STEM: Cardboard Box Challenge

So it's about time I talk about STEM, particularly with regards to dramatic play and engineering! This blog post is especially dedicated to Caine Monroy who inspired the Cardboard Box Challenge with Caine's Arcade. Essentially, a filmmaker went to buy a door handle for his car and he met this 9 year old boy named Caine who had spent his summer building this elaborate cardboard arcade inside his dad's used auto part store. Caine invited him to play, and he couldn't pass up his "FunPass deal." The filmmaker then decided to make a short 10 minute film all about Caine's Arcade and let me tell you... this film is VERY moving. It totally brought me to tears! The video is posted below or can be viewed at the following Vimeo link: https://vimeo.com/40000072

Eventually hundreds of thousands of dollars started pouring into Caine's college fund and the Imagination Foundation was born. They then launched a "Global Day of Play" as part of their "Global Cardboard Challenge." The day takes place on the first Saturday of October (the anniversary of the 'surprise flashmob' the filmmaker & community did to make Caine's day in the Caine's Arcade short film). 

With the Cardboard Box Challenge, friends, family, co-workers and community members all over the world can come out to play at local events, celebrating the creativity and imagination of kids everywhere. Child directed play is not only fun, it's extremely powerful for self esteem and learning. Here are just a few of the benefits:

• When children pretend they are motivated and engaged in learning. 
• Pretending helps to stimulate memory and facilitate understanding of their world.
• Pretending increases their ability to use symbolic communication 
• Participating in arts like drama helps to develop analytical skills, an eye for detail, and expanded descriptive vocabulary through listening and responding. 
• Physical development is promoted as children learn to use different parts of their bodies to express themselves.

“Build anything you can dream,” is the motto behind the Cardboard Challenge.  In addition to instilling creativity within children, the Cardboard Box Challenge inspires children to become engineers for a day.  Playing with cardboard boxes and other building materials develops math and science skills too, helping children learn about gravity, balance, shapes, and problem solving. If this were a library program, you could even provide challenges for children and families to complete if they so choose:

Challenge it:

• How tall can you make a tower?
• Build a tunnel you can crawl through
• Build something as a team
• Build something in five minutes
• Build a game you can play

The other thing I love about the Cardboard Challenge is that it reminds parents that they don't have to have a lot of expensive gadgets to have a good time with their kids. Children can easily use everyday materials to make something fun, functional or beautiful! As a child, my favorite time in the world was when my parents would buy a new refrigerator or appliance because the box that it would come in was always a ginormous box that could be transformed into something magnificent. That large box could be a spaceship, a time traveling device, a submarine, or anything my mind could come up with. I am so blessed to have had parents who always allowed me time to play freely with random materials at hand.  It is probably why I am the creative individual I am to this day :) I was never afraid to take risks and be creative. 

I seriously hope to someday implement an imaginative day of play like The Cardboard Box Challenge at a library where I work! Read more about it at http://cardboardchallenge.com/

"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun." --Mary Lou Cook

Sources:
"Caine's Arcade Global Day of Play & Cardboard Challenge." Caine's Arcade. 2015. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.
"Stem Sprouts: Science Technology Engineering and Math Teaching Guide." Boston Children's Museum. Web. 10 Sept. 2015.
 "Young Children and the Arts: Making Creative Connections: A Report of the Task Force on Children’s Learning and the Arts: Birth to Age Eight." Arts Education Partnership, 1998. Web. 13 Sept. 2015. .

Reading Under the Stars

This is a fun program idea that was inspired by a family literacy night that was held at Lake Park Elementary School in Addison, IL where I volunteer on occasion. This would make a great all ages family-friendly event or could be a fun program for a smaller targeted group!

Title: Reading Under the Stars! or Camp Read-A-Lot

 

Age: Children in grades K-5 and their families or this could be a program targeted towards a specific age range like children in grade K-3. I would recommend this program require registration due to the craft and outside bear hunt. Smaller groups are good for the outside bear hunt. 

Objective: Children will listen to some campfire tales while enjoying some s'mores, go on a bear hunt outside, and then complete a craft. Craft will be binoculars made out of toilet paper rolls. If you want, you can tell some more eerie tales (like stories from Alvin Schart’z book, In a Dark Dark Room) and have the program during for the week of Halloween!

Set up: Dim the lights and project an image of stars onto the ceiling using a projector and a laptop. If a projector isn’t available, use white Christmas lights behind a black see-through cloth and attach it to the wall. Set up the room to look like a campground – have chairs, maybe a tent, and pretend campfires made with paper towels and tissue paper.

 Lake Park Elementary School in Addison, IL projected an image of stars onto the ceiling for their "Camp Read-a-Lot" themed early literacy event!

Supplies:

1. For mini campfires: paper towel rolls, red/orange/yellow tissue paper to make flames, and Christmas lights. What’s a camp out without a fire? Kathy over at Home Sweet Homebody has directions on making these cute mini campfires. Click here for directions. Looking for a full size blaze? Allie from No Time for Flashcards has easy to follow directions!
2. Projector and laptop to project stars onto the wall (Basically projecting an HD quality image of space onto the wall, see image above) OR you can use a black semi-sheer cloth and hang Christmas lights behind it to make the room look starry.
3. Binoculars craft items, instructions from All Kids Network
   • 2 toilet paper rolls
   • Construction paper
   • Glue
   • Scotch tape
   • Scissors
   • Stickers, crayons, etc.
   • Optional - yarn
4. Portable PA system (if you have one) OR just a portable boombox to play sound effects
5. CD or iPod with sound effects - Sound effects that coincide with the book We're Going on a Bear Hunt can be downloaded online (there are many websites where you can download free sound effects, like soundbible.com for example). Youtube also has some sound effects.
6. Books: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, Camping Spree with Mr. Mcgee by Chris Van Dusen , and Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping by Melanie Watt.
   
7. You can also sing the Sleeping Bag Chant song by Carole Peterson! Youth Services Librarian, Kelly, talks about how you can even turn that song into a flannel board, here.
8. Optional ingredients for s'mores: graham crackers (Try to have gluten-free available as an option for patrons who may have an allergy), chocolate (I recommend dairy free chocolate in case of allergies. "Enjoy Life" is a great brand. They use rice milk), and marshmallows (I recommend gelatin-free "Dandies" marshmallows. I live in an area with a large Indian population and many patrons are vegetarian so for me, it's always good to be on the safe side and avoid food products with animal ingredients).
9. Book cart with nonfiction books centered around camping, bears, owls, nature crafts, and campfire tales

Steps:

1. First children and families will create s'mores to eat while they enjoy the stories

2. Next, the children will listen to the short storytime lasting around 15 to 20 minutes (Read 1st book, read flannel board story, read 2nd book, and end with the "Sleeping Bag Chant".)

3. Afterwards, children will go outside for a Bear Hunt. This is going to a really fun and interactive storytelling experience that will take place on the perimeter of the library. Play sound effects for each scene in the book, like the sound of walking through slushy mud (Squelch squerch! Squelch squerch!), sounds of going through the river (Splash splosh! Splash splosh!), etc. The sound effects REALLY enhance the story! have children also repeat each phrase said in the book after you've said it, like “We’re not scared!”
   
   Early Literacy Tip: Encourage the children to take an active part in the book readings. They enjoy saying the words, just as if they were reading it. Be excited about the story even when you're reading it for the umpteenth time. Reading aloud involves much more than saying words and turning pages. When you show excitement about the pictures, story, setting, and characters, you will excite the children too. 

    

4. After the storytelling event, children will go back inside and create binoculars (to be used to watch for bears, of course!)
   
5. Encourage patrons to check out books from the cart that are centered around the camping theme! 

Bilingual Spanish Picture Books for Children, Grades K-3

The books listed below are perfect for children, grades K-3, whose heritage emanates from any of the Spanish-speaking cultures of the Western Hemisphere or for any youngster looking for a really fun and vibrant picture book. The list below includes several bilingual materials as well as materials in English that incorporate the Spanish language, while accurately representing these cultures. Hispanics are often underrepresented in libraries and I believe it is important that we serve this growing population in public libraries across America. In addition to the bilingual materials listed below, the Naperville Public Library also has a growing number of Spanish children's books within our World Language Collection located in the Children's Department at each branch! Many libraries across the the U.S. are growing their bilingual collections too and these titles are ones that should definitely be included!

 Easy Fiction

Gonzalez, Maya Christina. My Colors, My World / Mis colores, mi mundo. San Fransisco: Children's Book Press, 2011. Print.

This imaginative picture book features a playful Latina girl, with her cleft chin, beauty mark, and wide, brown, almond-shaped eyes, who tries to find color and beauty in her childhood world of the California Mojave Desert. This bilingual, multicultural, color-concept story is perfect for any young Spanish-speaking girl looking for a beautifully illustrated story with a touch of magical realism.

  Mora, Pat. Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children's Day/Book Day / Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros. New York, NY: Rayo, 2009. Print.
In this bilingual English and Spanish picture book, children read aloud in various settings to celebrate ¡El dîa de los niños!/¡El dîa de los libros! (Children’s Day/Book Day). This vibrant story written by award-winning author, Pat Mora, features a happy assortment of multicultural children, adults, and friendly critters with facts about Mexico's annual celebration that encourages literacy among children.

Pérez, Amada Irma. My Very Own Room / Mi propio cuartito. San Francisco: Children's Book Press, 2000. Print.
This colorful story, translated in English and Spanish, is of a young Mexican American girl that feels very crowded in her home with 5 brothers and with the help of her family, the resourceful girl realizes her dream of having a space of her own to read and to think. This story depicts the family life and culture of many Mexican American children with its delightful story that is bound to be very relatable to children living in small spaces.

 

Tafolla, Carmen. What Can You Do With a Paleta? / ¿Qué Puedes Pacer Con Una Paleta?. Bilingual Edition. Berkeley, California: Tricycle Press, 2009. Print.
This award-winning bilingual picture book features a young Mexican American girl that celebrates the paleta, an icy fruit popsicle, and the many roles it plays in her lively barrio. This simultaneous dual-language edition presents a parallel Spanish translation that accompanies the English text while offering an appealing introduction to a yummy aspect of Latino culture.

J Nonfiction

Brown, Monica, and Raúl Colón. My Name is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez = Me llamo Gabito: la vida de Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Flagstaff, Ariz.: Luna Rising, 2007. Print.
This story is an introduction to the life and work of the Nobel prize-winning Colombian author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and describes how the things that surrounded him inspired his imagination and his desire to become a storyteller. This bilingual biographical picture book is a very interesting description of what childhood was like for the imaginative young boy growing up in Aracataca, Colombia.

 Emert, Phyllis Raybin. Sonia Sotomayor: a judge grows in the Bronx = Sonia Sotomayor: la juez que crecio en el Bronx. Detroit, MI: Lucent Books, 2011. Print.
A biography of the first Puerto Rican Supreme Court justice emphasizes how she overcame a childhood of poverty in the South Bronx through her own and her mother's hard work and determination.  The Spanish translation of this story makes the book accessible to Latino families, where Sotomayor’s story can inspire children of all ethnic, racial, and economic backgrounds to work hard and pursue educational and professional success.

Morales, Yuyi. Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2003. Print.
Skeleton Senor Calavera arrives at Grandma Beetle's door, ready to take her to the next life, but after helping her count in English and Spanish as she makes her birthday preparations, he changes his mind. This story is the perfect introduction to counting in both English and in Spanish and is a spirited tribute to the rich traditions of Mexican culture, including the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead.