Mexican Sugar Skulls

Since I was going whole-hog with Halloween, I decided to extend my enthusiasm into November and the Dias de Los Muertos (or Day of the Dead). It's a holiday in Mexico and several other countries where the people remember and honor their ancestors by making sugar skulls, bringing flowers, and taking food to their ancestors' graves. Really I just wanted to make the cool sugar skulls, but it's a good way to get teens interested in another culture.

www.mexicansugarskull.com was a pretty good resource, but can be pricey if you’re only doing a small group. My coworker found a kit through Hearth Song, and it was fantastic! We bought the party pack and it was more than enough for our programs. I probably have enough meringue powder to do it next year too! We had to do this program for two weeks – 1 week to mold the skulls and another to decorate them. The skulls take a day or two to dry, so that’s why we had to do it in two sessions.

The recipe for sugar skulls is pretty basic. 1 tsp of meringue powder, 1 cup of granulated sugar. Mix together and slowly add water a bit at a time until it feels a bit like sand at the beach. Not really wet, but enough that it can mold together. Pack the sugar mixture into molds, and turn over onto a piece of cardboard or mat board. Leave out to dry. Unfortunately, the day I did this with my teens it was raining, so the skulls were already doomed to not dry properly. In addition, we had a mouse in our building at the time, so I had to take extra steps to ensure the skulls couldn't be nibbled by our little invader. Needless to say, the skulls didn't turn out and I had to make new ones before we decorated them the next week. You may want to skip molding them with the kids and just do it yourself.

The skulls are decorated with royal icing, and my teens had a blast doing this. Of course, they also had a ball decorating cakes this summer (which I will blog about later), so it really shouldn't have been any surprise. Big hit, a lot of fun, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Zombie Party

According to several sources, zombies are hot right now. Maybe not as much as vampires, but still - big. So I decided to do a zombie party as part of my month of Halloween festivities. I had done the gory makeup workshop earlier in the week, to give the kids an idea of some of the things they could do for the party. I advertised for weeks, and had a lot of teens interested (though unfortunately, I had to do it the same day as FBA, and consequently probably lost a few kids).

In the weeks leading up to the party, I made a Pin the Entrails on the Corpse game. It’s like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, but instead of a tail, I had every body part imaginable – including internal organs. We started out with just a torso, and everyone was given a part to stick up. None of them were the same, and placement counted, so as the game went on and more parts were up, the harder and more confusing the game got.

We played Zombie Tag. You have everyone gather around and close their eyes. You tap 3 or so people (depending on the size of the group) to be “the infected”. Have everyone open their eyes and mill around a bit, and when you shout out the trigger word (whichever one you choose), the infected can start the attack. Zombies can only walk (well, shamble), and they only have to tag someone to infect them. The person tagged waits a moment, and then can begin their own attack. The game ends when only one person is left. Make sure you clear any tables and chairs out of the way before this starts, and make sure the kids don’t run.

We had a craft table, where the kids could make door hangers. Michael’s had foam letters made up of bones, and glow-in-the-dark skeletons you could assemble and stick. I just left them out on the table and let the kids wander up and do it when they had time. We had zombie trivia as well, though since most zombie movies are rated “R”, they had a tough time of it. Still, most had seen enough to answer the questions. My coworker Sybil also worked on breaking down the choreography to “Thriller”, and she taught us a small bit of the dance. When it was sped up to real time, it was almost impossible to keep up, but still fun.

For refreshments, we had chunks of sod (brownies with green frosting and worms on top), body part gummies, flayed flesh and pus cubes (cheese cubes and salami), and crunchy eyeballs (rice krispie treats formed into a ball, dunked in white chocolate, with an M&M on top).

To end the party, we had the kids take pictures with a few select books to make some of those READ posters. The full set of pictures is available here.

Gory Makeup Workshop

Well since it was October and Halloween was coming up, I though it was the perfect time to do a gory makeup workshop! Originally I was going to get a couple of my friends who are makeup artists to come up, but as time drew closer, I didn’t think I could pull them away from their busy schedules. Thankfully, I ended up going to the Spooky Empire horror convention in Orlando, and got to attend a zombie makeup workshop by makeup artist Bloody Mary. She’s a super cool lady. I bought some of her makeup while I was there and asked her afterwards about donations to non-profit organizations. She said all I had to do was send her a letter on our company letterhead. Done! She was great and rushed the order to because out workshop was just a week or so away. (The makeup kits didn’t arrive in time for the workshop, but I did have them in time for our zombie party, and they made great prizes) You can check out her website here.

At the time we also had a theater/makeup store in Gainesville called Center Stage, and I bought some makeup there to bolster what I already had.

The following items were used:
liquid latex
bruise makeup kit
white cream makeup
blue cream makeup
red cream makeup
ice makeup kit
fake blood
zombie makeup kit (from Bloody Mary)

Ideally, I would’ve had enough that I could make small kits for the kids to use on each other, but as it was, I did all the work and the teens got to sit back and watch. I tried to do several tutorials. One was a freshly dead zombie - grey skin, a bit of blood. The other was one that had scabs and rotting flesh. Another was a person who had been frozen, and the fourth someone who had been beaten up. You can do all sorts of variations, so play around with what makeup you can find, and see what you can do the best. Two videos I found particularly helpful can be found on youtube here and here.

Goth Sock Puppets

October was a REALLY big month for me program-wise. I had so many things I could do and plan - it was FANTASTIC! One thing we had done before, and had been a big hit were the goth sock puppets.

This is a really inexpensive craft to do. Odds are you already have a good number of notions - buttons, ribbons, sequins, googlie eyes, etc. lying around in your craft cabinet. All you need to buy are some black and white socks. We use hot glue, but you might be able to use that really thick tacky glue if you need to. I make sure to give the teens cardboard to stick inside the socks so their hands don't get burned.

My grandmother gave me a bunch of mini bells that were shaped like bats, and those were used on almost every single gock that was made. Just make sure that you have plenty of red, black, and white (maybe a bit of neon color), plenty of imagination, and you're sure to have a successful program.

Improv Acting

This has surprisingly become one of my most popular programs. I figured the kids would all stand and stare at me, but once you break the ice, it's not usually a problem to get them to participate. The following are some games that I've had success with, and some others you may want to try.

Statues - This is my icebreaker. Basically you have the kids space themselves out around the room and get them to freeze into a position. Then you have a security guard (which is usually, initially, me). The security guard walks around and makes comments about the statues, and whenever the guard turns his/her back, the statues are supposed to move into a different position. If the guard sees a statue moving, that person is out, and the game goes until all but one is left, or you have to call a draw. Usually the teen that wins is one that doesn't move very much, and you need to encourage them to change into more drastically different positions, instead of just moving an arm. The way I've been doing it with my Fort White group is the person who wins gets to choose who is the security guard next.

I know this game doesn't sound that impressive, but they love it! My Fort White group has boys up to 17 or so in it, and they beg to do it almost every time. Same goes for my younger teens as well.

Contagious Emotions - If you looked through your FLYP manual last year, you may have come across this game in the teen section. I know Page Turner Adventures covered it in their workshop. Basically it's like the party game on Whose Line is it Anyway?. You have one teen who's hosting a party. The other teens you select are guests, and draw a slip of paper with an emotion on it out of a hat. One by one you send the teens in, and the host is supposed to try to guess (not out loud) what emotion they're portraying and then emulate it. As the game goes on, with each new person that's sent in, the rest of the party "catches" the emotion as well.

This is a good beginning game, as it doesn't take a whole lot of acting skill to portray an emotion. Sometimes I use other states of being (not necessarily emotions), like sick, zombie, cold, etc. This one definitely gets a lot of laughs, particularly if you're not sure what the emotion is, but are playing along anyway.

Questions - This game is a more advanced improv. Divide the teens into 2 groups, and have each group form a line facing each other. Like this _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. The two people in the middle will then start a conversation using only questions. You can set limits as to what they're talking about or where they are, and that may help. The rules are that you can't make a statement and you can't repeat a question back to someone. The idea is to have a conversation, and not just fire random questions at each other. When someone breaks one of these rules, that person is out, and moves to the end of the line and the next person steps forward.

An example of a good conversation is this:
A: Where did you get that shirt?
B: Do you like it?
A: Wouldn't my question imply that?
B: Well, where do you think I got it?
A: Is it from Hollister?
B: Is that the store next to American Eagle?

You get the idea. You can get stuck in the trap of teens just asking "What's your favorite ____?" back and forth, and then it's a good idea to stop. However, if you have teens that are quick-witted, this can be a really good game.

Sit, Stand or Bend - This one seems like an easy enough game, but if you've watched Whose Line, then you know it can be quite difficult and hilarious. Basically you have 3 people and two chairs. One is sitting, one is standing, and one is bending over. You then give them a scenario to act out. At any given time, one of the actors can choose to change position, and the other two have to scramble to change - you always have to have 1 person in each position - sitting, standing, and bending. That's pretty much the game in a nutshell.

I've had a pretty good response to this one, but it's not one I feel like I need to do every time.

Hats - This game is a chance for them to dress up (and I'm telling you, there's nothing like watching a bunch of high school boys play dress up). I usually pick out 3 teens, and hand them hats. You then give them a scenario - like they're all on a sinking boat and they're arguing about who gets to be in the 2-person life raft. Then at a choice moment, I yell out "SWITCH", and they have to switch hats and become that other character. I do that twice, so everyone has a chance to be each character.

Well as you can guess from my first statement, the teens love this one! Heck, I could just give them the box full of hats and wigs and they could entertain themselves on their own for awhile. It's a good game, and well received.

There are loads of other games that you can find online (including some mad libs skits I want to do), but these are the staples that I use for my program. The best thing about this program? It's FREE! We already had hats and wigs laying about (and I'm sure you do too), so use them! And have fun!

Gaming Days

I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention gaming days, since they have become a staple of my teen programs. My supervisor was hesitant to do them because they have nothing to do with a library, but has since changed her mind.

This summer we did our first gaming day, and it was a HUGE success. We had 50 or so people show up for our program. Our gaming days since then haven't had nearly the response, but since I haven't done as much advertisement (as they've been a part of our weekly teen programs), it wasn't really expected. We have not as of yet done anything with board or card games - just video, but here are some tips and tricks I've learned.

1. Have a snack. Sure video games are fun enough on their own - when you're the person playing. When you're one of the ones stuck watching (even if only for a short time), it's good to have something to snack on. My library has them for free. Generally we do chips and sodas, but this last time we had several boxes of cereal and some milk and it was a great hit. My friend Mary works for a library, and when they do gaming events, they charge for snacks. However, the money from this goes into a scholarship fund that they have for their Teen Friends, so it evens out.

2. Ideally, your gaming event will be several hours long, but it really depends on group size. The way my schedule is right now, I can only do mine for an hour (not including setting up/taking down equipment). The first one we did was 2 or 2 1/2 hrs long, which was great - of course that was the one with 50 people. The ones I've done lately have averaged about 10, so an hour is sufficient.

3. Here is a list of games that ALWAYS appear to be a hit:
A. Rock Band or Guitar Hero. Rock Band or Guitar Hero World Tour are ideal because up to four people can play at one time. If you have just Guitar Hero, try to get 2 guitars, because you can at least challenge against the other person and add some competition to the mix.

B. Dance Dance Revolution. This is one that is two player, and involves a lot of moving so make sure you have the room. It's dancing on pads and following the arrows.

C. Super Smash Brothers. Every time I watch this game, I have no idea what's going on. It's just sensory overload. Basically, it's a just fighting game. You can have up to four people fighting at once, or you can have the computer make up for the other players if less people are playing.

D. Nintendo Wii. Ok - not a game, but Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Music are all good games that you can get for the Wii. Depending on the game, up to 4 people can play. This is an ideal game if you have tweens. This is another game that requires a lot of moving around, so make sure you have plenty of room so someone doesn't get hit.

E. Old school Nintendo. I was really excited when one of my teens brought this the last time, but we weren't able to play it. The projector I was working didn't have the old school cable hookup, and he only brought one controller anyway. However, if it had worked out, I'm sure they would've loved playing it.

4. It's always a good idea to have multiple tvs with games set up. I can't imagine a more boring time than if there was only one TV set up with one game. Snoozeville. If you have multiple games set up, there are more chances for teens to play and less waiting around. Plus, they can switch it up instead of playing the same game over and over.

There are other people who probably have more experience with gaming than I have, but here's what I know. I hope it helps out someone.

Marble Magnets

With the start of a new school year came new projects. I would love to do recycled materials forever, but there's only so many projects you can do before it gets old.

Pretty much the only craft project that caught my eye in this book I was sent was marble magnets. These cute, little funky things have been the hit of everyone that has seen them. They're made using those glass marbles that people put in the bottom of vases - they're flat on one side, and curved on the other, and simple as all get out to make.

Take some magazines (or old book/music/movie catalogs - ALA Graphics is a good one), and find and image you want. Next, take the marble and place it over the image and trace around it. Cut the image out, and then decoupage it onto the flat side of the marble so the image is showing through the curved side. To decoupage, mix a little water with white glue. Apply glue to marble, and then affix image. Apply several layers of white glue on top of image, allowing for layers to dry inbetween applications. This will ensure the image stays stuck to the marble. Then attach a magnet on the back of the marble and bob's your uncle - you're done! (Try to find some small, but strong magnets. I used flat sheet magnets, and as a result, my awesome magnets are really for decoration only).

My teens really had a good time with it, and they have fun talking and fighting over the pictures they're going to use. Plus it gave them a great idea for Christmas presents they could make themselves. This is a super easy craft with great results. I highly recommend it to anyone!