Programs Inside the Box, Vol. 1: Cardboard Box Drive-In

Cardboard boxes...here, there, EVERYWHERE.  Regardless of the size of your library, you likely find yourself inundated with oodles of boxes at some point or another.  Of course, you could always recycle them, but why not re-purpose them for programs first?

One idea: you could host a Cardboard Box Drive-In!  

Each attendee gets a box and some fun craft materials to transform into their own sweet ride!  Then, once the vehicles are completed, they can sit in their respective cars, watching a short film and eating delicious drive-in snacks.

As you might imagine, things like paper, scissors, duct tape, and markers are always well-utilized.  Here are a few other materials to consider having available:

  *craft sticks - great for license plate covers!

  *pipe cleaners - antennas and windshield wipers, galore!

  *paper plates - tires and steering wheels!

  *cupcake wrappers + bracelet-sized glowsticks = super sweet  headlights!

Given that cardboard boxes can be rather bulky and take up quite a bit of space, you can always consider having registration and ask folks to secure their parking space ahead of time.

What's great about this program is that it can be relatively low-cost, provided you plan ahead: most of the materials necessary can be found on your craft shelves or--in terms of boxes--saved as orders come in.

This program has been quite popular here at my library and is something that I've revisited often.  To add a bit of extra excitement for our next installment, I've been in contact with our fire station to see if they'd be interested in hosting a firehouse tour and Cardboard Box Drive-In at the station for SRP 2018 - - we'll transform our boxes into firetrucks and other emergency vehicles and have the chance to watch a movie with real live firefighters!

Ladies and gentlemen, let's all go to the drive-in!