Stone Bookworms: Storybook Pumpkin Museum and Autumn Arcade

Word on the street is that we are not having a Haunted House Museum this year. That is true! After five years, we are going to mix it up with something new. This year, we are having a Storybook Pumpkin Museum and Autumn Arcade instead!

Storybook Pumpkin Museum for grades k-6
To participate, you will need:
A pumpkin (any size or shape)
Book for inspiration
Acrylic paint and brushes
Newspaper (for catching the mess while painting)
Glue gun (optional, but it works well)
Craft supplies (paper, pom-poms, yarn?)
Imagination!!!

Rules:

All pumpkins are to be inspired by a children's book or children's book character. Please bring in the book that inspired the pumpkin decoration if possible. Pumpkins without a reading theme will be sent home for decoration there.
Please bring in your completed pumpkin on Monday, October 26.
The Pumpkin Museum will be open to the whole school community starting on Family Reading Night, October 27th.
Please DO NOT CARVE THE PUMPKIN. Sticking things in the pumpkin is okay, but full-on-scoop-it-out designs cannot be accepted. Carved pumpkins rot quickly and have a strong smell. We would have nasty pumpkin soup all over the library in three days.
Yes, you can work with friends and family are are encouraged to do so. Children of different ages and grade levels can work together. Parents, please try not to do the project without your kids. ;-)
Like the Haunted House Museum, please, no blood or gore. We are celebrating imagination, not horror.
Make sure to put your name(s) and room number(s) on the bottom of pumpkin; we have masking tape in the library if you need it.
Books and pumpkins will be returned to you in time for Halloween. Pick up end of the day October 30th.
The activity is optional. Fun is always an option.
Some older kids have been asking me about extra credit. Sure. If you make a wonderful pumpkin and are in grades 4, 5 or 6, I'll give you five points of extra credit. All kids who participate will get a treat when they pick them up on the 30th.
Scroll down to photos below for inspiration! Credits are hyperlinked (click on them!) for further examples. These are just ideas, feel free to decorate using your own favorite!

Autumn Arcade for grades 7-8

Rules:

In collaboration with the library and inspired by "Caine's Arcade," the building of Autumn Arcade Games is being facilitated by the wonderful Ms. Pfest in school and in conjunction with her engineering unit in science. She has distributed the rubric and arcade games are being built in school. Building a game is not an optional activity for upper graders. ALL the cool kids are doing it...because all Stone middle school kids are cool kids!
Children in grades k-2 will be playing the games in the afternoon of October 30th.
Please keep your arcade game in keeping with the autumn theme. Extra credit will be given to kids who decorate accordingly and attract the most players. Ms. Hardiman will be assisting in artful arcade accoutrements. Keep your audience in mind; again, please, no blood or gore.
Prizes are optional, but must be handmade. No store-bought stuff and no candy, please. Bookmarks make wonderful prizes. Hint-hint.

What about the Parade of Books?

We are still going to have a Parade of Books, after all, we love it! But we're trying a new date: this year it will be on May 20th, 2016, as a springtime celebratory culmination of primary reading goals. Something to look forward to, and more time to plan the best costume ever!

Please feel free to see me or contact me with any questions or thoughts. October is such a creative month. Have fun, can't wait to see these amazing autumnal creations!