Activity Ideas
Celebrate America
The Chicago World’s Fair wasn’t just about celebrating inventions—it was about celebrating America and its innovations. Choose a local museum to attend with your book club, preferably one focusing on North American history. If there are multiple museums in your area, make a day of it
Showcase Favorite Buildings
Pick three buildings as themes and ask everyone to bring something fun or unique, old or new, that would have gone in one of the "buildings." Set up three tables and label each with its "building" name and have everyone put their items on the tables as they arrive. For example, "Art Palace" would have paintings, sculpture, music, etc. The "Woman's Building" would have cooking, lace and tableware, shoes and clothing and household items. "Horticulture" would have plants, seeds, gardening tools, etc. Be sure to make time for everyone to share why they chose the item they brought.
Learn a New Language
Give each person a card with one of these words written on it: eat, love, hurt, help, more, please, thank you, daddy, mommy, cheese, meat, banana, cereal, cookie, drink, juice, milk, hot, cold, all done. Have them make up a sign for their word and try to communicate it to the group. If the group is a little shy, this can be less intimidating if done in pairs, but it is hilarious when done as a group. If there is someone who knows sign language, have them demonstrate the real signs afterwards. If not, here's a link to an animation of each sign: http://www.labelandlearn.com/signgamecolor.swf Sign demonstrations can also be found on YouTube, so feel free to make up your own list of words to play with.
Give a Toast to Romance
In honor of Cullen’s and Della’s romance, have your book club make their favorite hot cocoa recipes for your next meeting. If the weather is warm, experiment with frozen hot chocolate instead!