Playful Staff Development

Flow Circus finds that working with adults can be just as much fun as working with kids because adults need to laugh & play too! This month we conducted two different staff development sessions. The first was held at Camp Silver Beach for the Peninsula Metropolitan YMCA. Our half-day workshop was part of a two day retreat focusing on the book Juggling Elephants by Jones Loflin and Todd Musig. As the authors point out in the book: People sometimes need to laugh, relax, and not take themselves too seriously. Our session taught participants how to juggle and use a variety of skill toys. Learning these new skills gave the group an opportunity to reflect on the learning process and how to overcome a fear of failure in order to improve their very own own 3 ring circus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

This past week we conducted a workshop for the staff of Mauney Memorial Library and Cleveland County Library System (pictured above). For this workshop, we used balloons to set up different team challenges that emphasize the importance of good communication, clear objectives, and understanding strengths/weaknesses when working together in teams. Creative thinking and team brainstorming resulted in the commercials below which promote the wide variety of services that libraries provide in the 21st Century. Watch and enjoy their results.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp0eIEK7Nhc[/youtube]

 Visit our website to learn more information about Flow Circus Staff Development Workshops.

Lights on Afterschool Celebration

The Afterschool Alliance celebrated the 10th Annual Lights on Afterschool which included  more than 7,500 events nationwide. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan recognized the importance of afterschool programs with his statement: Learning doesn't just happen in a classroom between school bells. Children learn all day long. So it's vital to give students and their families the tools, the facilities, and the opportunity to continue working on traditional academic subjects as well as a place for broader lessons in areas like art and music to enrich their lives. The Afterschool Alliance also released the results of a new study America After 3pm which reports how American children spend their afternoons.



 

Flow Circus was on tour in the Washington, DC area during Lights on Afterschool and helped the Greater Washington Boys & Girls Club celebrate the event with a performance of Read Yourself Silly.  Program director Ron Diokno commented after the show that the kids were simply too engaged and mesmerized. I guarantee you they had a great time, in fact, too much fun for one of our kids that couldn't stop laughing throughout the show!  If more activities were like this, then more of our kids would learn and be inspired to achieve in their own ways.



 

Flow Circus works with a number of wonderful afterschool programs throughout the year through both hands-on programs and performances. We wanted to highlight the importance of these vital programs by joining in this important celebration. We were happy to inspire the club members and staff with our playfulness.

We look forward to participating in the Lights on Afterschool celebration again next year.

 

Juguetes - Exhibition at Brooklyn Public Library

When visiting New York City in October, we saw a listing for an exhibition about toys and knew we had to go! The exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library included yo-yo's, kites, and other toys made from recycled materials by children in the Dominican Republic. Along side the toys were beautiful images taken by Jaime Jimenez capturing the curiosity, determination, and joy of children at play. This project Juguetes was inspired by the creativity of traditional toys and games made by children. In the book with the same title, Jimenez writes:

Over the past decade and a half, the lives of the people in the Dominican Republic have changed drastically. This has much to do with globalization. It has transformed and will continue to transform everyday life. The creativity in the children has changed due to the fact that now there are more mass produced toys available. This is why I find it necessary to document the children as much as possible while making their creations.

Visit the Juguetes website to see images and learn more about Jimenez's project.

We were excited to see that many of the toys were variations of the skill toys that we teach as part of our programs. Toys that we selected because they do engage kids for hours yet are so simple in design. They do not need electricity or internet access, they can be used inside or out, and most importantly there is no limit to what can be done with them!

November 2009 Newsletter

Greetings from Flow Circus

America's Librarians Got Talent

Lights on Afterschool

National Gaming Day

Summer's Taking Shape

Winter/Spring Schedule

Fall Tour - Showcase, School, & Libraries!

 

Flow Circus traveled to the North East last week to share a little playfulness with librarians, students, and families. We started out the week at the Nassau Library System Performer Showcase where we met creative librarians looking for exciting new programs for their communities. We look forward to returning to NY this spring/summer.

Next, we visited the Manchester Branch and Berkeley Branch Libraries in Ocean County, New Jersey to entertain families and to encourage them to Read Yourself Silly! To see more pictures from these shows, visit our photo gallery.

We wrapped up the tour with a visit to Mother of Divine Providence School in King of Prussia, PA. For school shows, Paul uses juggling and magic to captivate audiences while leaving them with important lessons. For the younger grades, the theme of the show is read - find things that you want to learn how to do and then use the library to find books about that activity/topic. For the upper grades, Paul challenges the students to Find Your Passion - Research Your Career Options - Excel in Your Efforts! These steps can help students to think more creatively about careers related to their interests.

 We enjoyed all of our visits and look forward to visiting these communities again in the future. If you saw Paul perform on this tour, please feel free to share your comments here.

October 2009 Newsletter

October 2009

Greetings from Flow Circus
Obama Kendama Goes to the White House
New Teen Programs Postcard
Showcase Season is Underway
2009-2010 Tour Schedule