Action meets Art! The Kent District Library has got a great program going this summer, and it may be coming to a library near you.
I visited the Alto branch library today with my two kids...here's how we fared:
I tied plastic aprons onto the kids and we got started. Our first stop was the painting station. What made this painting experience unique was the music kids were painting to. Sandy, the branch manager, directed the kids to paint like the music made them feel. What color is the music? How does it make you feel? What a creative approach to painting. And I appreciated that she was not stressed out about a 2 year-old wielding paintbrushes in her carpeted back room!
Collage was another station. Cutting old wall paper scraps and gluing them to construction paper was another great diversion. We followed that up with "Make Your Own Jewelry." Different types of string, pipe cleaner, and beads invited the imagination to go wild. My son made a necklance. Norah made a pipe cleaner bracelet. An older girl at the table made a belt, and I made a princess halo for good measure.
We still weren't ready to leave, so we visited the clay sculpture table. The "clay" was actually made by Sandy...she told us it had cool-aid in it...it did smell pretty good for play dough!
After an hour and a half of free fun, my kids were tired and ready to go home. But I can't say enough about the quality of the programs you find from our libraries. Hats off to the workers, and be sure to thank them when you visit. (And it doesn't hurt to mention grkids.com while you're there, either:)
Here are some places Art Attack will be visiting soon (for kids of all ages):
Date:Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Time:10:00 AM
Library:KENTWOOD BRANCH
Date:Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Time:6:00 PM
Library:ALPINE BRANCH
EGR - PARKAPALOOZA: ART ATTACK
Date:Thursday, July 16, 2009
Time:2:00 PM
Library:EAST GRAND RAPIDS BRANCH
Park Party will be held in John Collins Park, 650 Lakeside Dr SE, East Grand Rapids.
Date:Thursday, July 30, 2009
Time:2:00 PM
Library:CALEDONIA BRANCH
Date:Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Time:5:30 PM
Library:PLAINFIELD BRANCH
Registration Required:YES
Date:Thursday, August 06, 2009
Time:6:00 PM
Library:WYOMING BRANCH
Date:Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Time:4:30 PM
Library:SPENCER TOWNSHIP BRANCH
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