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| 2009 TD Summer Reading Program AGENT 009 Window Splash |
Every year Libraries across CANADA get on board
in an effort to keep our youth actively involved (and even enjoying) reading throughout the summer.
For three years in a row I took on the job of creating, Co-ordinating and implementing the local Librarys' involvement in the program.
Working with the national, annual theme and other promotional graphics, games and great prizes Theme
Destination Jungle 2009
I created a road to reading Board Game that I called
Jungle Juxtaposition.
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| TD Summer Reading Club. Game Table |
My inspiration sat at the end of the neighbors driveway...
It was Big Spring Clean Up Week and there was the table
just waiting for me.
Disheveled and shoved to the edge of the curb I concurred,
Annual Treasure Week was what I preferred. I swerved into the curb and opened the back of the Explorer
(That I had strategically borrowed that morning to run to the store, knowing it was clean up week and that I
needed it to avoid the usual struggle of getting someone else to get my bargains home...)
After finally tipping the thing into the back of the vehicle, I was able to push it in far enough in to drive safely the three houses back home.
Once I finally got the beast onto my deck (it is made of a plaster like material, which weighs a tonne!)
Using elements and colors from the annual poster, I began the process of decorating the table base itself.
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| Destination Jungle 2009 |
The table was already a shiny black.
You can see where I have painted on top of the original
finish with my acrylic paints. They have a matte finish.
I created the Game Board top on a separate piece of wood that was then glued to the table top.
This allowed for the game board to be removed and for the table top to be put back to other use.
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| Home Made BOARD GAME |
I had picked up this wonderful wrought iron plant holder somewhere,
at some time in my travels
(it called for a fresh coat of acrylic paint)
Happy to oblige, I brought it back to life!
It fit right in with the Jungle Theme
The two metal rings in which you place your plant pots were cleverly inserted between the table and the game board top.
The plastic animals were purchased at the Dollar Store,
the trees were created by hot gluing greenery from flowers together
and also with cinnamon sticks, glued greenery and polymer clay bananas.
Real sand was pressed into to white glue to give a tactile feel to the game.
The water was painted with acrylic paint to which I sprinkled on sparkles
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I created Game Pieces out of Polymer Clay and then wrote the kids names in black sharpie on the piece they chose as they entered to play.
The unusually large and green Dice was a fun topic of conversation.
Each color on the board represented a home activity that the participant had to complete and return to the Library within 7 days.
Each returned project earned the player one roll on the game table and an entry into the grand prize draw.
Free spaces, roll again and move backwards spaces made things interesting and kept participants coming back in anticipation.
Each players place was noted on a notepad in the event that the game pieces should suffer an upset somehow throughout the week.
The activities ranged from short book reviews to writing poetry or finding and reporting details on a specified subject, animal or event. Word finds and definition, creating your own crossword and coloring activities kept players of all ages involved.
All of the returned assignments were hung with clothes pegs on a cotton line that I had strung across the Library for display purposes.
Here is some of the artwork I copied (directly from Promo pieces for the TD Summer Reading Program)
and painted into posters. I hung them through out the Library.
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| The Tiger |
The painting below captures a section of the original poster.
Painted with Acrylic Paint.
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| TD Summer Reading Program |
The Art of Ingenuity!
The foam core that I used for the posters arrived on my deck one sunny summers eve.
It appeared like the grin on my Sons face.
It was a 4x6 foot Tim Horton coffee board!
My love of coffee and his knowledge of same, suddenly produced a smile on my face.
Tattered and worn it was plain to see
but how got from where it was to now in front of me
was not quite as clear to me.
Assured of the fact that it had been rescued
from the side of a road
and that
"It was garbage Mom, that's why I brought it home"
I pondered the lesson to be learned and then thanked him for bringing it home.
" I knew you could use it for something Mom"...
The final touch!
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| Painting the Library Windows |
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