This spring, the team decided it was high time to hold a party for our 1000 Books Before K Club kids. We thought: May, nice weather, a bus or historic trolley - PIGEON!!! Thus was the pigeon party born.
We offer one-two events per year for our 1000 Books families. We often hold them before or after hours so the tots and parents get exclusive use of our space and non-stop attention from staff. We might have a concert, or a cookie party with Laura Numeroff's Mouse, or mac and cheese and a chance to browse the room. We posted about last fall's Brown Bear event here. Whatever we focus on we make sure to invite our 1000 Books families and let them know something special is about to happen for them.
As a fan of book-based parties, a Pigeon Party based on Mo Willems' books, didn't disappoint. We booked our historic trolley to do a 20 minute drive around our riverfront downtown. We left enough time to do three runs so we could accommodate any sized crowd. Two runs did nicely.
One team member, Sherri, welcomed the kids to the trolley with a pigeon stuffed toy and rode along with the families on the trolley. Another team member, Brooke, had mounted pigeon cards on craft sticks for the kids to hold; they received these before they got on the trolley. Kids used the card to wave and shout an emphatic "NO!!" when Sherri asked them if the pigeon should drive the bus.
Brooke also had stories, a small activity - decorate a bus that Pigeon might ride on - and even used the "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" app with kids one-on-one. We also invited our families to meet staff after the party at the local downtown ice cream parlor and a few families took us up on the idea to visit together outside the library.
A bus can work just as well as a trolley for a program like this. Parents and kids were excited and staff felt like the planning was just perfect to celebrate a much-loved book with our 1000 Book families!
This is cool!
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