School-Age: Junkyard Instruments

Last week was my library's first full week of the Summer Reading Program. Since the Collaborative Summer Library Program theme this year is "Libraries Rock!", I decided last week's theme should be all about music!


1. Reading
It was a longer read-aloud, but I shared "Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay" by Susan Hood.

It is a true story about an orchestra in Paraguay whose instruments were made from recycled materials. It gives the kids a perspective of how different other kids may grow up as well as remind them that even 'junk' can have a new life.


2. Discussion
I shared pictures of different instruments and we had a name-that-instrument trivia game. After that, I showed them pictures of the real Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay so they could see the actual kids the book discusses as well as the amazing instruments they made out of recycled materials.


3. Craft
I put out a boatload of recycled materials that I have been collecting as well as a bunch of craft supplies. I had bottle caps (metal and plastic), yarn, pipe cleaners, paper, scissors, beads, craft sticks, Popsicle sticks, and more! My teens made a few examples based on some pictures I found on the internet, however the kids that came to the program came up with their own creative ideas!

Notes:
This was the perfect topic (and craft) to let the kids think outside the box and explore their creativity. Some kids wanted to make a similar craft to what we made examples of and some made fabulously creative instruments all their own! It was also a great way to used left-over craft supplies from other weekly topics.