Bullet Journaling Tutorial

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Where would I be without my bullet journal? Between planning of a new library branch to Summer Reading Club to countless programs and daycare visits – I need to be organized. And with over 1000 program participants in the month of July alone, I need a system that works. So, I heard about the bullet journal trend and I decided to give it a go. And it has become a lifesaver.

What is Bullet Journaling?

Bullet Journaling is an analog system for the digital age. It lets you create lists, events, notes, and it highlight your monthly calendar. Plus, it’s fun and you can make it super colourful if you need to!  View the tutorial video below.

I purchased my journal at Staples. One side is lined, the other side is squared. I opted for this one because it is slightly cheaper than the Moleskin squared notebook. Plus, they were sold out. Win-Win!

Even though there’s an index, I find it easier to label each month. I even have a little place to put my fitness schedule and water intake.

If you’re a chronic list maker, like myself, then I would give bullet journaling a try!

Amazing Race: Library Edition

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Amazing Race: Library Edition is a program that I’ve ran twice before. It always brings out a huge crowd – and for those of us who have a small budget – it’s a great program to run!

For those of you who are not familiar with the show, teams race around the world completing challenges. The team that completes the challenges in the least amount of time, wins the race.

If you’re running this program in the library, the best way to do it is have the teams travel to continents: Europe, Asia, Australia, Antarctica, Africa, South America, North America.

Teams are given either a Detour challenge or a Road Block. In a Detour Challenge, teams have a choice of completing one out of two challenges. In the Road Block, teams have to complete that challenge.

Teams

I had four teams: Red, Yellow, Orange, and Green. One member was the “team captain” – and they were in charge of running the challenges to the pit stop and back (so there wasn’t a huge crowd). If teams got a challenge wrong, they were sent back to try again.

I wouldn’t do this program with anyone younger than 8 years of age.

Envelopes

Amazing Race - Envelopes

Download the template for envelopes here

I printed these on colored paper (don’t have a coloured printer here) and then glued them onto envelopes.

Challenges

Amazing Race - Playing Cards

Download the game cards here

Europe
Road Block: In this roadblock one member of the team will draw their own version of a famous painting. I used Mona Lisa.

Asia
Detour: in this detour, teams will have a choice of making one origami butterfly or Chinese lantern for every person in their team.

Australia
Road Block: In this roadblock, one member of the team will participate in a boomerang toss. You will have to decorate a boomerang and toss it into the box.

Amazing Race - Boomerang Toss

Antarctica
Detour: In this detour, teams will have a choice between completing a cool quiz or an Antarctica Word Search

Africa
Road Block: In this roadblock, team will have to complete an African animal which is which quiz

South America
Road Block: In this roadblock, one member of the team will participate in a game called Canica. The goal is to shoot marbles into the doors of a shoebox. Each door has a number telling you how many points you earn if the marble goes into that door. Earn 10 points to get past the roadblock.

Amazing Race - Canica

North America
Detour: In this detour, teams will have one choice between creating ONE totem pole bookmark for everyone in the group OR completing a fill-in-the-blanks worksheet about North American landmarks.

Final Challenge
Label a map with all the continents that your team has visited.

Review: The Wolf Who Wanted to Change His Color

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cover to book

Cover for The Wolf Who Wanted to Change His Color

Title: The Wolf Who Wanted to Change His Color
Author/Illustrator: Orianne Lallemand / Eleonore Thuillier (ill.)
Publisher: Auzou
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9782733862363
For ages: 5+
Type: Picture Book

Gray wolf doesn’t want to be gray anymore. He thinks gray is such a boring and dreary color. So, he came up with an idea: he would change his color! Each day of the week starting with Monday, Wolf changes his color from green to blue and even dressed himself up in peacock feathers! Will Wolf ever find the perfect colour?

This book is a tale of acceptance and self-esteem. Wolf tries and tries to find a suitable color for his coat, but realizes in the end he is happy just the way he is. This book is perfect for kindergarten and up. It combines concepts (days of the week, colours) with a lovely message at the end. Perfect for a classroom storytime session.

Spy Camp

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A mysterious detective dropped off some secret case files and it’s up to us to uncover the mystery! Learn how to be a secret agent by using some sneaky spy tactics.

Spy camp is now my favourite program to run. It was a sold out crowd on a Saturday for kids – I mean Agents- aged 8-12. I wouldn’t recommend this program to be done with anyone younger. They need to be able to problem solve at a high level.

Program Delivery

Spy Code of Conduct

Spy Code of Conduct

When the Agents arrived for training, I took their names as a form of security clearance. I assigned them an agent number  and they were given their badge. The badge had the Spy Code of Conduct on the back. I used the code of conduct from S.P.Y. Camp Sustainable Planning for Youth.

Once we recited the Spy Code of Conduct, we then moved on to cracking codes. I found a template for a cipher, or a decoder, and my lovely page assembled them for me.

And here comes the dramatic part…

Urgetn Pakckage

I had my circulation staff bring in a package with the case files inside. The agents had to solve the mystery!

I instructed my circulation staff to interrupt the Spy Camp with a mysterious package that had been delivered to the circulation desk. She said, “Sorry to interrupt, but this urgent package was delivered to the desk. I didn’t see who it was, they were in and out, but they need you to look at it immediately.”

Inside the package was a note from Detective Dalton. There was a bank robbery at Bruce Spruce Falls Bank and Detective Dalton needed the Agents to help him solve the mystery.

I separated the Agents into four groups. They were each given Dalton’s letter, a bag of mixed up clues, Case Report Analysis, and Suspect list.

Case Files

Case Files

Through a process of elimination, the Agents had to sift through the clues, write down the suspects, if they had an alibi, and if they were cleared.

Case Files

Case Files

I found the clues on Teachers Pay Teachers, but I did modify it quite a bit the case files to suit a Canadian audience. The file is $6.99, but includes 5 cases.

Lots of preparation went into this program, bit it was well worth it! The kids were so rowdy and into it. I will definitely repeat this program again!

Kids’ Club – Ooey Gooey Science

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Catch a rainbow

Red, Yellow, and Blue food colouring placed in milk. Add dish soap and the colours mix together!

Kids’ Club was a program that I used to run at Windsor Public Library. It was too much fun for the kids and required little pre-planning on my part (….sometimes planned the day before). It followed the same format: read a chapter from a book, followed by an activity.

You don’t have to advertise what the activity is either. Sometimes it’s hard to plan 4 months in advance – especially when you pin some great ideas on Pinterest. It’s great that you only have to advertise it as “kids’ Club” rather than individual programs.

For the Summer Reading Club programs, I choose Gooney Bird Greene as the chapter book that we read. In other years, I’ve done Wayside Stories. Both stories are great because each chapter is sort of an individual story. So, if kids miss a day, they’re not missing the entire story.

For some great science experiments, check out Kitchen Science Lab for Kids by Liz Lee Heinecke ISBN: 9781592539253

Today, we did Ooey Gooey Science. It’s a program that my colleague ran before and the kids just were wide eyed.

I did four experiments with them. It took about an hour to read + do the experiments.

Erupting Playdough

Elephant Toothpaste

– I used regular drugstore Hydrogen Peroxide – you’ll have to put at least a 1 1/2 cup to get the results

Catch a Rainbow

Balloon Blowup

How it Went 

The kids were amazed at some of the experiments. I had two little boys who kept saying, “…but how? How?”

I made enough Playdough to give them some to take home in a little baggy. I also gave them a take-away sheet of all the experiments that we did that day.

catch a rainbow

Red, Yellow, and Blue food colouring placed in milk. Add dish soap and the colours mix together!

elephant toothpaste

Mix in hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, and food colouring into the bottle. Mix in warm water and yeast. Pour it in to the bottle, and watch it explode!