Tag Archives: fun

Barbarians? We Got ‘Em!

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It’s time to get loud, proud, raucous, and rowdy…the barbarians have arrived at story time!

We read Great, Now We’ve Got Barbarians! Written by Jason Carter Eaton, and illustrated by Mark Fearing (Candlewick Press, 2016). When a young man refuses to follow his mom’s orders to clean his room, he doesn’t just get pests…he gets barbarians! Soon they’re chomping cheese curls, infesting the garage, stealing pillows to make forts, and having crumb wars. Exasperated and desperate, the boy finally cleans his room. Thankfully, the barbarians skulk away. Things are peaceful again…until the boy lets the bathtub overflow one night and…oh no! PIRATES!

This story time project is a fantastic example of how we upcycle materials and reuse items from other programs. With the exception of the helmet, this entire project was sourced from previously used materials! Let’s take a look…

The barbarian costume basically consist of a helmet, tunic, belt, and sword. The helmet instructions can be found in this post. The tunics were cut from the white fabric photo backdrop we used at our thrift store costumes challenge. You can see it here, right behind Veruca Salt…

veruca-salt-costume

The brown and gold belts for the barbarian costumes were cut from yet another photo backdrop, this time from our Great Catsby event!

Two children standing in front of a decorative art deco curtain while an adult takes their photo.

The tunics were topped of with “fur” (i.e. brown felt that found its way to our library from a campus theater production). We used some metallic markers, metallic dot stickers, plastic jewels, and masking tape to fancy everything up. As you can see, we had some seriously awesome barbarian duds!

But the runaway favorite of the entire ensemble were the swords. The foam shafts are retired archival foam spine support strips from the Special Collections reading room. We pushed the foam into toilet paper tube hilts and decorated them lavishly.

Then we screamed and had sword fights for over 20 minutes. It was right before the holidays, so it was an absolutely perfect high energy, low mess story time!

Walk Amongst the Clouds

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It’s a fluffy day in the neighborhood as you take a stroll with your pet cloud. It’s a simple project, but oh so sweet…just like the story!

We read Lizzy and the Cloud by the Fan Brothers (Simon & Schuster, 2022).
On Saturday, during a walk in the park, Lizzy chooses an ordinary cloud from the cloud seller (as opposed to a fancier animal-shaped cloud). She names him Milo and takes him home. Turns out, there are a lot of things you need to do to care for a pet cloud, like watering them, taking them on walks, and eventually realizing when your cloud is big enough to leave home and float free.

You’ll need:

  • One 17″ clear plastic blind rod
  • White poster board
  • Cotton balls
  • Packing tape
  • A piece of string or yarn
  • Scissors and glue for construction
  • Hot glue

When we saw the cover of the book, we just knew we had to replicate the adorableness. I had the brilliant idea of using clear plastic blind rods (i.e. the little rods your turn to adjust Venetian blinds). You can get a pack of 8 for around $12 on Amazon (ours came with an 11% off coupon too! Woot!). A cheaper option is a section of 1/2″ PVC pipe.

To make a cloud, fold a 12″ x 28″ piece of poster board in half, then trace your cloud’s shape on the paper. Cut out the shape, and you have two matching cloud pieces. Cover the outer sides of each cloud piece with cotton balls. When you’re done, use the packing tape to attach the rod to the inside of one cloud piece, then hot glue the other piece on top. Add a piece of string or yarn for your cloud’s leash, just like the book!

Lizzy chose an “old-fashioned” cloud for her pet, but we also made a model of an animal-shaped cloud, as seen below with this very handsome whale. Katie named him “Fisher.”

We captured a few story time clouds as they floated by with their proud owners…

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You can stop the project there, or you can also create a watering can to nourish your pet cloud. It’s basically a paper cup, poster board handle, and a bubble tea straw (if you would like more detailed instructions, you’ll find them in this post).

Then give your cloud a refreshing drink!

Book cover image courtesy of the Fan Brother’s website

When Wily Woodpeckers Want Waffles

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The story time diner is open, and delicious waffles await! Your mission: to get the woodpecker to the table…by any means possible!

We read Woodpecker Wants a Waffle by Steve Breen (HarperCollins, 2016). Benny the Woodpecker makes every attempt to taste the waffles at Moe’s Diner, but is consistently thwarted by a stern waitress. The other animals laugh at Benny, but he’s determined not to give up. He hatches an incredibly complicated plan to get into Moe’s (juggling, dancing, cannons, fireworks, etc.). The next day, a crowd of animals arrive to see Benny’s crazy plan in action, but he is nowhere in sight. The herd draws the intrigue of the diner customers, who step outside to stare at the animals…leaving the restaurant unguarded. Benny walks right in. Success! The delicious waffles are all his, and they are well worth the effort!

You’ll need:

  • 1 box (ours was 9” x 4 ½” X 4 ½” but a large tissue box works too!)
  • 1 smaller box that fits inside the larger box (ours was 4″ x 4″ x 2″)
  • 2 toilet paper tubes
  • A selection of construction paper
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

This is essentially a toss game, with the goal of getting the two toilet paper tube characters into the diner to enjoy waffles. We folded up the lid of a large craft box to create the sign for our diner, and couldn’t resist adding a large picture window, tissue paper shrubs, star stickers, and patterned wallpaper. The toilet paper tube characters can be decorated with construction paper and markers.

Inside the diner is a small box that serves as a table – just make sure there’s space around the table for the the toilet paper tube characters during the toss game!

Want to try another variation on the game? Have one person close their eyes and “guard” the diner, while another tries to sneak the woodpecker to the table without being heard!