Oceans of Possibilities – week 2

Summer Reading theme 2022

This year our summer intern, Lily Houston, is writing summaries of each event at the library. Here are her stories for the week of June 14 through 16.

Tuesday, June 14 — Anything Goes

Last Tuesday for Kilgore Memorial Library’s Anything Goes Day, the Edgerton Explorit Center came to the library to teach children ages 3-10 about sound waves. Educator Nicole Havlik took the students through the major characteristics of waves through a series of diagrams and demonstrations. Havlik started off by explaining how the sound we hear is formed by vibrations, using a device called a resonance bowl. The kids watched in awe as Havlik rubbed the edges of the large bowl full of water, creating an eerie hum and causing the water inside to jump and ripple. Havlik also explained how sound waves travel and how our ears perceive them, with the help of an audience member using a whoo tube made of short, flexible plastic. When the volunteer spun it slowly, the whoo tube emitted a low whistle, but as they spun the tube faster and faster, the whistle became higher. Havlik explained that this is because the faster a sound wave travels, the higher the sound will be. One of the most exciting demonstrations was when Havlik made sound waves visible with a Rubens Tube, a metal tube with a line of flames along the top. Havlik plugged in a speaker, and the line of flames dipped and rose to “Rise Up” by Andra Day, exciting many “Woah!”s from the crowd. After the demonstrations, kids were able to try some sound and wave experiments of their own. In the “Screaming Balloon” experiment, each child slipped a hex nut inside of a balloon and blew it up. When they shook the inflated balloon, the hex nut inside whizzed around in circles, creating a loud zzz. In the “Wave in a Bottle” experiment, participants were able to see how waves move by watching the behavior of oil in a bottle of water when it was shaken up. To end the day on a sweet note, the kids built wave bridges out of gum drops stuck to wooden skewers attached to a length of duct tape. When the end skewer was tweaked, the vibration moved along the line of skewers, creating a hypnotically undulating wave. Each child that attended left with new knowledge about the sounds we hear every day, some examples to show their friends and family, and a gumdrop in their mouth! For next week’s Anything Goes activity, participants will be programming sphero bots. Join us at 10:30 on Tuesday!

Wednesday, June 15 — Brown Bag Storytime

Last week for Brown Bag Storytime, kids ages 1-5 listened to stories “Commotion in the Ocean,” a rhyming book about different kinds of sea life, and “I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean” a story about sea creatures competing to be the biggest creature in the ocean. Although storytime had to be held inside because of the weather, the kids still had fun learning about sea creatures, and guessing what could be the biggest thing in the ocean. After the stories, the kids made jellyfish out of paper bowls, tissue paper and ribbons to hang up around their house. This week, we will be reading about pirates with the stories “The Treasure of Pirate Frank” and “Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC.”

Thursday, June 16 — Book Buddies

For Book Buddies last week, we focused on mermaids. Fourth graders from YES summer Boost read books with a focus on mermaids. From the Coast to Australia, and how some were depicted as peaceful, while others were thought of as monsters. Afterward, the kids used watercolor to paint their own mermaid tails, and decorated them with glitter and sequins. All of the kids seemed enthusiastic about the activities, particularly when it came to singing “Baby Shark!” This week, we will be focusing on pirates. We will read “Pirate Pete’s Giant Adventure” and “Pirate Monty takes the Plunge” and make paper treasure chests.

Thursday, June 16 — Cookies and Canvas

Last week for Cookies and Canvas, we learned about the artist Georges Seurat and his method of pointillism, or using dots to form pictures. We had a great turnout this week, with around 25 kids participating! After we read a short bio on Seurat’s life and his influence on art, we got out our palettes and q-tips to try pointillism for ourselves. Kids used canvases stenciled with seahorses, rocket ships, and rising suns to dot with pastel shades, or used a blank canvas to create their own scenes, all while snacking on Snickerdoodles, Oreos and Chips Ahoy. Many kids enjoyed the activity so much, they created multiple dot paintings during the hour. We saw a unique array of dot paintings, from pineapples to Mr. Potato Heads! Next week, we will be learning about Claude Monet and painting with watercolors.

This post was written by Kilgore Memorial Library’s summer intern, Lily Houston. This summer intern position is funded through the 2022 Nebraska Library Internship Grant Program.

As Nebraska’s state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services—“bringing together people and information.”

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. To learn more about the Institute, please visit http://www.imls.gov/.

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