Rock Island, IL: If you're staying around town during the Rock Island/Milan school spring break of March 16 to 27, the Rock Island Library is offering plenty of free activities to keep everyone in the family occupied and entertained.
Activities for children and families include :
Duct Tape Crafts for Kids: Tuesday, March 17, at 4:00 pm at the 30/31 Branch, 3059 30th Street, and Thursday, March 26, at 10:00 am at the Southwest Branch, 9010 Ridgewood Road. Kids ages 8 and up can make a coin or pencil case out of colorful duct tape and recycled chip bags. All materials will be supplied.
Stuffed Animal Sleepover, Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21. Kids of all ages can bring in a favorite toy, doll or stuffed animal for a toys-only stuffed animal sleepover in the Main Library Children's Room. Library staff will keep track of the toy's fanciful adventures, and reveal what kind of mischief they got into at a Saturday morning stuffed animal story time. Drop off toys at 1:00 pm on Friday in the Main Library Children's Room; pick-up and story time is at 10:30 am on Saturday.
Creation Stations for Kids: Monday, March 23, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm in the Rock Island Main Library Community Room, 401 19th Street. Kids ages 8 and up will get a chance to make and create at three stations that include making and playing with an "art-bot," learning computer coding with the "Robot Turtles" board game, and creating simple computer animations with the Scratch program from MIT.
Family Movie: Friday, March 27, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at the Main Library. Kids and families can see a free new release animated movie. The movie is rated PG, and features the adventures of a boy raised by underground box-collecting trolls. It's based on the children's book "Here Be Monsters," by Alan Snow. The movie and popcorn are free.
Other children's events include March sessions of Read with Rover, which gives children from grades Kindergarten to 6th grades a chance to read aloud to certified therapy dogs at 5:30 pm on March 16 at the 30/31 Branch and 5:30 pm on March 30 at the Southwest Branch. Reading aloud to a dog gives children a change to practice their reading skills before a friendly audience. Each event is followed by a 6:30 pm Pajama Storytime for ages birth to five.
Children from grades 2nd to 6th grades may also take part in science and art with "Make it Play It Times" at 4 pm on March 18 and 25 at the Main Library. Activities include board games on March 18 and paper airplane building on March 25. LEGO brick building times will also be offered at 4:00 pm on March 18 at the 30/31 Branch, and at 4:00 pm on March 25 at the Southwest Branch.
Activities for teens during the school break include a Teen Insurgent Party at 5:30 pm on March 19 at the Main Library. The party celebrates the release of the second movie based on Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy of young adult books with a scavenger hunt, snacks and showing of the first movie. Teen gamers will also want to check out Teen Gaming Night with video gaming on the XBox 360 and Wii platforms is from 5:45 pm to 7:30 pm on March 26, and a Teen Minecraft Day from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm on Saturday, March 28, also at the Main Library. Teens will take turns playing Minecraft on the library's XBox 360 system, enjoy Minecraft themed snacks, and make Minecraft "weapons" to take home. All Teen events are for ages 12 to 18.
Adults haven't been left out either, with a "Know Your Kindle Fire" class at 6:00 pm on March 16 at the Main Library, and two "Gadgets and More" drop in help sessions at the 30/31 Branch. The one-on-one tech help times will be offered from 11:30 to 1:30 on March 17 and from 5:00 to 7:00 pm on March 19. Blueberries: Our Native Super Fruit, a free program on growing and using blueberries, will be offered by Master Gardener LaRea McMillin at 2:00 pm on March 26 at the Main Library. There's also still room in the March Pinterest class, offered at 6 pm at the 30/31 Branch, also on March 26. Crafters will make embellished greeting cards. All materials are supplied. To sign up for the craft, call 309-732-7369 or use the registration button on the library's online calendar.
For more upcoming library events, visit library locations or the website at www.rockislandlibrary.org, follow Rock Island Library on Facebook or Twitter or call 309-732-READ (7323).
###
Calendar of library programs: http://rockislandlibrary.
