School-Age: Wind Chimes

Thinking slightly outside of the box for the CSLP theme of "Libraries Rock", I thought wind chimes would be perfect to make as a craft that makes music!


1. Reading
This week I read "Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World" by Allan Drummond. Wind chimes are a great craft but there are not many books to read aloud to kids about them. So, we talked about wind! "Energy Island" was a great introduction into renewable energy and trying to make your home more environmentally friendly!

2. Discussion
Since the book was rather long, and I wanted the kids to have PLENTY of time to work on their craft, we had a brief discussion of renewable versus nonrenewable energy sources. I also showed them pictures of a variety of renewable energy sources that exist around the world.


3. Craft
We made wind chimes! I found a wind chime craft that we used as a model from the how to do this and that blog. I hot-glued jumbo craft sticks in the star shape but, as for the rest of the craft, I laid out a bunch of supplies and let the kids direct how they wanted to make their final product. One of my library assistants had left-over silverware from college that she was getting rid of, so that was PERFECT to upcycle for the craft.

We used: silverware, beads (metal and pony beads), jingle bells, yarn, string, fishing line, pipe cleaners, markers, and more.

Here are a few examples:

Notes:
The wind chimes were a lot more time intensive than I had initially anticipated. However, it still worked out fine! For the first program of the week, when we were running out of time, I ran to my supply room to grab plastic baggies for the kids to take extra supplies home to finish the craft. For my Friday crowd, I gave them a warning that the craft would take extra time so they knew they would be expected to finish some of it at home if they were taking their time on the crafting. 

Summer Reading has officially begun -- We had HUGE crowds at the Friday program, so I set up a supply table as a buffet and gave the kids plates to go through the line and select some supplies. Then, I told everyone to find space on the carpet to work on their craft. It worked perfectly and, all-in-all, it was a hugely successful program!