Park Explorers Kick off Summer

This week we kicked off the return of one of our favorite community programs, Park Explorers, for youth 4-7yrs. This year’s free program has been fully funded and developed by Barnard Community Engagement and STEAM in the City, led by Mary Rocco and her Barnard CEI team including Yuval Dinoor who has worked with Friends on a number of initiatives over the years. The six week program offers immersive park activities for one and a half hours, twice a week for a group of twelve inquisitive young minds with interests in all things growing, flying and creepy crawling. Each week is themed and led by an expert team from Barnard College.

This first week's theme was Birds. The explorers spent time looking for birds, moving like birds, building nests and creating bird masks. Next week the group will be exploring bugs and are excited for all of the creepy crawlies and more things that fly.

A small glimpse into the critical and creative thinking of a child. After collecting materials, the challenge of building a nest and getting it to stay together was very real. How do the birds manage?

We think it's safe to say that fun and learning was had by all involved.

PC: Lori Schneider