How to Plan a Mystery Story Time

A screams pierces the quiet night. You hear the shattering of glass. There's a mystery in the library, and it's up to the kids to solve it! Kids love a good mystery, so why not create a story time around a mysterious theme? Libraries across the country have held successful mystery programs for kids. They're relatively easy to plan and exciting to present. You can plan a variety of crafts and activities to lend a mysterious ambiance to the invite. Invite a local detective to tell kids about crime solving, read a good mystery picture book and create some mystery crafts that will intrigue the sharp minds of each of your junior sleuths.

Things You'll Need

• Mystery picture books
• Black construction paper
• Laminating machine
• Nontoxic ink pads
• White paper
• Pencils
• Crayons
• Fake diamond ring
• Black mask
• Flashlight
• Pillowcase

Instructions

1. Choose books for your mystery story time. A good one for older kids is "The Web Files" by Margie Palatini. You can also try the always-popular "Miss Nelson Is Missing" by Harry Allard. For smaller children, you can't go wrong with "Where's My Teddy?" by Jez Alborough.

2. Cut black shoe prints from construction paper and laminate them. Tape them from the entrance of the library leading to the children's story time area.

3. Plan your crafts for the event. Use nontoxic ink pads and white construction paper. Let kids press their thumb pads into the ink and apply them to the paper. The kids can make pictures from their fingerprints. Another good one is a disguise craft. Kids make disguises by creating paper plate masks. They can use construction paper to make fake mustaches and funny noses. Another fun craft is making secret codes and messages with lemon juice. Lemon juice acts as invisible ink. When you hold the paper with lemon juice words under a light bulb, the message magically appears.

4. Invite a local police officer to talk to the kids about how to solve crimes. Have the police officer take everyone's fingerprints.

5. Plan a mystery scavenger hunt. Plant a variety of clues around the library. Kids must find each clue by reading rhyming messages. Each item must be related to specific crime. For example, a black mask, a flashlight, a fake "diamond" ring, a getaway bag (pillowcase), construction paper footprints and other clues can lead children to suspect that a jewelry heist has taken place.

6. Hand out simple prizes when the story time concludes. You can give away toy magnifying glasses and a bookmark.

Tips & Warnings

• Promote your program through the library calendar, press releases or library signs.

• Use "Ed Emberley's Thumprint Drawing Book" to help kids get ideas on how to turn their thumbprints into art.