Tag Archives: bugs

Pop’s Top 5: Gross Giggles

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cockroach pizza boxLet’s face facts: most kids (and even some adults!) find gross things funny. They like fart jokes, quips about underwear, burps, bugs, and just saying the word “poop” can send the conversation into a 15 minute spiral. Well, kids…this post is for you. We did a round up of story time projects that involve a wee bit of gross humor. May it bring you giggles and joy!

#1 ULTRA-BRIGHT UNDIES

illuminating underwear

It took a over decade and 450 story times, but we finally offered an underpants story hour, complete with a customized string light project. Inspired by the magnificent book Creepy Pair of Underwear! Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown, the team who also brought us super creepy carrot fun.

#2 WHALE-SIZED POOPER SCOOPER

While this book, I Won a What?, was ultimately about taking care of a pet whale, if you watch the video in the post, you’ll see that whale care includes taking them on walk, bathing them, and yes…scooping up pom pom poop.

#3 ROACH RACER

cockroach pizza box

A pizza box, magnets, drinking straws, and rubber roaches were the winning combination at To Be Continued, our chapter book story time for kids ages 6-8. We read the most excellent Measle and the Wrathmonk, one of my son’s favorites books back in the day!

#4 MAMMOTH UNDIES

mammoth haircut

Returning once again to underpants, we have the truly hilarious book Hot Hot Hot in which woolly mammoths Oscar and Arabella try to beat the heat. The craft project was a decorative underwear reveal on a slightly alarmed mammoth.

#5 SKUNK SPRAY

back of skunk

The skunk is perhaps the most infamous creature in the animal world, with a startle reflex that just keeps giving. We read Please Don’t Upset P.U. Zorilla and then story time officers made deputy skunks with the unique capacity to spray plastic bags. And yes, we do have a training video.

HONORABLE MENTION: MEDIEVAL MUCKRAKERS

best event sign ever

While not technically a story time project, we couldn’t end this post without including our grossest, most popular event sign to date. It completely stole the show at a 2012 Robin Hood event. Click here to read about yuck-worthy Medieval jobs, and if you need some help unseeing it, please enjoy this complimentary copy of Medieval Vogue, which was also featured at the event.

Bugging Out

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bugging out_4I don’t know about ya’ll, but the Brood X cicada noises sound like someone is trying to remateralize on my street via a Star Trek transporter. Every day. Alllll day. Very LOUDLY. Katie, feeling similarly inspired (or perhaps crazed), put together today’s blog post featuring cicada connections and some of our awesome bug story times and projects!. Take it away, Katie!

Calling all entomologists! The Brood X cicadas (magicicada septendecim), the largest of the periodical cicadas that are endemic to the eastern United States, have awakened from their 17-year slumber. The swarm will spend the next month in the foliage, singing and mating before they bury themselves back in the ground, not to be seen again until 2038. It truly is a spectacle that is enjoyed by many (but feared by some!). Cicadas may be scary looking, but they are absolutely harmless to humans.

There is a fun musical connection to Princeton University and the 1970 Brood X cicadas, which were the inspiration for the tune “Day of the Locusts” by Bob Dylan. Dylan wrote the song to describe his experience receiving an honorary degree from Princeton. He was on campus for commencement and the cicadas were so loud, he could not hear his name being announced during the ceremony. April Armstrong, Deputy AUL for Special Collections, wrote more about Dylan and his degree on the excellent Mudd Manuscript Library blog.

Bob_Dylan_1970_AC112_Box_AD31_Folder_23

Bob Dylan (center) at Princeton University, June 9, 1970. Historical Photograph Collection (AC112), Box AD31, Folder 23.

Scientist and naturalist Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) is often regarded as one of the first people to document the 17-year cycle of the Brood X cicadas. He wrote and published a scientific almanac, where he specifically said about the cicadas: “Their periodical return is 17 years, but they, like the Comets, make but a short stay with us…” Learn more about Banneker, along with four other famous scientists, by visiting our virtual escape room, The Discovery Museum.

Scientist Museum cropped

And! for more buggy connections, try these fun projects…starting with the sweetest story about teamwork you’ll ever read with Horsefly and Honeybee

you complete me

An easy-to-make butterfly feeder from our Secret Garden event (and speaking of butterflies, you might also like this STEAM butterfly project/ magic trick).

champagne-glass-butterfly-feeder_cropped

A simple to assemble centipede puppet AND shoe store activity? Oh yeah!

you can never have too many shoesBudding young entomologists create a bug and tell our story time film crew about it here

news crew

Create a simple beetle and carrier with every day household items

bug jarAnnnnd a magnetic fake cockroach maze. Yes, you read that right…

cockroach pizza box

Finally, award-winning author Shaun Tan wrote and illustrated a beautiful and touching picture book titled Cicada. We talked to Shaun about Cicada (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2019) and his other amazing work during our interview for The BiblioFiles.