Libraries are more than books. Some kids need a little direction to get the creative juices flowing. I gleaned the following from PUBYAC contributors. Please add YOUR comments. Your colleagues would appreciate hearing what works, and what didn't!
For more offerings, see: Storytime-Jungle; Jungle (see also: specific animals)
INVITATIONS:
- Come Monkey Around
DRESS:
- Camouflage
- Khakis
- Flowers
- Binoculars (may be a craft)
REFRESHMENTS: see Recipes for Storytime
- Animal Paw Prints
- Butterfly--Cupcake, Pretzel, Sandwiches
- Monkey Face Cupcakes
- Mud Cups
- Safari Dip
- Snake Sub (cut into individual servings)
- Spider Cookies
- Swamp Juice
- Worm Cookies (Instead of chocolate dough, dye sugar cookie dough with green food coloring and make Snake Cookies—red licorice can be the tongue.)
DECORATIONS:
- Green leaves; flowers; butterflies
- Small plastic jungle animals
MUSIC:
- Jungle drums
- Animal sound-effects
- Lion King soundtrack
FAVORS/CRAFTS:
- Lion Paper Plate Faces
- Binoculars
- Drums
- BIG flowers
- Snake/Jungle Mobiles
- Gator Craft
GAMES:
- PIN—feathers on parrot
- TOSS—coconuts; bananas; frogs; spiders
- FLOOR--One Elephant Went Out to Play…
- Crocodile Alley Obstacle Course
Encourage kids to cheer each other on through the course by chanting the upcoming obstacle.
Quicksand: set a blanket across a section for kids to leap over
Poisonous vines: tape a towel in a doorway to crawl under
Bat cave: bring together a few chairs and throw a blanket over them for crawling under
Crocodile territory: warn kids not to step on the floor off the tape
Spider nests: make dashes with the tape that kids have to hop over
Piranha pond: lay an area rug on the line for kids to jump over
Hungry jungle creatures: line up stuffed toys all along the way for kids to avoid
- RELAY--Animal Walk
- Crocodile Dentist
PROGRAM:
- Have various stations for crafts & games before ending with campfire sing-along
- Read books, poems or share stories about various or specific jungle animals
VOLUNTEERS:
- Get adult help to “serve”
COST:
- Most supplies can be purchased in bargain bins at craft stores or Dollar Stores.
TIME:
- About an hour-and-a-half should be sufficient.(Dependent on the number of families passing through; and how many stations are offered.)
