As a Youth Librarian, I regularly presented programs for our school age and tween patrons (ages 6-11). Some of my favorite programs are described below.
Book & Character Celebrations
Dog Man to the Rescue
We celebrated superhero Dog Man through rounds of trivia and BINGO and a variety of crafts and activities.
Learn more here.
Dog Man Trivia & BINGO (virtual)
In 2020, I adapted my in-person Dog Man to the Rescue event into two virtual events–Dog Man Trivia and Dog Man BINGO. Dog Man Trivia was one of our most well-attended events of the summer with 100 active players.
Pokémon Party (in-person and virtual)
Every year, 100 Pokémon fans attended my end-of-summer Pokémon party. Each summer, we celebrate this franchise through games and crafts, Pokémon trivia, snacks, card trading, and more.
In 2020, we adapted this to a week of virtual events, including Pokémon Trivia, Pokémon BINGO, and Guess that Pokémon.
Read more about my latest in-person Pokémon Party program here and my virtual celebrations here.
Pickup Kit Programs
Baby-Sitters Club Membership Kits
In 2020 and 2021, I’ve created many themed pickup kit programs. Baby-Sitters Club Membership Kits standout as one of my favorites. Participants received a baby sitting starter pack with a babysitting guide, membership card, flyer, readalikes bookmark, and more. Plus, they received five bags, one from each main BSC babysitter with activities, crafts, and more to help make each participant the best babysitter ever.
Learn more here.
Book Club in a Bag Kits
Participants celebrated new-to-you characters as well as old favorites with these book kits. Each kit contained a list of books in the featured series, a list of readalike books, discussion questions, swag item (button, sticker, bookmarks), and 1-3 crafts, games, and activities.
Learn more here.
Camp Half Blood Welcome Kits
Percy Jackson is one of my favorite young heroes, and these kits are perfect for Camp Half Blood fans! I partnered with a coworker for this program. Each kit contained a personalized welcome letter from Camp Half-Blood, an ID Card, a Camp Survival Guide, readalike book recommendations, swag items, and five crafts or activities from some of your Camp Half Blood friends.
Learn more here.
School Age Storytimes
Little People Big Dreams Series
Each month, I host a virtual Little People, Big Dreams Storytime for ages 6-8, highlighting a famous, diverse individual. Learn more about this program and find program outlines here.
Technology Programs
Coding Camp
The Coding Camp program provided 16 kids with the opportunity to dive into coding concepts and robotics during a 4-day experience. Participants examined the parts inside a computer and what they do, practiced computational thinking skills, learned about loops and conditional statements, and wrote code for robots and computer programs to complete specific tasks.
Innovation Academy Series
After receiving a $5000 LSTA grant to purchase technology tools, I began a monthly Innovation Academy program series (offered more frequently during the summer). Each month, I presented a homeschool and after school program focusing on a different technology tools and concepts. Topics included virtual and augmented reality, video game design with Bloxels and Scratch, conduction with Makey Makey, 3D printing with 3Doodlers, and coding and robotics.
Read more about the evolution of this program into my tech fair series here.
Minecraft and 3D Printing Programs
During Minecraft and 3D Printing Programs programs, attendees used library-owned Minecraft accounts to create a project that was printed for free using the library’s 3D Printer at a later date.
Even More Programs
Graphic Novel Book Club (virtual)
School age kids met with me (virtually) each week in summer 2020 to read and discuss awesome graphic novels, available to download on Hoopla, and practice our drawing and comic-creation skills.
Learn more here.
Reader’s Theater
Fifteen participants attended four-week Reader’s Theater sessions throughout the school year. During these sessions, attendees practiced working together as an ensemble and prepared for a parent performance. I have adapted a variety of picture books into scripts for this program.
Discover even more of my programs on my blog.
Passive Programs
In 2018, I expanded our passive program offerings for school age children. Each month from May-December, I created a different passive program for this age group.
Passive programs I created include:
- Giant I Spy Game
- Music Jeopardy
- Lyrics in a Bottle contest
- Boggle
- Where’s Waldo Scavenger Hunt
- Muggle Studies Invention Identification (Harry Potter themed)
- Book Tournament
Read more about my school age scavenger hunts at my blog.
Annamarie Carlson 