I’ve decided to rebrand my all ages evening storytimes into themed party events. We still do the same things: songs, 2 – 3 picture books, 1 or 2 crafts, and freeze dance. But because of the engaging themes and party atmosphere, we get a much larger crowd. I had over 70 people at the Unicorn Magic event this month, and it was a beautiful time!

The Unicorn Song

I rewrote the words to Baby Shark to be all about unicorns. You can listen to the song and see the actions in the video above. And yes, I did dye my hair purple for the unicorn party!

The chords are C and Dm, and the lyrics are below:

Storytime

The must must MUST read for this event is Themla the Unicorn by Aaron Blabey. I also read Hello My Name is Octicorn by Kevin Diller and Justin Lowe. Unicorn (and Horse) by David W Miles and Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima would be great choices.

I’ve read Uni the Unicorn (pictured above) by Amy Krouse Rosenthal to storytimes before. It’s a beautifully illustrated book where unicorns are accepted as real, but little girls are only legend. It completely mesmerizes kids. My problem with it as a storytime choice is that it is only about little girls. It mentions “girls” so often that it could make little boys feel left out, or ostracized for liking unicorns. What I do is change each instance of “girls” to “kids.”

Something that I LOVE about unicorn books (besides the pretty pretty sparkles), is that most of them are about being yourself and celebrating what makes you unique.

Here’s a video of author Aaron Blabey reading Thelma the Unicorn

Unicorn Mask

I took inspiration for this craft from The Paper Plate Unicorn instructions on Glued To My Crafts Blog. To prep I punched 5 holes in the top of every paper plate, pre cut some ear shapes, and hot glued a popsicle stick to the bottom or each plate. Every table had yarn, glue sticks, glitter paper, goggly eyes, markers, and scissors. This was a craft for the older kids in the crowd (4+).

Rainbow Collage

For the younger kids I had a simple Rainbow Collage. All they had to do was glue on the rainbow colours in each row, colour in the pre-cut unicorn, and glue it onto the rainbow.

I highly recommend having a younger and older craft at all ages evening storytimes. Yes it’s double the work. But it sends a strong signal to families that everyone is welcome here. Parents are grateful that their toddler doesn’t have to face a too-difficult-craft meltdown, and older kids are grateful that they can apply more creativity.

Freeze Dance

At all ages storytimes like this one and Stuffie Sleepover, I like to finish with Freeze Dance. It’s become something that kids look forward to and expect. I usually find a clean pop playlist from the current year, and pump the tunes! Whenever I pause the music, the dancers have to hold perfectly still until it starts again. We do this to fill whatever time we have left in the hour – usually 10 – 15 minutes. By the way, a room full of little unicorns dancing their hearts out is super adorable.

What themed all ages storytime parties have you tried? I’m thinking I might do a Puppy Party next (to appeal to all the Paw Patrol fans, and anyone who likes adorable baby animals).