Tag Archives: library

Big Frog ♥ Little Frog

Posted on by

big frog hearts little frogThe world is full of delightful things for a little frog to jump over, but the absolute best place to eventually land? The loving arms of Mama (or Dada!) frog. Our story time kids jumped box frogs over several obstacles, but waiting at the finish line – with a BIG hug – was their respective grown-up, bedecked in a frog headband!

We read Leap Back Home to Me, written by Lauren Thompson, and illustrated by Matthew Cordell (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2011). In this incredibly sweet rhyming book, a little leaping frog has a great time jumping over bugs, plants, trees, creeks, and hilltops, but he always returns to loving embrace of Mama frog.

You’ll need:

  • 1 small box (ours was 4″ x 4″ x 4″ – a small tissue box works too)
  • Green construction paper
  • 1 piece of (ours was 22″ long)
  • 1 mini craft stick (ours was 3″ long)
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

To make a frog, cover a small box with green construction paper. Add big accordion-fold legs, arms, and eye bumps (we added eye stickers as well). Use markers to draw the mouth and nostrils.

simple frog boxTo make the bouncy jump cord, tape a 22″ piece of clear elastic beading cord to the top of the box, then knot the other end around a craft stick handle. We wrapped tape around the knot on the craft stick as well, just to make it extra secure.

jump string for frog Below is the big frog headband for grown-ups. This is also made of green construction paper. We added jumbo eye stickers as well, but you can also draw on the eyes with markers.

grown up frog headbandYour 2 frogs are done, now for the obstacle course! It can really be as simple as “jumping” over chairs, tables, and books. But we had a couple big boxes come in through our recycling program, so we got a little creative. We recruited a young man to act as both the line leader and start flag for the course…

starting flagWhen he shouted go, a kid / frog duo headed onto the course. First they leaped over the meadow, then jumped past an owl nest (which had an owl in it – another audience recruit).

meadow and owl nestNext was a log tunnel, and just beyond it, a blue twin sheet “river” to jump over.

log tunnel and river

Then the duo bounded over a “mountain” (two wooden step stools pushed together).

mountainAnd stopped to say hello to a rainbow cloud (i.e. Michelle, a Princeton University student assistant). Did you notice her little puff hat? Soooo cute.

michelle the rainbow cloudNext it was on to Miss Melinda, who had a lily pad for each frog to rest on. We made these out of green poster board and a paper muffin cup.

lily pad finish line The final step was to jump into the arms of your mom/dad frog, who was waiting at the finish line in a fine frog head band! Ready to see the course in action?

https://vimeo.com/311322384

When Monsters Go Mobile

Posted on by

when monsters go mobileWe’ve made a lot of monster projects on the blog, but this is our first monster…on a bicycle! Where is he going? To find YOU, of course. And make a very special delivery.

We read Bedtime for Monsters by Ed Vere (Henry Holt, 2011). There are monsters out there. In fact, there’s one thinking about you at this very moment…and now he’s heading your way! But as he’s cycling, climbing mountains, and crossing swamps, is his thinking of how delicious you’ll be on toast? Or how tasty you would be slathered in ketchup? No silly! He just wants to give you a big goodnight kiss!

You’ll need:

  • 1 small oatmeal container
  • Construction paper
  • 1 small box
  • 1 piece of yarn (ours was 30″)
  • 1 set of wheels (more on this below)
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • Hot glue

In one section of the book, the monster rides a bicycle. We loved the idea of a pull string bike and a pursuing monster. But it turns out, crafting working 2 wheel bikes is really hard! So you’ll have to pardon us if our bike ultimately had 4 wheels.

monster bikeThe bike is a 4″ x 4″ x 4″ craft box cut down to 2″ tall (a small tissue box works too!). We also cut the lid off the box and used it to create the T shape handlebars for the bike. Use color masking tape or markers to decorate the bike and handlebars.

The yarn pull string gets taped to the bottom of the box, and we also added a jingle bell secured with twisteez wire. To get things rolling, we recommend our “classic wheel assembly” (instructions here), but wooden wheels or spools work too. And did you notice the basket on the back of the bike?

basket on monster bikeUse a small box or extra cardboard to create a small bike basket, then tape or hot glue to the back of the bike box. Not only does the basket keep the bike from tipping too far back when you’re pulling it, the basket holds something VERY special a little later. Finally, we have our monster…

monster bike riderWrap a small oatmeal container with construction paper, then add arms, legs, eyes, ears, and horns. We added a little paper crinkle to the top of his head as well. Note: if your bike box was small like ours, you might consider folding the monster’s legs upwards so they don’t get crushed. A crushed monster is an unhappy monster.

When the bikes and monsters were finished, kids pulled their creations around the gallery to where I was sitting with some construction paper hearts.

monster bike kissesThese were “kisses” the monster was carrying with him in his bike basket for you! Awww!

monster delivers kisses

The Violet Beauregarde Fail

Posted on by

violet beauregarde failWe always promised that we would share the good, the bad, and the ugly on this blog. Well, today we present a complete and total fail. We tested a 6ft, 72″ latex climb in balloon. Yes, a giant balloon you climb inside.

Why?

Well, we were doing research for a Willy Wonka escape room Katie designed (you can see her awesome Sherlock Holmes one here). We spotted the balloon on Amazon and immediately thought of the gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde and her unfortunate turn as a blueberry in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Here’s the shot from the seller’s listing:

61t5nVKDjSL._SX522_

From Amazon

We imagined a Violet-like character in the escape room, giving hints and so forth. However, we were more than a little skeptical the balloon would work. But after watching several hilarious YouTube videos of people trying and succeeding, we decided to test one to see if it would work for us.

It didn’t.

For starters, even though this was listed as a “Climb In Balloon,” the instructions that arrive with the product DON’T tell you how to climb inside it. They instruct you to fill the balloon with helium and float it. Thankfully, YouTube had all the answers. In order to inflate it and wear it, we needed to use a leaf blower. Good thing Katie has a super duper electric one!

The balloon arrives in a plastic bag with the aforementioned instructions. It looks just like a little balloon, but supersized. I snapped a photo of it with a tape measure, just to give you an idea of the diameter.

climb in balloonThe technique for getting inside the balloon is to inflate it a little, stretch the neck open, and then quickly slide a foot in. Inflate again, and slide the other foot it.

feet in balloonThen you stand up, inflate, and start shimmying the balloon up your body. But in order to create the space for your legs and torso, the balloon has to stay semi-inflated at all time. Which means someone is running a leaf blower next to your head as you try to ease your way into your balloon suit.

balloon progressWe made it a little past my knees before the balloon ripped. NOOOOO! Maybe it was the roughness of my clothing? Something smooth like running tights, yoga pants, or even wearing shorts might have made the difference.

Or perhaps it was they way the neck of the balloon kept curling downward, stressing the sides of the balloon until it finally ripped? If we’d had a couple of balloons to test, my guess is that we would have eventually succeeded (but at $25 a balloon, this was simply not feasible). Whatever the reason for the fail, I was really, really, really sad. I wanted it to work folks. I really wanted to be inside a giant balloon with just my head sticking out.

Well, you can’t win them all.

The amount of work to get inside this balloon, the high potential for failure, and the price per balloon means we’ll have to figure out something else for the Willy Wonka escape room. And whatever it is, it’ll be Katie’s turn to climb inside it. Heh heh.