Guest post: Good craft for single-staff libraries

Speaking as a children's librarian who no longer conducts regular programming for children, I rely on member libraries in our system (and yes, Pinterest) for good, low-cost craft ideas to pass along. This one comes from Kristy at Hawn Memorial Library in Clayton:  

This morning I had the three second grade classes from my local elementary school at the library listen to a book on insects (Roberto the Insect Architect) and doing insect crafts.  It's a complement to the insect unit they have just finished in school.

I ordered the butterfly, tarantula, and ladybug puppets from NCLS* to go along with the crafts.  The kids LOVED the puppets.  The craft was incredibly easy to put together, too.  We just took construction paper and cut dozens of shapes out.  We got other materials like tissue paper, feathers, popsicle sticks and markers and asked the kids to design a house for an insect.

I thought it would be more fun to let the kids use their imaginations, rather than making a prescribed "this is a grasshopper" type of craft, as I have found in the past that some children get frustrated if their craft isn't turning out like the example.  Plus, it is less tedious to grab handfuls of the things that you already have than to cut out hundreds of grasshopper legs!

I think that this could be a good take home craft for single-staff member libraries.  You could easily read this story and have a sandwich baggie of craft materials for kids to take home and work with if there isn't time or space at the library to have them do it on site.

Love it! Especially speaking as one whose crafts never come out looking like the model...

*Yes, we have puppets. Yes, you can borrow them.