I am absolutely in love with Star Wars Reads Day. This is the third year for it, when publishers and Lucasfilms get together to celebrate a love of reading and a love of everything Star Wars. This year it falls on Saturday, October 11 (although you can have yours anytime around there), and it’s just amazing how much teens and tweens will get into it. I’ve had them come dressed as their favorite characters, dressed as Jedis and Siths, bringing lightsabers and their own figures to show off- anything you can imagine, they’ve brought it. I’ve been lucky enough to host our local 501th Legion- Vader’s Fist division as well, and they have been wonderful with the kids- imagine Imperial Guards playing pool with the kids in the game room, Storm Troopers playing Halo with the teens on the computers, Vader just sitting and reading through a book about himself surrounded in awe by young kids.
Even if you haven’t signed up for giveaways (found on the link above) or downloaded the free kit there are tons of ways to get an awesome SWRD event going. One of my favorite games from last year actually came from a pin I found on Pinterest. Natalie at Doodle Craft had posted about the Star Wars party she had done for her son, and how wonderful it was- and the pictures make it look so wonderful. Aside from the fun food that she had, what I really was impressed with was the Put the Light-saber on the Yoda. A play on pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, she had printed out a large version of a Yoda graphic on her computer printer, pasted him together, and then stuck him on the wall. Then the kids took turns trying to stick light-sabers to him blindfolded by “using the force.”
I took it and made a Darth Vader instead, because we play on the dark side at my library. I played a variety of Star Wars music, including The Imperial March, and the tweens and teens loved it. Everyone got bookmarks and pins that were provided through the Star Wars Reads Day site, and winners (we had a tie) got to choose between two of the books we received as giveaways.
With Disney launching a new cartoon series this fall and all the excitement of the new Star Wars movie in 2015, the Star Wars franchise is one that my tween and teens talk about day in and day out. Even if you don’t think you can pull off a full event or program, print off coloring sheets, pull out books from the collection, and start a conversation. It’ll be more than worth your time to see the excitement in their faces.
Looking for more inspiration for a Star Wars Reads Day program?
Star Wars Reads Day Pinterest Board
Teen Librarian Toolbox: A Recap of 2012’s Program in Pictures
Teen Librarian Toolbox: Star Wars Read Day Ideas
Teen Librarian Toolbox: Game Review Star Fluxx
Note: Posts from Teen Librarian Toolbox are ones that were either written or co-written by myself while blogging for that site.
Thanks for the heads up! I tend to forget about this one, but have a few dedicated readers this year so will have to make an effort. Your programming is so much different from school library lessons; I’ve often thought I would like to try something different, but it’s hard to fit something more exciting into the three minutes I have to deliver a lesson to a class! Courage!
Thanks! I tend to have more public library things than school just because of my background, and hand over the school library lessons to the experts. I love collaborations, however, and wish that there was more time in the day. My kids love it, just because I think of the name, but it’s a fun and unique reading day. 🙂