Out of This World

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Dana Sheridan

Make a flying saucer and watch it whiz down a zip line! This project is the perfect blend of simplicity, creativity, and action. We even have a saucer flight video for you!

We read Space Case, written by Edward Marshall, and illustrated by James Marshall (Puffin Books; reprint edition, 1992). When a bright yellow saucer-shaped thing arrives from outer space, it doesn’t find the natives (a cow, a chicken, and a jack-o-lantern) to be very forthcoming in conversation. But then it encounters three trick-or-treaters, who mistake him for a new kid in the neighborhood. The quartet have a wonderful time trick-or-treating until Buddy McGee realizes that the thing isn’t wearing a costume. He invites it home, and even takes it to school the next day. But when the thing learns there will be no trick-or-treating that night, it prepares to depart. It promises, however, to return for Christmas!

You’ll need:

2 sturdy paper plates
1 strip of poster board (approximately 1.5″ x 22″)
A selection of dot stickers
2 toilet paper tubes
3 rectangles of grey construction paper (approximately 2″ x 6″ each)
1 jumbo pom-pom (mine was 1.75″)
1 large wiggle eye
1 clear plastic drinking cup (I used a 2.75″ tall hard plastic cocktail glass)
1 jumbo paper clip (mine was 1.75″ long)
Flying saucer decorating materials (more on this below)
6 squares of yellow and/or red cellophane (approximately 5″ x 5″)
A length of 24-gauge wire
Scissors, stapler and tape for construction
Markers for decorating
Hot glue

First, decorate a strip of poster board with dot stickers “lights” (we used silver metallic poster board and yellow dot stickers, but any color combination will do). Circle the poster board strip around the bottom of a paper plate and staple (or tape) the circle closed. In the demonstration photo below, I used purple poster board so it would stand out against the white plate. For the actual project, the poster board was silver with white backing.

Hot glue the poster board circle to the paper plate. Next, squirt a ring of hot glue around the top rim of the poster board circle, then press the second paper plate on top. Your saucer will now look like this:

Cut 2 toilet paper tubes in half. Wrap 3 of the tube pieces with grey construction paper, then hot glue them to the bottom of the saucer in a triangular fashion. These are your saucer’s “rocket boosters.”

Set the saucer aside for the moment. Hot glue a single wiggle eye onto a jumbo pom-pom. This is your “alien.” We prepped a bunch in advance of story tine.

Place the alien on the top of your saucer, then tape a clear plastic cup over top of it.

Next, bend the halves of a paper clip apart until it forms a right angle,

Then tape the bottom part of the paper clip securely to the top of the cup. This is the “hook” that connects the saucer to the zip line.

It’s time to decorate your saucer! We offered tin foil, embossed foil paper, sparkle stems, dot stickers, and some foil confetti stars I picked up in the party section of Michaels craft store. Try to keep the art materials nice and light so they don’t weight the saucer down too much. Also, don’t let kids attach anything to the paper clip hook. Otherwise, the saucer’s flight down the wire might be hampered.

When you’re finished decorating, stack 2 squares of cellophane on top of one another (we used red and yellow). Pinch the middle of the cellophane squares together, twist them tightly, and secure with tape. Repeat the above steps twice more. You now have 3 “flames” for your saucer’s rocket boosters.

Tape a flame inside each booster. Done!

Ready to flying your saucer? You’ll just need some wire! I dug this spool of 24-gauge craft wire out of the supply closet. The smoother the wire, the better.

Katie and I stretched 25 feet of wire between the launch site and the landing pad. I handled the launches, Katie handled the landings. To help my grip on the wire, I wrapped my end of the wire around a wooden dowel. I slipped the saucer’s paper clip hook onto the wire, lifted my end of the wire to give the saucer a sliding start, and watched it fly!

Important: Katie and I tested the wire the day before the program. When we were finished, we lightly coiled it and set it on a table. Unfortunately, that was enough to cause the wire to kink. The next day, the first saucer on the wire got snagged on the kinks. We had to quickly unspool a fresh length of wire. After that, it was smooth sailing.

pink saucer

If you’re going to do this project with a crowd of kids, I suggest doing some prep ahead of time. Definitely prep the upper and lower halves of the saucers (i.e. hot glue the poster board circle to one paper plate, and the 3 tube boosters to the other plate). While the kids were decorating the top half with markers, we used a number system (similar to the ones used in delis and bakeries – we also used it on this project) to call them to the hot glue stations to get the bottom half of their saucer’s attached. Then they wrapped the boosters with grey construction paper, attached the cup, and proceeded to decorating.

Also, in our version of this activity, the kids brought their alien-free saucers to the launching site. I loaded an alien in it, taped the cup down, and then sent the saucer zooming down the zip line. If you decide to do this, make sure the kids attach the cup with just 1 piece of tape. This will allow you to easily lift the cup and place the alien on the saucer. But don’t forget to tape the lid down tightly after that!

Katie also prepped the cellophane flames in advance so there would be plenty of time to fly the saucers. Kids could take as many flights as they wanted.

It was…wait for it…a total blast!

Say Freeze!

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Dana Sheridan

What happens when you give a bunch of penguins a camera? In order to find out, we made oatmeal container penguins and armed them with tea tin cameras. The results? Here’s one image…scroll to the bottom of the post to see the rest!

We read Penguins by Liz Pichon (Orchard Books, 2008). It’s a regular day at the zoo…until a little girl accidentally drops her camera into the penguin habitat. Curious, the penguins gather round. It doesn’t take them long to figure out how the camera works, and pretty soon everyone is having a good time taking pictures! When the camera stops working, the penguins quickly put it back where they found it. The next day, the zookeeper finds the camera and returns it to the little girl. After the pictures are developed, she’s surprised to find photos of monkeys, lions, tigers, elephants, and lots and lots and lots of penguins (don’t miss the adorable fold out photos at the end of the book)!

Both parts of this project are very simple to make. Parents, caregivers, and kids were especially tickled by the tea tin cameras with a clicking shutter button.

You’ll need:

1 large oatmeal container
2 rectangles of orange poster board (approximately 2.25″ x 3.25″)
1 circle of black construction paper (approximately 5.25″ in diameter)
1 rectangle of white construction paper (approximately 5.75″ x 9″)
Black construction paper
1 triangle of yellow self-adhesive foam (approximately 1.5″ tall)
2 black dot stickers for eyes (optional)
1 Twinings brand tea tin
1 strip of construction paper, any color (approximately 2.75″ x 12″)
A selection of patterned tape
A selection of color masking tape
A 17″ piece of ribbon, any color
1 scotch tape core (approximately 1.5″ in diameter)
1 small circle of mirror board or tin foil (approximately 1″ in diameter)
1
1 small small gemstone
1 penguin viewfinder template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ white card stock
1 bug clicker (more on this below)
Scissors and tape for construction
Markers for decorating
Hot glue

Penguin first, then camera! First, tape (or hot glue) a black construction paper circle to the top of a large oatmeal container. Then, cut 2 rectangles of orange poster board into penguin feet. Hot glue them to the bottom of the container.

Wrap a rectangle of white construction paper around the front of the oatmeal container (right above the feet) and secure with tape. Next, wrap a piece of black construction paper around the back of the oatmeal container and secure it with tape (or hot glue). The black construction paper will overlap the white construction paper, creating your penguin’s white tummy and black “jacket.”Cut a pair of rounded penguin flippers out of black construction paper, then tape (or hot glue) them to the sides of the container. Add a self-adhesive foam triangle beak and two dot sticker eyes (or skip the stickers and draw the eyes with markers). Use markers to add a pair of eyebrows and you’re done!

Now for the camera! Wrap a tea tin with construction paper (I went with classic black). Add strips of patterned tape to the top and bottom.

To make a camera strap, take the lid off the tea tin and tape the ends of a ribbon inside it. Close the lid, and your strap is extra secure!

Now for the camera’s focusing ring, lens, flash, shutter button, and viewfinder:

To make the “focusing ring,” wrap the outside of a tape core with construction paper. Since I used cardboard tape cores, I colored the outside rim with a black marker. Here’s a before and after shot:

Hot glue the core to the middle of the tin, then hot glue a small circle of mirror board inside the core. The mirror board is your camera’s “lens.” You could also use tin foil. To make your camera’s “flash,” hot glue a small clear plastic gemstone to the top of a large plastic button, then hot glue the button to the upper right corner of the tin.

The “shutter button” of this camera is actually a bug clicker. Have you seen these things?

When you press the little plastic tab on the back of the device, it makes a crisp clicking sound. I bought my clickers on Amazon, but I’ve also seen them in party supply stores and the dog training section of pet stores. At our story time, we covered the outside and sides of the clicker with black masking tape, then hot glued it to the lid of the tea tin. But you can skip the tape and glue them straight to the tea tin if you’d like!

You’ll notice the clicker is mounted off-center on the lid, and the clicker’s tab is close to the edge of the lid. That’s important! You want those little fingers to be able to reach up and click the shutter button.

Because most kids are used to digital cameras with viewfinders, I added a viewfinder to the back of the tea tin (with an image of a penguin, of course!). Print and cut a penguin from the template, and then use masking (or patterned) tape to attach it to the back of the camera.

Project in hand, kids scattered to different parts of the gallery to pose their penguins and take “pictures” with their cameras.

There may have been a penguin photobomb or two…

The fun continued at home! Look at this lovely photo shoot:

Mysteriously, my camera went missing for a few hours that day. Imagine my surprise when the following shots were e-mailed to me…

Charles Willson Peale, George Washington at the Battle of Princeton, 1783–84. Oil on canvas. Princeton University, commissioned by the Trustees. Courtesy of the Princeton University Art Museum.

Read to Me

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Dana Sheridan

Gather round for a soothing bedtime story, but don’t be surprised if a Snatchabook decides to join you! This sweet little creature attaches to your shoulder with an elastic cord, and is eager to listen to a book you’ve written.

We read The Snatchabook, written by Helen Docherty and illustrated by Thomas Docherty (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2013). In cozy Burrow Down, animals are tucking in with their favorite bedtime stories. But what’s this? In the blink of an eye, the books are vanishing! Rabbit Eliza Brown decides to get to the bottom of the mystery. Using a stack of books as bait, Eliza lures the thief into her house and…it turns out that he is a tiny, furry, sweet-faced, long-tailed, winged creature called a Snatchabook. Crying, the Snatchabook confesses that he’s been stealing books because he has no mom or dad to read to him. Big-hearted Eliza comes up with a solution. First, the Snatchabook must return all the stolen books (and he does so, very neatly). Then Eliza introduces him to all her friends, who in turn invite the Snatchabook to join them for bedtime stories anytime he wants.

You’ll need:

1 small box (mine was 4″ x 4″ x 4″)
A box cutter
A 14″ piece of elastic beading cord
tagboard (or brown poster board) for the ears, nose, arms, legs, and tail
1 mini (mine was 0.5″)
A rectangle of brown felt (mine was 4″ x 5″)
1 Snatchabook wings template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ white card stock
2 oval of white construction paper for eyes (approximately 1.75″ tall)
Black dot stickers for eyes (optional)
1 piece of 9″ x 12″ construction paper, any color
2 pieces of 8.5″ x 11″ white printer paper
Hole punch
A 31″ piece of ribbon
Scissors and tape for construction
Markers for decorating
Hot glue

For our story time project, we made a Snatchabook that attaches to your shoulder with a bit of elastic cord, and a bedtime story book (written and illustrated by you of course!). We’ll begin with the Snatchabook. Use a box cutter to cut a 0.5″ slit in the bottom of a small box. Thread a piece of elastic beading cord through the slit. If your box has a locking bottom like the one below, definitely close the bottom, but make sure both ends of the elastic are still sticking out.

You might be tempted to tie the ends of the cord into a knot, but don’t do that just yet! Wait until you attach all the body parts and the wings. That way, you’ll have a better gauge of how heavy the Snatchabook is, and how tight your elastic loop needs to be.

Next, cut the ears, nose, arms, legs, and tail out of tagboard (or brown poster board). The size of these items will vary according to your box, but here’s the general look of my Snatchabook parts. You can color the parts with markers if you like.

You’ll notice that the tail is very long! Because the tail needs to curl around the back of your neck and over your shoulder, it needs to be looong. The tail you see in the above image is 16″ from end to tip, not counting that big curve. Tab the ears, nose, arms, and legs and attach them to the box with hot glue (or tape). Hot glue a mini pom-pom on the end of the nose.

Hot glue the tail to the bottom of the box, then reinforce the connection with tape. Since the tail will go around the back of your neck, it needs to stick out from the side of the box (as opposed to the back of box). Here’s an image of the tail placement, as seen from the underside of the box:

To make the eyes, stick 2 black dot sticker “pupils” inside 2 ovals of white construction paper (or simply draw the pupils on with markers). Attach the eyes to the box with hot glue (or tape). Use scissors to cut 6 “furry stripes” from brown felt, as well as a tassel for the tail. Hot glue the felt stripes to the sides of the box, and the felt tassel to the end of the tail.

Finally, cut the wings from the template. Fold each side upwards along the dotted lines, then attach the wings to the back of the box with hot glue (or tape). I had some old archival mylar floating around (ah, the perks of working in a special collections library), so I traced the card stock template onto the mylar to make transparent wings. You could also use iridescent cello.

Sit the finished Snatchabook comfortably on your shoulder and knot the elastic cord under your arm tightly. Curl the tail around the back of your neck and over your shoulder. Done!

Set your new friend aside for the moment – it’s time to make the book! Place 2 pieces of white printer paper in the center of a sheet of construction paper. Fold the paper in half to make a book.

You can simply staple the book’s spine together, or you can go with a slightly more artistic version. If you’re going artsy, close the book and punch 6 holes in its spine.

Decorate the cover of your book, then and write and illustrate a story inside it. When that’s finished, thread a piece of ribbon in and out of the spine holes:

Then tie the ends of the ribbon together in a bow. You’re done!

Slide your Snatchabook back on your shoulder, find a cozy spot to sit, and read a book to your new friend!

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Creative Literacy & Library Love

Tag Archives: story time project

Out of This World

Say Freeze!

Read to Me