It's almost time for those spring Scholastic Book Fairs. I normally decorate with the suggested theme, but I wasn't too excited about the Story Laboratory theme. I know some of you will make that look awesome, but I decided that since my book fair will be in early March, I'm going Seuss-y with it!
Why?
-Because Seuss decorations and goodies are easy to find and buy (like these $5 characters I found at Kohl's last week)
-Because any Seuss decorations we make can be re-used in the future (and, in fact, already have been pre-used by our music teachers for their Seussical performance for PTA)
-Because Seuss decorations are bright and colorful
-Because we all love Dr. Seuss!
So, my lo-o-o-o-ong bulletin board in the back of the library got Seuss-y...
And Seuss-ier...
And Seuss-iest!
I mixed Seuss posters from the teacher supply store with the Scholastic book fair posters and Seuss characters our music teacher drew on butcher paper.
You can find super instructions for making the truffula trees at this post from Mrs. Lodge's Library. They're pretty easy and inexpensive, and they add lots of color and dimension to your library decorations.
My "Everybody" section of the library features Dr. Seuss on our author wall, like this.
(After I took this photo, I removed the non-Seuss stuffed animals, like Pete the Cat, and added a few truffula trees.)
And one of our centers will include a "One Fish Two Fish" estimating center, like this picture:
(I could not find the original post to link to or give credit. If anyone knows how this photo came to Pinterest, please let me know.) I will probably have the fish enclosed in a plastic bag. I've got germ-y students who would breathe ALL OVER these fish! I'll post this center sign as a freebie soon. I'm thinking that the closest estimate will win all the colorful goldfish to take home and eat.
I'm also planning to include a photo booth at the book fair to make it fun for parents to snap photos of their children. I'll make a background out of Scholastic plastic tablecloths, like this.
And I'll add a brightly colored picture frame, like this.
And then I can put it all away in a big plastic tub labelled "Seuss" and save it for another year!
What about you? Do you use the Scholastic themes, or make up your own? How are you getting ready for your spring book fair?
Or some photobooth props!
ReplyDeletehttp://pinterest.com/pin/109282728430076971/
And I may copy you. As much as the geek in me loves the idea of Story Laboratory ... I've been having trouble figuring out how to incorporate it with no walls, little money, and little time (Scholastic's suggestions are fun but they are NOT little money and little time!)
Ours is (well, wait, you know cause I told you when I was complaining about the test giving!) the week after spring break. Close enough to Seuss-ify things. It will either be Seuss or Buggy for Books. I just got some cute clip art. ;)
Buggy for Books sounds fun, too! You can borrow some hissing cockroaches from Region 20! (just kidding about that)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great pin! I knew I couldn't do the Seuss hat in the photo booth because of, well, you know why we don't share hats at school. But the hats and props on a stick would be perfect!
Thanks, Ms. O!
Ha ha. I think we have some already. Children of one that got loose when the science lab was across from the 590 section. He met a friend and stayed around. #watchwhenyouopenupacabinet
ReplyDeleteEek! That makes the library more exciting, doesn't it?
DeleteThese ideas are so creative! You have definitely created an enticing, welcoming space for your students - I'm sure families will be flocking to your book fair!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your encouraging words, LibraryLoriJune! I just subscribed to your blog at http://ljune.edublogs.org/!
DeleteI love these ideas! I already had my Scholastic book fair a couple of weeks ago and I failed with creative decorations. I started to make the big reading helmet thing, but that was adding up to way too much money. I had a few paper decorations hanging around, made a test tube to track our reading minutes, and that was about as good as it got. I think I am going to steal some of your ideas, however, and make my library more exciting for March! Thanks for sharing these! I am working on my Seuss centers tonight, so I might as well bring in the walls to the theme as well!
ReplyDeleteKim,
DeleteThanks for your positive comments! We all have limited budgets, and I just decided that I needed to spend our library money on decorations that I would use for more than one week. It's easy to make Seuss decorations look good. They are so bright and colorful.
Cari
How did you get permission to recreate the characters for the bulletin board or did you find a poster pack somewhere? I would love to do that too but want to be sure I get the correct permissions.
ReplyDeleteI found a poster pack at our local teacher supply store. That's what I like about the Dr. Seuss theme--the decorations are easy to find!
DeleteSome of the decorations were hand-drawn, but I feel like those are covered by fair use, since they are being used for the nonprofit educational purpose of encouraging our students to read Dr. Seuss books that we paid for and own, it's a small part of the books, and they are hand-drawn, not copied.
Wow! Cari, you never cease to impress! Your uber-long bulletin board is amazing and is something I'd definitely love to try out. Also, scrapping the prepackaged Book Fair theme to make one of your own?! Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteMatt, thanks for your kind words! Going with my own reusable book fair theme was one of those forehead-slapping, why-didn't-I-think-of-this-sooner moments. I had to share that "aha" moment with y'all!
DeleteCari