Library Campout Game

This adventure game is perfect for a rainy day or any day when you and your children (students) would rather be camping out at the library than outside.

Here’s how to organize the adventure:

On the computer (either at the library or at home) research the local library catalog. Go to the search page and type in specific titles you’d like your children to locate. Or enter a subject keyword and find the juvenile literature under that topic. Then choose 5-6 available titles (or more depending on the number of children involved and the time limits.)

Make sure all the titles you decide upon indicate they are currently available (on the shelf.) This information should be provided with each title you pull up.

Try to space the book selections throughout various areas of the juvenile section of your library. For example, choose two titles from the fiction section, three from non-fiction, and a biography. See the examples below.

JF 4-6
The Big House
Carolyn Coman.

JF 3-4
Sarah, Plain And Tall
Patricia MacLaclan

J599.734/3-4
The Hippopotamus : River Horse
Christine Denis-Huot.

J 796.22 4-6
Extreme Skateboarding Moves
Jeri Freimuth.

QJ 916.02 4-6
Africa
Michael and Jane Pelusey.

J920.02/ 4-6
Boys who rocked the world : from King Tut to Tiger Woods written by the editors of Beyond Words Publishing ; illustrated by Lar DeSouza.

Now give each child one or two books to locate. You can set a time limit if you’d like. You can also do this in pairs or in relay teams. As soon as one child locates a book and returns to his team’s table, a second child goes to find the next book.

If you have both older and younger children in your group, you can have the older ones compile the list of seek-n-find titles and perhaps assist the younger ones in finding the books.

You may be surprised by the children’s enthusiasm when they are presented with this quest. Of course, library etiquette does need to be maintained as much as possible during the game—so try to keep voices low and no running.

A pregame tour would be helpful if the children are not already familiar with the various sections of the library where they will be looking for books. With younger children limit the search to one small area and provide lots of help.

A child with such key knowledge of the library as this game provides unlocks a world of unlimited potential.