Family Fort Night

Guys! Guys guys guys!! How much fun is family fort night? OMG so much fun!!

(Yes, I did make walking smores (see below) and I may have eaten a few... why do you ask?)

Following the example of so many stellar blogs before me, I did a Family Fort Night at my library. While it seems that people tend to do these when the library is closed, my library is open late into the evening every night, so that wasn't really an option. The Children's Room really quiets down in the evening, though, so we weren't in anyone's way (though the circ staff was surprised by the noise coming from the room!). 

Here's what I did: 

I had a mish-mash of ages from 3 to 8, and I wanted to make sure to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, so I read two books that I feel fit those specifications. 

First, I read Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds. After all, I explained, forts were a little like camping and what's camping without creepy stories? The kids enjoyed this one. 

Then, by request, we sang "The Bumblebee Song" which I love and they did, too. (For the record, we bring home, smash, lick, spit out, and wipe up. I used to puke up, but I think spitting is just as effective and somehow less offensive. Go figure.)

What other book could I read? Oh, come on, you already know: The Book with No Pictures of course! It went down like gangbusters as you all know it always does. 

Then I unleashed the kids to build their forts!

They all choose to drape their blankets over the low shelves in the middle of the room. I was worried about getting the blankets to stay up, but discovered that strips of masking tape did the job nicely and came up easily when it was time to go home. 

When everyone was settled in, I handed out our walking smores: mix teddy grahams, chocolate chips, and mini-marshmallows in a bag and enjoy. It's a sweet and tasty version of trail mix. Yum! 

Altogether a very simple program and the families all really enjoyed it. I worried they wouldn't want to read in their forts, but the parents all gamely went in with their kids and a good time was had by all.