Tag Archives: just for fun

Orville's Adventure: a slumber party at the library!

Are you looking for a fun library activity to engage youngsters at your library or media center? Last week, CMLE’s own Office Bear Orville was able to participate in a fantastic event at the St. Cloud Public Library – the Stuffed Animal Sleepover!

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There is Orville, surrounded by furry friends! (They are wearing superhero capes, just one of the event’s activities!)

Mary was able to represent CMLE at the event, and accompanied Orville as he got to meet the other stuffed friends and their chaperones, heard a story, then had some fun with crafting superhero capes and necklaces. Then it was time to say goodnight to the stuffed animals and leave them for the night, with instructions to “be good!” Library staff then got to work documenting all the mischief the stuffed animals created in the library!

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Orville enjoyed playing with legos!

While we have several fun pictures to share with you here, we also have some exciting printed ones at CMLE HQ. Some of these include Orville riding Wally, the huge book sorting machine that is behind the scenes at the library, and also a picture of Orville and assorted friends working together to break into the Executive Director’s office! The printed photos of library shenanigans were distributed to each child when they arrived the next morning to pick up their stuffed friend. The kids got to enjoy a snack while they heard all about the adventures of the previous night, while admiring the picture display set up in the Children’s Department of all the stuffed animals and their troublemaking!

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Orville had fun exploring!

 

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He got to make new friends, too!

For the past four years, Dezra Rittmann has brought this awesome event to life, and works very hard to make sure kids and stuffed animals enjoy themselves! She describes it as a very popular program, and it’s easy to see why. In fact, it is so popular that registration is required!

CMLE had so much fun taking part in this event, and we think that it could be a great program for your library, too! Especially with school libraries or media centers – kids would love to see what mischief their stuffed animals get into after the school is closed! Let us know if you need more information, and we can connect you with the right people!

A huge thank-you to Dezra and everyone at the St. Cloud Public Library for letting us participate in your program!

Learn about these 13 unusual holiday traditions from around the world!

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Learn cool holiday facts!

Do you find yourself lacking in conversational topics this holiday season? (If you are a librarian, you have all sorts of interesting knowledge, so probably not, but just in case!) Reader’s Digest Canada compiled this slideshow of intriguing holiday traditions that are celebrated in different places around the world. Don’t be put off by the goofiness of Number One – they are fun to learn about and the pictures are great too!

For a kids version of worldwide winter holiday celebrations, check out this article from National Geographic Kids, where they cover holidays from Hanukkah to the Chinese New Year.

Thanksgiving at CMLE!

thanksgiving-3 As you may be starting to appreciate, we like to be festive at CMLE Headquarters. Since Thanksgiving is soon approaching, we decided it was time to hang up the turkeys! (We have decorative turkeys on streamers floating from the ceiling. There’s no good way to photograph them, so stop by or use your imagination!)

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We just wanted to share our decorations with you, and perhaps you have some festive November or Thanksgiving themed decorating going on at your library or media center? Send us a picture! For more glimpses of our exciting office happenings (often including Orville the Bear and the Office Plant team) follow us on Instagram.

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Tiny homes of famous authors

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Write and read in a cozy place!

Tiny Homes is a trend that’s gaining popularity, but it seems that famous authors have been on top of this idea for years!

This article from Book Riot explores the cozy living and writing spaces of a few famous authors. I love Philip Pullman’s magical-looking retreat!

I did a little more looking around online, and writers in tiny homes is actually a pretty popular phenomenon! Here’s an article from Tiny House for Us with a few more homes profiled, and another from Apartment Therapy. (Sorry for some duplicates!)

If you are a writer, or reader (of course you are!) do you have a favorite small space that you like to inhabit while enjoying books? Personally, I usually just like to be outside! Preferably by a campfire or in a boat! 🙂

Awesome Book Week costumes

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Fun book characters!

Just in case you didn’t get enough of cute kids in costumes from Halloween last week, here’s a Buzzfeed article about cool kids dressed up as their favorite story characters for Book Week. Of course there are some incredible Harry Potter ones, but also a very chic Madeline and dapper R. L. Stine!

And if you happen to have a small, book-loving person in your life that would like to dress up for next year (Children’s Book Week 2017 is May 1-7th) here’s a link to some easy DIY costumes!

Have you, your kids, or someone else you know dressed up as a book character? We’d love to see! Share with us on Twitter or Facebook!

 

 

Book Week

Kids go to school dressed as their favorite characters:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/caitlinjinks/book-week-costumes?utm_term=.bf6BGxKNZ#.myrLAQEYm