Navigate the nocturnal highways with this fantastic vehicular nightlight, complete with convenient carrying handle!
We recommend Night Light by Nicholas Blechman (Orchard Books, 2013). A charming blend of numbers, vehicles, and a guessing game, the book flips between night and day. The solid black pages only reveal the dotted lights of a vehicle, along with a textual clue (ex: “5 lights, cleaning day and night?”). Following each night page is a day page in which the identity of the vehicle is revealed. Fantastically fun.
You’ll need:
- 1 small box with a lid (we used a tea box)
- Construction paper
- A box cutter
- White printer paper, tracing paper, wax paper, or parchment paper
- 1 submersible LED light (or glow stick)
- Scissors, tape and glue for construction
- Markers for decorating
First, use construction paper to turn a small box into your favorite vehicle. Marissa did a twine carrying handle on her awesome VW van, but you can also make a handle out of construction paper or a pipe cleaner. Next, use a box cutter to create a pair of headlights at one end of the box. Inside the box, tape a piece of white printer paper, tracing paper, wax paper, or parchment paper over the headlight holes. This gives the headlights a nice diffuse glow.
We used a submersible LED to light Marissa’s van. You can find them in the floral section of Michaels craft store – 9 cost $21, but I always use a 40% off coupon.
If the LEDs are too pricey, a glow stick will do the trick. Drop the illumination of your choice in the vehicle box, close the lid, and you’re done. Vroom vroom vroom!
Ladies and gentleman, may I introduce the Barbara K Lipman Children’s History Library? This gorgeous gem is adjacent to the stunning DiMenna Children’s History Museum, which in turn is located inside the amazing New-York Historical Society, Central Park West.
Notice the colorful books on the uppermost shelves? Those are old books that have been painted! So the easily-reachable lower shelves contain the books for kids to browse. But the painted books fill out the upper shelves, looking beautiful and colorful.
The history library doesn’t just contain books, however. Multiple exhibit cases are built into the shelves and tables in unique ways. For example, see the “Amazing Atlas” case below?
There’s another case hidden behind it, displaying a curved panorama of period ships!
Another exhibit clever case? Check out the library ladder in the photo below.
Also, did you notice the NYC skyline soaring above the shelves in the library? That’s the actual north-south-east-west skyline you see from the roof of the New-York Historical Society building. A photographer shot the views from the roof, and then the exhibit fabricators transported them to the library walls.
And now, my favorite exhibit case, which is masquerading as a card catalog:
Pull open the drawers to view multiple exhibit cases. Notice the exhibit label you can just see in the lower right hand corner? Yup, it’s modeled after an old catalog card. I love it!
The cases are marvelous, but I also want to give a big nod to the artifacts in the cases. Book-making tools, period paper dolls, detailed model ships, colorful illustrated books – these are actual collections items carefully selected and displayed for the youngest patrons.
In the beginning of the post, I mentioned the New-York Historical Society’s new History Detective Briefcases. So very, very cool. They’re currently part of a new educational initiative on the building’s 4th floor.
These handsome little cases are filled with activity cards, tools, and art supplies. There are several types to choose from. Here’s just one of them:
Tucked across the very back of each briefcase are activity cards matching the 4th floor exhibits. Grab a case, read the cards, and use the contents of the case to explore and learn more about the exhibits. HOW FANTASTIC IS THIS???
If you haven’t been to the New-York Historical Society, please head there posthaste. It’s beautiful, and the exhibits are fantastic. Additionally (and for me, most importantly) kids are warmly welcomed to learn from, and engage with, the exhibits. History, for everyone!
First, crinkle up brown packing or wrapping paper. Then arch it over the top of the base and secure to the sides and back of with tape. We taped a strip of crinkled paper to the front of the base as well.
Now, for the inside! We made a half a toilet paper tube bear (with a 
Ready for some artwork? Cut the frames from the template, draw some pictures, and attach your artwork to the walls of the cave with 
To make things extra fun, we turned off the lights during the fire construction portion of the program. It was so cute to see these little illuminated caves on all the tables. But here’s the cave that completely captured my heart…this bear is roasting a marshmallow!