• Stories in the Garden at Tohono Chul
As the heat and humidity of the summer continue to make us uncomfortable, there are still plenty of cool places to entertain, as well as educate, your child.
Tohono Chul Park, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte, offers its Stories in the Garden program at 10 a.m. Tuesdays in the Children’s Ramada.
Docent narrators weave fantastic tales of Arizona desert plants and creatures.
Retired elementary school teacher Audrey Toepper brings her own props to help keep the children’s attention.
When the need arises, a stuffed red-tailed hawk, a rabbit and a big rattlesnake replica, to name just a few, may appear as she reads a story involving these desert creatures.
“I don’t want them (children) to feel like they’re in school,” Toepper said. “I want them to be relaxed, comfortable and to have fun and take with them a new experience.”
People are also reading…
Once a month, members of the Desert Players perform their latest vignettes, said Min Johnson, the park’s volunteer coordinator.
Characters from the troupe’s current creation, “Monsoon Mischief,” are scheduled to perform next, on July 27, Johnson said.
• Make a Splash ... Read! at OV library
The snakes were lively last Tuesday at the Oro Valley Public Library, 1305 W. Naranja Drive.
As part of the library’s Make a Splash … Read! summer program, Carrie Dean of Colossal Cave Mountain Park brought a live king snake and a gopher snake for participants to pet and, in some cases, hold.
Dean gives presentations once or twice a week in the Tucson area using reptiles or arthropods such as scorpions and tarantulas so children can become comfortable with them.
More activities are planned for the remainder of the program, which ends July 24. They include a Juggling and More Fun Show, said Cheryl Mc Curry, youth services librarian.
Juggler James Reid will perform today at 6 p.m.
“James has been part of our reading program for a number of years,” Mc Curry said. “He’s a very talented juggler and does yo-yo tricks as well. He’s so personable, entertaining and tells jokes, too.”
The Big Hunk Candy Bars and Geology presentation will be at 2 p.m. Friday.
During that event, offered by Colossal Cave Mountain Park, children can learn about geology and the physical forces affecting it by using Big Hunk candy bars, Mc Curry said.
“It’s an edible program so they’ll be able to sample some of the candy bars,” she said.
• Free story times at Marana library
One good way for toddlers to shake things up and learn at the same time is Toddler Storytime at 10 a.m. Wednesdays at Marana’s Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Library, at 7800 N. Schisler Drive.
The library offers story-time activities year-round for toddlers, babies, preschoolers and families, all on different days, said library associate Sherryl Volpone.
At the beginning of the reading program, the children are asked to shake around to release some energy, Volpone said.
They also have dance activities such as Follow the Leader, in which children and adults participate between each book reading, she said.
“We are reading books right now with a water or ocean theme,” Volpone said.
It’s part of the “Make Waves at Your Library” program, part of the summer reading program, she said.
All the books include tips to help prepare children for reading, Volpone said.
In addition, songs between each reading help children use the new words they’ve learned and dancing helps with their motor skills, she said.
The stories are kept short, which appeals to toddlers and parents such as Jennifer Bickerton and her 1-year-old daughter, Gwendolyn.
“We really enjoy it. It’s short because of the attention spans of the kids,” she said.
Gwendolyn loves reading books even when she gets home, Bickerton said.
“It’s also a great thing to do that is free.”
The program has proven popular, Volpone said, with about 100 people at each session.
Contact photographer A.E. Araiza at 573-4155 or araiza@azstarnet.com
