Guest Post: Camp Wonderopolis® brings science to life at Ky. library
Six libraries across the nation were awarded $1,500 grants, NCFL training, and Youth and Family Campsite Kits to implement Camp Wonderopolis programming this summer, thanks to generous support from Better World Books. These libraries provided Maker activities exclusively found in the Youth and Family Campsite Kit and suggested book pairings for each of the six Camp Wonderopolis tracks online. In this guest blog post, Okolona Branch Library (Louisville, Ky.) shares how Camp Wonderopolis programming shaped summer learning for their families:
Oh, the air we breathe!
The Wonderopolis train pulled into the Okolona Branch Library for one last stop. We started our sixth week of camp off with a BANG! For our last Camp Wonderopolis, we focused on the Wonder Pulse track. The children each made their own set of lungs, enjoyed a healthy meal, and provided lots of entertainment for everyone involved.
The lungs were made using various materials including items like bottles, balloons, and rubber bands. The children enjoyed piecing the lungs together; once they realized they had made this object all on their own, they were so overjoyed! [You can find this Camp Wonderopolis Maker activity here.] Along with our conversation about breathing, we talked about how much blood the human body has—the kid’s reactions were hilarious! We also discussed why blood looks blue in our veins, but comes out of our bodies red. The children’s favorite word that day was pleura. The wonder and curiosity of science was fresh with each of our families as we moved through each discovery of the amazing inner workings of the human body.
For lunch, the families enjoyed Italian fare: spaghetti, vegetarian pasta, and strawberry cupcakes. When everyone’s bellies were full, we sat down to enjoy the accompanying Wonder video. The kids always look forward to this part—they have plenty of opportunity to tell us anything they noticed, or were curious about. Many parents told us about how their children would watch some videos over and over again because they were so intrigued.
Camp Wonderopolis has been a great addition to our Summer Reading programs at the Okolona Branch Library! It has given the children and families within our community a chance to get to know one another, and spend time at the library having fun! We would love to do it again in the future. It really made our Fridays very fun!
Camp Wonderopolis is a virtual camp and online learning tool created by NCFL, which is available year-round to all families, libraries, schools, and community organizations.