Unicorn Club

Back in April, I got a note in my “bearmail” suggestion box that the library should have “Unicorn Club.” Okay, I thought, What would that look like? I surveyed other Massachusetts youth librarians to see if anyone else had done one, and no one had, so here’s what I came up with:

Stories
Crafts
Pin the Horn on the Unicorn
Scavenger Hunt

I pulled or requested a couple dozen unicorn-themed picture books and chapter books to have at the event; I read these three aloud, and all were available for browsing and checkout (see below):

Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham
Uni the Unicorn by Amy Krause Rosenthal and Brigette Barrager
Do You Believe in Unicorns? by Bethanie Deeney Murguia

After stories, some kids played Pin the Horn on the Unicorn, others did one of the two prepared crafts or coloring sheets, and some went straight to the scavenger hunt. Fortunately, my wonderful summer intern had researched and prepared unicorn crafts before she went back to school. But with a little preparation, this isn’t a hard event to pull off, and people loved it!

A large piece of white butcher paper with a horse drawn on in black marker, and colorful construction paper horns taped all over — Pin the Horn on the Unicorn (did not use a blindfold or spin kids around, just told them to close their eyes)

Unicorn Club Scavenger Hunt: "Find pictures of these books around the library! Work by yourself or with a partner. Pictures of twelve book covers (Pretty Perfect Kitty-Corn, Teeny-Weeny Unicorn, etc.) for kids to find. — Unicorn Club Scavenger Hunt: Laminated shapes were stuck to walls, shelves, and windows around the children’s area

A child in a purple unicorn-print dress holds up her paper plate unicorn craft; her face is blocked out by a sparkle unicorn emoji. — A Unicorn Club attendee showing off her paper plate craft

The crafts we chose to plan were ones that were easy for even young kids to make, especially with help from their grown-ups. For older, more artsy kids who are into Dana Simpson’s Phoebe and Her Unicorn graphic novels, there is a “Create Your Own Cartoon Strip,” “How to Draw Phoebe and Friends,” and a full Cartooning Guide.

I forgot to plan for prizes for the scavenger hunt – unicorn stickers would have been perfect – but I had some rainbow glitter temporary tattoos left over from the Pride Club showcase last June, and kids were happy with those.

Other unicorn picture books: