One day, a tween asked me if we could make Pop Sockets for Tween Club. I said I’d look into it. He squealed in delight. The next day I asked three 5th graders if they’d be excited to hear that we were making Pop Sockets at Tween Club. Their eyes widened and they nodded enthusiastically.… Read More DIY Pop Sockets
This week I was thrilled to attend the OLA Child and Youth Expo in Toronto. I was also thrilled to present my first ever poster board, all about how to build community at your library with Tween Club. I loved connecting with other librarians who serve tweens, and sharing ideas about how to improve their… Read More Tween Club: How to Build a Tween Community at Your Library
Hack That Painting is the slightly more refined cousin of Bad Art Night. Kids are given pre-painted canvases, and get to add whatever they’d like to the image. Do they imagine a dinosaur stomping down the mountain? A monkey climbing in the tree? Or a kraken-demogorgon hybrid erupting out of the water and eating a shark?!… Read More Hack That Painting – Program Outline
You stumble across a new idea for a children’s program! Your screen glows with the promise of good things to come. To dive into the idea and learn more, keep reading. To ignore your instincts and abort the mission, hit ctrl + w. Choose Your Own Adventure is not affiliated with this program or blog… Read More Write Your Own Adventure – A CYOA Creative Writing Program for Kids
My favourite program ideas come directly from kids. After completing a class trip to the library where they learned about 3D printing and completed a zombie themed escape room, a girl came up to me. She said “next time you should do a 3D printer themed escape room.” After thinking about it for approximately 0.5… Read More 3D Printer Escape Room at the Library
Tiny pancakes, tiny pizza, tiny cheesecakes, tiny icecream sundaes, tiny juice, tiny spaghetti and TWEENS?! How can you go wrong? Tiny Food has been a huge trend for about a year according to youtubers and instagram. I loved Teen Services Underground’s post about a Tiny Food Party, and I decided to give it a try… Read More Tiny Food Party for Tweens: Program Outline
UPDATE: School Library Journal asked me to create an instructional craft video, so you can now find video instructions here: Slime + glitter + ombre + mason jars? Let’s just add all the trendiest things together and see what happens! The slime trend is still as strong as ever at my library, but I imagine… Read More Homemade Layered Slime Jars with Ombre Effect
I am always experimenting with new workshops at the library. I love learning a now DIY project and passing it on to the kids and teen in my community – and they love it too! Lip Balm workshops are easy and effective. The coolest part is the customization, so make sure you have lots of… Read More DIY Lip Balm: Program Outline
At this point, every kid has made slime. They probably have a ton of basic slime at home. If you’re going to throw a slime party for the masses, you need to make it special! Impress kids and shatter their expectations of the library by researching the trendiest slime, and making it happen. One easy… Read More How To Throw a Slime Party at the Library (and why you should!)
Ever had one of those programs where you get twice as many attendees as you were expecting and have to scramble to make it work? Yeah, they’re my favourite kind. It takes a lot of adrenaline and quick thinking to make it work, but hey! Look at that crowd of excited library users. Pizza Mania… Read More Tween Club: Pizza Mania! Pizza jewelry, Pizza Tasting, and Dessert Pizza
Ontarian Librarian 