Robot Themed Storytime

In preparation for Summer Reading I have been doing a robot themed storytime with my some of my school visits.

I read:
Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman

Robots Robots Everywhere by Sue Fliess

The craft: Paper Robot

What you need:

• Cardstock cut into various sized rectangles
• Paper straws cut in half for legs
• Small strips of paper for arms
• Foam stickers
• Pipe cleaner for the head
• Fizz Boom READ sign (optional)
• Glue stick

I had the robot bodies made ahead by the wonderful Mikayla.  She glued the head, neck and body together. Each straw piece had two small slits on the sides and a drop of school glue to fit over the base of the body.  Pinch it closed for a couple of seconds and the legs will stick.  I had the kids decorate their robots with a variety of foam stickers.  Once they were satisfied with their robots they accordion folded the arms and attached them to the body. The spring or hair at the top of the robot is made using one pipe cleaner. You can wrap it around a pencil or the kids can wrap it around their finger to give it a coiled look.  I had two tiny holes punch at the top of each robot, so we simply poked each end of the pipe cleaner through the holes and folded the end up to keep it in place.  All the robots turned out awesome.

Enjoy!

Science Storytime: Liquids/Solids and Of Course, SLIME!

I'm preparing for my Science Storytimes for our Summer Reading Program.  I love this year's theme: Fizz Boom READ!  There are so many fun science things to do at the library.  I've created an hour long program of six sessions for kids in grades 1-3.  Each little scientist will explore different aspects of science through stories, experiments and projects to take home.

The first session will be Liquids/Solids::
Book: Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss

Book: The Secret Science Project that Almost Ate the School by Judy Sierra

Activity: Have a variety of objects that are solids and liquids.  Observe the each object.  Make a list describing the objects as a group.

Experiment 1: Make Gloop!
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• food coloring

Combine the cornstarch, water, and a couple drops of food coloring in a small container or bowl.

Poke, prod, pour, shake the gloop and observe how it changes between being a liquid and solid.

This recipe was used from the 2014 CSLP Children's Manual.

Experiment 2: Make Slime (this will be made to take home)

Here are some pictures of our trial run with making slime.  

 Ingredients:

• 4-5oz of Elmer's School Glue
• 1/3 cup Sta-Flo liquid starch
• Liquid water color or food coloring-a few squirts

Recipe adapted from Stephanie.

 Mix the glue and water color together until fully combined.

 Add your 1/3 cup of liquid starch in small amounts.  Stirring till it is completely mixed in each time.

 It will start to look like this....Kinda gross and SLIMY.

 As you can tell by this picture Mikayla found the slime very appealing. 

 Here we have slime.  You will really want to get in there with your hands to mix it together.  Start kneading the lime like dough to help mix in the starch.  

 It will start to form into a nice blob like this.

 Now it's time to play with the slime.

 If you add another splash of liquid starch to your slime it will thicken up to the consistency of GAK.  

With the thicker consistency, you can create bubbles using large straws and have lots of fun with it.

I stored my slime in a zip-lock plastic bag and it is holding up just fine.  I can't wait to make this slime with the kids in storytime. 

Enjoy!  

No-sew fleece pillow

These pillows are quick and easy to make (with a bit of prep work ahead of time).  

Here is what you will need:

• Fleece
• Poly-fil
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Rotary cutter and mats (optional)

These are the tools I used to measure and cut my fabric.  You can do this process with just scissors and a ruler if that is what you have handy.

First you will need to cut 2 squared out of your fleece.  I made mine 15" squares.

(for the library program I will pre-cut all the 15" squares and let the teens do the rest)

Next cut 3" squares out of each corner

Once all corners are cut out of both squares, layer them one on top of the other good sides facing out.  

Cut all sides into 1"wide strips.  You do not need to measure these exactly.  

They will just be used to tie the pillow shut.

Almost there!

Double check that your fabric is facing the correct way (good side facing out).  Begin to tie a simple knot matching the strips together.  Do this to three sides, leaving one side open for the poly-fil.

Three sides tied together!

Stuff your pillow with poly-fil.  I used two large handfuls in mine.  

If you want it to be fluffier just add more poly-fil.

Tie the last side shut and now you have a cute little pillow.  The finished pillow 12"x12" with 3" fringe.  

You can make these bigger or smaller if you desire.

Enjoy!

Dinosaur Craft

I came across this idea here while searching for new craft ideas and made it a little bit different.  I found some dinosaur cutouts in my supplies the other day and wanted to make a cute craft out of it.  This is what I decided on and it's super easy to make.  

All You need is:

• Small paper plates (1 for the top and 1 for the bottom)
• Stapler
• Crayons
• Dinosaur picture or cutout
• Scissors
• Glue sticks

Have the kids color the top of their eggs before you cut them and decorate their dinosaur   They can get creative with patterns and colors.  

Cut the top plate in half making a zig zag line so it looks like a cracked egg.

Glue the dinosaur to the bottom plate.  Using a stapler attach the top plate to the bottom plate.  I used three staples on either side.  Make sure you line up the top halves as best you can.  The top will fold open easily to show the baby dinosaur inside.

I will be using this craft for my evening storytime to go along with some dinosaur books.  This would also be a fun and easy craft for this year's Summer Reading theme: Dig Into Reading!
Enjoy!