Simple Middle School Programming
For some libraries, getting middle schoolers to frequent programs can be very difficult! In our library we are fortunate to have a solid group of kids that come to regularly scheduled programs for the middle school age group (grades 5 – 8). During the summer, it’s usually around 40, but even during the busy school year we average about 25 kids who come monthly and others who help with activities on a weekly/monthly basis. Last night we hosted our end of the school year party (we host it rather early in May to get as many kids to attend as possible). We had 25 middle schoolers attend, 8 of which were 8th graders and graduating to the high school next year.
We hosted them for just an hour (any more and it can be draining!) and we had such a great time! The kids got the chance to make shrinky dinks that we then added to a beaded keychain. We had most of the materials left over from other projects and we found our Shrinky Dink paper from Michael’s. I usually buy the pack of 10 sheets that are 8″x10″ and I use our paper cutter to cut them into smaller squares or rectangles. I cut them into 3″x3″ squares and punched a hole in them using a paper hole punch so they could be added to the keychain. We had a bunch of pony beads and letter beads left over form other projects and the kids had such a great time with the craft. We also fed them (a lot) of food! This is always a big hit with middle school students – they’re like locusts, they eat everything!
And then we played Fruit Basket Upset sometimes called Fruit Basket Turnover. This is a fun circle game where there is one less chair than people playing and the person in the middle calls out a fruit (or a color) and everyone assigned with that fruit must get up and change seats. I like this game because everyone participates, no one “gets out” and you win by just having a good time. The best part is when the person in the middle (rather than shouting out a fruit) yells fruit basked upset and everyone has to get up and change seats.
The kids had such a great time and it was really nice to see them relax and just have fun…they didn’t have to be too quiet or work on any projects, they just got to have fun with friends! This is about as simple and as inexpensive as it gets when it comes to middle school programs – try it out!