Tag Archives: kids

Sneaky Math

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sneaky mathWant a side of math with that story time? From simple to semi-sophisticated, here are some ways I’ve worked math into my library programs!

COUNTING SUPPLIES

There are multiple steps in my story time projects, and some of those steps involve selecting certain amounts of art supplies. So we’ll count together. For example, if the kids need 2 pipe cleaners for their project, I’ll hold out a bunch of pipe cleaners and count aloud as each kids selects them, “One…two! Great!”

NUMBERED SUPPLY CONTAINERS

During projects, I’ll often put  a line of supplies on the windowsill, and kids walk down the line and select certain amounts of supplies from each container. I used to use post it notes to mark the number needed on each container….

post it note numbersBut then I found these little babies!

holder with numberThese are 8″ table card holders. I purchased mine from an online restaurant supply company (The Web Restaurant Store). Don’t they look snazzy?

card holdersDIAGRAMS

Sometimes, I’ll have a project that requires a diagram to demonstrates how much of something is needed. For example, this rainbow cloud project needed to be covered in cotton balls, so I drew a diagram showing how many balls needed to be attached, and how many cotton balls you’d need in total. Numbers, beautiful numbers.

sneaky math

I’ve also been known to sneak math into story time projects, like this lemonade stand that involves counting, sorting, and sequential thinking.

Now who’s up for something a little more…elaborate?

In 2012, my library hosted a large-scale Robin Hood event. I knew we just had to do something on taxes. But how were we going to design something that involved taxes, math, Medieval history, but was also simple enough for kids of various ages to grasp quickly? The answer came from my brilliant event assistant Katie. We would design a tax wheel game based on Hi Ho Cherry-O.  We called it “Your Tax Dollars at Work.”

tax wheelHi Ho Cherry-O is a classic early math game involving counting and numbers. The game is driven by a spinner that dictates whether you add or remove cherries from your basket during game play. But what if the spinner for our version pointed to various Medieval taxes, the game pieces were coins? We could even throw some Robin Hood characters on the wheel. Perfect.

We knew needed to go big and durable at such a large, crowded event. So I ordered a 36″ blank roulette wheel from Spinning Designs Incorporated. The company was very tickled by the novel use of the wheel. Perhaps that’s why they gave me a fantastic (and much appreciated) deal on a wheel that had “minor surface imperfections” (which I honestly could never find).

Then Katie and I researched the different types of taxes from Robin Hood’s day. There were a lot (honestly, who taxes you for churning your butter?). We also had to find a way to gain coins back during the game.

Ultimately, we came up with the following “Lose” and “Gain” categories.

Lose Coin

  • Travel tax
  • Churn your butter tax
  • Bake your bread tax
  • Pay your lord
  • Grind your grain tax
  • Sheriff steals
  • Prince John takes all
  • Land tax

Gain (or at least not lose) Coin

  • Harvest time
  • May Day
  • Good day at market
  • Robin Hood gives you coins

As you can see, there were more ways to lose your money than gain it. We intentionally designed the game that way. There were going to be so many people at the event (3,500 actually) we wanted the game play to average 3 minutes so lots of kids could have multiple turns. If you’re interested, here are the complete game instructions.

group of kidsIn addition to the wheel, there were game boards designed to look like Medieval money bags. You placed 5 coins in your “bag” at the start of the game, then added or removed coins as the wheel dictated. We used metal replicas of Medieval coins. Because we’re nerds like that.

game boardsWhen all your coins were gone, the game was over! As a “consolation” prize, kids got a chocolate foil-wrapped coin. Kids with food allergies or dietary restrictions got to take home one of the metal replica coins.

The “Your Tax Dollars at Work” wheel and game boards were drawn by Kemi Lin, an amazing Princeton University student artist. She did it all. By hand. With packs of Sharpies. After the event, the game was donated to the Somerset County library system. Long may it live!

Little Big Top

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little big topThe circus is coming to town! See the juggler! Chuckle at the clown! Gasp at the amazing acrobat! But you’ll need some very tiny tickets, because this circus…is for mice.

We read The Secret Circus by Johanna Wright (Roaring Brook Press, 2009). Somewhere in the city of Paris, there is a secret circus. Only the mice know how to get there and enjoy its many splendors. But we’ll give you a hint: check under the carrousel in a park by the Eiffel Tower. But keep it a secret!

You’ll need:

  • A large rectangle of white poster board (approximately 11″ x 25.5″)
  • A box cutter
  • 1 paper towel tube
  • A selection of color masking tape
  • 2 pipe cleaners
  • 1 wooden dowel
  • A 8.5″ x 14″ tagboard base (optional)
  • 4 toilet paper tubes
  • 2 rectangles of white construction paper (approximately 4.5″ x 6″)
  • 2 rectangles of grey construction paper (approximately 4.5″ x 6″)
  • Extra white and grey construction paper for mouse ears and tails
  • A selection of patterned paper
  • 1 strip of white construction paper for ringmaster pants (approximately 1.25″ x 6″)
  • 1 strip of red construction paper for ringmaster jacket (approximately 1.5″ x 6″)
  • 1 rectangle of black construction paper for ringmaster hat (1.5″ x 2″)
  • A 5″ piece of craft tie for ringmaster bow tie
  • 2 small feathers
  • A circle of white card stock (2″ in diameter)
  • 3 mini pom-poms (mine were 0.5″)
  • Markers for decorating
  • Scissors, tape, hole punch for construction
  • Hot glue

First, we’ll raise the tent. We designed the tent to be easy to collapse and carry home. We tried the tent set up on a hard tabletop and carpeted floor. It was pretty sturdy on both surfaces!

Use markers to decorate your large rectangle of white poster board tent on both sides (I left the example tent  undecorated for the steps below). Remember – one side of the paper is your exterior (stripes are always nice), and one side is the interior (you can draw audience members if you like!).

Lay the poster board on the table in front of you. Fold it in half like a book, then unfold it.

tent step 1Take the right end of the tent and fold it towards the center line. The fold should begin 5″ from the center line. Repeat with the left side of the tent. It should now look like this:

tent step 2Flip the poster board over. Use the box cutter to make two, 0.25″ slits on either side of the center line, right in the center of the poster board tent.

tent step 3Pick the tent off the table and gently roll the areas between the folds inwards.

tent step 4This will give your creation that “droopy circus tent” look.

undecorated tentNow for the tent pole. Wrap a paper towel tube in color masking tape, and punch four holes in the sides of the tube, near the top. Thread a pipe cleaner through one set of holes:

tent pole step 1Fold the ends of the pipe cleaner upwards. Push the ends of the pipe cleaner up through the slits at the top of your tent.

tent pole step 2Twist the ends of the pipe cleaner together tightly to create a flag pole.  Wrap a piece of color masking tape around the top of the pole, then trim the masking tape with scissors to create a banner flag.

tent flag stepsLastly, inset a wooden dowel through the remaining pair of holes on the paper towel tube (your acrobat will swing from this “trapeze” later).

tent dowelYour tent is finished! If you’d like, you can add a tagboard floor, but it’s totally optional. We didn’t attach the tagboard floor to the tent, opting instead to leave it loose so the tent would be more portable and collapsible.

tent floorNow for the performers! We have an acrobat, a juggler, a ringmaster, and a clown!

circus troupeBegin by wrapping 4 toilet paper tubes with white and grey construction paper (we made 2 white mice and 2 grey mice). Make ears out of extra pieces of construction paper and tape (or hot glue) them to the tops of the tubes. Once you finish those steps, it’s time for some details!

CLOWN

clownWrap 2 pieces of patterned paper around the tube for a shirt and pants. Use markers to draw a face, and add a curled strip of construction paper for the tail.

JUGGLER

juggler with ballsWrap 1 piece of patterned paper around the middle of the tube. Tape a feather at the top of the tube, behind the ears. Attach tail. Then use the box cutter to make a small slit in the middle of the juggler’s “chest.”

Next, use the hole punch to create a hole in the center of the 2″ card stock circle. Hot glue 3 mini pom-poms “juggling balls” on the circle (if you don’t have pom-poms, you can use markers to draw balls on the circle). I also used markers to add little “motion lines” behind the balls to accentuate that they are in motion.

Insert a brass tack through the hole in the juggling circle, then push it through the slit in the tube. Open the tack’s prongs inside the tube. Spin the circle and the mouse will juggle!

ACROBAT

finished acrobatTo make the acrobat, follow the same steps as the juggler. But instead of cutting a slit in the chest, punch two sets of holes into the top and bottom of the tube like so:

acrobat step 1Thread a pipe cleaner straight through the top set of holes…

acrobat step 2 Then loop the right end of the pipe cleaner through the right hole again.

acrobat threadedBend the pipe cleaner up and hook the very end. This is how the mouse will hang on the trapeze bar.

acrobat handRepeat the above steps on the left arm. To make the legs, follow the same steps as the arms, but simply bend the ends pipe cleaner up to make feet. However, some kids decided to hook the feet so the acrobat could hang upside down as well.

THE RINGMASTER

ringmasterWrap a white construction paper strip around the bottom of the tube for pants, then wrap a red construction paper around the middle for the jacket. Cut a top hat shape out of black construction paper and tape (or hot glue) it to the top of the tube. Attach tail. Use markers to draw a face (don’t forget the mustache!) and details on the jacket. Top the outfit off with a bow tie (we made ours with a craft tie, but if you don’t have any handy, you can use markers).

Your circus is complete! Gather up your troupe of performing mice…

excited about acrobats…and let the greatest little show on earth BEGIN!

ready for the show

350 for 50

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pen frameEvery year, our library has a writing content called 350 for 50. We challenge kids ages 6-16 to write a short, 350-word story that includes a sentence of our choosing. This year, the sentence was  “The image blurred, then darkened.” Our judges select winners from three age categories and not only do the young authors get published on our website, blog, and print publication, they enjoy a $50 shopping spree at Labyrinth, our local bookstore!

It is our great delight to present this year’s winners. The artwork for each piece was created by Princeton University student, Aliisa Lee.

Every Day is a Bad Hair Day

Lucy McCulloch, age 9
Bordentown, NJ

Bad Hair Day artwork by Aliisa LeeI am Meddie. I am in 5th grade at Blockwood Elementary School and I am considered a complete freak by most of the girls in my class. The same girls, who for the past six years have tormented me because I wear an enormous hat to school. If they only knew the truth hiding under my hat.

It all happened one day during a chaotic indoor recess. As usual, the room was divided into four corners containing the “bookworms”, “the artists”, “the fashionistas” and “the gamers”. I took my usual seat with the artists and began to draw cartoons.

From across the room I heard a loud commotion. I looked and saw a boy named Quincy stick out his tongue and make the “gag me with a spoon” action. I didn’t know what was going on, but I saw all eyes in the room turn and look at me. Quincy had a note in his hand. Before I could even ask what was going on, our teacher Ms. Birdfitch, swooped in a grabbed the note from his hand and read it out loud. “Dear Quincy, I love you.  Love, Meddie.” The whole class broke out into laughter. Ms. Birdfitch told everyone to get quite and take a seat.

The note was the last straw. I rushed out the door, and ran down the hallway. I slipped into the bathroom and stumbled to the cold tile floor. Those girls had done it again. But this time it wasn’t a silly name, it was a lie!

I got up to wash my face and looked in the mirror and that is when it happened. I looked at my reflection, but it didn’t look like me. The image blurred, then darkened. I felt my insides getting colder. I couldn’t hide my anger or true self any longer. I took off my hat and let my snakes coil around my head. Finally free from the hat, I walked unafraid back to class. I opened the door to horrified faces.  “Call me by my real name from now on.  I am MEDUSA!”

Memories

Neha Aluwalia, age 13
Plainsboro, NJ

Memories artwork by Aliisa LeeThey had been one of the last to escape. A few more weeks, and the ship would have been stopped-and the Jews would never have made it to America.  However, with luck on their side, the newly-wed couple Deborah and Joseph Rubenstein took a crowded, smelly ship to America, and wrapped their faith and hope around them like a warm blanket.

Upon arrival of New York City, things were not at all what they expected.  For one, they were detained at Ellis Island for many days, and the mixture of languages, smells, and sickness were very overwhelming to the lonely couple who understood little English.

When all the papers were finally set straight, Deborah and Joseph used what scant money they had, all their families’ life savings, to rent a room in a crowded apartment complex.

While Joseph went to work at the docks, Deborah stayed at home and began to befriend the neighbors. She became good friends with a man named Leroy Caldwell, a handsome and curious journalist. He was interested in what happened to the Rubensteins, of the events that brought them to America.

The two became so close that Leroy asked Deborah if he could interview Joseph and her about being Jews who escaped from Nazi Germany. After a plethora of conversations about a myriad of war-related topics, the article was almost ready to go.

The one thing that was missing however, was a photograph. Leroy arranged Deborah and Joseph together, pillars of hope in the darkness, and hit the button.  Flash! The camera spit out a photo.  The image blurred, then darkened.
———————————————————————————————————————
“Grandma? Grandpa?” asked the small child perched on her grandparents, squinting at an old photograph, “Is that you?”

Pointing to the young couple, indifferent to their poverty and content, the elderly woman replied, “Yes child. That was me and your grandfather, living out our families’ dreams. We only had each other, but we made the most of what we could.”

The child agreed to this statement by snuggling next to her grandmother and falling asleep, leaving Deborah, Joseph, and the memories together.

Therapy

Roshni Mantena, age 15
Princeton NJ

Therapy artwork by Aliisa LeeShe’d learned later, that its name was Ischemia. She was suffering from ischemic loss of vision, caused by a blockage of the artery supplying blood to the eye. It was the most common reason for sudden visual loss, and left untreated even for a few hours, it could leave permanent damage. The last fact, she knew too well. At first, she’d blamed her parents. If they’d returned home, even an hour earlier. Then, it’d been her grandfather. Genetically inherited, artery blocking cholesterol. Finally, it’d been God. You sent this my way. Her bitterness had consumed her, pushing away her friends,  family, boyfriend. She walked in the school hallway alone, whispers of that blind girl trailing behind her, but she wore them proudly like armor, deflecting whoever attempted to get close. It’d gotten old fast, the loneliness tearing holes deep in her heart, leading her here.

It’d been half past eight and her parents still hadn’t returned home from their dinner party. The summer sky had long since faded into hot, sticky, darkness, and her clothes clung uncomfortably to her skin. She was too lazy to change into pajamas, the horror movie flickering on the TV screen in front of her just interesting enough to keep her from leaving her comfortable place on the couch. The air shimmered, the image from television slightly distorted, from the heat, she told herself. Another minute passed, the beginnings of a headache pounding at her temples. She rubbed her head; dark spots appeared in front of her eyes, the characters onscreen swimming in her vision. The image blurred, then darkened. She could still feel her heart drumming loudly in her ribcage as she screwed her eyes together, squeezing them shut tightly before opening them again. Panic in the form of bile was rising in her throat as she rubbed at them frantically, trying to coax them back from the nothing-ness to no avail. She scrambled blindly for the phone, hands shaking.

She inhaled sharply, running fingers over the raised bumps, feeling out the words. Palm flat, pride swallowed, she pushed the door open into therapy.