Thanks so much to the new youth services/programming librarian at Ellsworth, Elise Gregory, for this guest post filled with easy-to-replicate and fun ideas.
I’ve been making little grab bags with any of my left-over materials from Preschool Storytime. I also include songs, rhymes, coloring pages, and/or extension activities that kids and parents can work on at home. They’re easy to make and it also uses up my leftovers: I use a brown lunch bag and staple a little image or description of what the bag contains.
Jeanne just finished a Teen Maker Meet Up: Maps that our teens loved. She collected all sorts of old road atlases and world maps that kids cut up for necklaces, buttons (we have a button maker), envelopes, and small cardboard boxes. We used modge podge for paper items and a stronger glue for necklaces. I believe she purchased necklace parts on Amazon, although I’ve also seen maps adhered to the inside of bottle caps too (as a less expensive option).
We’ve had fairly good attendance with our open-ended Make & Take programs as well. Kids have made yarn painting inspired by Huichol yarn paintings:
origami birds inspired by Sadako (using their designed paper rather than origami paper):
and in March kids will be designing friendly monsters with chalk pastels on dark construction paper, using Where the Wild Things Are for inspiration.