You’ll need:

  • 1 large oatmeal container
  • 1 paper cup
  • Pink construction paper
  • 3 paper towel tubes
  • A selection of colored tape
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

First, the pig! Wrap a large oatmeal container in pink paper, then add a circle of pink paper to the lid as well. Next, cut a paper cup down to approximately 1.75″ and cover it with pink paper. This is your pig’s snout. Use extra paper for the ears, and a curl of paper (or corkscrewed craft stem) for a tail. Draw the eyes and nostrils on with markers. Finally, tape 3 paper towel rolls together to create the “steering stick” for your pig. You can color it with markers, or fancy it up with colored tape. You’re ready to race!

We also highly recommend decorating a jersey number from this numbers 1-16 template. The paper number gets taped to your back, and the matching number gets drawn on your pig. The pig race gets chaotic, and you want to be able to find your pig quickly if it gets bumped, kicked, or otherwise separated from you.

Time for the race! Scatter “rubbish” in a large area (we used plastic eggs, old film canisters, and toilet paper tubes because they rolled smoothly). Have all the contestants line up, standing behind their pigs with the steering stick. On the shout of “Go!” players push their pigs forward, zero in on a piece of rubbish, and push it across the finish line.

A less competitive version is to turn a table into the “goal,” and have kids roll the rubbish underneath it. When all the garbage is under the table, everyone wins!

New Year, New Mole Rat

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Happy New Year! It’s 2025, and resolutions abound! If one of those resolutions involves a new fashion direction, well, today’s post is very relevant. ESPECIALLY if you are a naked mole rat seeking a plethora of new looks!

We read Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems (Hyperion, 2009). Wilbur is a naked mole rat who likes clothes. Unfortunately his passion for fashion is ceaselessly mocked and questioned by the other naked mole rats. Especially when Wilbur opens a clothing store. Outraged, the naked mole rats march Wilbur to Grand-pah mole rat for a supreme talking to. But wise Grand-pah has nothing but words of encouragement for Wilbur (and all the other naked mole rats) to lean into their individualism and follow their fancies.

You’ll need:

The simplest form of this project is to print the mole rat and clothing templates, then color and cut them out. Attach two button magnets to the mole rat, then tape paper clips on the backs of the clothing. Connect the paperclips to the magnets to change outfits!

At our story time, however, we went with a sturdier mole rat that could stand on its own. First, we traced our mole rat templates onto pink construction paper, then backed them with corrugated cardboard. We added a toilet paper tube support to the back, and then finished by attaching the clothing magnets. Here’s a look at the back and the front of our finished mole rats:

We also decided we needed to be extra fancy and make our mole rat a closet. As you can see, the closet rack is a snippet of balloon stick secures with two foam beads. Dangling from the rack are paper clips that act as “hangers” for the shirts, skirts, and pants. There’s a shortened paper cup glued to the floor to house all the fashion accessories, and mini clothespins hot glued to the door to secure the mole rat’s various hats.

Kids loved customizing the various outfits and hats!

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Sometimes, kids really connect with a project, and one mom reported that her son’s naked mole rat was his constant companion for WEEKS. He went with her son to the gym, on trips, to restaurants, in the stroller, was cuddled at night, and basically lived the life of a most beloved friend. Mom reports that this lead to some very interesting questions from onlookers about naked mole rats, which her son was happy to answer.

But that’s not all! Another one of our naked mole rats caught the eye of Brian George, Preparator in Special Collections. It still stands in his office to this day!

It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

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Transform a basic brown box into a community full of color, patterns, and fun! This simple project was inspired by the true story of a neighborhood in San Diego’s East Village!

We read Maybe Something Beautiful, written by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell, and illustrated by Rafael López (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016). Mira lives in a gray city, but her heart and mind are full of color and joy. When she meets a muralist with a pocketful of paintbrushes, they launch a mission to bring bright, bold, and inspiring colors to walls, benches, and sidewalks. A true story, this book describes how the Urban Art Trail initiative transformed a community. It’s an amazing, heartfelt read, and the illustrations are next level gorgeous. Don’t miss the note from the authors in the back of the book, or the fact that the original community muralist, Rafael López, is also the book’s illustrator!

All you need for this project is a box and some markers and/or art supplies! We used leftover craft box houses from our Gingerbread Architecture event…

And then we brought out markers, paper, stickers, feathers, foam beads, pipe cleaners and our good ‘ol Bling Bin. When everyone was finished, we put the houses together for a little neighborhood walk!