The Wainscott School’s third-grade class, about to graduate from their two-room schoolhouse, has been busy with a project that the school hopes will become a new tradition. Students are busy designing and painting their own ceramic tiles, which will be installed in the school’s hallways.

The project began with an idea from the superintendent, Stuart Rachlin, to create a third-grade legacy project, and Terri Burke-Doyle, the art teacher, suggested they use ceramic tiles. South­ampton Masonry donated white subway tiles for the students.

Tasked with creating a tile that would reflect favorite memories of the school, Mason Barris designed an ice cream cone, representing the annual ice cream social. Siena Link-Morse designed a patriotic pattern to go with her name, and Alex Hepburn drew a cupcake, recalling the celebration of student birthdays with treats during class.

“I’ll feel happy to see something I made that I can see again,” said Siena, who said she plans to visit Wainscott School “all the time” after she moves on to fourth grade in East Hampton.

The project emphasizes the students’ skills in drawing and painting, and challenges them to explore how to illustrate a favorite memory.

“I think it’s important to have something, when they come back in the future to visit, that they created and left as their legacy,” Ms. Burke-Doyle said.

The Ross School’s seventh-grade class has spent the last few weeks becoming what just might be the South Fork’s youngest art gallery curators.

Their exhibition, “The Illusion of Definition,” opens tomorrow at the Upper School and features abstract works by three professional artists, Roisin Bateman, Don Christensen, and Anne Raymond.

The annual project connects students’ art and art history classes to real-life lessons in the workings of an actual gallery. Sixteen students visited the artists’ studios, interviewed them to write biographies, and composed descriptions to accompany each work. They arranged the art in the gallery, will act as tour guides at the opening reception, and will even cook food to be served at the reception.

“The students create their own tone, their own mood, their own title, their own arrangement,” said Jennifer Cross, dean of visual arts at Ross. “The walls change. The flow of the way they want people to enter the gallery changes. The gallery changes depending on the students.”

A seventh grader named Ava explained that the students first had fun playing with a random name generator before settling on “The Illusion of Definition.” One of her classmates, Chandler, explained that the chosen title means the abstract works in the show “can’t really be defined. Definition is an illusion in this case.”

Ava, who played the role of gallery director, said the project was “a lot of work, but everyone had each other’s backs.”

Both students said they will have a new appreciation for all the work that goes into running an art gallery, and said they hope the community will learn something new at the show.

“It won’t be just, ‘This art makes me happy,’ but ‘Wow, this show made me feel like a human,’ ” Chandler said.

The opening reception tomorrow runs from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at the Ross School Gallery at 18 Goodfriend Drive. The show itself will run through June 23.

Meet HippoDuck

At the Wharf Shop in Sag Harbor on Saturday, children can listen to an author read her own book starting at 10 a.m. Sandra Kiegiel Magura, the author of “HippoDuck: Trouble at the Airport,” will share a story that introduces youngsters to the procedures of airport travel these days. The Wharf Shop is at 69A Main Street.

Madoo After Hours

The gardens of the Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack will be the setting for the Children’s Museum of the East End’s monthly Pizza and Pajama Night tomorrow at 6 p.m. Kids and their grown-ups can explore the gardens, join in a scavenger hunt, listen to a story, and munch on pizza. The cost is $10 per person, but members are admitted for free. Reservations are a must.

Laurel Valley Excursion

Crystal Possehl of the South Fork Natural History Museum will set out on an exploration of the Laurel Valley Preserve in Noyac with kids 8 to 12 on Saturday at 10 a.m. Participants will borrow museum backpacks stocked with tools to study what they see, and then record their findings in a journal. The program carries a $2 materials fee for a journal, or kids can take their own. Advance registration is required.

Yoga at the Goat

Parents in need of a night on the town without the little ones can drop them off at the Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre in Sag Harbor on Saturday for an evening of yoga, dance, meditation, and calming fun with Peaceful Planet Yoga. The program — for ages 4 to 11 — runs from 6 to 8:15 p.m. and costs $25 per child and $15 for additional siblings. Registration in advance is required at peacefulplanetyoga.com.

From 3-D to Duct Tape

Lava lamps, 3-D printing, duct tape crafts, and more are on tap at the local libraries this week. Tomorrow from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton kids 4 and older will use household items to make their own lava lamps. The library will have 7 to 12-year-olds making duct tape wallets on Tuesday from 4 to 5 p.m.

On Saturday, the Montauk Library will give kids an introduction to 3-D printing, allowing them to pick and print a favorite 3-D template from thingi­verse.com or create a 3-D image of their own. Grades one through six have been invited in from 2 to 2:45 p.m. Grades 6 through 12 will take over the printer from 2:45 to 3:30.

A Flight of Fancy story time at the Amagansett Library on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. will be followed up with a hot air balloon craft. On Sunday, kids in second grade and above can make decorative placemats with recycled materials starting at 2.

Advance sign-up has been requested for most library programs.

About 60 small hands moved in sync — mostly — in a drum circle at the Amagansett School on Monday, with results greater than the sum of its parts.

Over the course of the last three months, the 30 students in grades three and four learned all about playing a type of drum known as the djembe, and Monday’s performance was the culmination of their work with Jerome Liggon, a professional drum instructor. Along with exercises in rhythm and technique came lessons on listening, teamwork, and communication, as well as development of focus and hand-eye coordination.

“There are so many ways it benefits the children,” said Janine Balnis, the school’s social worker, who brought in the program along with Cindy Galvin, the music teacher.

“You’re really communicating through the drumming,” Ms. Balnis said. “The goal of the drum circle is to have one sound, even though there may be 18 drums.”

During Monday’s sometimes chaotic but always energetic performance, Mr. Liggon engaged the students in call-and-answer drumming and changed up the pace for more challenging rhythms. The students used different parts of their hands and a variety of up-and-down, side-to-side, and back-and-forth motions to create the sounds.

The program involved the third and fourth grades, but on Monday, students in grades five and six — and even parents and teachers — were invited to try out the drums.

“With the drumming, they get a real sense of community,” Mr. Liggon said after the performance.

He has worked with children through East End Hospice’s summer camp and through the Stony Brook Cancer Center, where the therapeutic qualities of drumming are emphasized. “They forget about their harsh realities. When they’re smiling and having fun, it’s a beautiful thing,” Mr. Liggon said.

In Amagansett, he said, the children picked up the drumming techniques right away — even faster than adults have been able to learn them.

Amagansett’s superintendent, Elea­nor Tritt, said it was the first time the school had brought in a drum circle program. “We’re always excited about opportunities for children to learn creative ways of expression, working together, and communicating together,” she said. C.S.

The Regional High School Action Committee, a group promoting school consolidation, will hold a forum Thursday, May 21, at the Tuckahoe School.

Some officials from the surrounding education community are expected to attend the meeting, which will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. in the school library.

Chris Dyer, Tuckahoe’s superintendent, said by phone yesterday that the forum is intended to be exploratory in nature, with “no egos” or political agendas involved.

“Something has to be done,” Mr. Dyer said, to ensure that funding for public high schools is sustainable here on the East End, and a regional high school might be one solution.

Tuckahoe School is at 468 Magee Street in Southampton. The meeting will be open to the public.

East Hampton’s littlest athletes will soon have a new place to play sports like tennis, soccer, and basketball.

A successful campaign launched in December by Good Circle, a local crowdsourcing organization that connects nonprofits with businesses and the community, raised enough money for a new, paved sports surface to be installed at the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center in East Hampton over the next few weeks. The campaign actually exceeded its goal of $17,140. Money raised will also cover the cost of sports equipment such as balls, flags, hoops, nets, racquets, cones, and supplies, as well as fencing, benches, a tent, and painting the paved surface.

“We know that it’s going to develop our activities . . . as well as be fun for the children. It’s been a great joint effort,” said Maureen Wikane, director of the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center.

“It’s so sweet to see something for children of this age,” Ms. Wikane added.

The junior sports field, as it’s been called, received support from 27 donors and matching contributions from the Hampton Racquet, owned by John Graham, who also directs the center’s physical education program. Smart Sports Surfacing installed the fence and will be donating the play surface.

Mr. Graham said he is eagerly anticipating the completion of the field. Although recent inclement weather held up the project initially, he said, it should be completed by the start of the summer camp program at the nonprofit center.

“Physical activity basically does everything a child needs. It breeds teamwork and self confidence, and it’s fun,” he said. “It hits every place a child needs to develop and go forward.”

Fred Doss, co-founder of Good Circle, said the campaign “worked perfectly.”

“What we will have, when it’s finished, is a really lovely facility,” he said.

In the Garden

Two garden art workshops at the Children’s Museum of the East End on Saturday at 10 a.m. will get kids immersed in the season.

Rossa Cole, an artist and photographer, will work with 7 to 10-year-olds on solar-powered noisemakers and wind chimes for the garden in an hour-long drop-off class. The cost is $15, not including museum admission, or $12 for museum members.

Younger children 2 to 6 and their adults will work with Lynn Leff to make garden art from recycled materials. This workshop costs $22, including admission; $7 for members.

At the Libraries

Silent Clown will entertain children with a mix of mime, juggling, clowning, magic, music, and puppetry on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Montauk Library.

On Tuesday at 4 at the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, young artists age 7 to 12 will look to the city for inspiration as they create nighttime cityscapes.

At the Amagansett Library, flowers will be the focus of a story and craft time for all ages on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. On Sunday at 2, kids can stop by the library to make a square for a collaborative quilt. 

Under Water

Kids 9 to 11 will learn about the tiny water plants called phytoplankton on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the South Fork Natural History Museum. Melanie Meade will lead participants as they examine phytoplankton under a microscope and make a model phytoplankton cell. There is a $3 materials fee in addition to museum entry. Advance registration is required.

Madoo, C.D.C.H. Will Shine

The Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack and the Child Development Center of the Hamptons in East Hampton will be the co-hosts in July and August of the Shine Summer Camp, which offers creative arts and outdoor time for children 3 to 9.

Kids will take art lessons in the late Robert Dash’s studio and take part in gardening activities at Madoo on Tuesdays and Thursdays; they will use the C.D.C.H. art room, gym, playground, and nearby fields on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tuition starts at $120 per day. Details and registration information can be requested at [email protected] or 212-414-5427.

Food Fun at CMEE

Young foodies will find much to like at the Children’s Museum of the East End this weekend. Participants in a Saturday morning workshop may not be able to ditch the salad bowl altogether, but they will get to plant all the ingredients for a salad in what will become a hanging salad ball for the museum’s garden. The workshop is for kids 7 to 10 and runs from 10 to 11 a.m. The cost is $15, not including museum admission, or $12 for members.

Also at 10 on Saturday, younger children ages 2 to 6 can make pasta from scratch with their adults. This one costs $22 including admission or $10 for members. Sunday is Waffle Day at the museum, when kids of all ages can make their own Belgian waffle brunch from 10 to 11 a.m. The cost is $20 including admission, $7 for members. The museum’s monthly Pizza and Pajama Night will be in the gardens of the Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack on Friday, June 5. The evening will include a story time, pizza, and a scavenger hunt from 6 to 7:30. Members enjoy it all for free; others pay $10. Advance reservations are a must.

Nature and Color

Not everything in nature is what you’d expect it to be and not everything you find on a nature trail seems to belong there. Kids 5 to 8 will search out camouflaged creatures and things that stand out during an “un-nature” walk in East Hampton on Saturday at 2 p.m. with the South Fork Natural History Museum’s Tyler Armstrong.

On Sunday at 10 a.m. at the museum in Bridgehampton, 3 to 5-year-olds will learn about how animals and plants use color, how other creatures see color, and what it all means. Participants will then sort, mix, and match colors to create a colorful craft. There is a $5 materials fee for the class.

Advance registration is required for both.

Birds, Bears, and Reptiles

At the local libraries this week the standout event is an after-school program with creatures from the South Fork Natural History Museum at Sag Harbor’s John Jermain Memorial Library on Tuesday. The program starts at 4 and is for ages 5 to 12. Advance registration is required. Also at John Jermain, on Sunday, kids 6 and older will use recycled cardboard to make a Minecraft creeper from 2 to 3 p.m. Advance sign-up is requested for this one, too.

“Paddington,” the family movie released this winter, will be shown during a family movie night from 5 to 6:30 tonight at the East Hampton Library. The film stars Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, and Julie Walters as a London family who take in a little bear from “darkest Peru.” On Wednesday, kids 4 to 6 can join in a fish story and craft time from 4 to 4:45 p.m. Reservations are requested for all library programs.

Birds will be the subject of a story and craft time at the Amagansett Library on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Tax refunds are on the way to residents in the East Hampton, Bridgehampton, Springs, Sag Harbor, Wainscott, Montauk, and Amagansett school districts who are eligible for the school tax relief program known as STAR. The money, called the tax-freeze credit, will come from the districts that have plans to save at least 1 percent of their 2014-15 tax levies over the next three years.

Before the refund checks are cut, however, New York State must approve the districts’ savings plans. Local school administrators said this week that the amount of the refunds was not yet clear.

The refunds are connected to a state law enacted in 2014 that encourages local governments and school districts to share services, consolidate, merge, or find other ways to cut costs. Schools have found those efficiencies in various ways, from tuition discounts and shared transportation to more efficient copy machines and changes in pay for certain employees. The law says that regular teaching staff and educational programs cannot be touched.

The East Hampton School District’s 5-percent discount in tuition, which is part of its five-year tuition contract with most of its feeder schools, qualifies the district for the tax-freeze credit. All but Wainscott signed that agreement.

East Hampton had to find $478,843 in savings, which was also accomplished by bringing in more efficient copying machines and cutting the amount of paper the district will use. A centralized system for buying cleaning supplies and reduced maintenance expenses will also contribute savings.

“We have been working really hard to control costs,” said Isabel Madison, the district’s assistant superintendent for business. Ms. Madison is spearheading the collective efficiency plan on behalf of Amagansett, Wainscott, Springs, and Montauk.

Springs had to cut $240,738 from its 2014-15 tax levy. The savings there will be realized largely through a negotiation process that resulted in staff members paying an increased share of their health care costs, starting in July 2014. Springs is also realizing savings related to energy-efficient lighting fixtures and automated switches, which were recently installed. The district also made some cuts in field trips, intramural sports, and internal audits.

“We had to scour old budgets and new,” said Thomas Primiano, the Springs School District’s treasurer.

In Sag Harbor, Jennifer Buscemi, the school business administrator, said the district had to find savings totaling $332,239. To do so, the administration negotiated a lower starting salary for new custodians and a lower pay rate for substitute teachers. A previous retirement incentive for long-term teachers and a decision not to replace the director of facilities also yielded savings. Ms. Buscemi said the district was then “over its target for savings.”

“It was actually very challenging, because we had to cross everything out,” she said. “We had to figure out exactly what we saved in every area.”

To save money in Amagansett, Eleanor Tritt, the superintendent, said the district is absorbing the position of grant coordinator, which it had previously contracted out to the Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services, to save about $9,000. Other savings came from a hard salary freeze for employees and negotiations that ended with employees paying a larger percentage of their health insurance premiums. The district had to cut about $87,000, but instead wound up with about $300,000 in savings when the East Hampton tuition discount is taken into consideration.

Bridgehampton’s assistant superintendent for finance and facilities, Robert Hauser, said the district had to cut $106,302. Mr. Hauser said it was accomplished by not replacing a principal and a head custodian, both of whom had retired. Lois Favre, the superintendent, assumed the duties of the principal and Mr. Hauser assumed those of the head custodian. Changes to the busing system and a previous staff salary freeze also contributed savings. Bridgehampton actually saved $136,000 beyond what was required, Mr. Hauser said.

Wainscott had to cut about $50,000 from its tax levy, which Stuart Rachlin, its superintendent, said is being accomplished through shared transportation with Montauk and Sagaponack.

“Regardless of the Government Efficiency Plan, this has been and will continue to be how East End districts function — to seek savings however possible,” Mr. Rachlin said in an email.

Sagaponack’s administration did not return a request for comment.

Community members continue to rally around the Springs School District, with the school board voting on Monday to accept donations of money and equipment totaling more than $13,700.

According to figures provided by the district, Springs has received nearly $30,000 in grants and donations to date during this school year.

The Anna Mirabai Lytton Fund donated $5,000 for a recent poetry and book-making project for students in the seventh and eighth grades. The fund was established following Anna Lytton’s death in June of 2013 while riding a bicycle. She was 14 years old and had been a student at the Springs School.

Colleen McGowan, a Springs art teacher, said at the board meeting that the students had “an amazing experience exploring art and poetry” through the donation from the fund. “Anna was a great poet herself,” Ms. McGowan said.

The Greater East Hampton Education Foundation donated $1,950 for the Springs School’s visiting science program, and the Kiwanis Club donated $750 for Springs community members who are participating in the Special Olympics.

Springs received lacrosse equipment valued at $844 from a new booster club supporting the fifth and sixth-grade lacrosse program.

The PTA donated $3,317 for a seventh-grade field trip and close to $1,900 for a fourth-grade field trip.

Liz Mendelman, the school board president, thanked the organization. “The PTA has been on a roll lately,” she said. “We’re so appreciative of everything you do.”

Lisa Matz, the PTA president, also announced the results of the organization’s second Mystery Art Sale at Ashawagh Hall. About $39,500 was raised through the four-day event. The school board has not yet formally accepted any donations from this year’s sale. At the meeting, the PTA also announced a $1,000 donation to the Springs Improvement Society as a gesture of appreciation for the society’s support of Springs students. The society oversees Ashawagh Hall.