Weekly Virtual Summer Art Camps for children and teens ages 5 - 15 are underway now through August 28. Camps take place online via Zoom and are designed to stimulate creative expression through projects and activities that change each week. Camps are led by professional, experienced, and creative teaching artists; curriculum tailored to three individual age groups; small classes; projects and themes vary weekly; and all art supplies provided. In Morning Art Camps, young artists ages 5-8 and 9-11 will spend half of the morning engaged in fun and creative two-dimensional projects with painting, drawing, and mixed media, and the other half exploring three-dimensional projects including sculpture, mold-making, carving as well as other special subjects. Teens will explore a single medium in depth. Afternoon Art Camps provide artists ages 9-11 and teens the opportunity to explore a single medium in depth that varies by week. Afternoon Art Camps will not be offered for children ages 5-8 years old. To learn more and register online visit www.ccabedminster.org
It wouldn't be summer at Bernardsville Library without a Summer Reading Program and a diverse line-up of entertaining and educational programs. We're putting a new spin on our traditional program to bring you online read logs, award-winning virtual programming, and even contactless prize pick-up.
The online Summer Reading Program launched on Monday, July 6 using READsquared, an online application that makes it easy to log reading electronically. The link to register for Summer Reading is http://bernardsvillelibrary.readsquared.com. It can be accessed from the Library website at www.bernardsvillelibrary.org; another option is to download the READsquared app to a smart phone to make tracking reading even more convenient.
There are reading logs and prizes for preschool, children, teens, and adults. Simply choose your age range and log minutes or books read depending on the program. As you log your reading, you will earn virtual badges and real prizes. Prizes can be claimed starting in August. Grand prize drawings will take place in early September.
Although we missed our summer kick-off fair and all the fun programs that go along with summer, the Library is pleased to announce that it has teamed up with Page Turner Adventures to offer professionally produced virtual programs daily throughout the summer. Page Turner Adventures features Emmy award-winning storytellers and is available online only to member libraries and our patrons. Programming includes comedy story theater, crafts, cooking and recipes, author interviews, guest performers, contests, games, and much more. There are more than 50 programs that patrons can access from the safety and comfort of their own homes.
New content will be available daily and will be archived so it can be watched any time during the summer. Mondays releases are Virtual Comedy Story Theater shows featuring original scripts and award-winning storytellers. Tuesdays are project days featuring crafts, games, recipes, science experiments, and activities that go along with that week's theme. Wednesday programs are dedicated to authors and illustrators featuring interviews and activities with some amazing authors and illustrators. In addition to the interview, there are read-alongs, activities, trivia games, and book giveaways. Some of the featured authors include Chris Grabenstein, Shutta Crum, Lori Haskins Houran, Teresa Robeson and Donna Gephart. Thursdays will focus on tweens with crafts and activities geared toward upper elementary and middle school kids. Friday releases are a bonus show with another amazing performer! These include Ringling Clowns, world-renowned magicians, Grammy-winning singers, ventriloquists, puppeteers, and pirates. There are also "visits" to exciting places like zoos, science museums, and the International Clown Hall of Fame. All programs are approximately 30 minutes long except Mondays which run between 45 and 60 minutes.
Each week focuses on a theme. The dates and themes for the entire summer are:
Week #3 (July 13th): Imagine Your Science Story
Week #4 (July 20th): Imagine Your Adventure Story
Week #5 (July 27th): Imagine Your Musical Story
Week #6 (August 3rd): Imagine Your Cooking Story
Week #7 (August 10th): Imagine Your Underwater Story
Week #8 (August17th): Imagine Your Circus Story
Week #9 (August 24th): Imagine Your Theater Story
Week #10 (August 31st): Imagine Your Pirate Story
Virtual summer programs can be accessed by joining the Library's private Summer Reading Facebook page. Log onto Facebook and go to the Bernardsville Library page. Then go to the Groups tab to the left of the page. Click to request to join the Bernardsville Library Summer Reading Group. Once you have been accepted, you can watch all of the exclusive online content. Descriptions of weekly themes and programs will be posted on the Library website and on social media.