We tried SO hard to think of out-of-the-box things for this summer and this was one of our coolest ideas. I was in contact with a wonderful woman from the Peru Circus who really hooked us up this year. They not only worked with us on this program, but they even performed a show for us, AND donated tickets for me to give away at the end of the summer! It was truly awesome of them to be so involved with our summer programs.
For this program, some of the jugglers from the circus came out to teach the kids how to juggle. I also had a friend (who isn’t in the circus) come out and teach the kids some hula hoop tricks! We split the kids into two groups, and had them spend about 20 minutes at each station. For the last 15 or so minutes, I told them they could pick whichever station they wanted and get some extra practice. It was a really unique experience for the kids and they had a blast!
Juggling
The guys who came from Peru were so wonderful with the kids. They were all young themselves (some really not much older than my oldest kids) but they have been practicing juggling for years and they do it all the time! I was running around and didn’t hear the specifics, but they walked through the steps of juggling with the kids, and talked about how much they practice to be as good as they are! It was really awesome. Here are some photos of the kids learning to juggle:
Hula Hoop Tricks
When I decided that this would be a great station to have, I immediately thought of my friend Cait. She posts videos on Facebook all the time of her doing some really cool stuff with hula hoops! She was so interested in teaching the kids even though she had never done it before. I was thrilled! She brought some of her own hoops to show them and I borrowed the ones they could use from the gym. It became clear pretty early on that some of the kiddos were too little to do very many tricks, but Cait was a good sport! She worked with them on how to hula hoop normally and how to do a few of the easier tricks. They loved it! Here are some photos of the kids with their hula hoops:
I’ve had a lot of parents tell me that their kids have been playing with hula hoops since this program! Fewer have told me they have been practicing juggling, but one did tell me her son told he he wanted some juggling balls for his birthday so I will call that a win!
Miss Meg's Library 