Kids Culture 07.30.15
Robotics
For budding engineers in kindergarten through fourth grade, the Brooklyn Robot Foundry is coming to East Hampton. With full-day ($180) or half-day ($100) sessions, the program guides children in building their own custom robots that they can take home. Projects vary from day to day. Sessions run Monday through Friday from Aug. 3 to Aug. 14 at East Hampton High School. Sign-up is online at brooklynrobotfoundry.com/summer-sessions-hamptons.
Calling All Superheroes
Petra’s Puppets is calling all superheroes to the Montauk Library today at 2 p.m. to join Ultra Duck on a quest for the perfect ravioli. Eric, the mild-mannered sheep puppet, will transform into Super Sheep and will ask for audience participation to battle the villainous Gorgonzilla and his dastardly sidekick, the Almost Invisible Cow. Children can wear their own superhero capes if they wish and will be invited to play a mind-twisting game of Defeat the Cheese.
At the Art Barge
The setting for the Children’s Art Carnival, a series of art workshops for kids 5 and up in a variety of mediums, could hardly be more peaceful. Set on the shores of Napeague Harbor, the Art Barge, a.k.a. the Victor D’Amico Institute of Art, is definitely far from the madding crowd. The Art Carnival classes began on Monday and will continue today and tomorrow and Monday through Friday, Aug. 7, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. or from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Children will experiment with form, line, shape, and color using “motivational teaching toys” designed by Mr. D’Amico, and then go to work in the studio. The cost is $40 per day, per student, and advance registration has been requested by phone at 267-3172.
Family Fun Day
Mamalee and Friends will get moms and dads and kids and grandparents dancing during the Hampton Library’s Family Fun Day on Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. on its back lawn in Bridgehampton. There will be games, projects, and shaved ice courtesy of SnowBiz, and it’s all gratis.
On Tuesday at the library, kids 7 to 12 will create retro video characters using beads and an iron from 4 to 5 p.m. A science workshop on Friday, Aug. 7, from 11 a.m. to noon will have kids 4 and older making “elephant foam” that grows and grows. Watch out!
Camp Shakespeare
The Hampton Shakespeare Festival is gearing up for Camp Shakespeare, a series of performance workshops focusing on the Bard for kids 8 to 15. The camp will be offered in Amagansett at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church from Aug. 10 through 14 and Aug. 17 through 21, and at the Southampton Cultural Center from Aug. 24 through 28. The cost is $475 per week, or $450 per week for two weeks or more. Some financial aid is available.
Each day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. campers will do acting, improv, movement, and voice exercises and theatrical arts and crafts, and they’ll finish each week with a performance for family and friends. Participants will be divided by age. Advance sign-up is a must at 267-0105 or hamptons-shakespeare.org/ camp.
“Peter and the Wolf” Returns
The young dancers of the Hampton Ballet Theatre School will be joined by the Hampton Festival Orchestra in a production of Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’ on Tuesday at the Children’s Museum of the East End and next Thursday at the Montauk Playhouse Community Center.
Tuesday’s show will start at 6 p.m. Tickets cost $17 in advance, $15 for CMEE members, and $20 at the door. They can be reserved through the museum. Next Thursday’s performance will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $15.
The ballet school’s director, Sara Jo Strickland, choreographed the production. Students 4 to 18 will dance the parts, with Adam Baranello of the A&G Dance Company joining them. Bonnie Grice of WPPB radio will be the guest narrator.
Paper Boat Regatta
Families will build origami boats and race them in rain gutters during the Amagansett Library’s annual paper boat regatta on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The family movie today at 3:30 p.m. will be “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” starring Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner. The library also has a slew of regular weekly activities, details of which can be found in our children’s calendar in today’s arts and living section.
The Circus!
The Cole Bros. Circus will set up its tents on the Shinnecock powwow grounds in Southampton on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, with shows scheduled for 5 and 8 p.m. each day. Tickets start at $16 for general admission. They are available online at gotothecircus.com or at Wittendale’s flower shop on Newtown Lane in East Hampton or Stevenson’s Toys in Southampton. Pony rides and face painting will be offered an hour before each scheduled show.
Busy Month at CMEE
There’s a whole lot happening at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton as August arrives, beginning Saturday with the opening of “Dictionary Daze,” an exhibition of alphabet-themed screen-print collages by Peter Tunney.
“Inspired by illustrations found in the 1927 edition of Webster’s International Dictionary, the exhibit showcases the artist’s enthusiasm for language, unique perspective, and creative process,” the museum said. A reception and T-shirt printing workshop for the whole family will kick off the show on Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. Those wishing to attend have been asked to reserve a spot by emailing Liz Bard at [email protected]. The exhibition will be on view through Labor Day.
A number of monthlong workshops for parents or caregivers with kids 2 to 4 will start this week. On Tuesdays, there’s a family art and dance program from 3 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays bring cooking classes from 10:15 to 11 a.m. Clay art workshops will be given on Thursdays from 9 to 9:45 a.m. or from 10:15 to 11, and on Fridays, it’s family art from 9 to 9:45 a.m. or 10:15 to 11. The cost for each is $200 or $150 for members.
A Spanish-language immersion program for ages 5 to 7 will be offered on Tuesdays all month from 3 to 5 p.m. The cost is $375, $325 for members. Baby and Me early childhood parenting sessions will be offered on Monday and Tuesday and again on Aug. 10 and 11 at 11:30 a.m. This one costs $20 per session, free for members.
Finally, a soccer program for kids 21/2 to 5 will take up residence at CMEE on Mondays through Fridays in August, with half-day and extended day options available. Kick and Play, a pre-soccer movement program for parents and toddlers up to 24 months, will be offered on Mondays and Thursdays in August from 9 to 9:40 a.m. Registration for these is through Super Soccer Stars at 212-877-7171.
On Friday, Aug. 7, at 6 p.m. Elizabeth Frogel will read from her book “Charlie Girl” during the museum’s monthly Pizza and Pajama Night. It’s free for members, $10 for everyone else. Reservations have been recommended.
Basics of Safety
Arleen West, who studied under Sensei Mark Tuthill, will teach ages 5 to 7 some basics of personal safety and self-defense during a program on Tuesday from 3 to 4 p.m. at the East Hampton Library. Kids will learn how to fall, roll, and “be ready with a protective stance.” Ms. West will teach the same workshop on Aug. 11 for kids 8 to 11.
Stop-Motion Workshop
The John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor is offering a stop-motion animation workshop for kids 6 to 9 next Thursday and Friday, Aug. 7, from 10 a.m. to noon. Kids will work in teams of two to make their own animated short using clay, drawings, or whatever materials they like. There is space for only eight participants.