Upcoming Events

Saturday, October 7
Sunday, October 8
1:30 & 2:30 each day
CHILDREN'S FAIRYLAND
Lake Merritt, Oakland
(Park closes when rainy)

Friday, October 13
3:30 p.m.
PASO ROBLES CITY LIBRARY
1000 Spring Street
Not-so-scary STEAM-y Halloween performance with storytelling, paper-cutting, & chemistry

Thursday, October 26
4:00 p.m.
SUNNYVALE LIBRARY
665 W. Olive Ave
Not-so-scary STEAM-y Halloween performance with storytelling, paper-cutting, & chemistry

Thursday, November 2

4:00 p.m.

MENLO PARK LIBRARY

800 Alma Street, Menlo Park

Part of the month-long Menlo Park Library Storytelling Festival

Saturday, November 4
Sunday, November 5
1:30 & 2:30 each day
CHILDREN'S FAIRYLAND
Lake Merritt, Oakland
(Park closes when rainy)

Wednesday, November 8

4:00 p.m.

BELLE HAVEN BRANCH LIBRARY 

413 Ivy Drive, Menlo Park

Part of the month-long Menlo Park Library Storytelling Festival

Saturday, November 11

7:00-9:15 p.m.

SOUTH BAY STORYTELLERS & LISTENERS TELLABRATION

Highway Community in Christ, 3373 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto

Saturday, December 16

2:30 p.m.

CHILDREN'S FAIRYLAND
Lake Merritt, Oakland
(Park closes when rainy)
Storytelling as a part of the park's "Winter Fairyland" event


STORYTELLER JOHN WEAVER

Gone Fishing

Doing a little paper engineering, the A & the E (and heck, even the T, as we were using some basic-level technologies) in STEAM*!  Shared this project with my weekly STEAM session for grades 1-5, after telling a fishy tale.

The kids at the upper end of the grade range got through it pretty quickly, and were able to help the younger kids.  A child in the middle was able to do the same.  Some of the kids in grades 1-2 expressed immediate frustration and impatience, though after receiving assistance, they loved their final products.  I wish I'd photographed those, but I was too busy providing reassurance and a helping hand!  All of the children enjoyed customizing their final products: no two were alike.

This coooool fish project came from Krokotak, and art-filled website I'd never seen before stumbling upon these fish.




*STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math

STEAM: Building a Gumdrop Dome

I present a regular program for big kids (Grades 1-5), wherein I combine my storytelling with components of science, word games, magic, and who-knows-what.  The kids would probably be happy with week-after-week of Mentos being dropped into soda bottles--but it's cold outside this time of year, so it's nice to branch out.

Most of my projects come from science books & websites.  This gumdrop dome project, which involved a stretch for some of the children in hand-eye coordination & spatial thinking, came from PBS's ZOOM!  Here's the full PDF of the Gumdrop Dome activity on Zoom.

In the future, my group & I will apply what we learned about building strong structures, and try to see if we can create some gumdrop & toothpick buildings that can bear some real weight!

The biggest issue here is trying to keep the kids from licking the building materials.