Kids Culture 10.04.18
Youth Theater Workshops
NexGen Youth Theatre, run by Bethany Dellapolla and Magnus Tonning Riise, is offering a number of performance workshops for ages 10 to 18 over the next several weeks at the Southampton Cultural Center.
The first, which runs for three Saturdays starting this week, is an introduction to ballroom dancing in musical theater. Participants will “learn how to be a good dance partner” both “in auditions and beyond,” according to the class description. While learning the basics of dances like the waltz, tango, foxtrot, and cha-cha, participants will focus on technique and the emotion behind the dance.
Up-and-coming actors who want to fine-tune their skills can do so in a scene-study class in Southampton on Oct. 27, Nov. 3, and Nov. 10. Students will work on scenes with a partner and get coaching along the way.
A short-form improv class rounds out the offerings on Nov. 17, Dec. 1, and Dec. 8. Young actors will work on “active listening, thinking on your feet, making connections, and open collaboration,” ultimately doing an improv presentation for family and friends.
Classes at the cultural center will meet from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. The cost for each is $250. Registration is at nexgentheatre.com.
Member Appreciation Day
Sunday is membership appreciation day at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton. From 10 a.m. to noon, there will be games, crafts, food, and music for member families. Not a member yet? Sunday might be a good time to re-up for the year. Family memberships start at $110.
Looking ahead, families might want to get in early on the museum’s field trip to the Milk Pail’s U-Pick Farm on Oct. 13, which is likely to sell out. The museum group will visit the Mecox farm from 10 to 11 a.m. for cider, apples, doughnuts, a scavenger hunt, and a chance to choose a pumpkin. The cost is $13, $10 for members.
Salamanders, Ticks, Birds
While a celebration of the Long Pond Greenbelt is underway on Saturday at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton, the museum also plans two other family activities: a salamander walk for families with Andy Sabin at 10 a.m. and a Tick Wise program to build kids’ tick smarts at noon.
On the walk, families will search the leaf litter under decaying logs for two of the South Fork’s native salamanders: the blue-spotted salamander and the four-toed salamander, “whose tail drops off when it is grasped by a predator,” according to the museum.
The tick program will be led by April Boitano, a.k.a. the Tick Lady, in collaboration with Stony Brook Southampton’s Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center and East End Tick Control. An early childhood and elementary teacher, Ms. Boitano will talk about how to prevent tick bites, what to do if bitten, how to remove ticks, where to send them for testing, and the signs of tick-borne illnesses.
On Sunday at 1 p.m., a nature-drawing workshop for families with kids 6 and older will focus on birds and how they move. Tara Smith is the teacher. Advance registration is required for the walk on Saturday and the Sunday workshop.
A Haunted Library
At the East Hampton Library, high school students can earn community service credits by helping to plan a haunted library event on Oct. 27. Planning sessions are on Tuesdays through Oct. 23 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Middle schoolers can unwind on Tuesday at 4 p.m. as they listen to music and color velvet posters. On Wednesday, kids 6 to 9 will listen to a story by Eric Carle and then make tissue-paper artwork in his style in a session at 3:30 p.m.
Monster brownies will be on the menu for kids 4 and older next Thursday at 4 p.m. The library will provide the treats, all the tasty decorations, and bakery boxes big enough for three brownies. Next Thursday at 5 p.m., high school students have been invited to use the library’s Breakout EDU kits, with games that require collaborative problem-solving and critical thinking to open locked boxes.
Looking ahead, Hampton Strategies for Success will offer an ACT and SAT workshop at the library on Oct. 13 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. for high school students.
Advance registration is required for most library programs.
Spooky Tween Movie
The John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor will host a tween screening of “The Haunted Mansion,” starring Eddie Murphy, on Sunday at 2 p.m. In it, a family vacation meant to help a workaholic dad reconnect with his wife and children takes an unexpected turn when they stop off at a spooky mansion that turns out to be haunted. Advance registration is not required. Snacks will be provided.
Kids have been invited to dress in costume (or not) while they play with the library’s collection of dolls and action figures on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m.
Virtual Fun
The Montauk Library will introduce kids 4 and older to its new virtual reality gear next Thursday at 4 p.m. This program is likely to be a popular one, so advance registration is required.