Brainstorming
Here you will find all the ideas generated at the six Summer Reading Program workshops.
Here you will find all the ideas generated at the six Summer Reading Program workshops.
Southwest
Program Ideas for Teens/Adults
Program Ideas for Teens/Adults
- T-Shirt Necklaces/Scarves
- Science of Bubbles/Bubble-ology web site
- Paper airplanes
- Decomposition Experiment
- Make your own newspaper
- Franken-Toys
- Paper Mache
- Baking soda/vinegar will make balloons erupt
- Space Science: links on NASA web site
- Global Warming
- Sun bleaching
- Alternative energy
- Marbles: physics, how they are made, sculpture, or a paint project using them
- It's Yours Pottery (Omaha) has to-go kits, they fire the pottery for you. Prices vary based on kits. itsyourspottery.com.
- Legos
- Steve Spengler Science (on Pinterest)
- National Cremation Society (adults)
- ARAG (Des Moines): do free wills (adults)
- Box Forts: teams build forts with given supplies. Follow with water gun/nerf gun fight to destroy others' forts.
- Zombie Barbies
- Monster High Doll show and tell
- Zombie Feltie: pre-cut pieces and hand sew at program
Program Ideas for Children/Early Literacy
- Air Classroom Kit (Steve Spengler Science)
- Plastic shopping or trash bags: tie to kids' backs and let them run; talk about drag
- DNA programs
- American Girl Doll Kits
- Fat Brain Toys
- Classic exploding volcano
- Life-size bubbles using pool and hula hoop
- Electricity experiments with fruits and vegetables
- Floating lanterns
- Trying to microwave food with cell phones
- Space links and ideas to tie in with the movie "Gravity"
- Egg Drop: build case to protect egg and drop from increasing heights
- Crayola Crayons: sink or float? Rose Art Crayons give different results. Crayola.com used to have a link on their site explaining the science behind whether it sinks or floats.
- Slime
- Contest: Who can melt the chunk of ice fastest? (Sit on ice)
- Bubble tunnel/snakes
- Pop Bottle Science
- Five in a Row: Home School curriculum web site lists books with science connections.
- Color and color changing: honey bear containers; use the story Polar Bear Polar Bear
Performer/Presenter Ideas
- Jason Huenke--juggler, unicycle, knives (Minneapolis): has been to Red Oak
- Josh Heard: ghost chaser/author. Comes for mileage.
- Fontanelle Forest
- Eddy Weis--stormchasers.com; does vampires
- Local extension office has programs like "Shake, Rattle, Roll" and Volcanoes/Rockets
- Local Stargazer
- Chemistry Teacher
- Blank Park Zoo
- Marty Lonsdale: balloon animals
- Rick Brammer
- DNR: fishing/wild animals
- Bucket Boys: music on junk (Chicago)
- County Conservation Programs
- Dan Wardell
- Mad Science of Iowa
- Mike Anderson: dulcimer, music, comedy, storytelling
- High School Science Teacher
- Fire Department
- EMT--human science
North Central
Program Ideas for Teens/Adults
Program Ideas for Children/Early Literacy
Performer/Presenter Ideas
Program Ideas for Teens/Adults
- Bingo Reading Program (Prize ideas: Amazon gift card, Nook, Massage, Restaurant certificate, Donated merchandise)
- Science Lab Program
- Iron Chef Program
- Murder Mystery
- Zombie Walk (with makeup artist and medical examiner)
- Amazing Race program using local stores
- Online programs for older teens
- Makercamp
- Book & Movie
- Reading challenge between kids and adults
- Yo-Yo Contests
- Physical Activities
- Self-Directed Bingo
- Teen Volunteers earn points on log
- Forensics Tests with Murder Mystery
- Clue Mystery Party
- Zombie Slayer
- Teen Crafts
- Shrinky Dink chandelier (Pinterest)
- Steve Spengler web site
Program Ideas for Children/Early Literacy
- Candy Science: drop M & M's in water and the "m" separates and floats to the top--works with Skittles, too.
- Board Book: Use during activity and give away at the end of the program
- Pool party with boat float
- Photo Op: Cardboard scene with whole cut out for head
- Put hex nuts in a balloon--how can you change the variables in this system?
- Use Dixie Cups to make boat (or other materials) and use pennies as passengers. What variables can affect the passengers?
- Sensitive plants growing to touch
- Use magnet to attach various parts to a can like a robot Mr. Potato Head
- Swimming noodle, PVC pipe, marbles; create tubes for marbles to travel (hang from ceiling!)
- Salt painting
- Use cardboard or recycled items to create robots; make it a contest
- Make a fizz bottle car; use a set of used car wheels to put under it. Do an experiment with a big bottle vs. a small bottle.
Performer/Presenter Ideas
- Extension Office: cooking programs
- DNR: Free water testing programs
- 4H: Robotics and Rocket Kits
- ISU: Women in Science and Engineering Role Models
- Paranormal--special speaker (Lake Mills Facebook has information)
- Bob Kann (Madison, WI): magician, storyteller. Very funny. $400 per show.
- Jeff Quinn: Fantastic magician. Incorporates theme really well every year. Based out of Omaha.
- Blank Park Zoo: six animals per performance.
- Naturalist from Mitchell County: Does various programs.
- Storm Chasers of Adam Fredricks from KIMT weather
- Grout Museum: Rocket program. They bring film canisters and Alka-seltzer for the kids. They are awesome!
- Fire Department
Central
Program Ideas for Teens/Adults
Program Ideas for Children/Early Literacy
Performer/Presenter Ideas
Program Ideas for Teens/Adults
- Workshops for Teens: crafts, t-shirts, decorating bags, dry erase boards
- Treasure chest prizes
- Kindles/e-reader as grand prize
- Summer Recreation Program runs along with Summer Reading Program
- Forum/Teen Advisory Board--use them for ideas. Feed them pizza.
- Announce events at high school for volunteers
- Educational Innovations Catalog: great for prizes (fortune fish, growing spheres, floating yen)
- Bingo for Teens
- Teens as volunteers--do as a program
- Soda Science: design your own drink, choice of carbonation, sweetener, flavorings
- Laser Tag in the Library (Flashlight Tag)
- Miniature Golf inside library: local companies donate money for each hole/decorate each hole
- Service project to clean store bathrooms/rounding up carts
- T-Shirt bags
- Test water: how to purify
- Science of Fireworks
- Science of Snakes
- Mentos Experiments
- Mix soda, vinegar, bubbles different colors
- Food coloring in water to dye flowers
- Pop Rocks in container, balloon over top. Reaction?
- Rice Krispies: Why snap, crackle, pop?
- All ages Open House: Star Wars Theme, stations, crafts, trivia; involve entire family
- Movie with props: participate; interactive movie
- Teen Board: get emails to use for announcements/invites
- Dr. Who: Tardis from refrigerator box
- Upcycling Fair for adults
- Blog: On the Banks of Squaw Creek
- T-shirt scarves
- Minecraft, Roblox
- Bingo Cards for teens: timed or paced
- Bingo Cards for adults: Reading and helps them explore
- Forensics: handwriting analysis, crime scene techniques, finger printing
- Live Clue: inside or outside, maybe collaborate with the school
- Teen Texting Challenge: fit science in by sending clues; could go around town or do just in the library
- Mock accident: involve police and fire departments
Program Ideas for Children/Early Literacy
- Kids love Pete the Cat books--mouse paint
- Include nonfiction with fiction
- Worm Race (tried and was successful!)
- Winter Wonderland Family Party: Bubbler (Polar Glove Experiment), snowflake making, ice cube painting, make ice cream, make snow
- Junk crafting
- Joy Liquid Dish Soap & Water: Fill swimming pool and use hula hoop to put kids in life-size bubbles
- Family Science Night
- Rats in the Maze (kids dressed as rats)
- Interactive movie: do activities on cue. Example movies: Wizard of Oz, Toy Story
- Yo-Yo Program
- Bake-Off: Contest, entries made out of edible items. K-4, make food at home and bring in for judging.
- Teddy Bear Sleepover: Pictures taken of overnight adventures
- Dry Ice: Inflate balloons
- Blow things up!
- Steve Spengler videos
- Titanic
Performer/Presenter Ideas
- Police/Firefighters
- Chasing 4 Life: variety of options including weather, disaster, zombies
- Check with local hospital for free programming
- Indianola: man who worked for DSI, contact DSI for free program
- 3M will do free science program for libraries
- Local conservation group
- FBI: Field office in DSM
- Nature company field office in DSM
- Christian Carroll: Balloon animals with teens
- Grout Museum: Grossology
- Local science teacher
- HyVee Cake Designer
- Iowa State: Insect Zoo, Wildlife
- City Detective: forensic program
- Mad Science of Iowa
- Dan Wardell
- Local Chemistry Teacher
- Science Center
- Storm Chasers
- Conservation Station (free through ISU Extension). ISU also offers robotics, chemistry club, etc.
Northwest
Program Ideas for Teens/Adults
Program Ideas for Children/Early Literacy
Program Ideas for Teens/Adults
- Spuds N Duds
- Iowa Mag: Ed. D. Jones - garden packets in own garden, people come bulk and tell about
- Barbie Mummies
- Question of the week: related to theme
- Challenge of the week: trivia, identify mystery photos
- Bingo Reads
- Candy or Keruig coffee for prizes
- Display progress and prizes
- A day to have someone do hair or nails
- After hours program: Zombie Apocolypse
- Origami
- Duct tape crafts
- Beading
- Button flowers
- School supplies for prizes
- Spin a wheel to see what prize you get
- Prize store: kids earn tickets as "money" to spend towards prizes to teach responsibility and budgeting
- Teens and Adults vs Kids
- Teens volunteer with kids to earn points for their program
- Rockets
- Robots
- Frozen tshirts
- Wind turbines
- Maps and Apps - 2013 4H Science day
- Mad Science of Iowa guy
- Bill Nye
- Lunar Planetary Institute - NASA
- Geocaching
- Digital photo editing
- Hunger Games party - Pinterest
- Gardening
- Couch to 5k
- Chasing 4 Life
- Teen Party: 7-11pm
- Lock-in: scavenger hunt, games, movies, crafts; 1 adult per 10 kids
- Take a picture of a thematically appropriate character (ie: Einstein) and have people guess where it is
- All ages contest to decorate some item and judge by age groups and per-determined categories
Program Ideas for Children/Early Literacy
- Mother Goose Club: summer reading club for birth-3 with "activity" log that little ones can earn prizes with; for younger siblings of older kids
- Zoo Passes
- Back to back storytimes on the same day to break up big crowds
- Book buying road trip since 2006 at Hartley; 2 vans driven by staff, parent permission, program with Barnes and Noble, $50 per child, buffet @ child price/Golden Corral, qualified by point system
- Edible book contest in Storm Lake
- Fingerplay, sing-song, bubble play
- Babygarten
- Book Club related to theme
- Crafternoons: every Friday afternoon, put out mix of leftover craft supplies from other programs for the kids to make their own crafts. Advertise on Facebook and in local paper for supplies you may need
- Plant sees and keep at the library for a display "greenhouse." Kids take home at end of summer.
- Science Camp
- Teachers vs Kids reading war
- Play firedancers on projector screen for kids
- Teachers come in to show kids science
- NASA
- Bath fizz bombs
- Book Club
- Early Out movie
- Collaborate with other libraries
- Check other library's websites for ideas
- Science Center of Iowa
- Lisa Laird, from Orange City: puppets, ventriloquist, writes a new program every year to go with SRP theme
- Mr. Twisty: balloon guy, magician
- Sanford Planetarium/Science/Archeology in Cherokee
- See if you can tour your city's water treatment facility
- ISU Extension will do programs. They have science kits.
- Sara Kreutz: KZ the Clown
- Rick Brammer
- Local Naturalist
- Science teacher with fossils in plaster to chip away at
- Dan Wardell
- Zoomobile: Blank Park or Sioux Falls
- Conservation Trailer from ISU
- Contact NFL and MLB teams. Look on websites under "community"
- 4H, conservation, museums, extension offices
- Veterinarians or doctors
- Police Dog
Northeast
Program Ideas for Teens/Adults
Program Ideas for Children/Early Literacy
Performer/Presenter Ideas
Program Ideas for Teens/Adults
- Geocaching
- NASA
- Building with food
- Edible racing cars
- Shrinky dinks with adults (jewelry, etc)
- Brewery
- Storm chasers
- Zombie makeup
- Fear Factor
- Name that tune
- Minute to win it
- Science of body movement: yoga, dance, zumba, chiropractor, local fitness center visit
- laser tag
- Local weather personality
- University biology department to lead dissection of something
- Rock and mineral authority
- Mortician
- Murder Mystery dinner
- Altered books: poetry using books with blacked out words
- Pinterest craft of the week
- Scrabble Club
- Knitting or art club
- Adult book club reading YA books
- Zombie fun run
- scratch.mit.edu
- Science of wine at local winery
- Use clearance/cheap video games as teen prizes
- Nerf wars
- Big Bang Theory party
Program Ideas for Children/Early Literacy
- Kool-aid mix ice cubes to paint with instead of paint - that way its not a crisis if they lick it
- Guessing jar
- Coppernickel Goes Mondrian by Wouter van Reek: use with project on page 158 of manual
- Sensory collage for toddlers: distribute pieces of yarn, foam, pasta, sponges, sand paper, cotton balls, etc. They glue them to a sheet of paper. When it dries, they have a collage that provides the opportunity for parents to introduce words like soft, bumpy, scratchy, etc.
- Smelly volcanoes: kids guess flavor by smell. Use baking soda, vinegar, and kool-aid
- Pine cone bird feeder (if dealing with peanut allergies, use crisco instead. If no pine cones, use toilet paper roll)
- Get samples of animal scat from a petting zoo and store them in sealed jars. Have children try and identify
- The Curious Garden book
- Dry ice experiments
- Pyrotechnics display outside
- Magic Fizz Rocks: baking soda, water, food color, hide toy inside and let dry. Spray rock with vinegar and it fizzes!
- Sensory activity for Early Lit: play-do with spices and herbs
- Architecture contest
- Blacklight party
- Glow in the Dark party
- Build your own pulley race cars
- Terrariums
- Homemade silly putty
- Use a small bottle for lava lamps to use less oil
- Crystal garden
- Rock Candy
- Make butter
- Cheerios on a string or pipe cleaner to feed birds
- Plaster of paris animal prints
- Ant Farm
- Cold-process soap making
- gel candles
- Photocopy bug pictures onto transparencies and let kids color and glue them onto CD terrariums
- What is it? program: have old tools and utensils and have kids try and guess what each is and what its for
- Reinvent everyday items into a new use
- Have a station where kids can take apart old VCRs, computers, etc
- Knitting, crochet, rubber band bracelets
- Book domino chain using book sale books
Performer/Presenter Ideas
- Rockwell Collins produces fighter pilot helmets - have them come and speak
- Chasing 4 Life
- Police department forensics program
- ISU extension
- Nature center
- Science Center of Iowa
- Grout Museum
Southeast
Program Ideas for Teens/Adults
Program Ideas for Children/Early Literacy
Performer/Presenter Ideas
Program Ideas for Teens/Adults
- Haunted Investigations
- Adult reading contest
- Cooking contest
- Bookmark bombing - design a bookmark and put them in books in the library
- How to use a fire extinguisher
- Big Bang Theory party: Episode viewing, trivia and thai food, bookmarks, book display
Program Ideas for Children/Early Literacy
- Lego day
- Look at science fair idea boards
- Insect masks out of recyclables
- Baking soda volcano
- Water and cornstarch in a bowl on top of a radio to show vibrations
- Take old electronics apart
- Big hula hoop in a bubble
- Shaving cream clouds with colored water
- Jello cell with candy or things inside
- Elephant toothpaste
- Boo Bubbles - Spangler
- Magic Sand
- Tape sculptures
- Marshmallow Golf, relay races
- Try sweet tarts instead of mentos
- Anything that makes noise
- Fizzy experiments
- "Camp Out" reading in tents, pretend camp fire
- Minute to win it
Performer/Presenter Ideas
- Local music teacher showing different band instruments and how they work
- Sci show - youtube (John Green's brother)
- Ronald McDonald (free)
- Grout Museum
- Chasing 4 Life weather drone
- Star Lab from AEA
- Wapsi Environmental/DNR
- Forensic program with local police officer
- IHCC fencing classes