Favorite Conference Idea: Magic Origami House

Choosing toppings at the ice cream shop with the origami house

WLA Conference 2016 is upon us.  When I attend a conference, I hope to learn one great, simple idea, be inspired about our profession, and see colleagues.

One of my favorite great, simple ideas is from a Storytime Swap session at a WAPL conference a few years ago.  Beth Hayes from Ruth Culver Community Library in Prairie du Sac brought a paper folding story called "I Wish Today Was My Birthday!" from Stories to Play With: Kids' Tales told with Puppets, Paper, Toys, and Imagination by Hiroko Fujita and Fran Stallings (August House 1999).  Going to the conference was worth it when I learned how to tell this story and make the paper prop"

The prop for the story is made from a large piece of paper and is folded to look like a house. I call it my magic origami house.  You glue pictures related to the story onto four sections of the "house".  As you tell the story, you move the pictures around by folding the house in a certain way.

Kids think you are doing magic because the pictures are moving but they do not know how you are doing it.  I feel really awesome when I do these stories. You can easily make up a story.  I tell a simple story of going to the ice cream shop and choosing your toppings.