Coins, buttons, and yo-yos? There IS a connection between these three things. Granted, it’s a very uncommon connection…
We read The Uncommoners: The Crooked Sixpence, written by Jennifer Bell, and illustrated by Karl James Mountford (Crown Books, 2017). When Ivy and Seb Sparrow’s grandmother breaks her wrist, it sets off a very unexpected chain of discoveries. The siblings quickly learn that a subterranean world exists underneath their feet. It teems with common objects that do uncommon things (flying vacuum cleaners, healing buttons, lemon squeezers the shed light, for example). Ivy and Seb also learn that they are part of a family with a dark, secret past…a past that is coming back to haunt them and threaten the lives of all the citizens of Lundinor.
This book was perfect for To Be Continued, our chapter book story time for kids ages 6-9. Time was tight towards the end of the book and our summer break, so I devised these quick activities for the hands-on portion of the program.
In the book, Ivy comes to possess a coin – a slightly bent one-pence piece made of silver that warms in her hand. The coin is very significant, as are other objects in the story. Happily, I had a large bag of old coins that were donated to the library by my lovely neighbor, Leonore. I spread them out on tables, and kids got to examine them and take home a pile for their personal collections. As you can see, they were VERY intent on this task!
Next came a mysterious package tied with an old brass button (buttons have healing powers in Lundinor):
Inside the package was a yo-yo. That’s right. A yo-yo.
In Lundinor, yo-yos are uncommon. Meaning, they are weapons that create whirlwinds to fend off murderous selkies and giant grim-wolves. I loved this concept and wanted to share it with the kids. But I didn’t want it to be just ANY yo-yo. So I bought Duncan “Lime Light” yo-yos that change color as you spin them!
I bought these directly from Duncan’s website for $5 a pop. And because it’s currently Duncan’s 90th anniversary (wow!) they were 15% off and free shipping. The kids loved them, of course!
Our “ocean” consists of a curved, light blue crepe paper streamer and a fringe of dark blue construction paper waves. We had mini shells handy for the beach, but you can use images of shells, or just have the kids draw the shells on the beach with markers.
We also decided to cut the backs out of the box and the oatmeal container to create a dollhouse. Use a circle of white card stock to create the second floor of the lighthouse, then decorate the walls and floors with paper. Need furniture and some framed artwork? You’ll find templates and instructions in 
When the lighthouse islands were done, we announced that a whale had been spotted in the library’s main lobby. This was a red wagon with a whale facades taped to both sides. Kids took turns getting rides and smiling at local whale watchers!
A trio of birds has invaded your kitchen, intent on repeatedly interrupting your bonding with a baked good. Can you get the birds out of the kitchen and still take the cake?
To make the birds, wrap 3 toilet paper tubes with construction paper and add paper wings. Optional: 
Once you have your cake, cake stand, and birds, it’s time to play the kitchen game! Katie and I used a bunch of recycled boxes to build a kitchen with a fridge, counter, sink, range, and oven.
Cut into the back of the set were little trap doors. The trap doors (and the hole in the sink) allowed me to sneak the toilet paper tube birds into the kitchen.
Ready to play the kitchen game? First, kids handed me their birds and placed their cakes on the counter. Then, they took 10 steps back to the starting line. I would hide 1 bird in the kitchen and shout “The bird’s in the freezer!” The kid would race forward, find the bird, and run back to the starting line. We repeated this, using different kitchen locations, until all 3 birds were captured. The prize was their cake!
If you don’t have time to construct a kitchen, simply tape images of kitchen elements onto boxes. Then drop the birds into the boxes for the kids to locate.