Tag Archives: programs

Illuminating Underwear

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illuminating underwear

In my 11 years of crafting for the Cotsen Children’s Library, I must admit this is a first. Glowing string light underwear. But wait! We can explain!

We read Creepy Pair of Underwear!, written by Aaron Reynolds, and illustrated by Peter Brown (Simon & Schuster, 2017). Shopping for underwear doesn’t usually lead to terrifying episodes with creepy green glowing undies. But in the case of Jasper Rabbit, it does. No matter how Jasper tries to hide, vanquish, or destroy them, his creepy underwear return time and time again. Finally, he buries them in a deep pit and they are gone for good. Except…that creepy greenish glow was actually rather comforting in the dark. Perhaps Jasper can find a way to make peace with his creepy underwear? What can one do with underwear that glows in the dark?

You’ll need:

  • 1 string of battery-operated LED string lights
  • White card stock
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

For starters, we recommend using battery-operated string lights as opposed to plug-in lights. This avoids complications with that wild, unpredictable thing otherwise known as electricity. We found our string lights for $3 in the Dollar Spot section of Target. They were sporting little lanterns (which we removed and used on another project).

$3 string light lanternsTo make your illuminated underpants, cut underpants shapes from white card stock, then decorate with markers. Tape the underpants to the string lights, and let them glow!

creepy carrots underpants

Psst! Did you spot the Creepy Carrot on the underpants? They stalked our story time too!

FEAR: The Game Show

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fear the game show

Fear is healthy right? It keeps us on our toes, gives us obstacles to overcome, and adds depth to our literary characters. Fear is there to be conquered! But, as this family photo of me suggests, some fears run mighty deep. For me, it’s clowns. Clowns…and green balloons shaped like the Loch Ness Monster.

We had a discussion about fear at Cotsen Critix, our literary society for 9-12 year-olds. And while bullies, lightning storms, and spiders were all addressed, we thought it would be interesting to see how well the kids knew their literary characters’ fears. To play the game, name the character, and then have your contestants try to name the fear.

Wilbur: Being made into bacon
Captain Hook: The crocodile
Mr. Tumnas: The White Witch
The Baudelaire Orphans: Count Olaf
Matilda: Ms. Trunchbull
Peter Rabbit: Mr. McGregor
Dorothy: Wicked Witch of the West
Sherlock Holmes: Professor Moriarity
Ron Weasley: Spiders
Harry Potter: Dementors
Neville Longbottom: Snape
Professor Lupin: Full moon
Hermoine Granger: Bad grades
The Borrowers: Being discovered
Mowgli: Shere Kahn
Mrs. Frisby: Dragon the Cat
Little Orphan Annie: Ms. Hannigan
Eragon: King Galbatorix
Black Beauty: Fire
Frodo: Sauron
Taran: The Horned King
Percy Jackson: Monsters…pick one!
Lyra: Mrs. Coulter
Chester: Bunnicula
Measle: Wrathmonks
Jemmy from the Streets: A hanging
Campers at Camp Green Lake: Lizards
Ralph S. Mouse: The vacuum cleaner
Matt Cruise: The ground
Claudia and Jamie Kincaid: Being discovered
Stuart Little’s family: The mouse hole
Ella Enchanted: Stepsisters’ orders
Ramona Quimby: Picture of the gorilla
The White Rabbit: Being late!

Tooth Sleuth

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tooth sleuthLose a tooth? No problem! Our magnetic Tooth Finder 2000 will locate your missing teeth in a jiffy! We also added a little alphabetical deduction game to the mix, as well as a magnetic tooth fairy wand variation.

We recommend reading Cousin Ruth’s Tooth, written by Amy MacDonald, and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman (Houghton Mifflin, 1996). Cousin Ruth’s tooth has gone missing, and the entire Fister clan is on high alert. Uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparent, siblings, and various pets embark on a energetic search through the house, yard, and eventually, the town. In the meantime, cousin Ruth solves her own problem – a new tooth has appeared where the old one used to be!

You’ll need:

  • 1 small box (ours was 2″ x 4″ x 4″)
  • 1 mini button magnet (ours was .5″ in diameter)
  • Tin foil
  • String or mesh tubing
  • 1 drinking straw
  • White card stock
  • Paper clips
  • Pen
  • Tape

To make a “Tooth-Finder 2000,” cover a small box with tin foil, then add any other shiny stuff you have on hand (we used silver mirror board and a mini aluminum pie tin). Make a card stock handle for the machine, and a sparkle stem antennae if desired. The machine’s “hose” is a piece of mesh tubing, but a simple piece of string works too! The “wand” for picking up teeth is a half a drinking straw with a mini button magnet taped or hot glued to one end. The other end of the straw is inserted into the mesh tubing.

tooth finder 2000Cut several teeth from card stock, then tape paperclips to the back. Wave the machine’s wand over the tooth, and it will magnetically connect! We came up with a spelling game as well. To play, write different letters on the teeth, then see if kids can can pick out a particular word or their name from the pile.

letter teeth If you’d like to skip the tooth finding machine and go even simpler, cut a star out of card stock, decorate it with markers, then tape it to a drinking straw. Tape or hot glue a mini button magnet to the back of the star and you have your very own magnetic tooth fairy wand!

tooth fairy magnetic wand