Pinning Poetry

As anyone who has heard me talk about programs knows how much I love using Pinterest.  Therefore, it should be no surprise that I have a poetry themed board on the site.  So click on this link and check out the fun ideas I’ve come across while searching the web for poetry themed programs and lessons.

Legomania

What child doesn’t enjoy playing with Legos?  For that matter, what adult doesn’t fondly remember spending hours with the building blocks?  Perhaps that is just in my world, though. 

Nearly every month we have a Lego program – called Legomania – at one of our library’s locations.  Kids can come to the library and create a sculpture of their own design using the Legos provided.  We then put the creations on display throughout the Children’s area.  Program attendance varies, but it is always attended. 

I have a board I’ve created on Pinterest called Legomania.  While I have yet to use any of the ideas for the library’s program, I can’t help but pin all the fun things I’ve seen online!  One such thing is the picture below.  Found on Pinterest, the link took me to a flickr account. I copied and pasted the picture into MS Publisher so I could make a coloring sheet out of it.  The kids will love it. 

You can download the PDF of this figure here.  To view the file, you will need a version of Adobe Acrobat Reader (get it free here). 

Wordless Picture Books

Earlier this week a patron came to our Main library looking for at least 15 wordless picture books.  As a teacher, every school year she does a project with eighth graders that requires the students to write a story for the books.  She knew a few titles that she wanted, but needed help finding enough books for her class.

Picture from Amazon.com

There are so many wonderful wordless pictures books available.  Many have been published in the past few years, and several have won awards and honors.  I have put together a board on Pinterest with titles and resources for wordless picture books.  I will continue to add to the board as I come across other titles and resources. You can access the board by clicking here.

Pick Me!

A while back I found this fantastic book display.  It was posted on a blog that I read.  Of course, I pinned it to one of my Pinterest boards for later reference. I shared it with several people throughout our library system.  Even though the original display idea was in a children's department, I thought it would be great for all ages.

One of our branches did the display for all age levels. The adult books were from the Adult Summer Reading entries.

Teen

 Teen

 Adult

 Children's

You can download the PDF the slips and sign that I made by clicking here.(To view the file, you will need a version of Adobe Acrobat Reader (get it free here).)

Cupcake Creations

This is going to be long.  But there are pictures!  Lots of pictures...

At my library, we usually say that August is our down month for programming, as we try to take that month for vacations and to recoup after Summer Reading Madness.  For most of our department it was a relatively calm month.

Then there were my programs.

Most notably, this month I conducted three cupcake programs.  Open to students in 5^th-12^th grades, most of the attendees were middle school students.  I take registration for the program, as I need to know how many cupcakes and how much frosting to make.

This program is initially pricy, as cake decorating supplies are necessary.  However, not including the reusable materials, the cost worked out to about $3 per child attending.

When I first did this program last year, I used some of my personal supplies, not wanting to purchase the items for the library if the programs weren’t successful.  Once I knew that it was a hit, I went to a craft store and bought the following reusable materials:

• Cake frosting dyes – eventually they will run out, but they will last for many programs.  Wilton has a set with 12 colors that is perfect.
• Frosting tips and couplers – I bought around 18 tips, with several duplicates and supplemented with my own (for now).  I bought a dozen couplers. I recommend having at least two of the following:

• No. 5 Round Decorating Tip
• No. 12 Round Decorating Tip
• No. 18 Open Star Decorating Tip
• No. 21 Open Star Decorating Tip
• No. 224 Drop Flower Decorating Tip
• No. 233 Multi-Opening Decorating Tip (for grass, hair, yarn)
• No. 230 Round Decorating Tip (used for filling cupcakes – something nearly all want to do!)

Have some other assorted tips as well.  If you have it, they will use it! But don’t go smaller than No. 5, as the frosting won’t be able to flow through the smaller tips.

Other supplies that will be needed:

• Plastic cups (to distribute frosting)
• Plastic spoons (to mix coloring in frosting)
• Disposable decorating bags (so much easier for cleanup!)
• Toothpicks (to put dye in frosting)
• Scissors
• Paper plates
• Paper towels

Some other tidbits:

• Each attendee gets to decorate two cupcakes
• Plan to make at least 2 batches of frosting per 4 attendees.  Yes, it is a lot, but they will want to use a lot of frosting (or just eat it).  Unused frosting can be frozen up to two months.  Just thaw in the fridge, bring to room temp, then rewhip.
• I provide a copy of the buttercream frosting recipe so they can make it at home. 
• Cupcakes can be decorated with nearly any type of edible item.  Cereal, dried fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, gum drops, sprinkles, coconut, taffy, other candies, cookies…the list goes on and on.  
• There are a ton of great resources and ideas online and in books.  I've collected many web sources on my Cupcakery Pinterest board.

There are two important rules that I tell the kids:

1. DO NOT double dip the toothpicks in the frosting dyes.  That is just asking for a science experiment to grow. 
2. Have fun. 

I usually repeat that first rule about a million times over the course of the program.

Buttercream Frosting recipe

 

1 cup shortening, butter or margarine (I use shortening)

1 pound powdered sugar

7-8 teaspoons milk or water (I use skim milk)

1-2 teaspoons flavoring (for the program I use vanilla…and usually put about 3 teaspoons.  At home I use a mixture of almond and vanilla flavorings).

Put all ingredients in bowl and mix until fully combined.  If the frosting is too thick, add more liquid 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

Some setup photos: