Brandy Danner is a librarian specializing in young adult services.
YAM: Event 1 of 2
This afternoon was our first of two Youth Art Month activities. Because we’re kind of bad at planning things, it was only at the beginning of this week that I decided exactly what the program would be. (And yes, I’m allowing myself to take full credit here, because while my coworker and I are both bad about planning things, I went out and bought materials and built prototypes and things.)
I picked bead creatures. In preparation for Youth Art Month, I bought stuff like pipe cleaners (some in stripy animal prints!) and wooden beads (plain and painted). Yesterday we got our second box of art supplies, which included some lacing cord, and we had a bag of plastic beads on hand. So, we could make multiple things: three-dimensional bead bug-like things, flat animals, bracelets/necklaces, or just abstract pipe-cleaner structures.
The photos here are of my prototypes, and what I put together during the program. We had six kids and three adults show up, so it wasn’t a huge, standing-room-only success, but it was something we’re likely to do again. The kids had fun, cleanup was easy, and everyone went home happy. So, yay.
And because this is just the way things are, we’re already sort of thinking about the Summer Reading Program, the theme of which is Paws, Claws, Scales, and Tales. Can’t begin to express how much themes irritate me, because we’re supposed to make all of our programs center on the theme, rather than just doing whatever we feel like. The teen theme this year is Creature Feature, so I need to start thinking about that—though I’m reluctant to plan anything, since last year’s program was such a train wreck. It’s not even spring yet, and I already resent the summer reading program.
But at least my Youth Art Month stuff is cute.
