Ride the Waves Mood Tracker
02 Teens and Tweens, 60 mins+, Chapter 6 Uncharted, Low Cost, Game/Activity, Passive/Display
August 10, 2021 0.00 KB 3621 downloads
Discovering new worlds is tough, and it’s important for teens to take care of themselves! Mindfulness helps them to be aware of thoughts and emotions without getting caught up in them, reducing stress in everyday life. One way teens can practice mindfulness is to track their moods. Once they know what stresses them out, they can better respond to those situations. Teens ride the waves of life with this ocean-themed craft so that they can get back to exploring. You could also modify this program to focus on gratitude journals or bullet journals, or create an ocean-themed Zen garden or labyrinth to walk together. See Printables for a meditative mandala to color.
Suggested runtime: 60 min.
Bermuda Triangle Escape Room
01 Children, 02 Teens and Tweens, 03 Adults, 04 Multigenerational, 60 mins+, Chapter 6 Uncharted, Game/Activity
August 10, 2021 0.00 KB 3961 downloads
The Bermuda Triangle is a space in the North Atlantic where ships, planes, and people have allegedly gone missing. Roughly, its borders run from Florida to Bermuda to Puerto Rico. Set up your own Bermuda Triangle Escape Room, and challenge your patrons to make it through! Modify clues with more or less complexity for different age groups. Puzzles created by Kara Reiman of Maine State Library, Augusta, ME.
Suggested runtime: 60 min.
Geocaching in Your Community
01 Children, 03 Adults, 02 Teens and Tweens, 04 Multigenerational, Chapter 6 Uncharted, 60 mins+, Game/Activity, Passive/Display
August 9, 2021 0.00 KB 2051 downloads
This is a two-part program that includes an introductory session and an activity in which patrons look for geocaches in and around the library, or out in the community. Patrons can find caches, add to existing caches, or create new caches to be found by others. Use Geocaching.com to log your geocache locations (or look for any other geocaches that might already be in your area). Give each geocache location a nautical name and connect it with a fun fact about oceans or ocean animals. You can also make this into a contest where patrons who find all the geocache locations are entered for a big prize. A great multigenerational program, but younger children will need assistance to play.
Suggested runtime: 60–90 min per session.
Survival Island - Can You Survive?
01 Children, 02 Teens and Tweens, 60 mins+, Chapter 6 Uncharted, Craft, Game/Activity
August 9, 2021 0.00 KB 2876 downloads
program for any age group or runtime target by running fewer stations and/or modifying station activities. It would also make a fun kick-off party for summer programming, especially if you invite participants to wear costumes.
Suggested runtime: 60–90 min.
Conservation Club
02 Teens and Tweens, 03 Adults, 60 mins+, Chapter 4 Our Blue Planet, Game/Activity, Low Cost
August 9, 2021 0.00 KB 1505 downloads
For a conservation book club, gather patrons around a common title to discuss how we can conserve our planet’s waterways. The book club component is easily adapted to fit any age group or population by modifying book choices. A complementary activity is to invite a guest speaker to present on the importance of conservation efforts and provide helpful information that patrons can incorporate into letters to their representatives. After the presentation, patrons can ask questions and participate in a letter-writing effort to draw attention to an important environmental
cause. Both Conservation Club activities are easily adapted to a virtual program.
Suggested runtime: 90 min.
Community Waterway Cleanup
02 Teens and Tweens, 04 Multigenerational, 60 mins+, Chapter 4 Our Blue Planet, Game/Activity, Outdoors, Outreach
August 9, 2021 0.00 KB 1304 downloads
Partner with a local park or conservation group to learn more about waterways in your community! Planet Earth is full of water, from freshwater streams to mighty rivers to vast oceans. Sadly, humans have had a negative impact on many waters. Pollution, littering, and overcrowding can hurt the fragile ecosystems of aquatic areas. But libraries can be leaders of conservation. After a guest speaker (optional), teens or families collect trash from a local waterway or park.
Suggested runtime: 90 min.
Aquaman and Friends Recycled Beaded Bracelets
01 Children, 02 Teens and Tweens, 60 mins+, Chapter 4 Our Blue Planet, Craft
August 9, 2021 0.00 KB 1669 downloads
Aquaman loves the ocean and wants to keep it clean and healthy for every person and every animal to enjoy for years to come. One way we can help is to recycle and reduce single-use plastic, which often ends up in the ocean. Participants make beads out of recycled paper, then make jewelry or keychains out of their own beads! Older teens could also make beads out of plastic bottles, but this option is more complex and will have sharp edges (protective
gloves required). For a shorter program, purchase beads made out of recycled materials and have children use those instead.
Suggested runtime: 60–90 min.
Our Blue Library
01 Children, 02 Teens and Tweens, 03 Adults, 60 mins+, 04 Multigenerational, Chapter 4 Our Blue Planet, Craft, Passive/Display
August 9, 2021 0.00 KB 1872 downloads
What better way to celebrate our blue planet than by turning the library blue for a day/week/month/all summer long? Invite local patron-artists to create an underwater landscape right in your library. They could paint aquatic scenes, make abstract art in blues and greens, and/or create papier-mâché or other 3D sculptures of their favorite aquatic animals. You could drape paper “seaweed” at entrances or suspend a massive whale from the ceiling. The possibilities are as vast as the ocean. Decorate the whole library or only children/teen areas, depending on how
much artwork your patrons create. Make sure to create a photobooth area for blue library selfies! Tech-savvy
teens might also want to create a green screen.
Suggested runtime: 90– 120 min.
Engineering Challenge - Building for Hurricanes
02 Teens and Tweens, 60 mins+, Chapter 4 Our Blue Planet, Game/Activity, Low Cost
August 9, 2021 0.00 KB 1404 downloads
Children are given simple materials and design requirements, then build a tower as tall as possible that will hold up a tennis ball while resisting the force of wind from a fan. You can modify the materials and requirements based on whatever you have on hand. For example, omit the tennis ball and just see who can build the highest tower out of index cards and tape. Then see which one best withstand the forces of a “hurricane.” For an extra challenge, a spray bottle can be used to simulate rain. Consider running a background video on hurricanes or weather while the children build their towers. This program is based on the activity developed by NASA and Global Precipitation Measurement. See links under Resources to access Printables.
Suggested runtime: 30–60 minutes.
Oil Spill Cleanup
01 Children, 60 mins+, Chapter 4 Our Blue Planet, Game/Activity
August 9, 2021 0.00 KB 1071 downloads
Ocean life is beautiful, but oil spills can pose a threat to these awesome ecosystems! Explain oil spills and their effects on the ecosystem, or read a picture book on the subject. For older children, you can talk about historical
spills, such as Exxon Valdez (1989), Deep Water Horizon (BP) (2010). These two hands-on experiments—birds and oil spills, and oil removal— help to explain why oil spills are so damaging to the environment, and why they are so difficult to clean up. Each experiment can be done individually or as a group.
Suggested runtime: 60 minutes.
Nessie and Other Lake and Sea Curiosities
02 Teens and Tweens, 60 mins+, 04 Multigenerational, 03 Adults, 01 Children, Chapter 3 Seven Seas Infinite Stories, Outside Presenter
August 9, 2021 0.00 KB 3571 downloads
Learn about the legends and lore of our local lakes and rivers! A presentation could be geared to any age group. You could also make sea creature crafts or hold a drawing contest. Easily adapted to a virtual program, or prerecord the talk to share on the library’s website. See Printables for a coloring sheet that could be completed while listening to an in-person presentation.
Suggested runtime: 60 min.
Coastal Cosplay Costumes
02 Teens and Tweens, 60 mins+, Chapter 3 Seven Seas Infinite Stories, Game/Activity
August 9, 2021 0.00 KB 1014 downloads
Be the wonder in the ocean! Invite teens and tweens to come up with funny, clever, or realistic interpretations of oceanic characters to wear to a cosplay event at your library. For example, someone could wear a “Mariana Trench-coat” or dress as the “Deep Blue ‘C’”. They could be a Sharknado, paint their face to emulate the amazing camouflage techniques of cuttlefish, or dress as an enormous sea mammal and constantly say “Why I otter!” Provide a list of famous ocean characters (such as Ursula, Ariel, or Jack Sparrow) if they struggle to come up with their own.
Suggested runtime: 90–120 min.
Table Top Role Playing Games - One-Shot Adventures
60 mins+, 02 Teens and Tweens, Chapter 3 Seven Seas Infinite Stories, Game/Activity, Low Cost, Outreach
August 9, 2021 0.00 KB 2561 downloads
Have you considered a tabletop role playing game (TTRPG) for your library but think Dungeons and Dragons is too complex for your audience? This program provides a list of games in which creating characters and oneshot adventure gameplay is much easier. This program is also easily run virtually using Discord.
Suggested runtime: 60–120 min.
Play Like Vikings - Hnefetafl
02 Teens and Tweens, 03 Adults, 60 mins+, Chapter 3 Seven Seas Infinite Stories, Game/Activity, Craft, Low Cost
August 9, 2021 0.00 KB 2164 downloads
Make your own Hnefatafl game (also known as Tablut), which the Vikings used to play. This game is over 1600 years old. You could premake several board games and run a Viking-themed games night, or have participants create and decorate their own boards. To expand, discuss other games and activities that Vikings used to play. Or have participants design Viking dragon boats out of construction paper or recycled materials.
Suggested runtime: 90 min.
Percy Jackson Book Club
01 Children, 02 Teens and Tweens, 60 mins+, Chapter 3 Seven Seas Infinite Stories, Game/Activity
August 6, 2021 0.00 KB 1239 downloads
Run a Percy Jackson Book Club and end the summer with a Percy JacksonParty! If your budget allows, offer a book to anyone who participates. Once the books have been read but prior to the celebration, have children choose
their Greek god/goddess name and come dressed as that character (e.g., Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes, Artemis, Hephaestus, Demeter, Dionysus). Percy’s Mother had a thing for blue food, so you could serve blueberries, blue corn tortilla chips, blue Gatorade, blue jelly beans, blue fruit roll-ups, and blue yogurt. For a teen adaptation, consider Lore by Alexandra Bracken or Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia.
Suggested runtime: 90 min.
Ocean Day - Honoring the Ocean
01 Children, 02 Teens and Tweens, 60 mins+, Chapter 3 Seven Seas Infinite Stories, Craft, Low Cost
August 6, 2021 0.00 KB 1765 downloads
This program was inspired by the Japanese summertime holiday Ocean Day (also referred to as Marine Day), that honors the ocean as a food source and as a means of transportation. You can teach children about the holiday or alter the program to have an environmental twist. One popular Ocean Day tradition is to light lanterns on the waterfront in Tokyo, so children can make their own paper lanterns with LED lights.
Suggested runtime: 60 min.
Can You Dig It? Maritime Archeology and Shipwrecks
01 Children, 60 mins+, Chapter 3 Seven Seas Infinite Stories, Craft, Game/Activity, Outdoors
August 6, 2021 0.00 KB 1103 downloads
As time capsules, shipwrecks like the Titanic provoke our imagination. Underwater archaeologists interpret sunken artifacts, such as clothes, dining menus, and mariners’ compasses, to tell us how ships were built, why they sank, and the stories of people from the past. In this program, mock digs and artifacts provide children the chance to piece together stories just like archaeologists. Don’t forget to reach out to local museums or colleges to reach archeologists who might be able to give a presentation about local artifacts. Activities inspired by Luz Mejia-Ramos at the Pasadena Central Library and the San Diego Archaeological Center.
Suggested runtime: 90 min.
Captain's Log
02 Teens and Tweens, 03 Adults, 60 mins+, Craft, Chapter 2 Explore New Depths
August 6, 2021 0.00 KB 1416 downloads
Captain’s logs and ship’s logs have a rich history, and provide insight into how life on seafaring vessels went (and still go today). Continue this tradition by hosting a journal-making program at your library. Skills of book-binding, journaling, and history lessons can be explored. This could also be a two-part program where you make paper for the journal during the first week.
Suggested runtime: 90 min.
Jewels of the Sea - Pearls
01 Children, 60 mins+, Craft, Chapter 1 Discover Treasures, Game/Activity, Outdoors
August 4, 2021 0.00 KB 1571 downloads
Pearls are the only gemstone to come from a living creature! Depending on audience age, discuss pearl diving, pearl formation/farming, and/or pearl history. Pearls are formed in mollusk shells and come in many shapes and colors. They are prized amongst jewelers. Most pearls today are cultured, meaning they are grown in a pearl farm. After a discussion or presentation, participants “dive” for their own pearls with which to create their own keychain or bracelet. A coloring sheet is included for children who finish their crafts early.
Suggested runtime: 60 min.