A Recap of Recaps

Submitted by Lindsey Allison

Here is a sampling of recaps from June 23 through June 29: 

Habitat is Home! – A Nature Program Presented by Elachee Science Center at SF
Session 1: 71 children, 43 adults
Session 2: 44 children, 32 adults
“Kathy and Kim from Elachee Science Center were wonderful! They arrived with plenty of time to set up and prepare for their largest group EVER! We chatted about the size of the group that we might have and offered staff and volunteens to help in any way possible. The group was a little on the young side, but Kathy did a great job of keeping them engaged. There was a wealth of information about the four habitats we have here in Georgia (forest, river, swamp and ocean) and plenty of interesting facts about the plants and animals in each. Kathy was great about taking questions and providing information that the group was most interested in. At the end of the program she brought out her special friend, Candy, the snake. She gave ample warning before bringing her friend out and some took advantage and made for the door! There were some wonderful patron comments overheard by staff, including "That was AWESOME!" and "I learned that the swamps are not dirty!" Many thanks to Ms. Anu for the great photos!” – Stephanie Gardner 

The Art of Friendship at HP 
34 children, 16 adults
“We had so much fun this afternoon at our "Art of Friendship'' program for K-2nd graders. We started the program off with a "Friendship quiz" which one of our Volunteens conducted. She named off a popular character i.e. Scooby Doo and asked who his best friend was. The kids really enjoyed the quiz and Rebecca did a great job facilitating it. Next Jordin, one of our other Volunteens along with NJ demonstrated our next activity, a game of "Freeze Tag'' with beanbags on our heads. The kids really loved this one and even some of the adults jumped in to play along. I read the book, "Knuffle Bunny Two: A Case of Mistaken Identity" by Mo Willems which tells the story of a young girl, her favorite stuffed rabbit and her experience in making a new best friend. The kids really seemed to enjoy it. After the story, I went over the "friendship crafts” for this week which included making friendship bracelets, DIY stickers, and making your own stuffed bunny (like Knuffle). I had our teens manning each station and they did a fantastic job assisting our young patrons and instructing them on the craft. I was impressed with the cute bunnies that were made along with the patience and persistence our patrons had when creating their friendship bracelets.” – LeAnne Craig 

Striper Fishing on Lake Lanier at CU
4 children, 6 adults
“Ken came fully prepared for his presentation with photos, handouts, and equipment to demonstrate his techniques for striper fishing on Lake Lanier. During the talk, he passed around different fishing poles, tackle boxes, and lures to show everyone what to work with. He had an engaged audience, including one teenager who came early and stayed late to ask him questions. Ken was still happily answering questions for over 20 minutes after his presentation.” – Sarah Brubaker

Magical Acts of Kindness – Featuring Keith and Vern at PR
Session 1: 109 children, 68 adults
Session 2: 82 children, 45 adults
“Mr. Keith the Magic Man gave a fun, engaging show called "Magical Acts of Kindness," that excited the entire audience. One trick involved six kids stating an act of kindness they would do at home. He gave them all silk handkerchiefs that they put into a clear cylinder. Then he turned the handkerchiefs into one long colorful scarf, demonstrating how kindness expands and is interconnected. He also used his puppet, "Vern" the talking gooney bird, with ventriloquism to reinforce the importance of reading to the children. The magic phrase of the day was "I love to read!" He brought his own backdrop and sound system, and we taped off an aisle down the middle of the room so he could interact with the crowd more easily. At one point he got out a vintage camera, went up and down the aisle and asked if he could take the crowd's picture. Every time he pushed the button however, the camera squirted the audience to squeals of delight.” – Sara Baggett Preston

Saving Earth Together with Outreach 
53 children, 20 adults 
“The Outreach Team had our very first Summer Reading performance at Pine Ridge Manufactured Housing neighborhood. Kai, from Talewise performed Saving Earth Together, an action packed story that involves science experiments. Audience participation was required, as each experiment required volunteers. The children enjoyed having the opportunity to be a part of the show.  Aside from the program we offered bookmobile services, crafts, summer reading sign up and big games. It was a quintessential bookmobile day with a nice breeze and rays of sunshine filtering through the pecan trees.” – Lorraine Lane 

Photo of the Week:

Saving Earth Together with Outreach
(Photo/Leslie Marinelli)