Recap of Recaps: July 16–July 22

Submited by Kim Ottesen

Here are a few recaps from some engaging programs that took place systemwide between July 16–July 22.

Abstract Art with Lara MacLean at Sharon Forks Library

"Lara shared techniques to try–using items like toothbrushes and forks along with paint brushes to add texture, taping the canvas before painting, and adding stencils and words after finishing with their layers of paint. She also passed out samples for inspiration. The teens loved trying new skills. Even the teens who didn't think of themselves as artistic created beautiful works of art. One teen said she was frustrated at first because she ended up with a brown canvas from her paints mixing together. She dried it, started over, and explained her final artwork is something she loves. This valuable program gives teens a chance to experiment and explore with art.” –hosted by Page James

Teens making abstract art at Sharon Forks Library

Adventures in Archaeology at Cumming Library

“The archaeology program started out with an overview of the topic, then we looked at a few artifacts to get kids into the mindset of thinking about objects, their time periods, and how people lived. I showed the kids a picture of a Stanley cup (the drink vessel, not the hockey trophy), and we talked about how anything humans use can be an artifact. We offered activity stations: an Indiana Jones Style obstacle course where they jumped over alligators, went through a maze, and tried to select the correct object; an excavation station; a pottery reconstruction station; a translation station; a ‘decoding the past’ station; a coin making station; and a riddle station. Children most enjoyed getting to see technology and items from the not so recent past at the ‘decoding the past’ station. Staff brought in some items, and the children loved getting to touch and try figuring out how the items worked. At the end of the program, a little boy let me know he now wanted to be an archeologist when he grows up.” –hosted by Signe Madson

Seeing Stars Presented by Elachee Starlab at Hampton Park Library

"Ms. Lauren from the Elachee Nature Center brought the StarLab to Hampton Park and was very passionate about sharing her knowledge of the moon, stars, and planets. She told some of the original stories of the constellations and a few that she had made up for herself to remember where to find the constellations in the night sky. The children enjoyed going into the StarLab and Ms. Lauren even invited the adults to take a peek after the program. We had such a big response from our patrons that tickets were quickly gone. All of our excited star gazers seemed inspired to learn more about the constellations.” –hosted by LeAnne Craig

Outreach Visit to BIO Ability

“During our ‘Wonderful World of Wolves’ program, we started with the ‘Hello Friends’ song using sign language. Some of the children were familiar with sign language since two of them are non-verbal, so they jumped right in with the song and with the signing! After a fun book and a freeze dance to ‘Crocodile Rock’, we learned some interesting wolf facts, how to sign ‘wolf’, listened to real wolves howl, and learned the meaning of several different sounds they make! The kids tried howling like a wolf after we read wolf nonfiction from Ranger Rick magazine, but they were glad they did not have to eat regurgitated meat like real wolf pups do! Everyone loves moving to ‘Drivin’ In My Car.’ Some of them kept driving, and the teacher had to go get them! We finished with Little Wolf's Song, which speaks about how it feels to be different and how it hurts when someone makes fun of you, then the ‘Goodbye Friends’ song. The kids made a wolf paper bag puppet and enjoyed coloring and playing with the puppets.” –contributed by Jeanine Thompson

BIO Ability kids enjoying the Outreach visit

Family Puzzle Tournament at Post Road Library

“Today's Family Puzzle Tournament was a big success! Ten teams competed to complete a 300 piece puzzle in the shape of a pizza in the fastest time. The room was pretty quiet as teams got to work, but I heard mumblings about how many of the pieces had similar colors and how tricky this was. Quickly, I could see the team that was a family of siblings (team Winions) was off to a very strong start. They were the first team to finish at just a few seconds over 37 minutes. Despite some teams not being able to finish in the allotted two hours, all the participants talked about how much fun they had, and many of them asked us to please repeat this program again. One mom who came with her husband and elementary-age son said that if they hadn't come to the puzzle tournament, they probably would have stayed at home and watched TV and that she was glad to have her son away from the TV.” –hosted by Melissa Reed

Puzzlers got right to work

The winning team of siblings

Proud family of finishers