Welcome to Make & Learn! In this program, our librarians will be sharing easy-to-make games and activities that support cognitive development and practicing early literacy skills.
In this video, Miss Lisa shares a fun and easy-to-make matching game.
Welcome to Make & Learn!
with Sara
In this program, our librarians will be sharing easy-to-make games and activities that support cognitive development and practicing early literacy skills.
In this video, Miss Sara shares how to make a thumb piano, a fun way to encourage singing and practice fine motor skills.
APL How-To: Make Your Own Video Game with Twine
by Elizabeth
Hi there! So you want to make a Twine game? Great! Let’s get started.
Twine is a free website that allows you to make a choose-your-path game. It’s easy to use, and to make a
basic game, you only have to know two buttons on your keyboard. We’ll cover how to use those buttons, then
move on to cover two ways to surprise your readers.
Watch a tutorial here, or read on to learn more!
The Basics
First, go to twinery.org and click “Use it online.” You can download it, too, if you prefer.
If it’s your first time using Twine, Twine will give you a message telling you the basics: Twine saves its stories
in your browser, it’s free to use, and there’s a website full of detailed information you can go to if you need
more help.
For now, let’s click on the new story button on the right side of the screen:
Come up with a name for your story! I named mine “Library Story,” but you can name yours whatever you like.
After you name your story, you’ll be directed to a blue grid with a box in the center.
Double-click the box, or passage, to get started. Think of this as a page in your choose-your-path book: you’re
writing a page with a few choices for your reader.
Write whatever you want the reader to see when they click on your passage.
When you want to include a choice, place it in [[double brackets, like this]].
Click on “Test” or “Play” in the bottom corner whenever you’re ready to test it out.
When you test the game, the words you put in double brackets should show up in blue. You can click them
now, and they’ll take you to new pages.
Each of the links is a title of a new page, so anytime you type the words [[Let’s go]] or [[Wait, no]], it’ll take your
readers to the exact same page.
That’s it! That’s all you need to know to make a basic choose-your-path Twine game. Congratulations! If you
want to get a little more complicated, though, here are two tricks to surprise your reader.
Getting More Involved
Again, the steps above are all you need to know. But what if you want something more complicated? What if
you want to add new words to a page someone’s already reading?
Easy! Here are two simple ways to add new words. You’ll make two kinds of links. One will change a word into
another word when the reader clicks on it, and one will add words to another part of the story.
Changing a Word
To change a word, we’re going to add two new concepts: single brackets and parentheses.
First, let’s turn a dragon into a lizard:
I have to fight a (link: “dragon”)[lizard] today.
In the above picture, “dragon” is the word we want to change. Put the word you want to change in quotes after
“link”:
Then, put one bracket and write what you want to appear instead. Don’t put two brackets! That’ll take you to a
new page.
The end result should look like this:
(link: “word you want to change”)[new word]
When your readers click the link, the words will change.
Surprise! New Words
If you want to add words somewhere else in the passage after people click on a link, without deleting your
original words, you can also do that. Let’s try this with a paraphrase of Cabin Pressure’s “Surprising Rice.”
“Behold! Surprising Rice.”
[“What are those bits?”]<text| Martin asked.
(click: ?text) [“Ah, you see, Skipper, if you don’t mind me saying so, that question is
entirely against the spirit of Surprising Rice.”]
First, we have to write the words someone has to click on.
[words to click]<text|
When words are in brackets, you don’t have to put them in quotes.
Next, let’s write the words that will appear:
(click: ?text)[words that will appear]
You can put these words anywhere on the page you want!
The end result should look like this: once your reader clicks on the link, it will change from a blue link into plain
text, and the words will appear.
Thank you for making a video game with Twine! Let me know if you have any questions. If you make your own game in Twine, let us know! We'd love to hear about it!
Welcome to Make & Learn!
with Julie
Welcome to Make & Learn! In this program, our librarians will be sharing easy-to-make games and activities that support cognitive development and practicing early literacy skills. In this video, Miss Julie shares a fun and easy way to practice writing and strengthen fine motor skills.
Welcome to Make & Learn!
with Sara
In this program, our librarians will be sharing easy-to-make games and activities that support cognitive development and practicing early literacy skills.
In this video, Miss Sara shares a fun fishing game that supports print awareness and letter knowledge.
Game reviews by Brandon, Elizabeth, Kristin, Stacy, Justine, and Sue.
Hello everyone! We hope you’ll enjoy these reviews for free games to entertain you! These are a mix of browser and smartphone games, and none of them will cost you anything to play.
Tired of slime and bubble wrap? Check out these oddly satisfying games!
Little Alchemy
A free game available on your app store (Apple/Android) and web browsers
Nothing exists except the four elements- air, earth, fire, and water. By mixing two of these rudimentary ingredients at a time, you can create new objects from scratch. (For example: “water” + “earth” = mud.) You can discover over 500 different items! This game isn’t just about the finish line, but it’s about the journey, too! I didn’t expect to chuckle as many times as I did playing this game. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how simple yet elusive the combinations can be. You might have to think outside the box at times, but if you get stuck, Little Alchemy offers hints to help. You can play this charming, clever game at your own pace. Try making one of my favorite combinations: “bread” + “fire” makes... “toast”! - Sue
Blendoku
A free game available on your app store (Apple/Android)
Blendoku isn’t your average puzzle game: there are no numbers or letters. Instead, you get to play with colors! The level gives you a couple tiles to start with, and you’ve got to drag the remaining tiles onto the playboard. The colors must blend seamlessly to adjacent tiles. The result is an aesthetically pleasing color palette. I find the bright hues and mellow sound effects soothing. I prefer taking my time, but if you’re feeling competitive, you can solve the puzzles as fast you can and see if you can beat your own personal record. - Sue
Soap Cutting
A free game available on your app store (Apple/Android)
If you’re like me, I can watch soap cutting video clips non-stop. While those videos can be uber gratifying, they result in lots of waste. Now, we can enjoy all the satisfaction of cutting soap without the waste or the mess! In this game, you get to slice colorful bars of soap into perfect, tiny cubes. The combination of crisp sound effects, smooth graphics, and just the right amount of haptic feedback brings this app to life. You might even discover some hidden prizes as you’re slicing away!
What game is your favorite? Tell us some of your other favorite games in the comments!
Swamp Monster
by Karen
Splish, splash, monster mash! Learn how to make your own swamp monster and a fun game to feed him letters and numbers!
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