Put on your best cape for our superhero party! We’ll make crafts, play trivia, watch and listen to some superhero stories, and do a special obstacle course.
March 11, 2010 from 4-5 p.m.
Age group: Grades K-5, parents welcome
Objective: Increase awareness of/interest in our extensive collection of Superhero books. Draw reluctant readers (especially boys) to the library.
Soundtrack: Chronicles of Narnia
Display: Superhero comics, novels, and early readers (incl. Captain Underpants, etc.)
Budget: $20 (4 plastic tablecloths @ $2 each, 5 packs of stickers @ $0.50 each, 1 bag of Oreos @ $3, 2 packs of prizes – Spiderman erasers and Batman pencils – @ $3 each)
Activity
– Spiderman’s Web!
Make a web out of white yarn. Tape the ends of each string (at least one string for every two kids) to a surface and write a number and corresponding letter on either end (A-1, B-2 etc.). Have each kid pick a number, then race to unravel the web and reach their letter! (They need to take the string with them along the way.) Give the first kid a prize!
Craft
– Superhero capes
Materials: Plastic tablecloths, brightly colored, cut into squares approximately 28†on each side; yarn
Prep: Before the program, use a hole punch or scissors to make four small holes evenly spaced across one side
Kids: Take their piece of yarn from the web and string it through the holes, then tie the cape around their shoulders and trim the yarn. They may need help. (If kids did the web in pairs, cut the yarn in half first.)
– Superhero masks
Materials: Mask templates on cardstock; yarn and/or popsicle sticks; stickers and other decorations
Prep: Cut out masks and eyeholes; hole-punch masks and cut yarn if desired
Kids: Decorate masks. Either glue popsicle stick to mask (easier!) or tie a piece of string to hole punched in either side of mask, then tie around back of head.
– Superhero trading cards
Have each kid fill out the back of the trading card, then draw a picture of themselves as a superhero on the front! Take a look at the trading cards here – you are welcome to use them, but you’ll probably want to take my library’s name off first. 🙂
Book (if crowd skews younger)
Read aloud Traction Man Is Here! by Mini Grey.
Activity
– Pass the Kryptonite
Paint a piece of Styrofoam green. Play Hot Potato. Winner gets a prize.
– Super Vision!
Use super-zoomed-in mystery photos of familiar objects, and have each kid guess what they are. Whoever gets the most right gets a prize.
– Trivia (if time allows)
See attached. Winner gets a prize. (Can do in teams, then the whole team gets a prize.)
Snack (can do at the same time as Super Vision!)
– Kryptonite juice – green Hi C fruit punch
– Spider cookies (double stuff Oreos and either Twizzlers or red licorice for legs.)
– Give out rest of prizes during snack time.
How’d it go?
Attendance: 22 children, 10 caregivers, 1 teen volunteer
This program was a HIT. Everyone loved their capes, masks, and trading cards, and the spider web – the part of the program I was most dubious about – was actually a lot of fun. I wonder if some of this program’s success is attributable to my more-detailed-than-usual agenda…hmm. It also helped to have lots of extra activities planned – it let me customize the program to the group I had. I did read the book, which the kids liked even though it’s sort of a tricky storytime book.
Anyway, this was tons of fun, and I would do it again in a second. Also, pretty much all of the displayed books were gone by the end of the program. That’s what I call a success.