Savvy Blog

This weekend, learn how to build a large-scale puppet in a two-day workshop at the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Children’s Library and Learning Center (4800 W. 10th Street). The free workshop is Friday, June 21 and Saturday, June 22 at 10 a.m.

The Oley Rooker Library (11 Otter Creek Court, Little Rock) is hosting a writing class for teens on Thursday, June 20 at 4 p.m.

Budding young writers will learn how to get their ideas on paper, write blackout poems and find out how to get their work published online.

This month’s Little Beginnings Toddler Program is all about caterpillars. Little ones will learn all about these creatures through hands-on activities, music making, movement and story telling.

This program is designed for kids age 2 to 4, and it’s free.

Saturday: Tinkerfest. The Museum of Discovery’s second annual Tinkerfest features more than 50 building and taking-apart activities that are sure to please visitors of all ages. Activities include: Technology Take-Apart, Comic Book, Create an Interactive Sculpture, Lockheed Martin, 3D Printing and Tinkering Food.

One of Little Rock’s favorite sons will share his passport tips on perseverance, enthusiasm, and collaboration.

Sidney Moncrief, a retired professional basketball player, author and Little Rock native, will speak at the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Children’s Library & Learning Center on Saturday, June 8, at 2 p.m.

Summer is a great time to start preparing for the ACT. And, beginning Monday, June 10, Huntington Learning Center is offering 36-hour preparatory class, which includes pre- and post-tests.

The Group ACT Program helps students prep for the test and lets them practice in a group setting.

Still searching for camps or other activities for the kids this summer? Here are a few more ideas…

Arkansas Arts Center’s Art Extravaganza

The Arts Center is hosting week-long arts-related camps for kids ages, 6-14.

All summer, Heifer Village will host “Heifer Hour” on Tuesdays and Saturdays for kids and their parents. The event, geared toward grades K-5, feature crafts, games, children’s books, outdoor activities and more to teach kids about caring for the Earth and others.

The Cheetah Chase 5K & 1K Family Fun Run is Saturday at the Little Rock Zoo. The 5K starts in front of the Zoo and takes runners through War Memorial Park and the Hillcrest Neighborhood and ends back at the Zoo where race participants get in the Zoo FREE!

Wildwood Park for the Arts has added WILDKids Yoga! to its lineup of summer camps for kids.

WILDKids Yoga! is June 24-28, 2-5 p.m. at the park, 20919 Denny Road in Little Rock.

The Thea Foundation is offering a free summer arts camp to students, ages 6 to 13, who live in the Baring Cross neighborhood in North Little Rock.

In its third year, Summer Arts camp is taught by qualified educators, who work to inspire confidence and motivation through self-expression.

Curtain Call for a Cause, benefitting the AEDD Children’s Learning Center in North Little Rock and the AEDD Adult Skills Training Center in Little Rock, is Thursday, May 30 at Argenta Community Theater in North Little Rock.

The Rock Run 8K benefiting Easter Seals Arkansas is Saturday, May 25 at Murray Park. Registration begins at 6:30 a.m. and the race starts at 7:30.

The Rock Run 8K is one of the fastest race courses in the state, with only two turns and very flat topography.

Riverfest 2013 is this weekend! The three-day event is full of food, entertainment and family fun. Here are some of this year’s family activities.

KidZone
Sponsored by Deltic Timber, the KidZone Playtime Promenade is located along the banks of the Arkansas River near the Peabody Playground & Water Park in the central area of Julius Brecking Riverfront Park.

The Thea Foundation awarded four scholarships for filmmaking at the Little Rock Film Festival’s Youth Program (LRFF Youth!) screening this morning.

Speaking at the scholarship presentation, Thea Director and Founder Paul Leopoulos discussed the importance of the arts in young people’s lives.

Claymation, public service announcements, silent shorts and narratives were among the 13 impressive films screened at the Little Rock Film Festival this morning.

These films, made by Arkansas students in kindergarten through 12th grade, were chosen for screening out of more than 100 submitted as part of the festival’s Youth Program (LRFF Youth!) and the AETN Student Selects showcase.

Friday, Saturday & Sunday: The Adventures of Pinocchio
Arkansas Festival Ballet presents this storybook ballet at the Arkansas Arts Center Children’s Theatre on Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m.

Saturday: Screening of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Rodrick Rules”
The LRFF2013 will screen “Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Rodrick Rules” at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 18 at Arkansas Repertory Theater.

This month’s Little Beginnings Toddler Program at the Old State House Museum is Wednesday, May 15 at 10:30 a.m. This month’s program is focusing on boats.

Little Beginnings is for children ages 2 to 4 with a parent.

Head out to Bernice Garden Farmers’ Market on Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., for the first-ever Mother’s Day Strawberry Festival.

The event features the regular farmers’ market fare, including delicious Arkansas strawberries from Barnhill Orchards and North Pulaski Farms, along with music and family activities.

SATURDAY: 40th Annual Territorial Fair at the Historic Arkansas Museum, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Free. The event features pioneer music, Maypole dancing, crafts for kids, stilt-walking, hoop-rolling, sack-racing, brick-making and more frontier fun (including whitewashing a fence!).

Helping Hand’s first ever “Walk, Run or Wheel” for Special Needs 5K and 2K is this Saturday, May 11.

The 5K begins at 8:30 a.m. for runners and walkers. The 2K starts at 9:30 a.m.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild is hosting a Mother’s Day tea party, called Teapots & Toasts, on Sunday, May 12 as part of the Symphony Designer House XXII.

Teapots & Toasts will feature traditional afternoon tea fare, like fruit, cucumber sandwiches, chicken salad, petit fours, scones, mimosas and tea.

32nd Annual Toad Suck Daze, May 3-5 in downtown Conway, features entertainment for the whole family, a 5K/10K, lots of food on a stick and the World Famous Toad Races.

This Saturday, April 27, the second annual Thea Arts Festival will feature 39 artists from across Arkansas, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. along Main Street in the Argenta Arts District in North Little Rock.

This summer, AETN is offering two camps for budding filmmakers, writers, designers or reporters.

The AETN Youth Academy for Production camp is June 17-21 and the AETN Youth Academy Reading and Writing Camp is July 22-26.

Saturday: 10th Annual Arkansas Literary Festival features a slew of free activities for kids and teens at the Main Library and new Children’s Library and Learning Center. Click here to read our blog post for more details.

The 10th Annual Arkansas Literary Festival officially kicks of Thursday, April 18, with lots of workshops, panel discussions and activities for the whole family.

Saturday, April 20 is full of activities and fun for kids and teens.

April 12-13: ACCESS Gardens Spring Plant Sales, featuring a variety of flowers and plants, as well as hanging baskets and containers. Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m.

This weekend, world-famous violinist Midori accompanies the Arkansas Youth Symphony String Quartet at two Central Arkansas Library System locations. Performances are Friday, April 12, 3:45 p.m. at the new Children’s Library and Learning Center (4800 W.

Winners of the Art of Recycling Sculpture Contest were announced last night at a reception at the Museum of Discovery. Four winners were selected out of 13 total entries from schools in Pulaski County.

An exhibit, titled “Old School: Remembering the Brinkley Academy,” opens today at the Central Arkansas Library System’s Level 4 Teen Center, at the Main Library (100 Rock St.) in Little Rock.

April 5-7: Fish Fashion Weekend, Hot Springs. Learn about the fish that live in Lake Catherine and how they are adapted for their environment. Join park staff for cane pole fishing around the marina and get an up-close look at what’s lurking under the water.

The Saline County Library is hosting a Teen Poetry Contest in April.

“Beneath the Surface” is the contest’s theme, and teens, ages 13 to 18, are invited to submit poetry about any subject related to the theme.

March 30: Burns Park’s annual Easter Egg Hunt is at Pavilion 10. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. (everyone must register), and the fun begins at 9 a.m. for special-needs children; 9:30 a.m.

Easter Eggstravaganza at Hillcrest Farmers’ Market, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 23. This is an indoor party for kids of all ages, with breakfast, crafts, Easter story and a gigantic egg hunt with toys, candy and prizes.

Wildwood Park for the Arts will host a presentation of the children’s book Fireflies and Shooting Stars by Ed Raarup, with musical arrangements by native Arkansan Michael Rice and illustrations by Lindsay Nery.

In our March issue, we told you about the 52nd Young Arkansas Artists exhibit. Read the story here.

The exhibit opens today at the Arkansas Arts Center and is on view until April 28, with works from kindergarten to fifth grade in the Alice Pratt Brown Atrium, and grades six to 12 in the Sam Strauss, Sr.

The 2013 Rock to North Little Rock St. Patrick’s Day Parade begins at Third and Rock streets in downtown Little Rock on Saturday at 1 p.m. The parade crosses the Main Street Bridge and ends at Fifth and Main in the Argenta Arts District of North Little Rock.

The Central Arkansas Library System’s new Children’s Library and Learning Center opens this Saturday, March 16, with a slew of family activities.

Beginning at 10 a.m., festivities include music by the Kinders, an appearance by the Little Rock Fire Department’s fire truck, demonstrations by the Museum of Discovery and Little Rock Zoo, tastings by Loblolly Creamery and Local Lime, as well as information on native plant seed starting and energy saving, storytelling and more.