Tag Archives: night

Simply Luminous

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It’s beautiful, botanical, and inspiring…find your little light in the darkness with this lovely garden box illuminated with shimmering votive candles!

We read Just One Little Light, written by Kat Yeh, and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (Balzer + Bray, 2023). With its gorgeous colors and uplifting text, the reader is powerfully reminded that even in darkness, just one little light is enough to light the way. Have faith. Your little light will always lead you to the path of beauty and hope.

You’ll need:

  • 1 small box
  • Colored cellophane
  • Decorative flowers and leaves
  • LED votive candles
  • Scissors, tape, and glue for construction

We used 4.5″ x 4.5″ x 3″ cupcake boxes with window lids (if you’re using a regular box, simply cut a window in the lid). Next, cover the window with a piece of colored cellophane. Place votive candles inside the box, then finish by decorating the outside of the box with tons of paper flowers and leaves!

Once the kids garden boxes were finished, we hid them around the gallery, and kids went forth to find their own unique little lights! Note: we recommend writing the kids’ names on the bottom of the box, just to avoid confusion.

While this was a quiet and simple project, it was incredibly cozy and the kids absolutely loved it. Our story time can sometimes get a little raucous, so this sweet and mellow project was a delightful change of pace.

Did you know that Kat Yeh doesn’t just write picture books? Check out our interview with her about her middle grade novels The Truth About Twinkie Pie, and The Way to Bea. Also! Katie tested the recipe for Twinkie pie in the Pop Goes the Page blog kitchen. See how it turned out here! Mmmmmmm.

finished twinkie pie 3

Goodnight Moon

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goodnight moonLearn about the phases of the moon (and track them yourself!) using this awesome, 3D, double-sided, lunar calendar! Katie and I dubbed this “the story time project of the year.” Because STEAM power!

We read A Kite for Moon, written by Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple, and illustrated by Matt Phelan (Zonderkidz, 2019). A little boy on the beach spots the lonely, daytime moon and sends her a message on his kite. He promises to visit her someday. Years go by, and the little boy grows into a man who studies numbers, astronomy, and piloting. Eventually, he takes a rocket ship to space, where the moon has been watching and waiting for that promised visit.

You’ll need:

We’ll start with the front of the calendar. Use dark blue construction paper to create a sky on your corrugated cardboard backdrop. Glue or tape an 3.25″ x 3.75″ rectangular pocket to the right-hand side of the sky. Later, this will become your “moon stick pocket.”

moon stick pocketNext, use black construction paper, a toilet paper tube, and a small box to create mountains, a tree, and a house (we recommend adding a little yellow window to the house as well). The hot glue the tree and the house to the backdrop. Important! In order to get the calendar to stand up, the house needs to be attached in the center of the backdrop:

house attached to backdropTo the right of the house is a small lunar phase calendar. Tape or hot glue a binder clip to the backdrop, then clip the calendar in place. I custom designed our calendar for June-December 2019, but seeing as time inexorably marches on, you can find a current calendar with a Google search. Add some white card stock stars to the sky, and you’re done with this side.

back of lunar calendarAbove is the other side of the calendar. First, use construction paper or poster board to create a pocket (our pocket was 4.75″ x 12″ silver poster board), then tape or glue the phases of the moon chart template on top.

Finally, the phases of the moon sticks. Cut eight, 1.5″ x 4.5″ strips of dark blue construction paper (or, better yet, poster board), then glue or tape each phases of the moon stick image and a phases of the moon stick label to each strip like so:

finished full moon stick This was a great part of the story time project. Watching the kids methodically checking and matching the labels, to the chart, to the sticks was really sweet. And very science!

checking the lunar chartTo use your new lunar calendar, match the date on the calendar to the appropriate phase of the moon. Identify the correct moon stick, then slide it into your night sky pocket. Keep checking the calendar to track the moon’s phases. Oh, and we also used glow-in-the-dark paint to fill in our stars and moon sticks. So this calendar glows at night!

Night Vision

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night visionChange a familiar landscape to a nocturnal world full of shadow and intrigue. It’s our Snap Story Time version of night vision googles, ready to go in a few simple steps!

We recommend reading The Night World by Mordicai Gerstein (Little, Brown, 2015). When Sylvie the cat wakes a sleeping boy, it leads to a nocturnal adventure through the house to a backyard sprinkled with stars. The animals gather, waiting for sunrise, which comes with wild, gorgeous bursts of color.

You’ll need:

In the Author’s Note, Gerstein describes waking up in the dark as a child and seeing his familiar backyard transformed into a place “full of dark shadows and strange silvery shapes.” I loved that concept, and designed this project to semi-replicate the experience.

First, use a box cutter or scissors to cut eye holes in the bottom of a large tissue box:

night vision goggles step 1Then tape rectangles of blue cellophane over the opening of the tissue box. We did 3 layers of cellophane to darken things down quite a bit.

night vision goggles step 2We added a black poster board frame to the tissue box with a foil moon and stars as well:

night vision goggles step 3To operate, place the goggles up to your eyes and watch as your familiar space is transformed to a cool blue night world!

looking through night vision goggles