Sand and Dirt

The Perfect Earth Project, which promotes toxin-free landscapes and lawns, will offer kids 5 to 12 a closer look at the “world beneath their feet” in a workshop on soil on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton.

Participants will examine soil under a microscope to discover its living properties and then make “soil food bombs” with compost and beneficial insects. 

On Sunday, littler kids, ages 3 to 5, will dig into sand as they create beach memory jars filled with shells, driftwood, and other things they’ve collected on the beach. Eleni Nikolopoulos, a SoFo nature educator, will lead this 9 a.m. program at the beach. 

Advance registration is required for both.

Images of Adolescence

MM Fine Art in Southampton will open “17,” an exhibition of photographs by Joey Farrell, with a reception tomorrow from 6 to 8 p.m. The show will remain on view through Sept. 3.

A high school senior, Mr. Farrell captures fleeting moments of his adolescence in his photographs. He is passionate about portraiture and feels “a physical action or expression is the most unique type of moment one can capture.”

Block Island Adventure

Camp SoulGrow in Montauk has a day trip to Block Island planned for kids 7 and older on Monday. Young adventurers will gather at the Viking Dock on West Lake Drive at 9:30 a.m., where they’ll collect their SoulGrow T-shirts, hats, and Block Island dogtags. The ferry departs at 10. On the island, they’ll visit Abram’s Farm, have lunch and ice cream, and explore the town before boarding a return ferry at 5 p.m. The boat arrives back in Montauk at 6:15. A $100 donation per kid is requested to cover costs for this nine-hour excursion, and advance registration is a must. 

On Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m., while Nancy Atlas plays at the Surf Lodge in Montauk, Camp SoulGrow leads arts and crafts sessions. Advance sign-up is not required.

Puppets in Sag

Goat on a Boat’s series of puppet shows continues at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor next Thursday at 11 a.m. when Liz Joyce and a Couple of Puppets present “The Doubtful Sprout.” 

This 35-minute show featuring hand, finger, and rod puppets, marionettes, and an animated segment is ideal for ages 3 to 8. Tickets start at $15.

On Sunday, Ms. Joyce will be at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor for a shadow puppet workshop with children 4 to 7 at 3 p.m. Kids will perform short vignettes. The program is free, but advance registration is required. 

Chess and Pizza

The Children’s Museum of the East End and Hamptons Chess will host the museum’s fourth annual Chessfest on Saturday from 10 a.m. The morning includes crafts, activities, and games for players of all levels. A group of kids will even challenge an internationally ranked grandmaster. Chessfest is free with museum admission.

On Wednesday, CMEE will team up with Amber Waves Farm in Amagansett for a pizza night at the farm. Those who attend will be able to pick their own toppings for wood-fired pizzas made as they wait. There will be crafts and games. The event runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and costs $50, $40 for members of Amber Waves or CMEE. Space is limited and should be reserved in advance.

At the East Hampton Library

Summer may be winding down, but the activities for kids at East Hampton Library are not. 

A practice SAT for high school students will be given on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Priority will be given to residents of the East Hampton Library District, which includes the East Hampton, Springs, and Wainscott School Districts. 

Also for high school students, there will be a temporary-tattoo session next Thursday at 5 p.m. and a beach fire at Main Beach from 6 to 8 p.m. The library will supply ingredients for s’mores. 

Susan Verde returns to the library with a Storytime Yoga session for kids 5 and older on Tuesday at 11 a.m. As kids assume different poses, they will become part of the story. 

The ever-busy Liz Joyce will be at the library on Tuesday at 2 p.m. with her puppet show “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”

For kids 4 and older, there is lots to do at the library this week. A tropical fish sculpture workshop happens on Wednesday at 4 p.m. and on Friday, Aug. 24, seashells will be the inspiration in an abstract watercolor class at 2 p.m. Next Thursday at 2 p.m., Erik the Reptile Guy will visit the library with replicas of a cobra, a crocodile, a python, and more, and an interactive presentation about their special qualities. 

Sixth through eighth graders will make beaded pets that can be used to decorate a locker or a backpack on Friday, Aug. 24, at 3:30 p.m. 

Family movies on the schedule this week are “Bee Movie” on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and “Finding Nemo” next Thursday at 4.

Montauk Fun

Tonight will be all about bubbles and barbecue at the Montauk Playhouse Community Center. There will be crafts, games, and treats during a family picnic on the lawn, and then Just Fun for Kids will amaze with some giant bubble feats. The fun begins at 5 p.m. The cost is $10 per person or $35 for a family.

Recycled water bottles will become beautiful fish sculptures in a workshop for ages 7 and up on Saturday at the Montauk Library. Tonita Valderrama will lead the class, which runs from 3 to 4 p.m. 

Two bilingual happenings on Wednesday at the library will give children a chance to listen, learn, and play in English and Spanish. A bilingual story time happens at 11:45 p.m., and will include a reading of Jorge Argueta’s “Salsa” and a chance to make salsa. The program is set to be repeated later that day at 4 p.m.

A college essay workshop for high school juniors and seniors and their parents will be offered next Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the library. The workshop will address what college admissions officials are looking for and offer prompts, brainstorming ideas, and a question-and-answer period. 

 Parrish Family Party

A summer family party at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill on Sunday will have kids making art, joining in an art scavenger hunt, and enjoying the museum grounds from 3 to 6 p.m. 

The artists Monica Banks, Eric Dever, Brian Farrell, Paton Miller, Bastienne Schmidt, and Almond Zigmund will lead workshops throughout the afternoon, and guests can also take part in a collaborative project. A buffet-style barbecue will be catered by the Golden Pear, and an ice cream truck will pay a visit, too. 

Inside, A Flippin’ Good Time will guide children as they make flipbooks. 

The party is a fund-raiser for the museum’s year-round programs. Tickets start at $125 for adults, $100 for children, $100 and $75 for museum members. 

Children’s Fair

The biggest of East Hampton Library’s offerings for kids this week is its annual children’s fair on Sunday from 2 to 5:30 p.m. in the field at 555 Montauk Highway in Amagansett. 

The fair, which happens the day after the library’s Authors Night fund-raiser, includes carnival-type rides, inflatables, games, crafts with book themes, performers, treats, and a host of children’s book authors signing their books. Among the dozens of authors expected to attend are Susan Verde with her “Rock ’n’ Roll Soul,” Billy Baldwin with “Wipeout the Wave,” G.B. Gurland with “The Secret Files of Phineas Foster,” Elizabeth Doyle Carey with “Mayday,” from the Junior Lifeguards series, and Cynthia Bardes with “Pansy in Africa.” 

The fair is free, and copies of the authors’ books will be available for purchase. 

This week’s family movies at the library will be “Beauty and the Beast,” today at 4 p.m., and “Planes,” next Thursday at the same time. Today at 2 p.m., someone from the Quogue Wildlife Refuge will visit the library with a 

presentation on nocturnal animals for children 4 and up. 

Tomorrow at the library, kids in sixth through eighth grade can use Washi tape to turn flip-top tins into colorful little carrying cases. The program begins at 3:30 p.m. 

In a Storytime Yoga session with Ms. Verde on Tuesday at 11 a.m., kids 5 and older will become part of the story as they practice different poses and breathing exercises. Toddlers 2 to 3 years old will try out various postures, breathing exercises, and relaxation techniques, and then do a craft in a yoga class next Thursday at 1 p.m. 

Children 5 and older will use Mason jars, shells, sand, and plants to make light-up “aquariums” in a workshop on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Advance registration is required for all but the children’s fair. 

Puppets at Bay Street

Goat on a Boat’s puppet theater series continues at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor with two productions this week. First, the Columbia Marionette Theater will present “Cinderella” on Saturday at 11 a.m., and next Thursday it will be the Robert Rogers Puppet Company and “The Bugtown Follies,” also at 11 a.m. Tickets cost $15 to $25 online or at the box office. 

Children 4 to 7 who want to put on puppet shows of their own might be interested in Bay Street’s Puppet Power theater camp, which runs from Monday through Friday, Aug. 17. Campers will learn about and play with an assortment of puppets and work with a teaching artist to create their own puppets, sets, and stories. 

Older children ages 9 to 12 will explore a kid-friendly version of a Shakespeare play in a camp that runs from Aug. 20 to 24 and culminates with a performance for friends and family on Bay Street’s stage. 

Theater camps meet from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and cost $475 per week.

Bay Street is also offering a series of teen master classes this month. Participants will analyze a play and study a scene on Wednesday. Directing will be the focus on Aug. 21, and on Aug. 28 attention will turn to “making a monologue.” Each class runs from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The cost is $135 for a single class, $250 for two, and $350 for all three. 

Stranger and Stranger

It’s not every kid who can watch the creepy “Stranger Things” series on Netflix, but those who do may know that it’s based loosely on mysterious things said to have taken place at Camp Hero in Montauk. With that in mind, the Montauk Library has invited kids in fourth grade and above to make their own “Stranger Things” jewelry using Shrinky Dinks paper on Saturday from 3 to 4:30 p.m., with a 1980s playlist setting the tone. 

Kids in first grade and above can play Wii Sports and Mario Kart at the library on Wednesday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Snacks will be served. 

Live frogs, toads, bugs, a bunny, mice, reptiles, hermit crabs, and even a chinchilla will be on hand at the library on Friday, Aug. 17, at 4 p.m. during a program for kids 4 and older. 

Drawing at the Parrish

At the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, a drawing course for children 10 and older will have students exploring the galleries and applying some of the drawing techniques they see to their own work. The class will meet Monday through Wednesday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. The cost is $110, including materials. Members pay $85. 

Sculpture and Disco

Kids who take part in an instrument-making workshop this afternoon at 4:30 at the Southampton Arts Center will be invited to take their creations back to the center to join in a family concert on Aug. 23. 

An outdoor story time today at 5:30 p.m. will mark National Book Lovers Day.

Next Thursday at 3:30 p.m., children will work with Giancarlo Biagi, a marble sculptor, to cast their hands or feet in sand in a style inspired by the late Costantino Nivola. 

After that, at 4:30, they can shake their hands and feet at an afternoon family dance party with Baby Loves Disco.

The above programs are free, but the arts center has asked for sign-up ahead of time for the workshops.

Hurray for Libraries!

The Amagansett Library has a singing, dancing, story-filled celebration of libraries planned for Saturday at 3 p.m. Alexair Dreams Storytelling, an outfit from South Ozone Park, Queens, will headline. Advance sign-up has been requested.

Lovable Dinosaurs

The Hudson Vagabond Puppets promise kids “a musical trip through the wonders of prehistory” in “Mammoth Follies,” the next of Guild Hall’s KidFest performances on Wednesday at 5 p.m. The musical revue features a cast of lovable, larger-than-life dinosaurs. Tickets cost $18 for adults, $14 for kids, $16 and $12 for Guild Hall members. 

Animals in Store

Soap, goats, and creatures of the night are on tap this week at the East Hampton Library. A soap-making workshop this afternoon from 4:30 to 6:30 will have high school students using different molds and scents to create a usable craft. 

Animals known for many things, but not their sweet scent, will pay a visit to the library on Tuesday from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. An educator for the Cornell Cooperative Extension will be on hand with a live goat in a program for children 2 to 5. Although the program is already full, the library is taking names on a wait list. 

A geometric abstract painting workshop for children 4 and older will be held on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Next Thursday at 2 p.m., a Quogue Wildlife Refuge representative will introduce children 4 and older to an owl, an opossum, a snake, a chinchilla, and a tarantula as they learn about the adaptations that help each animal navigate the night. 

The family movies this week are “Minions,” today at 4 p.m., and “Beauty and the Beast,” next Thursday at the same time. 

Advance registration is required for most programs. And mark your calendars for Aug. 11, when the library’s free Children’s Fair will take place at 555 Montauk Highway, just east of the I.G.A. in Amagansett.

Other Libraries, Other Programs

There’s plenty for kids to do at the smaller libraries this week, too. In Bridgehampton, children 6 and up can use the Hampton Library’s Makey Makey electronic invention kit to surprising ends on Tuesday at 2 p.m. 

Over at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor, there’s a teen movie today at 5 p.m. Jared Hess’s “Napoleon Dynamite,” the 2004 cult classic, will be screened, and snacks and popcorn will be provided, all for free. Reservations are not necessary. 

Tonito Valderrama, an environmental artist and educator, will work with children 7 and up to make bamboo rain sticks on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Montauk Library. 

Next Thursday, prospective babysitters in sixth through eighth grades can learn the basics of the job in a three-hour course offered at the library by the Cornell Cooperative Extension. Participants will learn about child safety, children’s developmental stages, and age-appropriate activities. The course runs from 4 to 7 p.m. and is limited to 10 students. Advance sign-up is a must.

Sharks and Gingerbread

Next week may be shark week, but Saturday at the Montauk Library it will be shark day, as a shark-attack survivor talks with kids in first grade and up about the fact and fiction surrounding sharks.

Scott Curatolo-Wagemann, a marine biologist who was bitten by a shark off a small island in the Bahamas while in college, now educates people about threats to sharks. Starting at 3 p.m., he’ll take a look at sharks in the news and touch on new research and conservation efforts. Kids will have a chance to touch shark jaws and teeth and to sit in on a “virtual shark dissection.”

Gingerbread houses in July? That’s what the Baking Coach will make with families on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the library, but when it’s summer you don’t call them houses, you call them beach huts. The program is limited to 15 families, so advance sign-up is essential.

There’s a bilingual English-Spanish story time on Wednesday at 11:45 a.m. for young children who speak either language at home. Later that day, from 2 to 4 p.m., older kids can take part in a Wii gaming tournament. 

The Medium Is the Message

Wood art, faux glass art, and scratch art are all on the agenda this week at the East Hampton Library. 

Tomorrow, kids 4 and older can build whatever their imagination comes up with during a woodcraft program at 3 p.m. That same age group will learn about the history of techniques of glass art on Wednesday at 4 p.m., while also making their own faux glass designs to take home. On Friday, July 27, grades six through eight will be let loose on the scratch art paper as they create bookmarks from 3:30 to 4:30 in the young-adult room.

Little ones ages 2 to 5 can learn the differences and similarities among farm birds while meeting a real-life duck and chicken on Tuesday at 10:30 p.m.

This time of year, you’d be wise to register in advance for a spot in any program.

Dragonflies and Damselflies

Crystal Oakes of the South Fork Natural History Museum will lead a family exploration to the salt marsh at Munn Point Preserve in Southampton on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. Families will look out for herons, ospreys, and egrets, use two-person seine nets to examine some of the creatures of the water, and learn what it takes for animals to survive the extremes of a salt marsh. 

Dragonflies and damselflies will be the focus of a walk for adults and children 8 and older on Sunday at 10 a.m. with Annette DeGiovine Oliveira. Participants in this one will visit a local pond and should dress to get wet.

All That Jazz

Shenole Latimer, a jazz musician, will head up a jazz-appreciation program for kids 3 and up on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Amagansett Library. Kids will play listening games and hear live music and stories in this interactive program. Advance registration is a must.

Swimming and Sailing

The next rounds of East Hampton Town’s summer sailing classes and free swim instruction will begin on Monday. Swim instruction for the next two weeks will be at East Lake Beach in Montauk, weekdays through Aug. 3 at 10 a.m. Registration is at the beach on the first day. Kids have been asked to take water shoes and swim goggles.

Sailing is for ages 12 and up and will take place at Fresh Pond in Amagansett, Mondays through Thursdays through Aug. 2. There’s a morning session from 9 to noon and an afternoon one from 12:30 to 3:30. The cost for each is $225, payable upon registration at the town’s Parks and Recreation Department offices behind Town Hall. 

“Human Architecture”

Acrobatics, physical comedy, out-of-the-box choreography, and “experiments in human architecture” have been promised for Wednesday when Galumpha performs at Guild Hall at 5 p.m. The trio won the Edinburgh Festival Critics’ Choice Award and the Moers International Comedy Arts Prize for its inventive performances. Tickets, which should be purchased in advance, cost $18 for adults, $14 for kids, with a $2 discount offered for Guild Hall members.

Aliens and Other Space Monsters

Guild Hall’s summer KidFest programming has begun, with workshops and performances for children offered every Wednesday through Aug. 22. Next week, the Grammy-nominated performer Morgan Taylor will take his Gustafer Yellowgold multimedia experience to the stage, introducing the audience to a character from the sun who lands in the Minnesota woods. The show starts at 5 p.m. and costs $18 or $14 for kids, $16 and $12 for members.

Prior to the show, kids 5 to 7 years old can make their own aliens and space monsters in a workshop at 4 p.m. The cost is $10, $8 for members. Shows often sell out, so advance tickets are suggested. 

Where the Wild Things Visit

Butterflies will alight at the Montauk Library and llamas will visit the Amagansett Library this week. 

A butterfly story and craft time for kids 2 to 5, with live butterflies from the Suffolk County Farm, will take place on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Montauk. A program at 3 will introduces children from kindergarten on up to the stages in the butterfly life cycle.

Kids can channel their inner abstract expressionist during a Jackson Pollock painting session on Wednesday at 4 p.m. A two-week workshop on 3-D printing for ages 8 to 15 will take place next Thursday and on July 26 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Participants must attend both sessions. 

At the Amagansett Library, “The Iron Giant,” a movie about a robot from outer space who lands on earth and befriends a boy, will be shown tomorrow at 3 p.m. Kids will head outdoors Saturday at 2 p.m. to meet llamas from the Suffolk County Farm. The library and the farm have specified that this program is for children 6 to 12 only, and that younger children cannot register for it.

Library Doings, Indoors and Out

Tired of the beach yet? If so, there will be no shortage of things to do this week at the East Hampton Library. Today, the library has outdoor games on the lawn or an indoor scavenger hunt for high school students, both at 5 p.m. 

Less carefree but no less important, the library is offering a practice ACT for high school students on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The test and results are free. Priority will be given to residents of the East Hampton, Wainscott, and Springs School Districts, but others may add their names to a wait list. 

On the library’s movie schedule this week is “Moana,” Saturday at 1:30 p.m., and “The Lego Batman Movie,” next Thursday at 4 p.m.

Susan Verde, a children’s book author and yoga instructor, will offer a drop-off Storytime Yoga for kids 5 and up on Tuesday at 11 a.m. At 3 that day, kids 5 and older can make edible play dough. And on Friday, July 20, kids 4 and older are invited to create a city, person, animal, or whatever they like during a woodcraft workshop at 3 p.m. 

Advance registration is requested for all library programs. 

The Springs School will receive $1.33 million in New York State grant money to install a new nitrogen-reducing wastewater treatment system, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's office announced on Monday.

"We're ecstatic. This is huge for Springs," Debra Winter, the district's superintendent, said on Tuesday.

The school's aging septic system, installed in the 1970s to serve just 300 people (there are now some 900 students, teachers, and staff at the school), was deemed outdated and failing in 2015 and broke down in April 2017. For months after that the district had it pumped every 10 days, but last August contractors unearthed the system's 12 leaching pools and repaired or replaced them and the system's pumps in a fix expected to be functional through 2019.

Despite widespread acknowledgement that the failing system was affecting nearby waterways, the district's bid for a State Department of Environmental Conservation grant to upgrade to an innovative nitrogen-reducing wastewater treatment system was denied earlier this year.

A $16.9 million bond approved by Springs voters in March for the expansion and renovation of the school included $800,000 to upgrade the septic system. "We promised the community that this would be a priority even before we built a building," Ms. Winter said.

Though a portion of the bond was earmarked for the project, officials at the town, county, and state level were working with the district to find alternate funding.

Ms. Winter credited Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming, and Kim Shaw, East Hampton Town's natural resources director, among others, with helping to plead the district's case at the state level, but said the announcement of the award on Monday came as a total surprise.

The grant will be funded through the governor's $2.5 billion Clean Water Infrastructure Act of 2017.

"These upgrades will help to decrease nitrogen and bacteria contributions to Pussy's Pond and Accabonac Harbor while also benefiting the overall health of Long Island's groundwater aquifer," according to a release from the governor's office. "This project will use advanced nitrogen treatment, and is expected to reduce nitrogen concentrations by up to 94 percent."

"We will probably be the first municipality, and definitely the first school district, in Suffolk County to have this nitrogen-reducing system," Ms. Winter said on Tuesday. "It's a little scary to be the first one out, and I really do want us to do our homework and make sure . . . that whatever we do is going to work for our school and our community and our environment."

The district was already in the process of submitting plans to the Suffolk County Health Department, she said. She expects to be able to break ground on the new system by next summer.

At Madoo

The Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack will play host to a variety of children’s happenings this summer. 

All summer long, the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton is taking a weekly story hour on the road to the conservancy on Mondays at 10 a.m., weather permitting. Families with children up to 5 have been invited to take a blanket and even pack a lunch to enjoy on the garden’s grounds afterward for this free offering. Before heading out when the weather is iffy, people have been advised to check with the library.

There may still be space in an art workshop for kids 9 and older with Karyn Mannix that takes place this evening and next Thursday from 5 to 6:15. This one, focusing on acrylics, will have participants working to recreate “Pink Field, White Field,” a 1965 painting by Robert Dash, the founder of Madoo. Students will concentrate on plein-air painting on July 19 and 26, and on Aug. 2 and 9, the focus will be on botanical illustration using ink and watercolor. Adults have been invited to take part, too. The cost is $80 for each two-class session, and registration is at madoo.org. 

Marlene Markard’s Nature’s Music program on Thursdays from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. this month encourages an appreciation of both music and the outdoors. Geared toward children 16 months to 3 years old and their caregivers, it is part of the early childhood music education curriculum Musikgarten. The cost is $250, or $180 for members of the Children’s Museum of the East End. Instruments and a CD are included. 

On Wednesdays starting next week, the conservancy will offer Madoodles, an arts and crafts class for children 4 to 8 years old. Classes will run through Aug. 22 and cost $25 each or $20 for Madoo members, with a discount for those who sign up for all seven. 

Perlman Family Concert

The Perlman Music Program, which offers training to “young string players of rare and special talent,” according to its website, will hold a free family concert on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at its Shelter Island campus.

Performers will include the cellist Merry Peckham, associate director of the summer music school, as well as other faculty, fellows, and students. It will give young audiences an introduction to classical music through songs, skits, and costumes. Afterward, children can try out some of the instruments they’ve heard at an “instrument petting zoo.” The Perlman campus is at 73 Shore Road in Shelter Island Heights. 

Theater Games

Kate Mueth of the Neo-Political Cowgirls, a theater educator whose workshops are well known to South Fork kids, will lead a weeklong theater games camp for kids 8 to 13 starting Monday at Guild Hall.

The games don’t just teach kids about acting, they also help with focus and communication skills and build confidence. Camp will meet daily through Friday, July 13, from 9:30 a.m. to noon, and will culminate with skits performed for family and friends. The cost is $250, $245 for Guild Hall members, and advance registration is required. 

Swimming and Sailing

The second sessions of two-week swimming and sailing classes offered by the Town of East Hampton will begin on Monday. The swimming classes, which are free, are for children 4 and older at all levels and will be at Maidstone Park Beach in Springs on Monday through Friday through July 20. Registration is at the beach on Monday at 10 a.m. Participants have been asked to take goggles and water shoes. 

Sailing instruction for ages 12 and up is at Fresh Pond in Amagansett on Mondays through Thursdays through July 19. There are morning sessions from 9 to noon and afternoon ones from 12:30 to 3:30. The cost is $225 per person, with registration in advance at the Parks and Recreation Department behind Town Hall, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

At the Art Barge

Summer art classes for kids at the Victor D’Amico Institute of Art, a.k.a. the Art Barge, will begin on Monday. Virva Hinnemo, an artist and educator, will teach classes Monday through Friday from next week through Aug. 24, with a break the week of July 30. 

Students will experiment with painting, collage, and sculpture both in the studio and outside. Classes for kids 5 to 8 will be from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.; those for kids 9 to 13 will run from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. The cost is $300 per week, or $275 for friends of the Art Barge. Materials are provided. 

Students in the East Hampton School District may also apply for tuition assistance, thanks to a grant from the Muchnic Foundation. Registration is at 631-267-3172 or online at theartbarge.com. The Art Barge is at 110 Napeague Meadow Road in Amagansett. 

In Amagansett and Montauk

This week’s schedule at the Amagansett Library sounded so good, we put it in the paper a week early by mistake. So if it sounds familiar, it is. 

On Saturday, kids 5 to 9 will learn about fluorescence and phosphorescence while making their own glow-in-the-dark rocks and capturing their shadows on a glow wall. Mary Riotto will head up this science program at 3 p.m. A Science Buddies program on Tuesday will give kids 6 and older a close-up look at chemistry at 4 p.m. There’s a story time for 3 and 4-year-olds at the library on Wednesday at 3 p.m., and next Thursday young readers can read aloud with an American Kennel Club-certified Canine Good Citizen, Valentino. The program runs from 11 to 11:45 a.m. 

At the Montauk Library, a bilingual story time on Wednesday at 11:45 a.m. will introduce children to the Spanish and English versions of the same stories through books, songs, and finger plays. Kids can continue in that vein later in the day at 4 p.m. when they enjoy a reading of Jorge Argueta’s “I Learn by Playing: Holy Guacamole!” (“Aprendo Jugando: Holy Guacamole!”) and then get to work making their own guacamole. There is space for just 10 kids. 

Next Thursday, Michael Albert, a pop artist and author, will take his cereal box collage workshop to the library from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Families with children 5 and older can take their own boxes to recycle into art or use ones provided by Mr. Albert. Advance registration has been requested for most library programs. 

Scream for Ice Cream!

Mr. Albert will be at the East Hampton Library earlier next Thursday, from 1 to 3 p.m., to lead the same workshop for kids 6 and older and their adults. 

Also at the library, Wednesday will mark the return of Mr. Skip, who leads the music and movement program Movin’ and Groovin’ With Mr. Skip at 10:30 a.m. for kids 2 and older. Kids 4 and older can use polka dot stickers to design their own artwork on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Homemade ice cream will be on the menu in a program for grades six through eight on Friday, July 13, at 3:30 p.m. The occasion? National Ice Cream Day. 

Family movies at the library this week are “Inside Out” today at 4 p.m. and “The BFG” next Thursday at 4. Registration ahead of time has been suggested for all programs, as space is limited.

Fish-Print Tees

Sue and Al Daniels will teach families about the variety of fish in South Fork waters while leading a hands-on fish-print T-shirt workshop at 10 a.m. on Sunday at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton. There is a $12 materials fee per person for the shirts and supplies. Participants have been advised to dress for a mess with a smock or cover-up. Advance registration is required.

Science, Smurfs, and a Submarine

At the Amagansett Library, this week’s offerings begin with a family screening of “Smurfs: The Lost Village” tomorrow at 3 p.m. Looking ahead to Saturday, July 7, kids 5 to 9 will learn about fluorescence and phosphorescence while making their own glow-in-the-dark rocks and capturing their shadows on a glow wall. Mary Riotto will head up this science program at 3 p.m. A Science Buddies program on July 10 will give kids 6 and older a close-up look at chemistry at 4 p.m. 

There’s a story time for 3 and 4-year-olds at the library on Wednesday at 3 p.m., and next Thursday new readers can practice reading aloud with Valentino, an American Kennel Club-certified Canine Good Citizen. The program runs from 11 to 11:45 a.m., and children must be accompanied by adults. Advance registration is requested for most library programs. 

At the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, kids ages 7 to 12 will make dog toys to donate to the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons next Thursday at 4 p.m. On Friday, July 6, the library will show the animated Beatles musical “The Yellow Submarine” at noon. Popcorn will be provided. 

SAT Prep

The Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike is offering SAT prep classes throughout the summer to help high schoolers get ready for the college admissions process.

Classes will be held on Sundays from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., beginning July 8 and ending on Aug. 19. The last class will be on Aug. 24 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. The cost is $40. For more information and to register, high schoolers can send an email to [email protected] or call 631-537-0616.

So Much at CMEE

Monday marks the beginning of a plethora of summerlong offerings at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton for kids from 2 to 5 years old.

A daily drop-off program for 3 and 4-year-olds will run Mondays through Fridays from 9:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. The first session runs through July 27; the second from July 30 through Aug. 24. The cost is $1,300 per week, $4,750 per session, or $6,450 for the full summer. For members it’s $1,150, $4,250, or $6,050. For 2-year-olds, a program fostering early independence will run the same days, but only from 9:15 a.m. to noon. The cost is $650 per week or $2,300 per session; $575 and $2,100 for members.

Also on tap are a farm club for children 2 to 5 at Amber Waves Farm in Amagansett, offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays; a garden program at Bridge Gardens for kids 18 months to 4 years old; a child-directed outdoor play series; toddler time, cooking, music, and movement at the Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack with Marlene Markard for ages 16 months to 3 years, clay play, art studio workshops, a creative arts camp, and soccer. Prices vary, and advance sign-up is a must. Full details of the museum’s many summer programs can be found online at cmee.org.

Movies, Magic, and Music

Kids who have seen all the new movies in the theaters might want to return to some old favorites at the East Hampton Library, whose schedule this week includes three family films: “Toy Story” today at 2, “Wall-E” tomorrow at 2, and “Inside Out” next Thursday at 4 p.m. 

A summer book club for high school students will meet for the first time tomorrow at 2 p.m. to pick up a copy of the first book of the season and get to know each other. Sweet treats have been promised. This week, high school students who join the library’s young-adult summer program will get a journal filled with ideas for fun, creative, insightful activities to keep them busy. Each completed journal entry will win them a ticket to weekly raffles. 

The Great Zucchini, a children’s entertainer from the Washington, D.C., area, will bring an interactive magic show for ages 2 to 7 to the library on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. He has performed at embassies, the World Bank, and even the White House!

On Tuesday, the first Snap Circuits program of the summer season — offering a primer on electronics — will be held at 2 p.m. for ages 7 and up. Snap Circuits offers a primer on electronics. 

Ellen Johansen, an early-childhood music and movement specialist who runs a studio in East Hampton, will head a weekly music program for toddlers up to age 3 and their adults starting next Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at the library. 

Inquiring high school students who enjoy hashing out the issues of the day and more philosophical matters can do so during the library’s new Socrates Cafe next Thursday at 4 p.m. Participants will vote on topics of discussion, and coffee, tea, and hot chocolate will be provided.

Finally, on Friday, July 6, a workshop for ages 4 and up will have children molding animals out of self-hardening clay. The fun begins at 3 p.m.

Registration is required for most library programs, as space is limited. It can be done by phone, online, or in person. 

Making Lemonade

Children passionate about helping animals can channel their energy this summer into a fun fund-raising effort for the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons. ARF has put together lemonade stand starter kits to give entrepreneurial kids the basics they need to set up shop and also contribute to the organization. 

Kits include a Lemonarf poster, so that customers know the stand is raising money for ARF, a Lemonarf minibank, cups, buttons, and ARF tattoos, as well as recipes for lemonade and cookies. Last year members of the Lemonarf kids club raised $4,000. Kits can be picked up at ARF’s adoption center on Daniel’s Hole Road in East Hampton. 

In an era in which Facebook has made “friend” into a verb, when we can often confuse the ambient intimacy of an online world with the authentic intimacy of personal relationships, suicide rates in America have increased — by 25 percent since 1999, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The deaths of the fashion designer Kate Spade and the celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, both of whom committed suicide earlier this month, are the latest markers of what is being called a national public health crisis. In a recent article, The New York Times stated that suicide is now the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, and nearly 45,000 Americans killed themselves in 2016, twice the number of homicide deaths.

But before the celebrity suicides thrust the issue into the spotlight, the South Fork had already suffered a spate of suicides among high schoolers between 2009 and 2013. Those were followed in 2014 by Tyler Valcich, then 20, who committed suicide at home in Montauk, and by Matthew Lester, who took his ownife in 2017 at the age of 17. 

“This area in Long Island has been identified as a potential for cluster suicides,” said Cynthia McKelvey, an education specialist who works for the Family Service League in East Hampton, a social service agency that provides emotional and physical aid to people in crisis. 

Recently, under pressure to do more for the South Fork’s young who are struggling with depression, and to de­stigmatize the illness, schools and government agencies have stepped up their efforts. Regular training sessions for young adults have been held through SafeTALK, a half-day training program designed to help people recognize warning signs and to connect those in crisis with community resources and personnel trained in suicide intervention. 

Ms. McKelvey also spearheads the Tyler Project, a nonprofit initiative established by Tyler’s family to increase and improve coordination and delivery of mental health services for students, young adults, and families here. 

As a result of a brainstorming session a few years ago among the Family Ser­vice League, Long Island Communities of Practice, the Youth Power organization, and the New York State Office of Mental Health, Ms. McKelvey formed the East End Chat and Chill program, open to anyone between the ages of 15 and 30. 

“Mostly, we have young adults from 18 to 30 years,” she said. The group meets twice a month, often around a bonfire on the beach for two to three hours. There is always a social worker present, a free meal, and usually a speaker to discuss a recreational topic such as fishing, photography, yoga — interests that participants might like to explore.

But at its core, these fireside chats act as a successful therapy group for young adults who are either in crisis mode themselves or have friends going through severe depression and need the tools to help them.

The group met a week after the two celebrity suicides, and the conversation, Ms. McKelvey said, largely revolved around the fact that no one, not even those enjoying worldly success and with “dream profiles,” is immune to suffering from depression.

“They even brought up Robin Williams,” she said, and wondered how someone so funny could be so unhappy. “I was glad we had that meeting. It created a meaningful conversation and we went over the steps to take and the number for the national hotline, and the number to text, and made sure that everybody always has those numbers handy.”

For Valinda Miller Valcich, Tyler’s mother, who lives in Montauk with her husband, Mitchell (Mickey) Valcich, the owner of Mickey’s Carting and Mickey’s Montauk Mowing, the question Why? was all she could ask after hearing about the two high-profile suicides. Her mission, she said, remains to have more therapy available for kids, especially those who cannot afford the usual $250-an-hour sessions. 

On Oct. 7 in Amagansett, the Tyler Project will host the fifth annual Tyler Valcich Car Show, which will include raffles, food and drinks, and live music in the hope of raising money to provide more services and increase awareness of this mental health issue.

Like Ms. Miller Valcich, the pain of prematurely losing a son is etched on Dana Lester’s face. His name, Matthew, is also etched on her left arm — a tattoo she got after he committed suicide on Martin Luther King’s Birthday in 2017. 

Sitting outside White’s Apothecary in East Hampton, where she works, Ms. Lester spoke about her constant struggle to live without her son and her attempts to make sense of what happened. 

Every experience of grief is unique, but an emerging body of research has begun to consider the distinct challenges faced by those who have lost loved ones through suicide. Studies have found that the experience of suicide is likely to prompt those left alive to question their own sense of purpose, often leading to a particularly difficult mixture of grief, anger, blame, relief, and a search for answers.

“It’s very painful to think that I did not recognize the signs,” Ms. Lester said, and it seemed clear that most of her reckoning swirls around an internal struggle with feeling that she could have done more.

“I had noticed a change in him. But he was a teenager . . .” she said, her voice trailing off. Then, she added, “He came to me and said, ‘I have friends, I have a girlfriend, I’m doing well at school, but I still feel sad.’ ” Matthew received counseling through the Family Service League for about six months and had even started on medication about three weeks before his suicide.

While her husband and daughter went into counseling following his death, Ms. Lester did not. “I just want my son back and no amount of counseling will bring him back,” she said. 

Bettina Volz, a clinical psychologist in Amagansett, firmly believes that for any significant change to occur, the stigma of mental illness, which includes depression and suicide, must be challenged.

“Clinical depression, which can lead to suicide, is a disease just like diabetes,” she said. “It needs to be treated.”

In her experience of working with young people in the grip of depression, what they want most is to talk to someone and for someone to listen. In a way, it comes back to technology and a generation of young people who can too often be imprisoned by their phones even in crowded cities and at noisy parties. When someone is in the depths of depression, doctors continue to stress, engaging in conversation and sharing life’s challenges with someone who cares can sometimes be a lifesaver.

“Feeling connected to even just a few people can make a huge difference,” Dr. Volz said, offering some basic advice for anyone who has noticed a family member or friend in crisis. “Talk therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and medication,” she pointed out, are available treatments designed to increase emotional and cognitive regulation in depressed people by showing them the triggers that lead to reactive states.

As for the warning signs, she said, isolation is usually the most glaring. Other signs are a change in personality, such as no longer wanting to engage with others, sleeplessness, or an inability to find pleasure in anything. “And giving away treasured objects,” she added. “That’s usually a sign of someone contemplating suicide.”

Often, she said, simply checking in with a loved one and asking, “Hey, how bad is it?” could make all the difference. It gives a person struggling with depression a chance to admit to the illness, and accepting it is the first step toward seeking treatment and resolving it.

Dr. Volz was quick to acknowledge, however, that people suffering from depression can be masters at disguising their emotions and often present convincing reasons for dissociating themselves from friends and loved ones. Many of those with untreated depression lack friends because the illness saps the vitality that friendship requires and immures its victims in an impenetrable shield, making it hard for them to speak or hear words of comfort.

If You Need Help

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be called at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The National Institute of Mental Health website is suicidepreventionlifeline.org. 

The Crisis Text Line, inspired by teenagers’ attachment to texting but open to people of all ages, provides free assistance to anyone who texts “help” to 741-741. Its website is crisistextline.org.

On the South Fork, the Family Ser­vice League can be reached at 631-427-3700 for critical or immediate help.

Seventy-six years to the day — June 13 — when a Nazi submarine ran aground on a sandbar off Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett, third graders at the John M. Marshall Elementary School got a history lesson, as well as a few drama tips, when their teacher, David Cataletto, took them to the place where all the action had unfolded, the Amagansett Life-Saving and Coast Guard Station museum on Atlantic Avenue.

Mr. Cataletto, who grew up in East Hampton and attended the elementary school himself, donned a heavy wool sailor’s jacket and cap and dramatized the action of the brave Coast Guardsmen who manned the station between 1902 and 1945. The teacher animatedly recreated all the tension and bravery of the times and appointed the children his crewmen. If at any time their attention wandered, the teacher would call, “Attention!” to which the children would respond, “Aye aye, captain!” snapping right back into the moment.

“I am a huge history buff, especially local history,” wrote Mr. Cataletto in an email. “I am a trustee for the Life-Saving Station and the chairman of the education committee. My goal is to expose as many kids as possible to the museum and our local history.”

The history lesson took the children through the building, which was meticulous restored over eight years. After the Coast Guard Station was decommissioned in 1945 and was condemned for possible demolition, it was bought by Joel Carmichael for $1 in 1966 and moved to a plot of land on Bluff Road. In 2007, the family gave the building to East Hampton Town for $1 and the structure was returned to its original site, where it stands today. 

Following their walk through the house, and a re-enactment of the events of June 13, 1942, when a young seaman foiled the Nazis’ plan to blow up munitions factories and other sites across the country, the teacher took them on a hunt for German supplies, which he said were buried on the beach. 

Mr. Cataletto, who was a lifeguard growing up, once sailed to Canada single-handed. After graduating from East Hampton High School, he attended the University of Massachusetts, where he studied anthropology. 

“I wanted to be a maritime archaeologist but that never panned out,” he said. After teaching in New York City public schools for several years, he moved back to East Hampton eight years ago.

“My favorite part of teaching kids is to make history come alive for them. So many people think history is old, dusty, boring books but it can actually be very exciting,” he said.

The kids certainly seemed to agree as they excitedly uncovered the buried “treasure” on the Amagansett beach: stickers and granola bars.