Space-Themed Fair

A family fair and fund-raiser at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton on Saturday will have a space theme. The museum promises “out of this world” arts and crafts, performances, games, water rides, music, and food from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets start at $150 for adults and $100 for children in advance, or $200 and $150 at the door.

Songwriting With Inda

Inda Eaton, a singer, songwriter, and storyteller, will lead a songwriting workshop for fourth through sixth graders at the Amagansett Library next Thursday and Aug. 13 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Based on the Ideas to Inspire program, the workshops will also explore live music performance. Students will learn the basics of audio recording and will take part in a recording session and performance. Advance registration has been requested.

On Wednesday at the library, Selina Pasca will lead a comedy and improv workshop for kids at 3:30 p.m. at which participants will “prepare one-liners to perform for friends, family, and the community,” according to a release. The teen movie that evening at 6 will be “Mockingjay.” This afternoon’s family film at 3:30 is “Paddington.”

Aladdin as a Marionette

The National Marionette Theatre will present “Aladdin” on Wednesday at Guild Hall. Known not only for its marionettes but also for its beautiful scenery, the group returns each summer to Guild Hall’s KidFest series. The performance will start at 5 p.m. A workshop will precede it at 4 for $10. The performance costs $18 for adults and $14 for kids. There is a $2 discount for members of Guild Hall. Advance tickets have been suggested.

Movin’ and Groovin’

At the East Hampton Library this week, kids will be “Movin’ and Groovin’ With Mr. Skip,” making waves, and doing the downward-facing dog.

Mr. Skip visits the library with a music-and-movement program for ages 2 and up tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. Monday brings Storytime Yoga with Susan Verde at 11 a.m. for ages 5 and up (no adults allowed). Kids 6 and older can create beach scene collages on Wednesday at either 3 or 4:30 p.m., and those 4 and up will build things from Styrofoam, cardboard, feathers, and other materials on Friday, July 24, at 3:30 p.m.

The family movie today is “The Little Mermaid” at 5 p.m. Next Thursday “Strange Magic” will be shown on the big screen.

Chinese Storytelling

Chinese stories and crafts will be the focus of three programs for ages 4 to 8 at the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor taught by Ou Wang, a Mandarin instructor. The first, tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., is a Chinese storybook program. Chinese rhymes are on tap for Friday, July 24, and animal origami and Chinese animal games are on the schedule on July 31.

Twelve to 18-year-olds can learn about temporary henna tattoos this afternoon at 4 and then make their own. The henna paint fades in one to three weeks.

Youngsters 3 and up will learn to make wreaths from mini umbrellas next Thursday at 3 p.m.

Advance registration is required for all programs.

Multimedia Animals

Andrea Cote, a multimedia artist and educator, will lead kids in a multimedia animal book workshop on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton. Children 5 to 8 will use clay, collage, drawings, and photographs to craft their books. There is a $5 materials fee in addition to museum admission.

That night at 7, Crystal Possehl will take families on a beach walk at Fresh Pond in Amagansett with birdwatching and seining promised. Little ones 3 to 6 years old can learn about bird behavior on a bird bingo walk on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the museum.

Advanced registration is a must for all SoFo programs.

Free Puppet Shows

Free puppet shows continue this afternoon and next Thursday at the Southampton Arts Center on Job’s Lane. Today at 4:30, A Couple of Puppets from the Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre in Sag Harbor will present “The Princess, the Frog, and the Pea.” Next week Tucker’s Tales will be at the center with “It’s the Wolf!”

The news that Cleopatra Panagiosoulis, the Springs School vice principal, had resigned after just two years to take a job as principal of a preschool in Freeport drew criticism at Tuesday’s organizational meeting of the Springs School Board.

Chris Tucci, a contractor, stood during the public portion of the meeting to express disappointment in the school’s inability to retain Ms. Panagiosoulis, or Ms. P, as is her preference. He asked that the board acknowledge the great job she had done and comment on a replacement.

Ms. Panagiosoulis was present at the beginning of the meeting, but her departure had not been mentioned. During a 90-minute meeting hiatus, however, she told a few people and it became known.  John Finello, the school superintendent, said she was to begin her new job tomorrow.

“Freeport is a shorter commute for me and my background in education is mostly early childhood,” Ms. Panagiosoulis said in an email later. She said she welcomed the opportunity.

Board members and residents acknowledged it would be difficult to replace Ms. Panagiosoulis, who became vice principal in September 2013.

“I think it’s a real shame that we lost her,” Mr. Tucci said, noting that securing another Spanish-speaking vice principal could prove tough. Mr. Finello echoed that. However, the board did not comment.

This marks the second time the Springs School has been left scrambling for an assistant principal. Ms. Panagiosoulis arrived after Katherine Byrnes abruptly resigned following irregularities on state testing. The school picked Ms. Panagiosoulis out of a pool of 170 applicants for her fluency in Spanish and Greek and work with data.

The board was able to replace its own vice president, John Grant, who did not run for re-election, however. Barbara Dayton, a board member, was sworn in, along with Elizabeth Mendelman, president, and Mr. Finello.

A public hearing to discuss repairs for the aging Springs building had been scheduled after the organizational meeting, however, the board had not allowed enough notice and the hearing was postponed. Jeffrey Miller, a board member, outlined several fixes to be addressed, including rusting paint, resurfacing and replacing lockers, filling in wall cracks, repairing a broken surveillance camera, replanting shrubbery, and updating interior doors. The district plans to withdraw $78,717 from a reserve fund to cover the costs.   

The board also agreed, pending a review of budget allocations, to apply for a state grant of $136,814 for interactive whiteboards, Chromebooks, and iPads for fourth and fifth graders. The money allotted to the three devices added up to only $133,000, however, and Eric Casale, the principal, said he would check the figures.

Perlman Family Concert

It’s a little bit of a journey, but a change of scene combined with beautiful music might just make the Perlman Music Program’s annual family concert on Shelter Island Sunday well worth the trip.

The concert, on the program’s campus on Shore Road in Shelter Island Heights, kicks off at 11:30 a.m. and will include popular songs, skits, costumes, and an “instrument petting zoo,” giving kids a chance to touch and try the instruments — a welcome change from “look with your eyes not your hands.” The concert is free, and there will be coloring books and juice boxes for young audience members.

Angelina Twirls Into Montauk

Katharine Holabird, the author of the popular “Angelina Ballerina” series of children’s books and a new “Twinkle” series, will talk about her books and her much-loved characters on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Montauk Library. Ms. Holabird’s stories about a dancing mouse in the village of Chipping Cheddar have won numerous awards and were spun into an animated TV series.

Young fans have been invited to bring books from home to be signed by the author. Advance registration is suggested.

For Fashionistas

Wannabe clothing designers and youngsters with a flair for fashion can design and create a dress for a doll or stuffed animal on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Children’s Museum of the Hamptons in Bridgehampton. Ana Bianchi, the founder of PaperGirl, a company that produces “illustrated dresses,” will lead the workshop.

PaperGirl uses embroidery and digital printing to turn illustrations into “wearable art,” according to its website. “It is as if the dress was a page from an artist’s drawing pad or an illustrated book.” Dresses from Ms. Bianchi’s collection will be for sale, and a portion of proceeds will go to the museum. The workshop is free with museum admission. Advance sign-up is suggested.

Scream for Ice Cream

Ice cream will be on the menu at the Amagansett Library on Wednesday. Children will make their own frozen treats during a 3:30 p.m. workshop. Later that day, those 10 and older can join parents for a program about the moon at 7 p.m., followed by stargazing at 9, weather permitting.

In other fun at the library this week, “Big Hero 6” is the family movie this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Next Thursday’s flick is “Paddington.” Both are rated PG.

On Saturday, children will make pinwheels during a 3:30 p.m. craft session. Reservations are suggested for all the above.

Nature as Family Practice

It’s sometimes hard to find time to stop and smell the roses . . . or watch a worm or study a colony of ants at work. Recognizing this, a family workshop at the South Fork Natural History Museum on Friday, July 17, will focus on ways to bring nature into family life. Called Nature as a Family Practice, it will offer simple suggestions for making the most of “in-between, teachable moments.” The instructor, Barbara Blaisdell, will help families with kids from 4 to 8 design their own lists and calendars of possible mini adventures in the great outdoors. The workshop starts at 10 a.m.

Also at the museum this week, kids 3 to 6 can get in touch with the “animal within” during a movement and mask-making workshop on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. There is a $3 materials fee. Older children, ages 6 to 9, will learn about the life cycle and special characteristics of ferns during a workshop on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Movies, Lanterns, Mermaids

There’s a lot for kids at the East Hampton Library this week, starting with a family screening of “Big Hero 6” this afternoon at 5 p.m.

Rhyme time with puppets will stimulate little ones up to age 3 tomorrow from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. And children 4 and older can use textured materials to print their own creatures during an art program tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. On Wednesday, kids the same age will make Japanese floating lanterns from 4 to 5 p.m. Next Thursday’s family movie at 5 p.m. is “The Little Mermaid.” Finally, on Friday, July 17, at 11:30 a.m. Mr. Skip will get kids 2 and older “movin and groovin.”

Lemonade stands have long been an outlet for ambitious kids to learn real-life lessons on how to run a business, but this weekend the lemonade stands that pop up in Montauk, Amagansett, East Hampton, and Sag Harbor will have a somewhat different purpose.

Twelve teens and tweens will split up into teams and take to the beaches and streets with lemonade stands aimed at raising $300,000 for the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter through a program called Leaders and Lemonade. The money will support a few different causes, including programming for senior citizens, a newly revamped area for teen recreation at the RECenter, scholarships for children to attend the Y’s summer camp, and support for the LiveStrong organization to benefit cancer survivors.

“The overall goal of the event is to take the simple concept of a lemonade stand and use it to empower our kids to evoke social change,” Glenn Vickers II, the executive director at the Y.M.C.A. RECenter, said.

The event will span Saturday and Sunday at Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett, Sweet’Tauk Lemonade in Montauk, Halstead Real Estate in East Hampton, and the Variety Store in Sag Harbor. There will also be a lemonade stand on Saturday at Gurney’s Spa and Resort in Montauk and on Sunday at Candied Anchor in Montauk. On Aug. 15 and 16, the lemonade stands will return, with new locations to be announced. Sweet’Tauk, a Montauk company, is donating the lemonade.

The fund-raiser is the culmination of a series of workshops led by local business owners and community leaders as mentors for the kids, who are ages 12 to 14. Among those participating were Sylvia Overby, an East Hampton Town councilwoman, and Donna McCue, an entrepreneur who appeared on the TV show “Shark Tank.” The adults worked with the kids to develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills, communication techniques, hospitality and marketing strategies, and other real-world lessons.

Tia Weiss, 13, of East Hampton, is one of the members of the red team, which will set up its lemonade stand at Indian Wells Beach. She said she really enjoyed the workshops.

“The best part was learning about different jobs that people do, how they do them, how they work with people, and what good habits to have,” she said.

Ms. Weiss said the Leaders and Lemonade program is a great one for kids like her and her friends.

“It’s a good program to be part of,” she said. “We are raising money for the Y.M.C.A., which a lot of people go to. We’re supporting people who don’t have enough money for programs but need them, and I get to be with my friends and be happy.”

On Tuesday, the kids got together to paint the lemonade stands in bright colors they hope will attract customers.

“It’s been a heck of a group effort with all the mentors in the community, the staff at the Y.M.C.A., the kids,” Mr. Vickers said. “It’s been fun to watch. . . . They have really done a great job.”

After this weekend, the kids will regroup to talk about what went right and what went wrong, and make any adjustments necessary before their August lemonade stand dates.

“I think that’s the biggest challenge they’ll face,” Mr. Vickers said. “They’ll learn from any experiences they acquired or mistakes they made, and come back bigger and better in August. You take a life experience, learn from it . . . and move on from there.”

Familiar faces will lead school boards in Amagansett, Bridgehampton, and Montauk during the 2015-16 school year.

Three board presidents and three vice presidents were re-elected during their districts’ respective organizational meetings on July 1.

In Amagansett, Victoria Handy was re-elected as president and Patrick R. Bistrian was re-elected as vice president. Ms. Handy, first elected to the board in 2007, has been president since July of 2013, and Mr. Bistrian, first elected to the board in 2005, has been vice president since July of 2011.

In Bridgehampton, Ronald White was re-elected as president and Lillian Tyree-Johnson will again be vice president. Mr. White and Ms. Tyree-Johnson both won third terms in office in May’s election. For Mr. White, it will be his second year as school board president. It will be Ms. Tyree-Johnson’s fourth year as vice president.

In Montauk, Diane Hausman won re-election as board president and Patti Leber was chosen again as vice president.

Wainscott will hold its organizational meeting on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., while Sagaponack, Sag Harbor, and Springs will hold its meeting today at 6 p.m. Sag Harbor and Springs will hold theirs on Monday, at 7:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively. East Hampton’s organizational meeting will be Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. C.S.

The anticipated popularity of the East Hampton School District’s new full-day prekindergarten program, set to begin in September at the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center, has resulted in an increase in enrollment and a small waiting list for interested students.

East Hampton initially capped enrollment in the program at 54 students, a number based on enrollment in the 2014-15 school year and available funding during the 2015-16 school year. However, the district is now at 66 students, according to Maureen Wikane, director of the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center.

Richard Burns, East Hampton’s superintendent, said in a recent interview that “at this point, we are able to accommodate all the kids that met the first deadline,” which was May 15.

During the June 16 school board meeting, Isabel Madison, the district’s assistant superintendent for business, said up to six students beyond the initial 54 could be accommodated at no extra cost. However, beyond that, six more students — totaling, then, 66 — would require an additional $48,000 from the district. The extra funding could come from a state grant designated to help districts fund prekindergarten programs, Ms. Madison said. With 54 students, the program was to cost the district about $440,000.

According to Christina DeSanti, who served as school board vice president during the 2014-15 school year, the grant “should just about cover” the extra enrollment costs. Because of that, she said, the school board won’t have to vote to approve the extra funding.

“If we didn’t have a cushion, and had to pull it from somewhere else, we would have had to have a vote,” Ms. DeSanti said. “Once the budget is set, you can’t just go back and add to it. It’s tight, and you don’t want to impact other programs.”

After the initial registration period, the district set up a June 15 deadline for parents interested in putting their children on a waiting list for entrance into the universal prekindergarten program, and drew four more potential students.

“They were clearly told they will be given seats only if there is a vacancy or if a child moves,” Mr. Burns said. “There’s such movement. It’s a very transient population. Perhaps those four seats will open up.”

In cases where districts have more students than available seats in universal prekindergarten programs, state regulations dictate schools must hold a lottery for entrance. However, that’s not the case in East Hampton, because the district was able to accommodate all the children whose parents signed up prior to its initial deadline. According to Jonathan Burman, a spokesman for the New York State Department of Education, districts do have the ability to create a specific sign-up period with a cutoff deadline, and East Hampton’s creation of a waiting list was an appropriate move.  

Madoodlers

Budding artists 5 to 9 — and what kid that age isn’t a budding artist? — will learn about the South Fork’s late great art superstars and practice working in their styles during a series of Monday workshops with Karyn Mannix at the Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack.

The classes begin this week with a focus, appropriately, on Robert Dash, the late painter who founded Madoo. Students will learn about Esteban Vicente on July 13, Lee Krasner on July 20, and Roy Lichtenstein on July 27. In August they’ll work in the styles of Andy Warhol, Dash, Elaine de Kooning, and Adolph Gottlieb. Classes run from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. and cost $25 per child. They will take place in the conservancy’s gardens, weather permitting. Advance registration, by emailing [email protected], has been strongly suggested.

Montauk Theater Camp

Kate Mueth and the Neo-Political Cowgirls will lead a two-week theater mini camp at the Montauk Playhouse Community Center starting on Monday. Campers 8 to 12 will develop their own skits over the course of the camp and present them to family and friends on July 16.

Camp will run from 3 to 5 p.m. weekdays from Monday through July 16. The cost is $200 per child, and $150 for additional siblings. Camp tuition includes two tickets to the July 16 show at 7 p.m. Additional tickets will cost $15. Registration information can be found online at montaukplayhouse.org.

Ballerinas and Bears

Katharine Holabird, the author of the popular Angelina Ballerina series, which was spun into an equally popular TV show, will read selections from an Angelina Ballerina book as well as from her new Twinkle series this afternoon at 4:30 at the Southampton Arts Center on Job’s Lane. Books will be available for purchase at this free event.

The WonderSpark Puppets will take their version of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” to the arts center and the Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre in Sag Harbor next week. Shows at the Goat will be next Thursday through July 11 at 11 a.m. Tickets are $12, $10 for members and grandparents, and $8 for siblings and children under 3.

The Southampton show will be at 4:30 p.m. next Thursday and is free. Educators from the Quogue Wildlife Refuge will also be on hand to introduce a number of animals in their care.

KidFest at Guild Hall

In the first of a summer-long series of KidFest performances at Guild Hall, Doktor Kaboom will jolt audiences with “Live Wire! The Electricity Show” on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Doktor Kaboom is the creation of David Epley, an actor and comedian with a passion for physics, math, biology, and chemical engineering. In his show on Wednesday, he’ll explain voltage, currents, and the general nature of electricity with the aid of “Tesla coils, Van de Graaff generators, and a Ping-Pong-shooting robot,” according to a release. Tickets cost $18 for adults, $14 for kids, $16 and $12 for members. On July 15, KidFest will feature Soul Street Dance with its show “The Art of Hip-Hop.”

Before each Wednesday show, at 4 p.m., Alexandra McCourt will lead kids in outdoor arts and crafts workshops tied to the themes of the performances. The fee for these is $10, $8 for members. They will be canceled and tickets will be refunded if it rains.

Weeklong student film workshops in collaboration with the Hamptons International Film Festival will begin on July 13. Anne Chaisson, director of the festival, professionals from LTV, and other guests will teach kids 8 to 15 about telling stories through digital video and tapping into their own personal vision to do this. A workshop for 8 to 11-year-olds will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. from July 13 through 17. One for ages 12 to 15 goes from 2 to 5 p.m. on those days. The cost for younger students is $300, $290 for members. Tuition for older students is $400, $390 for members. Advance registration is through Jennifer Brondo at [email protected].

Amber Waves Kids

At the Amber Waves Farm in Amagansett, an educator in residence will lead free programs for kids Wednesdays through Saturdays at 9 and 10 a.m. The community-supported farm is behind the Amagansett Farmers Market building at 375 Main Street.

All About Sharks

If recent shark attacks in the South or shark tracking closer to home have your kids curious about how sharks work, a program at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton on Saturday could be just the thing. Not for the faint of heart, this one, at 10:30 a.m., will have kids 8 and up dissecting sharks to learn about their anatomy. There is a $20 materials fee.

Kids of all ages can use fish to make their own fish-print T-shirts on Sunday at 10 a.m. Smocks have been suggested. T-shirts will be provided with the $10 materials fee. Advance registration is required for both of the above classes.

On Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon, SoFo will team up with the Peconic Land Trust on a Lost Ladybug Project search for rare ladybugs at the trust’s Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett. The farm is a haven for ladybugs of all sorts and colors. The program is free. The farm is on Deep Lane in Amagansett.

Jazzy the Therapy Dog

There’s a lot going on at the Amagansett Library as summer settles in. In addition to regular story times, this week marks the beginning of teen and family movie screenings and a library club for ages 10 to 14. The club, which will meet on Mondays at 3 p.m., will include a range of activities and community service opportunities.

At the library on Tuesday, Jazzy, a licensed therapy dog, will be on hand starting at 3:30 p.m. to listen as young readers practice their skills. On Wednesday at 2 p.m., the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons will pull into the library with its adoption van, offering pet lovers a chance to snuggle up to some animal orphans and maybe even arrange to take one home.

The family movie this afternoon at 3:30 will be “Penguins of Madagascar,” and next Thursday’s film will be “Big Hero 6,” both rated PG. The teen movie, on Wednesday at 6 p.m., will be “If I Stay,” rated PG-13. Advance sign-up has been requested for most library programs.

Puppets and Prints

Yoga, movies, puppets, printmaking, and college application essays are on the agenda this week at the East Hampton Library. The essay workshop, for students who will be seniors next year, will offer tips on identifying a good subject, finding your voice, shaping the narrative, and finishing it on time. The three-session workshop will meet on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, July 10, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The program is open to all, but preference is given to residents of the library district.

Susan Verde will lead a Storytime Yoga session for kids 5 and up only (no parents allowed!) on Monday from 11 to 11:45 a.m. A teen Books on Screen movie will be shown Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. “Big Hero 6” will be the family movie next Thursday at 5 p.m.

A family rhyme time with puppets will happen on Friday, July 10, at 10:30 for babies up to 3 and their adults. Also that day, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., children 4 and up will make collagraph animal prints. Reservations are required for all library programs.

Hammers and Nails

The Hampton Library in Bridgehampton will get out the hammers and nails for an art program on Tuesday at 4 p.m. for ages 7 to 12. On Friday, July 10, superheroes in training ages 4 and older have been invited to test their coordination on an obstacle course at the library from 11 a.m. to noon.

Rockin’ in Southampton

Brady Rymer, a two-time Grammy Award nominee, will bring his family-friendly rock ’n’ roll to the Southampton Arts Center for a free concert this afternoon at 4:30. Mr. Rymer has six albums with upbeat titles like “Love Me for Who I Am,” “Look at My Belly,” and “Just Say Hi!”

Summer Reading Club

“Every hero has a story” is the theme for this year’s summer reading club for younger kids at libraries across Suffolk County, and programs all summer long will play into that theme. Kickoff events are scheduled on Saturday at the Montauk and Amagansett Libraries, and the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor will start registering kids for the reading club that day too. In East Hampton and Bridgehampton, sign-ups are ongoing this month.

The Magic of Amore will present a hero-themed magic show on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at the Amagansett Library.

At the Montauk Library kids will watch a slide show of action figures and then sculpt a superhero of their own on Saturday at 3 p.m. with help from Joyce Raimondo. The program is for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade. Space is limited.

Kids who sign up for the reading club at John Jermain on Saturday will get a tote bag to carry their books in. Those 2 to 12 win prizes for each book they read. Those in fifth grade and above will earn tickets for an end-of-summer auction.

At the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, kids of all ages can drop by the library at any time from Monday through next Thursday to make superhero capes, masks, and more in keeping with the reading club theme.

Lively Library

As summer gets under way there will be plenty to do this week at the Amagansett Library. Teens have been invited to create a book cover to display at the library on Sunday and July 5 at 2 p.m. On Wednesday, the Cornell Cooperative Extension will be on hand with its Seashore See and Touch Safari program at 3:30 p.m.

Wednesdays all summer will bring teen movies at 6 p.m. The first, this week, will be “Into the Woods,” rated PG. Family movies will be shown on Thursday afternoons at 3:30 starting next week with “The Penguins of Madagascar,” also rated PG. Thursdays are also D.I.Y. day for teens, who can stop in starting next week to do a range of self-guided projects from finger knitting to Lego robotics from 4 to 5 p.m.

Eggs and Airplanes

Frittatas will be on the menu on Saturday at 10 a.m. during a cooking workshop for ages 3 to 6 at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton. Young chefs will mix eggs, chop vegetables, and season their creations with herbs from the museum’s garden. The cost is $17 including admission, $5 for members.

Also at 10 on Saturday kids can make paper airplanes while learning the basics of aerodynamics. This one is free with museum admission, but reservations have been suggested.

Ants!

Ants may be creepy crawly, but they’re pretty fascinating too. Kids 5 and older can make their own ant farms to take home during a science program at the East Hampton Library tonight at 7. Tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. those 4 and up have been invited to imagine a new superhero and create a story picture that tells what he or she can do.

A metal etching program for ages 4 and up on Wednesday at 4 p.m. will include a lesson on the science behind the art.

Over at the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, teens can decorate T-shirts they take from home on Saturday from 2 to 3 p.m. On Friday, July 3, those 4 and up can drop by to make button spinners at 11 a.m.

A paper lantern craft is on the agenda for kids 6 and older on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the John Jermain Memorial Library. The right color choices could make these the perfect Independence Day decorations!

Advance registration has been suggested for most library programs.

Have to Have a Habitat

Families have been invited to explore a habitat on Saturday with the South Fork Natural History Museum, and on Sunday kids 8 and older can make a habitat of their own.

Crystal Possehl will lead a family outing to Munn Point in Southampton Saturday at 1 p.m. Participants will seek out killifish, herons, hermit crabs, egrets, and more and will use a seine net to collect creatures that will be released back into the water. The Sunday program will teach kids the “components that make up a functioning environment.” They’ll take a walk in the field to find microhabitats and construct their own habitats along with a story about how they work. There is a $5 materials fee for this one. Registration is required for both programs.

For Young Writers

Stony Brook Southampton will offer weeklong creative writing and scriptwriting workshops for young teens next month through the Young Artists and Writers Project.

Experienced writers will help students fine-tune their fiction, poetry, and personal essay skills in a creative writing workshop from July 6 through 10. The focus will shift to scriptwriting from July 13 to 17. Students will spend five days writing and doing improvisations as they develop a short script for stage or screen. Each program runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The cost per week is $525, but discounts may be available. Applications can be found online at stonybrook.edu.yawp.

Theater Camps

Bay Street Theater is offering two weeklong camps for kids 7 to 9 and two for actors 9 to 12 this summer.

A Superhero Spectacular from July 6 through 10 at the Bridgehampton Community House will have kids 7 to 9 choosing a favorite character or creating their own and then developing a play with those characters as stars.

My Life Is a Musical will be the theme of the week in a camp for ages 9 to 12. The camp meets at the community house from July 20 to 24 and at the former Stella Maris Regional School in Sag Harbor from Aug. 17 to 21.

From Aug. 10 to 14 children 7 to 9 will study and perform Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” at Stella Maris.

All four camps run from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The cost is $465 per week per child, $800 if children sign up for two weeks. Registration information can be found online at baystreet.org.

An annual inspection of the East Hampton School District’s transportation system has yielded a grade of 96.3 percent, the district’s superintendent, Richard Burns, announced during last Tuesday’s school board meeting.

New York State’s Department of Transportation inspects schools’ buses each year, with the target score at 90 percent or better.

“The D.O.T. is very happy,” Mr. Burns said, adding that the district’s buses “are in good shape.”

Isabel Madison, East Hampton’s assistant superintendent for business, said Tuesday that in this year’s audit, only one of the district’s 35 buses was identified as needing maintenance. But it is not necessarily a bus that was used to transport students recently, since not all 35 buses are in use at the same time.

Last year, Ms. Madison said, the district scored 100 percent on the audit. Nonetheless, she said, the district is still pleased with the result this year.

“The significance is that the buses are being mechanically very well treated,” Ms. Madison said. “They are constantly being checked, and everything is according to the specifications of the New York State Department of Transportation.”

East Hampton has been operating its own school buses since 2006, when the private company it had previously been using for transportation went out of business.

The ideas of sending seventh and eighth graders to East Hampton as a way of alleviating overcrowding at the Springs School or of setting up modular classrooms were discussed at the second meeting of the school’s facilities committee last week, as was whether the school’s septic system needed improvement. The committee was established after district voters turned down a multimillion-dollar capital improvement project in May.

Sending seventh and eighth graders to East Hampton, a suggestion made during the committee’s first meeting, was not feasible, Thomas Primiano, the school treasurer and business administrator, said at the June 17 meeting, because of the cost of tuition. He estimated it as $3.5 million and said it would not be possible if the district wanted to comply with the state cap on tax levy increases.

Mr. Primiano said he had come up with “a much lower estimate to keep those students in-house.” Roger Smith of BBS Architects, which has been working with the district, said, “There’s no next step internally to gain another classroom,” and he estimated that four modular classrooms would cost $1 million for three years, a figure that includes rent, building foundations, and the expenses involved in separate utilities and a fire alarm system.

“I’m talking about wood, modular, transportable  classrooms,” Mr. Smith said. “This is not the construction trailer that guys use to build a 7-Eleven.”

 Springs preschool students are being sent to the former Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church school in East Hampton, while kindergarten classes are held in the Springs Youth Association building.

 Susan Harder, a member the committee, brought up the septic system. Improving it had not been included in a list of about $3 million in necessary repairs and maintenance projects compiled by BBS, and Mr. Primiano downplayed its urgency. “The district has not been contacted by any regulatory agency, including state, county, or town, that we have any sort of emergency related to our septic system,” Mr. Primiano said.

According to East Hampton Town, town staff and researchers from Cornell Cooperative Extension are conducting tests this week to determine the source of enterococcus bacteria, which Kim Shaw, the town’s natural resources director, had previously reported were found to be “through the roof” in waters near the school.

“I’m a neighbor of the school, and I’m on a well,” Ms. Harder said on Monday. “I don’t have a problem with the school getting what it needs versus a ‘kitchen sink’ approach to everything they want, but I think first things first.” The more urgent need — additional classrooms or a septic system improvement — should be addressed first, she said.

The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for July 22 at 5 p.m. at the school.