Submitted by the Lopez Island Library
Every Wednesday in the months of July and August, the Lopez Library will be hosting a series of hands-on, active, and family friendly programs in conjunction with the Summer Reading initiative. The 2019 Summer Reading theme is “A Universe of Stories,” thus the Wednesday afternoon programs all have elements of space exploration, astronomy, and stories or information about the cosmos.
The first program in the series will be on Wednesday, July 3 at 4 p.m. Since it’s so close to the festivities of July Fourth, and rockets are on the collective brain, the program features “Blast-Off Crafts,” and will include building your own straw rockets and racing them, outer-space tales, and other fun space-themed crafts.
The following Wednesday, on July 10, at 4 p.m., we welcome visiting educator Amy Oliver from Harvard & Smithsonian’s Center for Astrophysics and the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Amado, Arizona. Oliver will give a participatory presentation on the chemical reactions that form the universe, and will demonstrate the creative power of chemical reactions through an experiment called “Elephant Toothpaste!”
On Wednesday, July 17, at 4 p.m., in celebration of the full moon that night, we will be making “Full Moon Crafts,” including lunar-inspired art, a sensory “moon sand” play station, and folk tales about the moon from around the world. On Wednesday, July 24, at 4 p.m., the Bellingham based musician Peter Ali will be sharing Native flute songs and stories about the natural world.
And on Wednesday, July 31, at 4 p.m., the program features a participatory puppet theater, with a script titled “Aliens Love Underpants!” The goal of this program series is not only to offer children, families, and grown-ups some fun and dynamic ways to spend a Wednesday afternoon, but also to add a participatory and social component to the Summer Reading Challenge. All ages of participants in the Summer Reading Challenge have the opportunity to score points by attending library programs. So please mark your calendars for Wednesdays at 4 p.m. at the Lopez Library.
