Friday, August 9, 2013

Pigeon Party Fun

Our final activity for the Summer Library Program 2013 was a Pigeon Party yesterday. The Pigeon loves to party! and everyone had a great time
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First, the Pigeon welcomed everyone to the party. I made the Pigeon from blue poster board. One sheet was enough---the head was cut separately in the space next to his neck. If you need a little help, Mo Willems has some instruction on how to draw the Pigeon. I just did it by copying the picture on Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, with some measuring of proportions, like how long his neck is compared to his body.

His legs are made out of pipe cleaners. Two black pipe cleaners were enough to make his two legs. Then I tacked him to an easel with fun tack, and the Pigeon was ready to party!

The first thing the kids did was make pigeon headbands. That gave late arrivals time to come in. Then when all the headbands were on, we did the Pigeon Dance. This is the same thing as the Chicken Dance. The kids have lots of fun dancing the Pigeon---the only problem is that you end up with the tune in your head forever.

After dancing, we watched two Weston Woods animations of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog. I got the DVDs from Amazon for what I think is a good price.

I had two more activities for the kids. With the help of my teen volunteers, they made pigeon cookies. Here's what you need to make a pigeon cookie:

1 sugar cookie
1 vanilla wafer
1 Hershey's kiss
2 butterscotch chips
Vanilla frosting colored blue

Spread blue frosting on the sugar cookie. Place a vanilla wafer on top (the pigeon's eyeball.) Unwrap the kiss and put a dab of frosting on the bottom. Place it on the vanilla wafer. Place the two butterscotch chips in the frosting on one side of the cookie to make the beak.



When I made this sample cookie today for the picture, I didn't have the butterscotch chips on hand, so as you see, I substituted a couple triangles of yellow paper, just so you can see what it is supposed to look like.

Can you see the Pigeon?

I found this idea somewhere on the Web, but I don't know where. Thanks to whoever came up with the idea!  The kids loved it.


While half the kids were making their pigeon cookies, the other half were drawing picture. I had coloring sheets that I put together with a picture of the Pigeon and the headline Don’t Let the Pigeon . . . .  and The Pigeon Wants . . .  They came up with The Pigeon Wants A Bicycle!  The Pigeon Wants to Fly a Jet! But . . . Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Limo, and Don’t Let the Pigeon Go Hunting!