Category Archives: Event Ideas

Downloadable Display Calendar

I have compiled a list of observances & remembrance days of the year as well as special months that can be used to put together book lists and special library displays.

It can be downloaded here

Mr Shaha’s Marvellous Machines

Transform and recycle household objects into your very own home-made toys and machines!

Learn about the centre of gravity by making a balancing bird, create a toroidal vortex with a smoke-ring machine, and turn a spoon into an electromagnet. Chances are you won’t need to buy the materials required for these machines because they’re all in your house right now. Every child can be an engineer with the help of Mr Shaha and his marvellous machines.

Written by a science teacher and dad, Mr Shaha’s Marvellous Machines is the highly anticipated sequel to Mr Shaha’s Recipes for Wonder. This book gives clear, step-by-step instructions for over 15 projects. Whether you’re a master engineer or a total beginner, it will spark inspiration for fun activities to engage young people in the marvels of machinery.

Scribe Publications
Mr Shaha’s Marvellous Machines, illustrated by Emily Robertson

I follow Alom Shaha on twitter and really appreciate how keen he is for families to play together to develop a passion for science and technology. Mr Shaha’s Recipes for Wonder is a great book so, when I saw that he had a new title coming, I asked him a few questions:

Do you have a favourite project in the book?

My favourite project in the book is probably the Rubber-band Racer. I think it was the first activity I knew I would include in the book because it just met all my criteria for a “marvellous machine” – it’s made of stuff most people will have lying around the house, is relatively straightforward to build, illustrates some sort of scientific principle, and, above all, elicits a sense of utter joy when you’ve successfully got it working.

This is your second published book, after Mr Shaha’s Recipes for Wonder. Why do you think it is so important that families engage with science and technology, learning at home?

This is actually the third book of mine to be published! My first was “The Young Atheist’s Handbook” which was published in the UK, Australia, and in a Turkish translation. There was even a successful campaign by Humanists UK to raise money to send it to every secondary school library in the UK. But to answer your question, I think it’s important for families to engage with STEM learning at home because I believe strongly that science can enrich our lives as much as literature, art, or music can, when we approach it in a way that is appropriate to our own needs and wants. There’s also research that suggests strongly that parental attitudes towards science plays a key role in children’s success, or lack of it, in science at school. I don’t think parents should leave their children’s first encounters with science education to schools – I want to encourage parents to become their children’s first science teachers. Parents are usually the ones who introduce their children to reading, numbers, painting and drawing, playing music and so on, and I wanted to give them the confidence and tools to do the same with science. 

As a science teacher, what is your favourite part of the curriculum?

Oh, that’s a tough one. I’d have to say that I love teaching all the ideas that generate a sense of awe and wonder in my students, from the counterintuitive nature of Newton’s First Law to the mindboggling fact that we can know, with a high degree of confidence, what stars are made of, and how they work.

In an ideal world, what kind of events would you want to do with children, and what age groups?

I love doing family workshops with primary aged children. I ran many when promoting “Recipes for Wonder”, and plan to do the same with “Marvellous Machines”. It’s really satisfying to watch parents and their children work together to do the activities in my books. 

Library staff will appreciate your desire to get the book into the hands of those who can’t afford to buy it. Other than libraries stocking it, what would you like to see people do to promote its use?

I’m going to release videos of the activities from the book on my YouTube Channel, “Mr Shaha’s Books” (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcv9_0EdBq0Xi4n_wJe4NCA), so that the message and ideas from the book are freely available. I’d love to see people sharing these videos, and perhaps their own videos of the activities, through their social media and other networks.

Alom sent me a picture of the introduction, which is a wonderful explanation for why the book exists, and shows some more of the wonderful illustrations by Emily Robertson that really bring it all to life:

The text can be read more clearly on his blog here

Mr Shaha’s Marvellous Machines is published on 8th July, it is aimed at 5-12year olds and their families, so Bea and I are looking forward to having a go at making some contraptions!

Alom Shaha, photo credit: Ed Prosser

Wand Making Workshop

Ahead of Harry Potter Book Night on the 6th February 2020 I have been working on a special wand-making workshop that will enable participants to create their own wands.

The outer part of the wand is composed of a 10 inch (25.4 cm) stiff paper tube. I sourced the paper tubes from Target. Bamboo sticks or hollow wooden dowel rods can also be used if your budget stretches that far.

The wand end plugs are made from paper twisted into a cone that will fit into the ends of the wand and be glued in place.

Participants will be able to choose a phoenix feather, a strand of dragon heart-string, unicorn hair, woven sunlight or a combination of all of them to make up the core of their wand.

Once the wand-making apprentices have completed their wand they will receive a parchment certificate confirming that they have attended the workshop.

They will also receive a cardstock wand-holder emblazoned with the seals of the Hogwarts & Ilvermorny Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry to keep their wands safe. There is a space on the back of the wand holder to note down what is in the core as well as who made the wand.

The materials used in the workshop are:

Red, Silver & Gold Thread
Feathers
Paper tubes

The certificate is plain paper that has been soaked in a weak coffee solution (tea also works)

The wand holder is card-stock also soaked in a weak coffee solution.

The certificate is available to be downloaded in US letter size below:

Download (PDF, 462KB)

and A4:

Download (PDF, 462KB)

The wand holder is available to be downloaded in US letter size here:

Download (PDF, 898KB)

and as A4:

Download (PDF, 898KB)

For those wishing to make a more traditional looking wand using chopsticks and hot glue, there are instructions available here: https://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Wands-With-Chopsticks/

Note: This post was scheduled to go up on the day the controversy broke around J.K. Rowling tweeting her views about transgender rights. I have decided to run this article, not in support of the author whose views I find reprehensible but for those who read Harry Potter and take away the message about love, acceptance and for standing up & fighting for what is right.

Space-related Ideas for Libraries

NASA

NASA Selfie App: available for iPhone & Android https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7220

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory education website: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/

 Straw Rockets: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/straw-rocket/

NASA Image & Video Library – free to download & use: https://images.nasa.gov/

NASA Kid’s Club: https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/index.html

Apollo 50thhttps://www.nasa.gov/specials/apollo50th/

European Space Agency

Education: https://www.esa.int/Education

European Space Education Resource Office https://www.stem.org.uk/esero

Music & Songs

Zar and the Broken Spaceship by Dino O’Dell 

Trout Fishing in America – Alien in my Nose

Lyrics: https://www.flashlyrics.com/lyrics/trout-fishing-in-america/alien-in-my-nose-41

Space Day Camp Song Sheet: https://ftclatsopbsa.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/2011-space-day-camp-song-list.doc

Science Experiments

Steve Spangler Science: https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/

Science Kiddo: https://www.sciencekiddo.com/

Science Bob: https://sciencebob.com/category/experiments/

Science Sparks: https://www.science-sparks.com/category/science-experiments-for-kids/

Imagination Station Toledo: https://www.imaginationstationtoledo.org/educator/activities/

Home Advisor Tinkering Project Resources: https://www.homeadvisor.com/r/tinkering-project-resources/

Science Projects: https://www.bottlestore.com/bottle-rockets-and-other-educational-crafts

Water Based Science Experiments: https://www.siyachts.com/Water-Science-Projects-And-Experiments

Thanks Matt! I hope the Citizen Science Club enjoys these links!

Activity Ideas

Two Book Geeks site: www.twobookgeeks.blogspot.com

Fun with black light flashlight – tide liquid soak glows in uv light https://sciencenotes.org/list-of-things-that-glow-under-black-light/

Post-it note 8bit art https://8-bitart.com/

Glow in the dark slime https://www.thebestideasforkids.com/glow-in-the-dark-slime/

Pre-Kinders Space Activities: https://www.prekinders.com/space-theme/

Nebula in a Bottle: http://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-for-kids/diy-nebula-jar/

Straw rockets: https://buggyandbuddy.com/straw-rockets-with-free-rocket-template/

Hoop Glider: https://sciencebob.com/the-incredible-hoop-glider/

Stories       

Constellation Legends: http://tcoe.org/scicon/instructionalguide/constellations.pdf

Star tales: http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/contents.htm

Other Resources

CSLP Facebook page – for ideas and links to resources: https://www.facebook.com/cslpreads/

Herschel Space Observatory: http://herschel.cf.ac.uk/education

National Schools’ Observatory: https://www.schoolsobservatory.org/

GAIA in the UK: https://www.gaia.ac.uk/education

National Space Centre: http://education.spacecentre.co.uk/information/learning-resources

Astro Science Challenge: http://www.astrosciencechallenge.com/

UK Space Agency STEM Resources: https://www.data.org.uk/for-education/secondary/uk-space-agency/

Kid’s Astronomy: www.kidsastronomy.com

Rocketry for Kids: https://a2zhomeschooling.com/explore/astronomy/rocketry_kids/

RosCosmos: http://en.roscosmos.ru/117/

Scouts & the UK Space Agency: https://fundraising.scouts.org.uk/ukspaceagency

International Literacy Association: https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-daily/2019/03/05/blast-off!-space-exploration-and-litera

#BlackHistoryMonth Anansi Craft Activity

As part of the Black History Month program at my Library, I have organised a series of story-times based around folk tales from Africa. My South African storytime last week was snowed out but the event today, reading stories about Anansi the Spider trickster was well-attended – three adults and five children who came to listen and participate.

The stories were well-received, as was the craft activity, if anyone would like to obtain a copy of my Anansi template, you may download it below.

Download (PDF, 742KB)

As with all the resources I create, if you do use them please share any pictures of your creations.

Black History Month Ideas: The Potato King of the World

Born into slavery on a plantation near Kentucky, Junius G. Groves was six years of age when slavery was abolished in the USA.

20 years later he joined the Exoduster movement and made his way to Kansas.

In 1902 he became known as the Potato King of the World, for growing more bushels of potatoes per acre than anyone in the world up to that point in time.

As a farmer and landowner he employed both whites and blacks on his farm and worked hard on uplifting African–Americans. His employment practices did a lot to combat racism at the time.

Celebrate Black History Month by teaching the attendees about Junius Groves and then running a potato print workshop, giving children the opportunity to carve potatoes into shapes and then printing them onto strips of paper.

Once that is done, you can introduce them to the art of Kente fabric weaving while their potato print strips dry. They can then weave the paper print strips into a paper version of Kente cloth.

Learn about Junius Groves here: https://blackpast.org/aaw/groves-junius-george-1859-1925

Or you could read No Small Potatoes by Tonya Bolden and Don Tate

Find out more about Kente Cloth paper weaving here: https://kinderart.com/art-lessons/multic/kente-cloth-strips/

When planning the colors you wish to use for the workshop, it is worth keeping their symbolic meanings in mind:

  • black: maturation, intensified spiritual energy
  • blue: peacefulness, harmony and love
  • green: vegetation, planting, harvesting, growth, spiritual renewal
  • gold: royalty, wealth, high status, glory, spiritual purity
  • grey: healing and cleansing rituals; associated with ash
  • maroon: the color of mother earth; associated with healing
  • pink: associated with the female essence of life; a mild, gentle aspect of red
  • purple: associated with feminine aspects of life; usually worn by women
  • red: political and spiritual moods; bloodshed; sacrificial rites and death.
  • silver: serenity, purity, joy; associated with the moon
  • white: purification, sanctification rites and festive occasions
  • yellow: preciousness, royalty, wealth, fertility, beauty

Event Calendar

Looking for an event to create a display around in your Library? Why not check out the events calendar (below), it is a work in progress so if your favourite day (holy, hedoninstic or just hilarious) is missing pleas let me know so I can add it

QUIRK BOOKS PRESENTS BOOK POP!

In honour of its 15 year anniversary, Quirk Books is launching a year-long celebration of books and pop culture, called Book Pop!

Quirk has not forgotten their many fans in Britain and have launched UK versions of their reading guides! Also on offer are downloadable posters and other resources to celebrate their amazing and quirky books!

So if you are searching for activities to run with your teen groups or classes in the coming months drop by Quirk Books Book Pop! and see what is on offer!

The Reading Olympics

I have been racking my brains lately for a reading event for the new school year and then it hit me, the Reading Olympics!

It will be a mix of reading stories based on Olympic sports, endurance reading and reading books of different genres for the triathlon and decathlon

I only have a skeleton of an idea at the moment so will be using this post to flesh it out as I go along. If anyone has an idea they would like to suggest – either books for olympic events or how to organise it please feel free to put it in the comments below. Everyone who puts an idea forward will be credited!

Events:

Athletics:

Reading 100 metres:
this will consist of Barrington Stoke titles as well as A&CB Wired Up books and books from the Franklin Watts Edge collection

Reading 1500:
The reader will have to complete a trilogy in a set amount of time

Hurdles:
The reader will have to read a section of a newspaper every day for a week

Triathlon:
The reader will have to read three books, each one has to be a different genre, e.g. Romance, Horror, Science Fiction
the reader may change one book but any more changes will cause the reader to lose points

Decathlon:
The reader will have to read 10 books, each one has to be form a different genre – a mix of fiction and non-fiction

Football:
Zombie XI by Pete Kalu
Death Match by Andy Croft
The Foul Play series by Tom Palmer
Girls FC by Helena Pielichaty
Keeper Mal Peet

Archery:
Longbow girl by Linda Davies
Robin Hood

Equestrian Events:
Heartland series by Lauren Brooke
Horses of Half Moon ranch by Jenny Oldfield
The Glory Lauren St John

World Book Day 2016 Quiz

Download the Quiz from Dropbox here

Quiz Answers