November Book/TED talk: Brene Brown & Daring Greatly

This month, we want to share with you the work of Brene Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work who has spent the past decade studying vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame. Dawn first stumbled upon Brown’s TED talks last year and immediately ordered and read her book Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead (2012). Last month, Dawn also had the opportunity to see Brown speak at the Emerging Women Live Conference in Boulder, Colorado. Brown’s engaging storytelling captivates audiences as she authentically shares her research and her own struggle with vulnerability. If you watch the TED videos, be ready to laugh, but at the same time be ready to get hit in the gut as she holds up a mirror to aspects of ourselves we normally try to shield.

Juggling, Magic, & Balloon Camp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the 9th consecutive summer, Flow Circus conducted a week-long Juggling, Magic, & Balloon Camp at Cary Academy Summer Quest program. We had 14 playful campers that created colorful balloon sculptures, mastered a variety of skill toys, and amazed family members with magic. To see more images from the week, visit our photo gallery.

For more information about camps, clubs, and workshops, visit www.flowcircus.com/camps.

Flow Circus Returns to Cary Academy Summer Quest

[caption id="attachment_21" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Balloon twisting fun!"][/caption]

 

For the 9th summer in a row, Flow Circus will be returning to the Cary Academy Summer Quest program to conduct specialty camps for kids 9-14 in the Raleigh area. In addition to offering Beginner and Advanced Juggling, Magic, and Balloon Sculpting camps, we are adding a new camp this summer focusing on juggling, skill toys, and related DIY projects. Below is the schedule for Summer 2011:

 

June 20-24 (1-4pm): Juggling & Skill Toys
July 25-29 (9am-noon): Beginning Juggling, Magic, & Balloons
July 25-29 (1-4pm): Advanced Juggling, Magic, & Balloons

To register your child, visit the Summer Quest website. You can also take a look at their blog to learn more about Summer Quest offerings. If your children have taken Flow Circus camps in the past, we appreciate you letting other families know about our programs. Feel free to contact Paul at paul@flowcircus.com if you have any questions.

 

Skill Toys Add Play to Community Festivals

This fall, Flow Circus had the opportunity to set up Skill Toy Play Stations at several community events to engage families in play. Kids of all ages challenged themselves with new toys or rediscovered toys from their youth.

Flow Circus Returns to Cary Academy Summer Quest

Flow Circus took time off from performing this week to teach two Beginning Juggling, Magic, & Balloon Sculpting camps at the Cary Academy Summer Quest Program. We have been amazed by the skills these 9-14 year olds have developed in such a short time!

Visit our photo gallery to see images of campers sculpting giant palm trees, mastering a variety of skill toys, and performing magic tricks like the cup and ball routine!

We look forward to returning to Summer Quest again next summer.

If  your child was a camper, we would love to hear what you enjoyed most about the camp. Feel free to post your comments here.

Skill Toy Residency at Newcomer Center

This year we returned to the Chapel Hill High School’s Newcomer Center to conduct a Skill Toy residency. The center provides middle school ESL students with a smaller classroom environment to help with the transition to US language and culture. The majority of the students are refugees from Burma and have spent time in Thai refugee camps before coming to the US. The residency is coordinated by the Durham Arts Council.

Over the course of six visits we introduced juggling, flower sticks, Japanese kendama, spinning plates, diabolo, yo-yo, jitter ring, and footbag. Visit the Flow Circus photo gallery to see more pictures of the students using the different skill toys.

The students also introduced us to two common games from their cultures. The first involved a wicker ball called the chelo that gets kicked. The other is a rope game that involves a variety of intricate jumps over an ever-rising rope. We always  enjoy learning about new games!

Flow Circus Visits Encore! Afterschool Program

Encore! loves Flow Circus. Paul and Dawn are awesome! They managed to capture the attention of and engage even our most hard-to-please students. The demonstrations and patient instruction were top notch---and I was even juggling by the end! I can’t say enough about how great they are.

Amy Franks, Program Specialist, Durham Public Schools

 

 

Last week, we had the opportunity to teach juggling workshops at 3 different Encore! afterschool programs in the Durham Public School System. We were so impressed by the willingness of these middle school students (and staff) to try something new. Over the course of a 60 minute workshop, everyone saw big improvements and we even had some of the participants juggling up to 30 throws. We look forward to returning to the programs this spring to introduce other skill toys.

New Video - Professional Development Workshops

Flow Circus offers a range of professional development programs for school, library, afterschool, and camp staff. Programs and workshops use juggling, balloons sculpting, and performance to actively engage participants in teambuilding, stress relief, leadership development and creative thinking.

Watch our video & imagine your colleagues having fun together!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4ecZ4wqv6s[/youtube]

For more information visit the Flow Circus website.

Bringing Juggling & Skill Toys to Libraries

Flow Circus kicked off Skill Toy Programs at 3 locations in Rowan County & the North Regional Branch of Durham County Libraries this month. We were excited to introduce tweens & teens to a variety of Skill Toys such as the Japanese kendama, diabolo, spinning plates, and flower sticks. We also taught a juggling workshop to teens in Elkin, NC.  All of these props are so simple, yet provide hours & hours of entertainment (without needing to be plugged in!)

To see pictures from the workshops, visit our photo gallery.

Balloon & Juggling Workshops at High Point Library

 

Flow Circus taught 2 workshops to families at High Point Library this weekend. We started the morning with Twisted Fun where everyone learned basic balloon twisting. After mastering the balloon dog, the group showed their creativity & individual style with colorful balloon hats!

The second workshop Juggle Me This provided the participants of all ages with steps for learning how to juggle. It was fun to watch parents and children learning together and to hear the joy in people's voices as they improved! Paul will be back to perform at High Point Library this summer, so keep practicing so you can show us your skills when we return!!

Click here to see photos from the balloon twisting workshop.