Tag Archives: easy

Ghost-y with the Most-y

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Share a soft ghostly glow with a spirited little friend! This was a very simple project and activity, but a total story time favorite! And just LOOK at this vibrant book cover!

We read Gustavo the Shy Ghost, by Flavia Z. Drago (Candlewick, 2020 and read here by The Teacher’s Library). Gustavo is a very shy ghost, but he wants friends more then anything! The problem is, no one ever seemed to see him. So Gustavo sends an invitation to a violin concert in the cemetery. No one shows. Gustavo decides to play anyway and gets so caught up glowing and creating his beautiful music he doesn’t notice his friends have arrived (they were just a little late)! Now Gustavo has plenty of friends, and even though he still might be a bit quiet, they always know he’s there!

You’ll need:

  • 1 paper lantern
  • 1 LED votive candle
  • 1 ghost ornament
  • Yarn or ribbon to hang the lantern
  • Markers for decorating

We bought our lanterns on Amazon, opting for the large 14″ diameter ones with lots of decorating room. We purchased the ghost ornaments on Amazon as well, but you can also make these easy ghost lollipops too!

During the project, we turned off the lights and invited kids to use markers (and self-adhesive foam shapes) to decorate their lanterns in the twinkling glimmer of an LED votive. Then we went on a ghost hunt to find ghost ornaments hidden in the gallery!

Want to meet the author and see her studio? You will find our Studio Snapshots feature on Flavia Zorilla Drago here!

Pepper’s Ghost, Part II

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this hummingbird 1_edited 1This is not the first Pepper’s Ghost illusion to appear on Pop Goes the Page. Back in 2020, we posted a kid-friendly version featuring a spirited fox. The illusion is basically a reflection trick, but it’s very effective when done right!

seeing spirits   You’ll need:

  • A clear plastic drink container lid
  • Paper (heavier paper or thin cardboard works best)
  • A small section of clear plastic (like the lid of a food container)
  • Scissors and pencil for construction
  • Cell phone

The project was originally designed and posted by artist Joshua Ellingson on his Instagram. First, wash a clear plastic drink lid. Then cut a half circle template out of paper. When you have a half circle that correctly fits at a 45 degree angle inside your cup lid, trace the paper template onto a piece of clear plastic. We used an acrylic gift box, but plastic food containers work great too. Tape the plastic half circle inside the cup lid. The hardest part is getting that 45 degree angle just right. I made about 4 templates before I finally nailed it. Here’s my finished cup with the plastic half circle:

Head to YouTube for a Pepper’s Ghost illusion on a black background. We tried a couple different ones, but had the most success with this hummingbird. Cue up the video on your phone, maximize it to full screen, and lay the phone on a tabletop. Place the cup lid on top. Finally, roll the video and turn off the lights! Your object will appear to float inside the cup lid! It’s really quite remarkable.

The original designer, Joshua Ellingson, also made a GIANT version of this craft with a thrift store bubble chair and his flat screen television. It’s a must see! And Disney’s Haunted Mansion famously employs this illusion, including an entire ballroom of ghosts!

Sanitation SUPERSTARS!

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It’s a big job, but our stellar sanitation team is up to the task! Drive your garbage truck to multiple locations around town, then head to the city dump and send everything flying down the chute. Yes we made a mess, but we had SO much fun!

We read Trashy Town, written by Andrea Zimmerman & David Clemesha, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino (HaperCollins, 1999), and read here by Michigan City Public Library. Mr. Gilly is a trash man and wow is he is busy! There are lots of stops all around town (like the school, town park, a pizza parlor) and finally to the city dump to unload. But there’s still one more stop for Mr. Gilly after that…the bathtub!

This was a special final Tiger Tales story time request from a family who was moving out of the area. The story time kiddo asked for “garbage trucks” and “chutes” and we think we delivered!

You’ll need:

  • 1 large craft box (ours was 4.5” X 4.5” x 9” but a large tissue box works too!)
  • A box cutter
  • 1 sparkle stem
  • 1 toilet paper tube
  • Tin foil
  • 1 truck template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ card stock
  • Black construction paper
  • Yarn
  • Hole punch, scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

First, the garbage truck! Use a box cutter to make diagonal incisions in the back and bottom of your box, then fold the entire section upwards. This is your garbage truck’s loading hopper. In order to make it easier for kids to raise and lower the hopper, we looped half of a sparkle stem, then taped it to the tailgate.

Notice the garbage cans hanging on the side of the truck in the above photo? To make those, cut a toilet paper tube in half, then wrap each in tin foil. Punch a hole in the side of each can and hang them on sparkle stem hooks taped to the side of the truck. We filled our can with scrap tissue paper “garbage” as well.

The front of the truck is a template from this post (just disregard the roof section on the template – or better yet, cut it into little bits and use it to fill your mini garbage cans!). Tape that in place, then add some black construction paper wheels and decorate the truck with markers. Tape a yarn pull string to the front of your truck for hauling.

It’s time to get to work! We constructed models of each of the sites mentioned in the book…school, park, doctor’s office, pizza parlor, fire station, and the city dump. Many thanks to my daughter for helping me construct them (love the smiling pizza slice)!

We constructed the buildings and park with shoe boxes and box lids, but the city dump was much larger. It was big box with a removable chute that allowed kids to tip their garbage and send it sliding into the dump. You can see the whole thing here, modeled by our awesome grad student volunteer Shruti Sharma (who was also a cloud scientist at a library event this spring).

Once every kid had made a truck, they received a “route card” that showed the order in which they needed to visit each place. Since there were 5 sites, I made 5 routes, all different so they story time kids wouldn’t clump together. Each route, of course, ended at the city dump.

We placed the buildings around the library, and each had it’s own unique “garbage” to be collected. Mostly, these were little do-dads and art supplies from the cabinet. The school’s garbage, for example, are leftover wooden letters from this project. Caregivers and older siblings volunteered to staff each site, refilling “garbage can” cups as each truck rolled up, and the story time garbage kids got to work.

At the city dump, Shruti helped kids slide the garbage down the chute. The back of the big box was cut open, in case kids wanted to take their garbage home. It got a little messy and chaotic. But hey! It IS a dump after all!

If you would like to do this story time and don’t have time to make the buildings, no worries! Here’s a printable set of the buildings that you can tape to walls and tables. Drive safe, and happy collecting!