April 2011 Newsletter

Greetings from Flow Circus
2011 Library Giveaway - Winner Announced
Getting Creative with Fundama
Awesome Foundation Grants
End-of-Year School Celebrations
New Flow Circus Promotional Poster & Bookmark
Upcoming Flow Circus Tours

Greetings from Flow Circus: We know that many of you are probably excited to see who won the Skill Toy Kit Giveaway, but before we get to that we want to take a moment to show our appreciation. Thank you to those of you that helped to spread the word about the giveaway to your colleagues through listservs, emails, and Facebook. We wouldn't have been able to get the response we did without you.

Playfully yours,
Paul & Dawn



2011 Library Giveaway - Winner Announced: We announced on March 1st that we would be giving away a Skill Toy Kit to one lucky public or school library and the response was amazing! Over 300 entries from 39 states confirms that libraries are looking for innovative and engaging teen library programs.

To watch a video of Paul & Dawn drawing the winning entries click here. We decided to add 2 runner-up prizes to share skill toys with more libraries. The runners-up will each receive a Japanese Kendama for their library. Now without further ado, we are pleased to announce the following winners:

Grand Prize Winner (Flow Circus Skill Toy Kit):
Peggy Grabble, Pasquotank-Camden Library (Elizabeth City, NC)
Runner Up (Japanese Kendama):
Kristine Odahowski, Gadsden County Public Library System (Quincy, FL)
Runner Up (Japanese Kendama):
Cathy Gilmore, Upper Moreland Free Public Library (Willow Grove, PA)

Congratulations!!

Based on the response, we will definitely do another giveaway in the future. We will be sure to notify those of you that entered this time and will keep you posted via this newsletter. If you can't wait, Flow Circus Skill Toy Kits are available for sale ($475 plus shipping). The sustainability of an on-going club program makes it a strong candidate for many grants. We have posted a new possible funding source below and will continue to share grant information in future newsletters.

Feel free to contact us at (919) 426-9157 if you have any questions about Skill Toy Kits or future giveaways. Thank you for entering and making this giveaway a success.



Getting Creative with Fundama: As we mentioned last month, we have been conducting staff trainings to introduce programmers to Fundama. In March, about 100 North Carolina librarians came to our sessions to laugh, play, and create. At the end of each workshop, we brainstormed ways to incorporate Fundama into programs for children, tweens, and teens. Below are just a few of the creative ideas generated:

Cultural Storytime: Read a story about Japan and then make Fundama as a follow up craft
Experimentation: Have tweens/teens make predictions about the outcome for different lengths of string, the size of the ball, or length of stick and then test the hypothesis
Design Contest & Display: Introduce tweens/teens to the basic Fundama designs & then have them design their own. Display contest entries and have patrons vote.
Stress Relief for Teens: During the months of April/May, have teens make and use Fundama for stress relief/study breaks
Magic Six: Use the Six (a popular version of Fundama) to answer tweens/teens questions. In the bottoms of each cup, write responses such as highly unlikely or can't predict right now or it is decidedly so. The teens can then ask the Magic Six a question and see where the ball lands.

You can find more program ideas as well as instructions on making the different versions of Fundama at playfundama.com. As we do more workshops, we will continue to add new ideas to the News Page of the site. If you run a program at your organization, please share your tips, ideas, or photos with us by emailing dawn@flowcircus.com or posting to our Facebook Page.

We love working with librarians, and were thrilled to get this comment from one of the coordinators:

I cannot express in this email how much I appreciate you for presenting at the Summer Reading Program Workshop. Not only did you receive wonderful evaluation comments from participants but you gave them confidence and knowledge to create a successful Summer Reading Program. Your efforts in planning, preparing, and coordinating your presentation demonstrated excellent leadership qualities. Your professionalism, enthusiasm, and dedication helped make this event an overwhelming success.
Monica Lucas, Richard B. Harrison Library (Raleigh, NC)

If you are interested in having Flow Circus present to your library, camp, or afterschool staff or at a professional conference, please email Dawn or call (919) 604-3462.



Awesome Foundation Grants: We obviously think that juggling and skill toys are pretty awesome, so why not get funding from the Awesome Foundation?! They are awarding $1000 grants each month for "crazy, brilliant ideas" (their words, not ours). The application looks pretty simple & we are happy to help with the description if you are interested in starting a Flow Circus Skill Toy or Juggling Club at your organization. The grant would cover a kit and hands-on workshop to kick-off the club. For more information about the grant, visit http://awesomefoundation.org/

Let us know if you have any questions or plan to apply.



End-of-Year School Celebrations: In early March, Paul performed at several schools to help celebrate Read Across America and Dr. Seuss's Birthday. Here are a few comments from those shows:

In all my years of having the Dr. Seuss PJ Party, I have never had so many parents comment on the show. When I got home I had 4 messages on my phone and this morning 7 emails from different parents going on and on about how great last night's show was. Thank you for making it such a wonderful night!!
Melanie Spell, Hobbton Elementary Media Specialist (Newton Grove, NC)

The kids and teachers LOVED the show! I'm just so thrilled that your show made such an impression on all 3 of my kids. It's tough to find a show that appeals equally to a 1st grader, 4th grader and 6th grader! They made me take them to the library that night to get books on balloon twisting.
Staci Kimball, Seneca Academy PTA (Germantown, MD)

If you are looking for a fun performance to wrap up the school year, mark the end of testing, draw parents in for a family night, or inspire kids to read all summer long, visit FlowCircus.com/schools
. Performances can be combined with hands-on workshops or play stations to make it a memorable event. Email Dawn if you have any questions or would like to check availability.



New Flow Circus Promotional Poster & Bookmark: Summer 2011 is almost here! We are looking forward to visiting libraries from Alabama to Connecticut with Paul's new show One Toy, Many Stories. As many of you know, we send posters to libraries that will be hosting us in order to help promote the show. Hot off the presses, here's the latest version of the poster:



Also, here's a sneak peak at this summer's bookmarks that we will be passing out after the show:



(the Flow Circus Kids site is still a work in progress - more information about it in next month's newsletter)

If you have already booked us for Summer 2011, I will be mailing the posters to you in early May. If you haven't yet booked a Flow Circus performance or workshop, email Dawn or call (919) 604-3462 to check availability.



Upcoming Tours: We have decided to keep this as a regular feature of our newsletters so you can keep up to date on when we will be in your area. These dates have been updated since the last newsletter.

April 18-22: Northeast Tour (NY, NJ, PA)
April 28-29: Northern Virginia & Maryland
May 4-5: Northern Virginia & Maryland
Summer 2011: Visit our blog for details

We are continually adding new tours to this schedule so feel free to contact us about setting up a tour in your area. To book a Flow Circus performance/workshop or schedule a tour in your region, contact Dawn at dawn@flowcircus.com or (919) 604-3462.