Summer is rocking with activities for children
COSHOCTON – This summer Clary Gardens, the Coshocton Public Library, the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum and the Pomerene Center for the Arts are working together to offer programming for children in the community.
“Last year we shared our (summer reading) theme ‘Build a Better World’ and the others followed it with programs, but we didn’t collaborate,” said Deborah Crowdy, from the children’s department at the library. “We liked what we did though and started meeting last fall so we could collaborate on the ‘Libraries Rock!’ summer reading theme for this year. We wanted to make sure there was something to do every day of the week.”
Together they came up with the Get Rock’N Coshocton program, which will be offered throughout the month of June at each location and is sponsored by McWane Ductile and the Lake Park Aquatic Center.
“This is a win-win for Coshocton County,” Crowdy said. “We went to Cleveland for a summer reading workshop and they were taking our ideas left, right and center. There is something to do every day of the week and most programs are free or for a reasonable cost.”
Clary Gardens
Ecology is the study of relationships between living organisms and their physical surroundings. Each week, from 10 to 11 a.m. on Tuesdays, children will discover a different environment and hike to that area for a hands-on outdoor experience (forests, streams, soils, etc.) Topics are subject to change, but the schedule includes: May 29 – Trees and Forests in the Woodlands; June 5 – Worms, Soil, and Littering at the Compost Pile; June 12 – Bees and Wasps in the Pollinator habitat(s); June 19 – Butterflies in the Butterfly Enclosure; June 26 – Stream Studies in the Woodlands. Children should dress appropriately for the weather (rain or shine). RSVP is required, but there is no cost. For more information or to RSVP, e-mail events@clarygardens.org.
Coshocton Public Library
The library will rock on Mondays and Thursdays, May 24 – July 21 with music and geology activities. Children can drop in for a craft on Mondays from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. and on Thursdays at the same time come enjoy a variety of presentations and hands-on activities. Wednesdays will be the day for children 0-3 years to enjoy the library and fun events will be held at the West Lafayette Branch on Tuesdays and Thursday. (RSVP only for 0-3 years).
“There is no cost for any of the programs because of donations from businesses and organizations,” Crowdy said. “We don’t use a penny of tax money for summer reading programs or prizes. If it wouldn’t be for donations, I wouldn’t have a budget for this.”
She added that summer reading programs are an educational initiative provided by Ohio libraries.
“We report our numbers to the Ohio Library and that is an important fact for funding,” Crowdy said. “We also do summer reading because research that was done in the early 90s and more recently at Ohio Dominican shows that children lose 30 percent of their reading ability over the summer. Where they were at when May ends is where they will be in September unless they read over the summer.”
Special puppet show and dinosaur events also are planned for this summer plus several fun activities for teens. This will be Meghan Douglas’ first summer with the library as the teen librarian and she’s excited to get started.
“I was at the Licking County Library in youth services so it will be nice to be here and just focus on the teens and making their programs special,” she said. “My specialty is technology and STEM and I’m looking forward to bringing more of that type of programming here because teens and technology go hand-in-hand.”
For more specifics on the library’s summer reading program, visit www.coshoctonlibrary.org and click on the event calendar or call 740-622-0956.
Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum
Get scientific and creative in June at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum. Children, ages 3 through 11, are invited each Friday morning beginning June 1 at 10 a.m. to explore natural science through the eyes of an artist.
“I love natural science and trees and flowers and I also love art,” said Jennifer Bush, museum director. “We will have science-based people here each week and I’m excited to be able to help teach them the connection between science and art.”
Each week children will learn about a part of the natural world (trees, water, butterflies, etc.), and then use that object as inspiration for an art piece. Sessions will be divided into two age appropriate groups to learn about the natural world through fun activities: Preschoolers (ages 3 to 5) and elementary children (ages 6 to 11).
Families will be allowed to explore the museum after each session. Admission is $2 per child. Space is limited and reservations are required. Contact the museum at 740-622-8710 or e-mail jhmuseum@jhmuseum.org.
“I thinking working together (on Get Rock’N Coshocton) is going to help us get different people and children involved at each of our institutions,” Bush said. “This also shows community support. We are supporting each other and that’s what communities do.”
Pomerene Center for the Arts
From 10 to 11 a.m. on Wednesdays children can come to the Pomerene Center for the Arts to create drums, string and wind instruments from found materials. Using Eric Carle as their inspiration, children will add color and patterns to their instruments. Children will then learn to play the instruments and set Coshocton Rock’N on three special family music nights at 6 p.m. on June 27, July 11, and July 18, in the artPARK. To register, e-mail pomerenearts@gmail.com or call 740-622-0326. Cost is $5 per week.
“As a parent, the joy of our kids being out of school for the summer pretty quickly turns into the challenge of finding reasons for them to get out of bed, off the couch and out of the house,” said Anne Cornell, from the Pomerene Center. “One of the reasons I love this Get Rock’N Coshocton collaboration is that four mornings a week there’s excitement – ‘What’s going on this morning?’ You’d be hard pressed to find a community of our size with a library, museum, botanical gardens and art center working together to offer such dynamic programming.”
Stamp Card
Children who attend the Get Rock’N Coshocton programs will receive a stamp card and will collect a stamp each time they are present. Ten stamps collected equals one free pass to the Lake Park Aquatic Center. The stamp card printed here in the Beacon also can be used to collect your stamps.
Category: Arts & Entertainment
