This presentation was offered at the 2018 Public Library Association Conference in Philadelphia, PA.
Tag: fandom
Pokeball Charms
This easy craft is a great addition to anime club meetings and game nights, and can even be something left out in your teen space for anyone to do. I recommend painting the beads white beforehand, and encouraging your kids to make a variety of Pokéballs. The lollipop sticks, string, and wooden beads can generally be purchased altogether for under $10.
City of Bones (FINALLY!)
Why finally? Because my teens have into this series for far longer than they’ve been into Hunger Games. They are so, so excited! I know a lot of you are probably working on movie premiere parties, as I am, so I thought I’d share what I’m planning now!
In case you hadn’t heard yet, the movie was moved to a Wednesday release, so now it’s premiering on August 21st. I always have my programs before the movie to lessen the chance of spoilers, so if you have the same concerns, take action now!
- Inspired by these pewter steles, we’ll be making similar ones out of polymer clay. All you have to do is completely coat the plastic, remove the ink before you bake, & you’re good to go!
- Henna tattoos of the runes, with official designs available at Cassandra Clare’s site. I’m going to get some temporary tattoo pens as well, for those wary of the henna.
- Tarot card readings
- Book prizes
- Soundtrack listening party, sprinkled in with the trailers, as we always do.
- Jeopardy-style trivia (traditional at all our programs)
- Food… honestly, I don’t know. I usually try to tie the food into the story somehow (we had wedding cake for the first Breaking Dawn movie, trail mix & other wilderness-type food for Hunger Games, etc), but so far, I haven’t really found any particular food that’s in the series, other than Jace’s fondness for tea. Anyone have any ideas?
So that’s what we’re planning! What are you doing at your library?
The Hunger Games are coming!
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I’ve had lots of people asking what I’m planning for my Hunger Games party, & as I think I’ve pretty much got it figured out, I feel that I can finally share! In the past, all my movie premiere parties have been more hangouts with games, crafts, & food, but this is something very different. I’m planning more of a competition-style program, in keeping with the theme of the Hunger Games, & I think that the kids are not only going to have a blast, but they’re going to learn quite a lot, too.
I’ll be splitting the teens into teams of no more than 3, but they’ll have to at least partner up. To start, there will be white drawstring backpacks in the center of the room, & a la the Cornucopia, they’ll have to grab a pack & begin the Hunger Games.
Tucked inside each pack they’ll find ten challenges, as well as their food for the night. As in the book, some packs will have things like apples or trail mix, while others will have crackers or something similar – I suppose what they consider “good” will probably vary from what I think is good, but that’s part of the fun! I’ll also include water bottles & juice boxes.
The challenges are going to vary among the packs, but everyone will have to complete ten of them. I’m hoping to have about 20 challenges to pick & choose from, but here’s what I’ve come up with so far.
- Get picture taken as team (we’ll print these out before the end of the night)
- Create team logo/symbol on backpack (which is why they’re white)
- Leaf rubbing/tree identification
- Plant identification*, ie: you come across these berries! Can you eat them?
- Animal track ID*
- Reference desk question
- Put books in order
- Toilet paper unwrap
- Dart gun target practice
- Archery practice
- Bean bag toss (a la corn hole)
- Lacing challenge
- Knot tying
- Ninja stars (Wii game)
- Decode message using Navajo
- Hunger Games trivia (ten questions)
- First Aid
There will be some sort of narrative to go along with the challenges, in the same vein as the plant identification challenge, but I’m still working on that. Some of these will be completed by everyone, but some will just be luck of the draw. Each challenge will be worth ten points, so there will be a total of 100 points possible with a time bonus for the first three to complete the entire game. For anything they choose incorrectly, they’ll lose points, just as they’d be in a rather bad place if they chose to eat poisonous berries.
While we tally up the points, I’ll have a Mockingjay pin craft for them to complete. Should be a fun night!
*There are some cool apps out there for those of you with iPads!
What do you have planned?
Geekin’ out @ the library…
So… Teen Tech Week 2012: I LOVE LOVE LOVE this theme. It might be because I’m pretty much a major geek myself, currently obsessing over all things Doctor Who & Sherlock, but overall, I think the theme is quite inspired. What with the celebrations of all things geek right now in pop culture (Big Bang Theory is the most popular sitcom at the moment, after all) & the incredible popularity of Tumblr, which has taken LiveJournal’s place as the social networks where all the geeks gather, it’s just perfect.
Here’s what I’m up to:
» Our library system is hosting two gaming tournaments: Just Dance & Smash Bros. I had originally planned to do a Rock Band tournament, but when it became quite clear that although the teens really enjoy playing, they can barely get through a song… I switched to Smash Bros. Perhaps they’ll be ready for it next year.
» Every year we have a tech survey – so far we’ve done music & social network questions, but this year we’re focusing on television. They fill out the survey (with about three questions), & then we pull a random winner out of the entrants. The prizes vary, but are usually books, candy, & whatever stuff I have lying around.
The questions:
- What are your favorite tv shows? Name up to six.
- How do you watch it? Circle all that apply: As it airs on TV / DVR/Tivo / Online Streaming (Hulu.com, official websites, etc) / Purchase individual episodes / TV on DVD / “Acquire” through various websites
- How do you find out about new shows?
I’m definitely looking forward to finding out what they have to say! These are always immensely helpful in getting to know them.
» We’re also hosting a multi-fandom costume party (which I’ve called, so cleverly, the “Geek Out @ Your Library Costume Party“) where I’m inviting them to dress in any character from any universe. In addition to just showcasing our geekiness, we’ll also be having lots of fandom fun with trivia games & crafts.
» The final thing I’m doing to celebrate, outside of the usual displays & decorations, is a passive ALL THE FANDOMS matching game. Personally, I love stealth fandom stuff – rather than wear a t-shirt with the Doctor Who logo, I’d much rather wear something that states “bow ties are cool.” Or something with the leaf village symbol, rather than the main Naruto logo. In the spirit of this, I’ll be creating a display with numbered images or quotes from 25-30 fandoms, & have them name the fandom to which each thing belongs. I’ll add a picture once it’s done, but it ought to be pretty gnarly.
What’s your library up to?
BREAKING DAWN…. part one
Now, I’m not a hater – in fact, I quite honestly enjoy the series, & it’s possible I’m among only a few that absolutely loved what Catherine Hardwicke did with the first one. But I can’t imagine I’m alone when I say I’m getting rather tired of this universe. For me, the biggest obstacle is the fact that there’s really very little to play with here – no costume contests, no silly food to recreate, very few universe-specific details. At the previous three parties, we’ve made glitter gel & created jewelry, a la what’s been available at Hot Topic, but I was getting a bit tired of doing that. So, for this movie, we created more of a wedding reception atmosphere, complete with “Save the Date!” wordage on our marketing.
What we did:
» As at all our Twilight parties, we had the soundtrack playing sprinkled with various trailers & tv spots.
» I made a wedding cake, & this was actually the first time I’ve ever decorated a cake like this, so I’m fairly pleased with it. We got the pans from a staff member, & I think the mixes, frosting, & other ingredients were less than $10.
» The guestbook was rather amusing – I think they had fun pretending to be at Bella & Edward’s wedding!
» Our major craft was a dreamcatcher. Oriental Trading has a very nice kit, less than $1 each, that makes quite a nice little dreamcatcher. The reviews over there are a bit unfairly negative, because the truth is, this isn’t something you can do with younger kids, but for teens & older, I think it’s perfect.
» I printed out a bunch of t-shirt ideas I’d seen online, & as we’ve done at all the parties, they were invited to bring along a t-shirt to design for the movie line.
» We always have a Jeopardy-style trivia game with questions taken from the book, & this party was no exception.
» We’ve had the life size standees since the New Moon Party, & I think we’ve had our money’s worth from them. Throughout the week prior to the party they help with advertising, & then everyone fauns over them at the actual party.
» Prizes included a few bookmarks, a donated copy of Breaking Dawn, & some other little vampire tidbits. Bookmarks with dreamcatcher lore, Twilight & New Moon reading maps, & Vampire Kisses READ bookmarks completed the freebie table.
For our next (& with any luck, FINAL!) Twilight party, we’ll be having cupcakes & thinking more along the lines of a baby shower. Of course, it’ll be a vampire baby shower, so darkness & candlelight will still rule the party planning.
Zen & the Art of Teen Services 