Teen Zombie Night at the Library
This Friday we had a zombie invasion at our library. We closed the library and had the “normals” go home. All kids (ages 12 and up) had to be signed up to attend. We had a surprising number of people not in the target audience show interest in the program (8 year old girls and adults).
Let me pass on my experience to you for your own zombie party or library event.
What you need:
- make-up artist and assistants
- props (warning signs, fake blood, body parts)
- activities (people will be waiting around while others are being made up)
- food- (pizza, gummy worms, jello brain, graveyard cake)
- a good video camera and/or digital camera
Other optional additions:
- zombie movies ( I showed the History channel’s documentary on zombies- it was entertaining and could be left off at any point)
- zombie games
- ambient music and sound effects
I found the make-up artist by asking around fellow librarians- he was willing to volunteer his services if I purchased his materials, and he brought a friend with him to help out. He enjoyed it, saying it was good practice. If you are unable to find such a person and are winging it, make sure you test the kids for allergic reaction before applying the make-up, and research what make-up to use. Have photo waivers on hand- preferably signed before the event, because you will want to share these pictures!
Feed the zombies early- that way they won’t have to worry about eating around make-up. Zombie make-up can take 10-15 minutes per person- plan accordingly and have the people waiting eat, watch something, play something or make a craft. Instructions on how to walk like a zombiecanbe entertaining as well.
I bought a brain mold and filled it with strawberry Jello. Next time I will use less water than the package instructions- the uncanted brain was too loose. For some reason, the kids refused to eat it. Keep that in mind when you make gross-out food- it might be funny, but only certain people will actually enjoy it.
My intern had a blast playing “zombie librarian” to the invasion. We filmed a few scenes, and then it degraded into zombie tag. Zombie tag, if played correctly, goes as follows: one person is the first zombie. Everyone he tags become fellow zombies until there are no victims left. Our version, which was part movie, part tag and part kids pretend play, involved tickling, knocking over objects, and very nimble and fast zombies!
All the kids had a wonderful time. We had to remind them to stop grinning from ear to ear. “Think math class!” yelled my intern. “Think doctor’s office!”
