What is stealth programming? Check out Marge, Sara, or Amy for more details and some wonderful ideas.
The premise of our game was simple. Pick a stick, find the gnome, check out a book in the section, and put a dot on our door gnome.
To break it down just a little bit more....
Pick a Popsicle stick from the gnome jar. Each stick describes a gnome's hat and beard.
Find the gnome on a book shelf. We repeated the gnomes in picture, early reader, and chapter book. This way we could guide the kid to whatever was appropriate. We also had nonfiction gnomes that we designated with a dot on the stick. We would usually let kids look on their own for a few minutes before giving them hints.
The kid would bring back their stick, tell us where they found the gnome, and show us the book they found. Then, we would give them a sticker dot to put on the big door gnome. The dot was great as a reward without actually giving things out, plus it helps us keep track of our participants.
Over in the early literacy center, we "hid" six gnomes and asked for little ones to find them all and visit the desk. They were also given a dot to put on the door gnome.
The program was a smashing success. We filled up 4 gnomes in 4 weeks! We had over 400 participants! The best part? It took me about an hour of planning to run a month long program that kids loved.
We do something very similar here every month, a clip art scavenger hunt. The kids LOVE it. We don't track the numbers but maybe we should? Now I'm curious how many do it a month here.
ReplyDeleteI was fascinated by how motivated kids were to do it every time they visited us. We still are getting asked about it almost a month later. I liked being able to share how many people participated with the staff. I think it showed that even 30 seconds of their time to explain the game affected a lot of people in a month. We'll definitely be reusing this idea again with a different theme.
DeleteI love this: it's a great idea but it also involves gnomes and I LOVE GNOMES!!!
ReplyDeleteWe're using your game idea at our library this month (which we deemed "Gnomevember"). So far it's been a wild success - thank you so much for sharing!!! I posted about it on my blog here http://wp.me/p2N1aX-f2 and was sure to give you credit for such a great idea. I'll be sure to update you on how it went after Gnomevember's over. Thank you again!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE IT! Game of Gnomes?!?! You're a genius. I can't wait to hear about how it goes. Thank you for sharing :)
DeleteOverall it went pretty darn well! The gnome hunt was the big hit, but the other "check out a book" aspect was a flop ::sad face:: I'm still trying to figure out how to get parents excited about passive programs that take a little more effort than letting their children go on scavenger hunts. Thanks again for the great ideas!
DeleteDo you have a picture of the the door dot gnome? I just need a visual. Thank you so much for sharing this idea with us!
ReplyDeleteIt's actually the same gnome that we "hid" in the early literacy center. We would simply print out a new gnome for the door when one was completely covered in stickers. The kids enjoyed seeing the gnome army that was starting to form all over our doors! Thank you for reading :)
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