Polar Express Comes to Eau Claire
Leah Langby
January 6, 2016


Thanks to Sam Carpenter at LEPMPL for this blog post!

LEPMPL had a Polar Express Party while kids were out of school. We put together two inexpensive games to help them feel welcome and get the wiggles out before we started the show:  “ornament bowling” and “marshmallow toss.”

The ornament bowling consisted of 2-liter bottles filled with water and a bit of dish soap that created bubbles when the “pins” were knocked over. Two 2-liters had about 2 inches of water inside and one had 4 inches–it was fun to watch the older kids try to knock THAT one over! (It was also fun to blow my train whistle every time they succeeded, although Jill may disagree). The “ornaments” were just balls of varying sizes–I was reminded what educational value games can have watching the younger kids slowly figure out that the bigger, heavier balls had a greater chance of knocking pins over.



The marshmallow toss was made of coffee containers wrapped in construction paper and bean bags covered in white fleece. I enjoyed dressing these simple materials up to match the party theme/movie:  I hope the attention to detail said “We care about you” to all who attended! I used the “mugs” in a book display in order to extend their life a little and am thinking indoor bowling may make a comeback if we stick with the CSLP exercise theme . . .

search all blog posts using keywords or title, date, categories

Archives

Categories

Related Articles

Youth Program Assistant (part-time) – Woodville, WI

Do you love working with kids and their families? Are you excited about developing programming for kids of all ages? Come join Woodville Community Library as a youth program assistant. We’re looking for someone with a background or experience with children 2-years and...

The Power of Partnerships (guest post by Valerie Spooner)

I had a great chat with Valerie Spooner, the youth services librarian in Ladysmith, this afternoon.  I LOVED hearing this story about the ways putting in the time for partnerships and relationships can pay off! In 2020 I was able to fulfill one of my library dreams -...