August 25th 2008
Today was the last day of summer kids programs for the year. We had a full class registered for Volcano Making and were looking forward to it, as the kids always have a great time with this program. We had a bit of a rush to get ready as some of the children showed up 20 minutes early, but it didn't take us long to get everything together. The kids played with the puzzles and dinosaur toys as we waited for everyone to arrive. All but one of the children had already been to several programs over the summer, and it was nice to see some of our favorites on the last day. Once everyone had arrived we had the children put on their smocks and explained to them how we were going to make the volcano. We let them mix their own plaster and let them know when it was the right consistancy to start putting it onto the top of a pop bottle with a small plastic glass glued inside of it. Once everyone was done molding their volcanos, we cleaned our hands and I led a tour of the museum while Jolene cleaned away the extra plaster and set out the painting supplies. The kids had all been to the museum before and so knew almost everything I had to tell them on the tour. They answered all the hard questions and even remembered the name Hesperornis. After visiting Bruce, we came back to the room, and the children put their smocks back on to begin painting. We had our most colorful bunch of volcanoes yet, with all the colors of the rainbow. While the paint dried the kids learnt some facts about volcanoes, and had a bit of time to play. When it was almost time to go, they gathered back together at the tables with their volcanoes and prepared for the grand finale. Jolene had already poured some baking soda into the tops of the volcanoes, and I passed out little cups of vinegar with red food coloring in it. On the count of three, everyone poured in the vinegar and watched as the volcanoes erupted. The kids loved it so much, we did it three more times before it was time to go. Everyone seemed to have had a lot of fun and it was a great end to a summer full of adventures.

Tiffany Tilley

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