Camp Wonderopolis in libraries: Jan Moran Collier City Learning Library

Jan Moran Collier City Learning Library, located in Florida, was one of three libraries across the country to be awarded a grant to be a Camp Wonderopolis site. The library staff shared the following about their program.

“Music is a moral law.  It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” –Plato

It was a “Symphony of Wonders” at the Jan Moran Collier City Learning Library during the summer.  Children and their families were treated to a smorgasbord of interactive musical activities after dining on delicious food provided by Camp Wonderopolis.

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The first session kicked off with a show and experience demonstration of the Wonderopolis website.  Families were engaged in exploring the Camp’s activity, “Does Music Influence your Mood.”  A sample from the several popular songs was played.  The participants’ mood changed based on the type of music.  For example, “Be Our Guest” made participants happy, excited and feel like dancing.  “Gonna Make You Sweat,” made them feel like exercising and singing.

After completing the music mood activity, families toured the library’s innovative “Creation Station,” a musical production studio equipped with a sound room, engineering booth, mixing software, electronic keyboards and guitars, a drum kit and microphones.  Families were very excited as a professional sound engineer demonstrated what the studio could do.

The fun and excitement continued during the next Camp session when families had fun going hands-on to create and mix songs with the engineer in the Creation Station.  One participant said, “What is so good about the Creation Station is that it’s free and you get to see how artists that you like make music.”

In addition, working in the Creation Station, families became amateur DJ’s with the instructor Christine from the organization, “Girls Make Beats.” DJ Christine gave families their first glimpse into “scratching” on a professional DJ mixing table. Families were fascinated with the third activity of the night that paired bananas, clay, and pennies with a computer and a Makey-Makey board to create music.  They were very interested in how the MaKey MaKey worked to transform these objects into keyboards.  When touched, they made bongo, piano, and guitar music. A fourth-grade teacher explains how the Makey-Makey works in this YouTube video, “How Your Makey-Makey works”

 


Interested in bringing Camp Wonderopolis to your program? Camp Wonderopolis online learning content is free year-round for individuals, families, classrooms, and programs. Visit camp.wonderopolis.org to explore five unique editions of Camp Wonderopolis, each loaded with 42 lessons, six Maker activities, book lists, and more. To enhance your program, NCFL offers Campsite Kits available for purchase. Receive support and guidance to integrate Camp Wonderopolis into your programming when you purchase the Program Kit at store.wonderopolis.org.