Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers recently had a drive-in movie adventure at Slinger Community Library! As part of our CSLP theme, we invited families with small children to decorate a cardboard car, then sit in it for a Bluey mini-marathon. The program was a huge hit with families with a turnout of over fifty.Several months beforehand, I began saving our Ingram book boxes and asked staff to save any large boxes. To make storage easier, I broke down most of the boxes and aimed to collect around thirty. I ordered 6” black plates and brad fasteners to construct the wheels. We had plenty of markers and foam stickers to use as decorations. I recommend using the peel-off kind so you don’t have to mess with glue.
The day before the event I used our program room to tape the boxes back together and attach the wheels. Fair warning, this took about two hours! My husband loaned me his dremel (I promised to take very good care of it) to drill holes into the cardboard and plates simultaneously. I then used the brad fasteners to secure the wheels in place. A tip for next time would be to also tape the “arms” down inside, both for safety and to keep the wheels from falling off.
The day of the event, I read a couple car books aloud, and then it was time to decorate! We saw so much creativity with markers, dot markers, and foam stickers. I hadn’t thought of adding a steering wheel, but one child asked for an extra plate to play pretend. Soon, I’d handed out an extra plate to everyone. If I were to do this program again, I would also add a steering wheel with a brad fastener.
We happen to be next door to our local police department and have a great relationship. We invited one of their officers to come over and write tickets! This was a big hit, especially with parents. Officer Praderelli brought a real ticket book with him and cited the children for speeding. It was a great photo opportunity for parents and also gave the police department a chance to have positive interactions with the kids.
As soon as the Bluey theme song came on, the kids were excited to sit in their new cardboard cars and watch a few episodes. Officer Praderelli handed out bubbles, stamps, and stickers (even to the speeders). We received lots of compliments from parents and saw lots of smiling, happy kids.
A few thoughts for improvement/variations include using paint and offering a small snack. We generally do our summertime programs for this age outside, but this could also work well inside. The screen was a bit hard to see in the sunlight and the audio needed to be louder. If you opt to try this program, I hope you have as much fun as we did!
We happen to be next door to our local police department and have a great relationship. We invited one of their officers to come over and write tickets! This was a big hit, especially with parents. Officer Praderelli brought a real ticket book with him and cited the children for speeding. It was a great photo opportunity for parents and also gave the police department a chance to have positive interactions with the kids.
As soon as the Bluey theme song came on, the kids were excited to sit in their new cardboard cars and watch a few episodes. Officer Praderelli handed out bubbles, stamps, and stickers (even to the speeders). We received lots of compliments from parents and saw lots of smiling, happy kids.
A few thoughts for improvement/variations include using paint and offering a small snack. We generally do our summertime programs for this age outside, but this could also work well inside. The screen was a bit hard to see in the sunlight and the audio needed to be louder. If you opt to try this program, I hope you have as much fun as we did!
No comments:
Post a Comment