Thanks to Jeanne at Ellsworth for this guest blog post!
The Ellsworth
Public Library hosted a Life Size Candy Land game for
children on Saturday, October 20th. We started the game at
1:15, just after our 1 pm closing time. The players followed a game board
set up throughout the library and received treats along the way. The game took
players on a meandering journey through the stacks to locations like “Licorice
Lagoon,” where they received a Twizzler, "Gummy Hills,” where they received
a small bag of Gummy Bears, and “Candy Cane Corner” where they received a
peppermint candy. There were a total of seven “treat stops." The last stop
was the Candy Castle where children received an official Candy Land scratch ‘n
sniff sticker and gift certificates from McDonald's, which were given to the
Library after a goodwill donation to the Ronald McDonald fund.
Taking much of
our inspiration from Pinterest, the Library purchased some of the props for
each candy location through Amazon and Oriental Trading. Multiple items were
also made by teen volunteers during our monthly Teen Maker Meet-Up. The
process of creating the game took several months. Now that it is
completed, the library is planning to offer it again during Christmas Break and
possibly spring break. The event was advertised as best suited for
ages pre-school through 11, with the most enthusiasm coming from the 5-7 year
old crowd. Parents were asked to participate with younger children, and
we also had teen volunteers available to help navigate through the game.
Preregistration was required and allowed us to schedule five groups of
two-three players for each fifteen minute time slot. This kept things flowing,
and we were able to avoid children waiting in line to play.
Participants decorated
a paper bag with Halloween stickers and drawings before starting the game to
stash their treats along the way.
We attracted
about 20 enthusiastic children and 15 adults for our first run of Lifesize
Candy Land, and expect interest to grow as we offer the program in the future.
Labels: programs, teen volunteers