ALA | Activity Ideas

Activity Ideas

For more activity ideas, and to add your own, visit the Teen Read Week Wiki. Have a great program planned? Tell us about it by entering our 2007 Teen Read Week Contest and you could win a visit from author Tiffany Trent!

Host a Movie Night
Host humorous movie nights for teens (be sure to have parents sign permission slips to approve PG or PG-13 rated flicks). Design the program around certain themes: Lost in the '80s (Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science), Road Trips (Talledega Nights, R/V, Taxi), Skool Daze (High School Musical, Bring it On, Grease), Popularity Contest (John Tucker Must Die, Clueless, Can’t Buy Me Love). Be sure to obtain a Public Performance License.

Sponsor a YouTube Contest
Humor abounds on this popular site where members not only download videos to view, share and post on their own MySpace pages, but teens may also post their own creations. Foster this creativity by hosting a video contest in the library. Advertise the program in-house as well as with outside organizations. Create categories for entries (comedy, animation, short film) and have teens explain the origin of their ideas and their filming process before each screening. Encourage the audience to log onto YouTube in order to comment on the entries.

Start a Club
Plan a “Read the Book/Watch the Movie” series with a light-hearted theme. There are over 1,200 books, novels, and short stories to chose from. You can also have a trivia contest: “Which came first? The book or the movie?” Use the book-movie database at www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/movies.

Play Games
Order in some pizzas, clear your meeting room and allow teens to spread out and play movie and TV-related games: Scene-It: Nick Edition, Scene-It: Friends Edition, Scene-It: TV Edition, Scene-It: Warner Brothers Television Edition, Trivial Pursuit: SNL Edition and Trivial Pursuit: Nick Edition. Or have your TAGS group make up questions and create their own game that is available for check out!

Celebrate Comedians
Display book and pictures of famous comedians: Tim Allen, Jack Black, Drew Carey, Jim Carrey, Dave Chapelle, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jeff Foxworthy, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Will Smith, etc. Plan a program during which teens come dressed as their favorite comedian and act out scenes. Offer various prizes (movie tickets, Blockbuster coupons, popcorn/candy bundles) to celebrate their efforts. Show film clips from these actors’ films or skits or have a film festival during weeks prior to the event. Repeat the same event featuring old time comedians.

Open Mic Comedy Night
Be it a true open mic night or an event modeled after a poetry slam where contestants are given a score by audience members, this could be a great opportunity for teens to showcase their talents. If teens are reluctant to get on stage by themselves, offer an ensemble or group category. Be sure to make clear any limitations you may have on word choice or subject matter when advertising your event. Get local drama and literature teachers involved in promoting your event and even consider asking them to offer extra credit to participants. Learn more about conducting a slam-style open mic at www.poetryslam.com.

Joke Exchange
Have teens bring jokes they've heard or written themselves to this event. Allow them to test material on an audience of other budding joke writers and combine the joke exchange with a joke-writing workshop.

Reverse American Idol
In this version of the popular television show, only the worst contestants win! Celebrate the silly, the campy, and the most out-of-tune and encourage your teens to come in costume and dressed to kill. Be prepared to get the ball rolling by performing yourself and your teens may never think of “Wheels on the Bus” the same way, again!

Hoax Photo Contest
Invite teens to create a photo of a local setting and incorporating a fictional element. (Spider-man climbing the local courthouse? Bigfoot trying on shoes at a shoe store? A herd of cows hovering over the city?) You can host a Photoshop workshop for teens late in the summer to announce the photo hoax contest to follow. Post the photos during the week prior and the week of Teen Read Week for library patrons to vote for their favorites. Create categories for best Photoshop editing, funniest idea, etc.

Cartooning Workshop
Invite a cartoonist to share his or her expertise in a hands-on workshop for teens. Cartoonists draw in many styles, so match your instructor to your teen audience. If you have a choice to make, bring the cartoonist’s work to a Teen Advisory Board meeting and ask your teens to choose! Consider manga or superhero artists, caricature artists, or political cartoonists. Provide paper, pencils, and black felt markers for the teens to test their own talents.

Funny Short Story Contest
Announce a humor-themed short story contest in August for Teen Read Week. Ask some of the Teen Advisory Board members to help with the judging. The winning story can be published in the newspaper or library newsletter during Teen Read Week.

Gocks (Goth Sock Puppets)
Black and white socks are the bases for these quirky puppets teens love to make. Provide Goth trims: safety pins, chenille pipe cleaners and novelty yarn for hair, google eyes and buttons, pompoms and ribbons, beads and jewels, even iron-ons for tattoos! Schedule as a stand alone program or offer after school all week in the YA area of your library.

This above All: Know thy Duck Tape
The Duck Tape Club celebrates all things duct tape at www.ducktapeclub.com. Take a look at their contests, polls, projects, and trivia, and even wacky games (Whack a Wart?) Many duct tape projects are easy enough to do in an hour or less. Duct tape comes in many colors and several patterns so every teen’s project will be unique.

IF YOU LIKE…

Fear Factor read How to Eat Fried Worms (Thomas Rockwell)
How to Deal read Someone Like You (Sarah Dessen)
13 Going on 30 read Freaky Friday (Mary Rodgers)
Desperate Housewives read She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
Mean Girls read Queen of Cool (Cecil Castellucci)
Sex and the City read Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married (Marian Keyes)
The Sopranos read Son of the Mob (Gordon Korman)
Bridget Jones's Diary read Boy Meets Girl (Meg Cabot)
MTV's My Super Sweet 16 read Rich Girls (Victoria Ashton)
10 Things I Hate about You read Taming of the Shrew (William Shakespeare)
American Pie read Doing It (Melvin Burgess)
40 Days and 40 Nights read 24 Girls in 7 Days (Alex Bradley)
MTV's Road Rules read Rules of the Road (Joan Bauer)
Friday Night Lights read Love, Football and Other Contact Sports (Alden Carter)
High School Musical read No More Dead Dogs (Gordon Korman)
Ugly Betty read The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things (Carolyn Mackler)
Little Miss Sunshine read Bucking the Sarge (Christopher Paul Curtis)
Scrubs read Be More Chill (Ned Vizzini)
Seinfeld read The Schernoff Discoveries (Gary Paulsen)


Registration and Feedback What's New? First Time Participating? Corporate Sponsors, Promotional Partners, & Nonprofit Supporters Plan Your Event Booklists Get Publicity FAQ Products WrestleMania Reading Challenge Teens' Top Ten		Activity Ideas For more activity ideas, and to add your own, visit the Teen Read Week Wiki. Have a great program planned? Tell us about it by entering our 2007 Teen Read Week Contest and you could win a visit from author Tiffany Trent! Host a Movie Night Host humorous movie nights for teens (be sure to have parents sign permission slips to approve PG or PG-13 rated flicks). Design the program around certain themes: Lost in the '80s (Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science), Road Trips (Talledega Nights, R/V, Taxi), Skool Daze (High School Musical, Bring it On, Grease), Popularity Contest (John Tucker Must Die, Clueless, Can’t Buy Me Love). Be sure to obtain a Public Performance License. Sponsor a YouTube Contest Humor abounds on this popular site where members not only download videos to view, share and post on their own MySpace pages, but teens may also post their own creations. Foster this creativity by hosting a video contest in the library. Advertise the program in-house as well as with outside organizations. Create categories for entries (comedy, animation, short film) and have teens explain the origin of their ideas and their filming process before each screening. Encourage the audience to log onto YouTube in order to comment on the entries. Start a Club Plan a “Read the Book/Watch the Movie” series with a light-hearted theme. There are over 1,200 books, novels, and short stories to chose from. You can also have a trivia contest: “Which came first? The book or the movie?” Use the book-movie database at www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/movies. Play Games Order in some pizzas, clear your meeting room and allow teens to spread out and play movie and TV-related games: Scene-It: Nick Edition, Scene-It: Friends Edition, Scene-It: TV Edition, Scene-It: Warner Brothers Television Edition, Trivial Pursuit: SNL Edition and Trivial Pursuit: Nick Edition. Or have your TAGS group make up questions and create their own game that is available for check out! Celebrate Comedians Display book and pictures of famous comedians: Tim Allen, Jack Black, Drew Carey, Jim Carrey, Dave Chapelle, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jeff Foxworthy, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Will Smith, etc. Plan a program during which teens come dressed as their favorite comedian and act out scenes. Offer various prizes (movie tickets, Blockbuster coupons, popcorn/candy bundles) to celebrate their efforts. Show film clips from these actors’ films or skits or have a film festival during weeks prior to the event. Repeat the same event featuring old time comedians. Open Mic Comedy Night Be it a true open mic night or an event modeled after a poetry slam where contestants are given a score by audience members, this could be a great opportunity for teens to showcase their talents. If teens are reluctant to get on stage by themselves, offer an ensemble or group category. Be sure to make clear any limitations you may have on word choice or subject matter when advertising your event. Get local drama and literature teachers involved in promoting your event and even consider asking them to offer extra credit to participants. Learn more about conducting a slam-style open mic at www.poetryslam.com. Joke Exchange Have teens bring jokes they've heard or written themselves to this event. Allow them to test material on an audience of other budding joke writers and combine the joke exchange with a joke-writing workshop. Reverse American Idol In this version of the popular television show, only the worst contestants win! Celebrate the silly, the campy, and the most out-of-tune and encourage your teens to come in costume and dressed to kill. Be prepared to get the ball rolling by performing yourself and your teens may never think of “Wheels on the Bus” the same way, again! Hoax Photo Contest Invite teens to create a photo of a local setting and incorporating a fictional element. (Spider-man climbing the local courthouse? Bigfoot trying on shoes at a shoe store? A herd of cows hovering over the city?) You can host a Photoshop workshop for teens late in the summer to announce the photo hoax contest to follow. Post the photos during the week prior and the week of Teen Read Week for library patrons to vote for their favorites. Create categories for best Photoshop editing, funniest idea, etc. Cartooning Workshop Invite a cartoonist to share his or her expertise in a hands-on workshop for teens. Cartoonists draw in many styles, so match your instructor to your teen audience. If you have a choice to make, bring the cartoonist’s work to a Teen Advisory Board meeting and ask your teens to choose! Consider manga or superhero artists, caricature artists, or political cartoonists. Provide paper, pencils, and black felt markers for the teens to test their own talents. Funny Short Story Contest Announce a humor-themed short story contest in August for Teen Read Week. Ask some of the Teen Advisory Board members to help with the judging. The winning story can be published in the newspaper or library newsletter during Teen Read Week. Gocks (Goth Sock Puppets) Black and white socks are the bases for these quirky puppets teens love to make. Provide Goth trims: safety pins, chenille pipe cleaners and novelty yarn for hair, google eyes and buttons, pompoms and ribbons, beads and jewels, even iron-ons for tattoos! Schedule as a stand alone program or offer after school all week in the YA area of your library. This above All: Know thy Duck Tape The Duck Tape Club celebrates all things duct tape at www.ducktapeclub.com. Take a look at their contests, polls, projects, and trivia, and even wacky games (Whack a Wart?) Many duct tape projects are easy enough to do in an hour or less. Duct tape comes in many colors and several patterns so every teen’s project will be unique. IF YOU LIKE… Fear Factor read How to Eat Fried Worms (Thomas Rockwell) How to Deal read Someone Like You (Sarah Dessen) 13 Going on 30 read Freaky Friday (Mary Rodgers) Desperate Housewives read She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb) Mean Girls read Queen of Cool (Cecil Castellucci) Sex and the City read Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married (Marian Keyes) The Sopranos read Son of the Mob (Gordon Korman) Bridget Jones's Diary read Boy Meets Girl (Meg Cabot) MTV's My Super Sweet 16 read Rich Girls (Victoria Ashton) 10 Things I Hate about You read Taming of the Shrew (William Shakespeare) American Pie read Doing It (Melvin Burgess) 40 Days and 40 Nights read 24 Girls in 7 Days (Alex Bradley) MTV's Road Rules read Rules of the Road (Joan Bauer) Friday Night Lights read Love, Football and Other Contact Sports (Alden Carter) High School Musical read No More Dead Dogs (Gordon Korman) Ugly Betty read The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things (Carolyn Mackler) Little Miss Sunshine read Bucking the Sarge (Christopher Paul Curtis) Scrubs read Be More Chill (Ned Vizzini) Seinfeld read The Schernoff Discoveries (Gary Paulsen)