Book Club Behind the Scenes: Philippines Edition 3/5
Part three of five: The Mechanics
Welcome to Book Club Behind the Scenes! In this guest post series, we’ll get a glimpse into how others are running their book clubs. I hope these insights inspire you to find what works best for your own space and create a book club experience that feels just right for you.
Happy reading!
Saling Pusa is a Tagalog term used in the Philippines. It’s a combination of two words—sali (to join) and pusa (cat)—meaning “cat joining in.” It’s a friendly reference to someone joining an activity despite not being a full-fledged member of the group.
How my kids play video games together is a great illustration. My four children are 14, 13, 10, and 3. When they play Nintendo Switch together, the youngest, age 3, is eager to join in too. So, the older brothers give him a broken controller. All four of them play, and often, the 3-year-old is the happiest of them all. The older brothers even cheer him on, completing the façade.
Saling Pusa is the reason I organize our group (35 kids, ages 6–16) into teams, setting the stage for the mechanical workings of our club.
The group is organized into six teams of six. Before the event, I balance the teams, each with an equal mix of gender and age. I usually split up siblings—they see each other every day, and this is a time they can be separated. The younger ones in our group might have trouble participating if I grouped them together. But when I split them up into teams mixed with older children, they become the saling pusa and are easily carried along, enabled to join in the event.
The smaller groups of six enable everyone to participate. All teams do the same activity at the same time, allowing me to communicate my vision and delegate responsibilities. A team leader, either a volunteer mom or one of the oldest members of our group, is appointed to each team. Teams are usually organized by color, and each leader is given a color-coded folder containing the materials needed for the activity. Team leaders allow me to delegate responsibility, enabling participation on a more intimate level.
Teams also add a competitive element. One mom keeps score, another is the scorekeeper, and another is the photographer. The top teams of each activity earn points. While the points are somewhat arbitrary and don’t ultimately determine the winner, everyone goes home with a book-related souvenir. The competitive element adds to the participation and gaming atmosphere of the event.
On average, 4-5 different activities (approximately 20 minutes each) are planned for each book club. Keeping the activities short helps maintain the children’s attention span. Alternating between mental and physical activities prevents mental fatigue, allowing multiple activities to be done in quick succession.
About a year ago, we added Storytime. Even with saling pusa, some activities can be too advanced for the youngest in our group. During these times, we pull out the younger ones for Storytime, where one of the moms reads a picture book aloud, related in theme to the main book. I'll expand more on this next time when I discuss the content of the book clubs.
Up Next in the Series: The Content
Kids’ Book Club Series:
The Mechanics
The Content
The Pairings
 | A guest post by
|