If you haven't tried a storybook
pumpkin patch in your library yet, you've GOT to give it a try! This was my
first year to give it a go, and WOW! Our students really surprised me!
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| Gerald, the
elephant |
Now, these are the same students who
forget to turn in library books, and I thought they might forget to bring their
pumpkins, but their creativity was SHINING with this project!
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| Transformer |
Our library is
blossoming with pumpkins, designed to look like our favorite characters from
books. I put green butcher paper on top of our bookshelves, to contrast with the
pumpkins.
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| Greg Heffley has his own speech
bubble! |
This was super easy to do, and the
whole school is excited about it. Here's what I learned from my librarian
colleagues in my school district:
- pumpkins may not be carved or cut (avoid rotten, stinky smells)
- pumpkins should be designed based on a character from a book
- acrylic paint or permanent markers are good for creating designs.
Watercolors and spray paint are bad.
- Items can be glued on to the pumpkin.
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| Medusa |
- Students can use a real or fake pumpkin
- Students pick up their pumpkin the afternoon of October 31. When they pick
up their pumpkin, they receive a spirit stick for participating. (You don't want to get stuck
with these pumpkins forever!)
- On the back of the instructions, have an entry form with blanks for the
child's name, pumpkin's name, book title, author, illustrator, and a description
of the character.
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| Babymouse |
This project took very little effort on my part, but it has our whole
campus smiling and talking about their favorite characters. I did make a simple
pumpkin of my own about a week ahead of time (Pinkalicious, with dollar store
hair, tiara, and wand) so that students could see an example.
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| Humphrey (cotton balls with
make-up on them) |
Some of the schools in our district have been doing this for 20 years. It's
not too difficult for the students, and the families had fun working on these
together. I wish I'd tried it sooner!
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| Fortune
Wookiee |
Out of 850 students, I now have 100 decorated pumpkins in our library.
Wow! Have you tried the Storybook Pumpkin Patch in your library? If you have,
tell us about it!
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