Board Game Day

Today, 24 people showed up for our winter board game day! Groups played all kinds of games, including Life, Apples to Apples, chess, checkers, and Scattergories.  A group even tried out my new random game Quelf, with rave reviews. 

The deal was that if a group played a game by the rules to the end, the winner would get a box of movie candy.  (For games like chess and checkers, you could only get candy once, even if you played multiple times.)  I gave away 26 boxes of candy, plus we ate our way through four bags of potato chips, several pounds of other candy, and a bunch of soda and lemonade! 

The best moments of the day included Saranjeet needing two cars to carry her family in Life, Owen naming one of his Life children "Ke$ha," Kathy singing "Rawhide" while waving her scarf in the air like a lasso, and Janae thinking McCain was a U.S. President.  I also had fun teaching a group how to play Scattergories with the rules.  And, thanks to Jasmine for bringing in Tutti Frutti...dinging that bell was a lot of fun!

If you like board games, we'll have them out at the Random-A-Thon in February.  Be sure to sign up!

Craft Closet Cleanout

Last Wednesday, 16 people dropped by for our end-of-the-year Craft Closet Cleanout. We made tons of stuff at the program, and I even let people take things home.  I have a lot of old projects hanging around, so it's good to move them on! 

Crafts people made:

• An adorable (and easy) Christmas papercraft
• Painted bottle vases
• Robot keychains
• Beaded candy cane ornaments
• Safety pin bracelets
• Soda tab bracelets

Crafts people took home:

• Necktie belt
• Dog chew toy
• Washer zipper pull
• Beaded flower hairpins

Sorry you missed it? Look for Craft Closet Cleanout at the Random-A-Thon in February, as well as on the spring schedule.

 Painted bottle vases are still around from this summer, and still popular!

 Making safety pin bracelets took FOREVER.

Judy's awesome robot keychain--I love the heart!

Ninja Night

Last Friday, 29 teens showed up for Ninja Night.  (I only saw two of them!)  It was a great night, mostly thanks to Dan G., our "ninja."  We've never done anything like this before, but we definitely couldn't have done it without him.

First, Dan showed us how to make origami shuriken (throwing stars), and we practiced our ninja skills by throwing them at the library's cardboard cutout of Robert Pattinson.  For every round, people had to aim at a certain part of his head (ear, neck, eyes, etc.) and they got candy if they hit him accurately.  It was hard, and only a few people were ninja enough to handle the pressure.

We watched some random ninja videos online, with the laptop hooked up to the projector.  Then, Dan did a martial arts demonstration.  He talked about his intererst in martial arts, his school, and demonstrated some kicks, delivering an amazing, Chuck-Norris-style roundhouse to the jaw of Robert Pattinson (followed by a huge cheer!).  After that, Dan brought out a whole duffel bag of different martial arts weapons, talking about the history of each one and doing a short demonstration.  (Don't worry, it was very safe--Dan is a trained instructor and no one else handled the items.)  Then, he taught everyone a few self-defense moves.  It was really cool, no one got injured, and Dan was an excellent teacher. 

We finished the night by watching some of the original 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and having snacks.  What do ninjas eat?  Dark chocolate, of course, and ninja brownies (cut in circles with little icing eyes).  I guess they probably also try to eat quiet food, but we broke the rules with some potato chips. 

At the end, we had our costume contest.  We had all kinds of entries, and our winner was a panda ninja!  She got the Ninja Wisdom Deck, and the runners up each got candy and a fake moustache (ninjas need disguises, you know).  Congrats to Christine, Abby, Kaitlyn, Laurel, and Owen for having the best costumes!

Huge thanks again to Dan, and to the Delaware County Office of Behavioral Health for funding this program.

Origami shuriken pieces 

 A view of the origami lesson

 Everyone attempting to look more ninja...

 The beginning of the self-defense lesson

 A test of friendship...practicing self-defense moves on each other!

Having fun with self-defense

 How ninjas get brownies...?

Costume contest entries

Our Own Ninja

Some videos of Dan teaching about martial arts weapons:

Sorry this is sideways, but it's a cool demonstration:

Harry Potter Movie Marathon

Last Saturday, 29 intrepid teens showed up for our Harry Potter Movie Marathon, featuring back-to-back-to-back showings of movies four, five, and six!  We started at 9:30 and ended at 4:30.  It was kind of insane, but a lot of fun.  The idea was that it would prepare people to go see the new movie.  A few people had already seen it, and several others had plans for Sunday or later this week.  However, one fanatical group literally left the marathon and went off to the theater!

Back in the summer, Morgan approached me about doing this program.  He didn't just have ideas...he had three pages of notes, including snack ideas and a cost breakdown!  How could I say no!?  A few things changed, but his original idea stayed the same.  As people came in, the "sorting hat" assigned them to a Hogwarts House. 

Morgan asked trivia questions during the movies, which earned people candy for themselves and points for their houses.  At the end of the day, the team with the most points got a prize, even if some of their members came late or left early.  (Something I wanted to do but forgot:  put wizard cards in with the candy.)

OUR FINAL STANDINGS:
Slytherin -- 91
Hufflepuff -- 76
Ravenclaw --75
Gryffindor -- 57

During the second movie, I put out a golden snitch papercraft.  I thought it would be fun to do while watching because those little cuts and folds take patience.  Too much patience, apparently, because only a few people saw it through!  But, it's really cute, so try it yourself.  Also, check out this pattern to make a Ministry of Magic owl paper airplane.

Huge thanks to Morgan for making this possible!  And extra credit to Morgan, Kelliann, Edythe, Drew, Claude, Mike, Egypt, Owen, and Sahva who stayed all day!!

December Drop-Ins!

I added some drop-in programs on Wednesdays in December!  There's no registration, so just stop by after school and bring your friends.  (Yes, there will be snacks.)

Rock Band Drop-In
Wednesday, December 8, 3:00 to 5:00
Enjoy all of our Rock Band games at this laid-back event! We've got five editions: RB2, RB3, Lego, The Beatles, and Green Day.

Dance Dance Revolution Drop-In
Wednesday, December 15, 3:00 to 5:00
Show your moves at our Xbox DDR program! We will project the game onto the wall so four people can dance at once.  No permission slip required.

Craft Closet Cleanout Drop-In
Wednesday, December 22, 3:00 to 5:00
Make something you missed or make something totally new. You never know what we'll pull out of the attic!

Fall Nintendo Night

Last Friday, 32 people attended our fall Nintendo Night!  We tried something new this time:  one-on-one battles with a two-tier tournament system.  Instead of having one big tournament with first- and second-place winners, everyone who lost in the first round automatically moved into the lower tournament bracket and kept competing.  Of course we had our usualy technical difficulties (no power cord arrived with the projector I borrowed...really!?!?) and the tournament ran long, but I generally liked how this idea played out. 

In the main tournament, David J. emerged victorious over all and won a $50 gift card to GameStop.  He and the other semi-finalists, Ranier, John E., and Andrew C., all got candy.  (All of these last initials are important because we had lots of multiple names at this event!)  In the second tournament, Morgan beat out Evan for the $25 GameStop gift card.  Semi-finalistst Evan, Joseph, and Edgar, along with Morgan, all got candy as well.  I also gave out one bonus box of candy to Roy, who, as a 6th grader, was the only middle-schooler to make it into the third round of the main tournament.  Even though he was beaten out, he was proud to represent!

Thanks to a grant from the Delaware County Office of Behavioral Health for helping to make this event possible.  See you at our next tournament this winter!!

Hip-Hop Essentials

On October 22, over 30 teens showed up for Hip-Hop Essentials  Featuring The One Sun Lion Ra and DJ Ambush!  We were in the middle of the adult library, so there were a lot of other people who stopped by the program or listened while they were on the computers.  The program was a positive, interactive discussion of hip-hop history and culture.  Ra also did some rapping and beat-boxing, and got a few kids up on the mic at the end! 

This program was funded by a grant from the Delaware County Office of Behavioral Health.  Thanks for your support!  And thanks to DJ Ambush for filling in when DJ Brother Jamar couldn't make it.  It was great to have you.

 Ra talking to the group

Beat-boxing

 Another shot of Ra talking  :)

A few guys were brave enough to freestyle on the mic.  They did an amazing job, rapping about everyday stuff like school, fast food, and their families.

Conditioning with a Twist

Only five people showed up today for Conditioning with a Twist, but it was fun anyway!  We learned how to make exercise less boring by incorporating different props and making up our own games.  We did everything from backwards races with a ping pong ball on a spoon to jumping around cones in a silly game of follow-the-leader.  We also did some more structured activities using sponge balls, jump ropes, and exercise bands.  I learned a lot, and I hope the teens there did too.  Thanks to Pat from Ageless Exercise and the Verizon Fit for Life grant for making this possible!

Scary Movie Before a Holiday

Today, 26 teens came to the library for our showing of The Nightmare Before Christmas!  Some even showed up in costume...we had three Sailor Scouts and one (male) Ke$ha.  Some people had seen the movie many times, but it was the first time for others.  We put on the subtitles to encourage singing along! 

While watching the movie, we made shrinky-dink charms of the characters.  People traced a design or drew their own, then I baked them in my toaster oven.  They looked great!  Only one didn't turn out well, and that person was able to do another one, so it all worked out.

If you want to buy the paper to do this at home, it is available at A. C. Moore.  Michael's and Jo-Ann do not carry it in their stores.  You can also find it online by looking for the term "shrink film."  It costs about $5.00 for a pack of six sheets, but you can get four to six projects out of a single sheet. 

 Some shrinky-dinks before baking.  Each was the size of 1/4 sheet of paper.

 Morgan drew this amazing Lock without a model, let alone something to trace!

 Some completed shrinky-dinks.  They are all about the size of a $.50 coin.  We put them on big safety pins to attach to bags and zippers.

Two Sailor Scouts!

Gleeked Out NIA for Teens

Today, 13 teens showed up for our Gleeked Out NIA program!  NIA is a form of dance exercise that incorporates elements from martial arts and yoga.  And we did all it to music from the TV show Glee.  It was so much fun that it didn't even really feel like exercise.  (Of course, some of my muscles don't agree with that statement right now!)  If you are interested in finding out more about NIA or locating another class in the area, visit http://www.nianow.com/.

This was our second of three Books with Beat programs for Teen Read Week.  The last event is Friday night...our Hip-Hop Essentials show with The One Sun Lion Ra and DJ Ambush.  See you at 7:00 in the adult library!

Rock Band and Book Swap

To kick off Teen Read Week, we had book swap and Rock Band all afternoon on Saturday!  Only 11 people showed up, but most stayed for the whole time.  We played all of our Rock Band games, belting out everything from metal to the Beatles.  Twenty-four books got swapped, and I gave everyone a free book just for showing up.

The theme for Teen Read Week this year is Books with Beat, so look for some books that rock on our display cart in the teen section or check this blog post!

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

Last Wednesday, 18 people stopped by for our Robot Drop-In Day!  Some stayed for the whole thing, while others just came by to check it out.  We watched Short Circuit and Wall-E, made robot keychains, build robots out of snack food, and identified robots in a quiz.  I totally forgot to do the robot dance contest, so we'll just have to do this theme again in the future!!

Our next drop-in day is Wednesday, December 22, for Craft Closet Cleanout. No registration is necessary, so just stop by.  Most of our fall crafts will be available (including leftover robot keychains from this event), plus a lot of other random stuff from the attic!

I love the mouth on this robot snack!

This one had eyes like a bug.

A cute robot snack

This was our most creative robot snack...he's roasting a fish over a fire!

Billy correctly identified 17 out of 20 robots and won this amazing pencil sharpener!

Completed robot keychains

10-10-10!

Yesterday was 10-10-10, and teens celebrated in style at the library!  The rules were simple:  bring in a collection of 10 items, check out at least one thing, and get 10 pieces of candy!  Some people thought about their collections in advance, while others grabbed stuff from outside when they heard about the event. I kept a list through the day, and 23 people showed up. 

Here's what people brought in for their collections of 10:

• LOL cat pictures
• Prehistoric items
• Silly Bandz
• Sports cards
• Magnets
• Things that represent special times
• Glowing fingernails
• Candy
• Earring backs
• Hello Kitty items
• Favorite books, videogames, or magazines
• Folded paper crafts
• Various colors of leaves and woodchips from outside

Out of all of these, I had to pick one to win a basket with 10 types of candy and a $10 gift card to Wawa.  Several people showed a lot of uniqueness and creativity, so it was a hard choice!  Ultimately, I asked a few librarians to help me.  They picked Kaitlyn's collection to win because they felt she went above and beyond the description.  Kaitlyn brought in ten things that reminded her of great times in her life from childhood all the way up to 10-10-10, which happened to be her 18th birthday!  So, congratulations Kaitlyn!  It's an extra birthday present!!

Ten Hello Kitty items

 Nine LOL cats on the front...




 ...and one on the back!




 Ten videogames (from home)




 Laurel brought in ten prehistoric items, including several amazing fossils, a meteorite, and a bug in amber.




 Ten magnets




 Ten favorite magazines and books (from home)




 Ten special things


Ten adorable folded paper crafts

You're Not Hardcore Unless You Live Hardcore

Today was the first of four music-themed programs celebrating this year's Teen Read Week theme, Books with Beat.  Eleven people showed up after school to watch School of Rock, and we made punk rock safety pin bracelets and some duct tape creations.  Most people had seen the movie multiple times, so we all enjoyed reciting our favorite parts.  And the projects all turned out really well!  I would definitely make another safety pin bracelet. 

If you missed it, the bracelets will reappear at Craft Closet Cleanout in December.  If you want to try it at home, here are a few good patterns to look at:

• Safety Pin Bracelet #1
• Safety Pin Bracelet #2
• A Funkier Version

Tips to remember:

• Glue the heads of the safety pins shut.
• Alternate the direction of the pins as you thread them.
• You can use fewer safety pins if you put spacer beads between them as you string the bracelet.
• Put clear nail polish on the knots when you tie off the bracelet.

Two completed bracelets

Duct tape randomness

September Anime Club Art Challenge

Our drawing theme for the September meeting was pirates.  Check out the excellent drawings below.  I picked our usual four winners to get this month's prize, a Hello Kitty Pez dispenser.  It was a little girly, but I couldn't resist the Pez.  If you would like to join our Anime Club, we meet on the fourth Friday of the month.  The next meeting is October 22, so register now!

Back-to-School DDR

Yesterday, 19 teens showed up for our first Dance Dance Revolution day of the school year!  I was really happy to see so many people, especially because I published the fall schedule a lot later than usual this time.   Ten people entered our tournament, and the final came down to Jamie vs. Ross.  It was VERY close, but Jamie edged out Ross and won a $10 gift card to GameStop.  Thanks to everyone who showed up!

Don't forget to pick up a copy of the fall schedule!  The final version is available now!!

1960s Drop In Day

Yesterday, 18 teens stopped by for our first drop-in day of the school year. The theme for this one was the 1960s. I didn't do much advertising, so I'm glad the word got out! We watched The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock's famous horror movie from 1963, and played Rock Band: The Beatles. The best part of the event was making tie-dyed stretchy book covers. They are perfect for back-to-school! Doing tie-dye definitely gave us the psychedelic feel of the 60s hippie movement even though the book covers are a modern invention. We snacked on food introduced in the 60s, including Doritos (1966), Lays (1965), Pop-Tarts (1964), and Tang (1966). Everyone was also entered to win a 60s gift basket as they arrived, which was ultimately won by Laurel. Congrats to her, and thanks to everyone who attended.

PS--Bring in your book covers if they turned out. I'd love to see them!

The gift basket had candy introduced in the 60s, some Woodstock memorabilia, an ex-library copy of the teen classic My Darling, My Hamburger from 1969, and an Archie comic book celebrating the decade.

Rubber banding the book covers gets a thumbs up! (Really, what doesn't!?)

A crowd trying to add color all at once.

A less busy time at the dye table.

Some completed book covers. They turned out amazingly well!