In Chippewa Falls, they had an easy, fun program that librarians and kids alike would be happy to repeat. This just in from Colleen:

One our best programs this summer was our ‘Pokemon Summer Academy’ that we held for kids in 2nd -7th grades. Kids played an ice breaker game where they had to guess which legendary Pokemon character they had on their nametag. We served pizza and played some paper-based games based on their knowledge of Pokemon characters. Kids looked at each others’ cards, and some even traded some cards. Other kids brought their DS machine to battle each other and show off their favorite games.

Often the program seemed to be running itself. It was just a happy bunch of kids speaking the same language and having fun.The biggest hit was was that we had the Wii game Pokemon Battle Revolution and kids connected their DS’s to the Wii so they could battle each other. Those who didn’t have a DS played on a team. While kids waited for their turn to play, some kids decorated ‘Pokeball’ cupcakes using a variety of colored frostings & decorations. Many kids asked when we would be doing this again. Definitely would do again!