April Book Club, Meeting #7

Supplies and prep:

• pretzels
• fancy name quiz
• discussion questions
• carrot cupcakes
• raspberry juice
• sprite or 7 up
• dvd of Anne of Green Gables
• paper and art supplies

We had a fun gathering activity while we ate our traditional pretzel sticks. I gave them the fancy name, and they had to guess the common name of place/things from the book. Then they got to come up with their own fancy names for common things in our area.   

Book discussion: We had some discussion questions, including what having an imagination can do for us. We also made predictions about what would be in Anne's future. We decided for next month's book club, we would talk about American Girl books, and everyone could choose their own American Girl to read about. 

We did an art activity that took a little extra time. It was making our own tesselations! It took some patience but every girl figured it out. They traced and colored while they talked.
After everything else was done, we served carrot cupcakes and "raspberry cordial", which was the raspberry juice and 7UP mixed in a pitcher. The girls played along by acting nervous that I might get them drunk, which was adorable. Then we watched a few of the highlights of the movie. (Anne meeting the Cuthberts, Anne smashing the slate over Gilbert, the spelling bee at school, etc.)

March Book Club, Meeting #6

Supplies and prep:

• pretzels
• James and the Giant Peach quiz
• discussion questions
• a hard boiled egg for each person (plus a few extra)
• building supplies from recycling- boxes, paper, straws, tape, cotton balls, sponges, plastic cups, paper towels, toilet paper
• chocolate pudding
• crushed oreos
• gummy worms
• green sprinkles
• cool whip

We had our usual snack of pretzels as the girls came in and did our gathering activity, a trivia quiz about facts from the book. 

Book discussion: a lot of kids have read the book in the past, and seen the movie. We compared the two. We talked about favorite parts and favorite characters. Our choices for the next month were all historic fiction. Anne of Green Gables, Little House in the Big Woods, and Caddie Woodlawn. The girls voted for Anne of Green Gables, and several were already reading it or had read it in the past. 

The main activity was a STEM activity I have seen many places. It is an egg drop! The kids are each given an egg, then they have to construct a holder of some kind that will protect the egg from cracking when it is dropped from a tall height. This was such a fun one! The girls really ran with it. They shared their ideas and came up with their own. We used a LOT of masking tape! It was cold, but we bundled up and took them outside where I dropped each one first from the top of a ladder, then from our second story window. Some cracked, some didn't. Nobody felt bad- it was all in fun and the girls loved the challenge. 

After the egg drop, we came inside where the girls could make their own dessert. It was mud pie, with gummy worms and green sprinkles (like the magic green crystals that make the peach grow). 

January Book Club, Meeting #5

Supplies and prep:

• pretzels
• alternate titles quiz
• discussion questions
• several card and board games
• brownies

We finally got to discuss A Wrinkle in Time. We started with a gathering activity of eating pretzels and trying to figure out the title of books, based on their alternate names. 

Book discussion: We first watched this funny 90 second recap of the book. Then we talked about the characters, traveling, and imagining what a whole different planet would be like. The book choices for next month were all Roald Dahl books. They could choose James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or The BFG. The girls voted and chose James and the Giant Peach.

Next we played a game similar to Never have I Ever. Except it was about books! One girl would say a book she has read, then if nobody else in the room had read it, she would get a point. We went around several times, and the girls loved trying to stump each other.

Our main activity was a game night. We had several to choose from, and we had 2-3 different groups playing. I did pay close attention to make sure nobody was left out. They had a lot of fun and it was low prep for me. We had brownies for a treat before everybody headed home. 

December Book Club, Meeting #4

Supplies and prep:

• movie snacks
• a family friendly Christmas movie
• Soft pretzel dough, already made

Our December was busy, so we opted for a movie night this month. We didn't discuss our book, but gave everyone the extra month to read it for our next book club night.

We watched The Santa Claus, and had to start it right on time! While we watched, I had 2-3 girls at a time come to the table (which was turned to see the tv still) and shape some soft pretzels. I baked them as they watched, then they all got to either eat or take home their own pretzels. I had salt and cinnamon sugar for them to sprinkle on top. 

Recipe for pretzels:

• 1 tsp salt
• 2 1/2-3 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 Tbsp sugar

Dissolve yeast in warm water in mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until they form a ball. Knead until smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise for 1 hour. 

Preheat oven to 450. Take sections of dough and roll into snakes to shape into a pretzel, or any other shape you want. Bake on a greased baking sheet for 8-10 minutes. After removing from oven, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with salt or cinnamon sugar.

November Book Club, Meeting #3

Supplies and prep:

• pretzels
• fat red licorice
• brain teasers, puzzles
• paper airplane instructions
• 3 book choices with a blurb from each
• discussion questions
• large rubberbands, string, paper cups

Our theme was about superheroes, from our book Almost Super, by Marion Jensen. We had pretzels as usual for our gathering activity.

Book discussion: We talked about what talents we have that might seem useless, but are unique to us. We also talked about disappointment: what to do when we are expecting something great and it doesn't happen. Our choices for next month were all fantasy: The Phantom Tollbooth, A Wrinkle in Time, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The girls voted for A Wrinkle in Time. 

Our main activity was doing different challenges to test how SUPER our skills are. Some were a hit, some were kind of a miss.

1. Super tactics- a hanoi tower puzzle
2. Super Brain- classic grid logic puzzle
3. Super Strength- do pushups
4. Super Flexibility- fitting through a hole in an index card (practice beforehand!)
5. Super Teamwork- work as a team to use a rubberband with several strings tied to it to lift up cups and stack them in a tower- this was the favorite by far!
6. Super Flying- make paper airplanes   

 For a treat, we had TNT licorice, which came from the TNT used by the Superheroes in our book.

October Book Club, Meeting #2

Supplies and prep:

• pretzels
• container for each attendee (something 3-4 inches deep and 10-12 inches wide.  I found seasonal plastic serving bowls for $.98/each)
• potting soil
• small plants (flowers, succulents, decorative grass, ivy)
• Decoration for the fairy garden- be creative and thrifty!
• river rocks, glass stones, seashells
• color craft sticks
• small seasonal decor
• mini birds, frogs, animal figurines
• small trinket houses, garden figurines, containers
• rice krispy treats
• discussion questions printable
• matching game printable
• 3 book choices with a blurb from each

Our theme was about fairies, from our book Ella Enchanted. The gathering activity was a matching game about fairies from books and movies. Some kids were stumped!

Book discussion: This was fantastic! The questions sparked a lot of conversation and the girls were very thoughtful in their answers. Luckily everyone had finished the book, so we had ideas from everybody. Taking turns asking the questions worked really well.
The next 3 book choices were all funny ones: Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Almost Super, and Frindle. After reading a bit about each one, they voted and chose Almost Super.

Fairy gardens were the main event and I wanted to have plenty of time. The prep for this activity involved trips to thrift stores and dollar stores to find little interesting pieces. I had enough large figurines (either houses or garden figurines) and enough small animals (frog or turtle) that every girl could have one of each. Then plenty smaller stones and rocks and colored sticks that it was a free for all.

In the garage (outside was rainy) I had the containers pre-filled with soil and set out with the flowers ready to plant. I taught the girls how to dig a hole, release the plant from it's container, and replant it firmly in their garden. After they were all planted and watered, we washed hands and brought them inside to decorate.

I put several small containers of each decoration, rather than one big one, to minimize the need to pass back and forth. We drew straws if 2 girls wanted the same thing, and (I think!) there were no hard feelings. Everyone was very creative and purposeful in how they used the supplies.

We cleaned everything up and washed hands again. Our treat was star shaped rice krispy treats, half dipped in chocolate. YUM!

As they were eating I queued up the beginning of the movie, Ella Enchanted, for the girls to watch a short clip as our closing activity. Success!

September Book Club, Meeting #1

Supplies and prep:

• small notebook for each attendee (like these)
• permanent markers (metallic sharpie!)
• washi tape variety (look for clearance)
• stickers
• pre-made "Books I've Read" labels
• pretzels
• muddy buddies
• plastic cups
• 3 book choices with blurb from each
• icebreaker printable

For a gathering activity as the girls came in, we had a Get-to-know-you ice-breaker with a bowl of pretzels to munch on. We allowed about 15 minutes for kids to arrive and get comfortable. 

Book discussion: this is why we're here! First order of business was to brainstorm ideas for our book club name, then narrow it down and vote on the top 3. The winner was "The Beautiful Bookmarks." 

Next I introduced 3 different book choices and read a blurb about each one. I had Ella Enchanted, The Boxcar Children, and Tuck Everlasting. The girls talked about them for a few minutes and we voted (anonymously😉) for the book we would read in the coming month. Their choice: Ella Enchanted. 

Our main activity for the night was making little book journals for the girls to keep track of books they read, or books they want to read. This was so much fun! I had all the supplies laid out and the girls did the rest on their own. Washi tape and metallic sharpies were the stars of the show. 

As the girls were finishing up their notebooks, I dished out the Muddy Buddies in little cups and wrote names on water cups. Once they had cleaned up we had our refreshments. 

With our last bit of time before parents arrived, we played the Secret Name Game, using only characters from books. We barely finished one round before time was up. Ta da!