Children

Dinovember Take & Make

Nov 17, 2021

$51-100

Byline

Sara Kamppi, Youth Services Librarian, Willis L. Miller Library, Valdosa, Ga.

This program was hosted in celebration of Dinovember, a month-long event where plastic dinosaurs come to life as children sleep. Children were given a take-and-make activity that included an egg-hatching challenge, one DIY dinosaur fossil craft, and a writing activity in which children filled out an official Dinosaur Adoption Certificate.

The writing activity helps younger kids practice or learn how to write their names, see how they look in print, etc., and let them get creative in naming their dinosaur.

Advanced Planning

My goal was to surprise my kiddos with a fun activity pack that was different from what they would normally get. A lot of school-age patrons still ask for crafts to take home, so I wanted to be able to give them that.

I try to plan all of my events three or four months in advance. The Dinovember Take & Make was planned out in July! I created the proposal, submitted it to my supervisor, and ordered all the materials.

It took about two weeks to make all 36 eggs by hand for the hatching challenge and to pack the kits. The eggs for hatching are plastic Easter eggs covered in air-dry clay with a small dinosaur toy inside.

Marketing

This program was advertised via library social media (Facebook and TikTok), in-house via word of mouth, and through monthly event calendar distribution. I think our program was successfully advertised, as all kits were taken by patrons within 30 minutes of the library opening for the morning!

Budgeting

I requested $100 for this program, which made 38 kits.

The dinosaur boxes are from Oriental Trading and come in packs of 12 for $5.99. If you wanted to cut costs, you could use Ziploc bags or paper bags instead of the dinosaur-themed favor boxes.

The dinosaur toys, air-dry clay for the fossils, and the modeling clay for the hatching eggs are all from Amazon.

You could also make the fossils using a DIY Salt Dough recipe, with simple ingredients found at home, instead of buying modeling clay. If 3D printers are accessible, dinosaurs and dinosaur fossil stamps could be 3D-printed in-house instead of being purchased from a store.

Day-of-event Activity

There was minimal setup on the day of the event. I distributed all Dinovember Take & Make kits throughout the children’s library as kids came in for Baby Bookworm Storytime and into the library throughout the day while supplies lasted.

Program Execution

The program played out well. Thirty-six kits went out, and there were none left over after the first day they were set out. Some feedback that I received were simple requests for a larger quantity of these types of kits. We also received requests for sign-up sheets due to how quickly the kits went.

Program evaluation was completed via patron QR survey. The QR survey leads to a Google Form with questions such as "How satisfied were you with this event?", "What did you like best about this event?" and "What can we do to improve this event?"

Advice

I would always advise peers to cut costs by trying to use or repurpose materials they might have on hand. I inherited about 100 mini dinosaurs and lots of plastic eggs from my predecessor and thought they would be fun to make dinosaur eggs with.