Playtime: Winding down to end of school year, gearing up for summer activities

On our kitchen table, there is a piece of foam core with rows of different color Post-its, one Post-it per item needing to be done for school this next week and another set of rows for To-dos, Works in Progress, and my favorite row, “Dunzo.” Our current design is based on Kanban, which is a Japanese manufacturing principle designed by an industrial engineer for Toyota, Taiichi Ohno. It was shared with me by my Mom walk partner who in turn, for sharing business school wisdom, has to stop on our walk while I use an app to try to decipher the song of the bird I can’t find with my binoculars.

Wikipedia says that the Kanban board (a quick search will show you lots of options) is a tool to implement Kanban as the boards “visually depict work at various stages of a process using cards to represent work items and columns to represent each stage of the process. The board on our table still has a fairly robust “To-Do” row, but in our maiden voyage, I would say moving the items over to the Dunzo row is helpful to the process and satisfying all around.

While this week is finals week, for some it is also time for graduation. This week, the Edmonds School District sent an email to 12th-grade students and their families with “important updates” about the graduation ceremonies. With stadiums now open to 50% capacity, the district is able to offer four tickets per graduating senior. At the ceremonies, masks will be required and there will be assigned seating following guidance from the Department of Health to provide contact tracing if there is COVID exposure. The full details about the seven graduations happening in the district between Thursday, June 17 and Sunday, June 20 can be found at bit.ly/ESD2021Graduation.

With the end of school nearing, it is time for summer reading programs and there are a lot of local options. Sno-Isle Libraries’ summer reading program starts Monday, June 21. Kids and teens who want to earn a free book can read 10 hours before summer is over. Reading means so many things! It can mean audio books, being read to, graphic novels or chapter books. Sno-Isle has activities planned as well including “weekly virtual events, a community scavenger hunt and lots of booklists and activity ideas online all summer long.” All of the latest info and a video full of info are available at Sno-Isle.org.

Half Price Books has a summer reading program that allows you to earn $5 HPB Bookworm bucks over the summer. For participants up to the eighth grade, reading 15 minutes a day in June and July with a total of 300 minutes gets you the prize. Teens earn the reward by reading one book in June and another in July and then writing a short review of each. You can download the reading log and get some book selections at HalfPriceBooks.com/Feed-Your-Brain.

Summer reading with Barnes and Nobles can earn first- through sixth-grade kids a free book. Reading any eight books and telling B&N about your favorite part will earn the prize. They too link to a list of suggested titles for participants. For more information and the reading log you can visit BarnesandNobleInc.com

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he Edmonds Bookshop posted about Seattle Arts + Lectures Summer Book Bingo. SAL partners with the Seattle Public Library in creating Summer Book Bingo Cards. This program is available for adults 18-plus and kids who are 17 and under. You can download the cards at Lectures.org or Edmonds Bookshop says they will have a few at the shop! Prizes are in a drawing format and range from a gift card to an independent bookstore to a subscription to the SAL series of your choice. For more info on the program and how to find the Edmonds Bookshop, head to EdmondsBookshop.Indielite.org.

I don’t want to mention a bunch of reading and finals without mentioning something that is purely for play. Edmonds Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services announced that they plan to open the Hazel Miller Spray Park on July 1. After missing the summer season last year due to COVID, the city is “very excited” to reopen the park though Department Director Angie Feser said they have some “maintenance milestones” to meet first including passing a Snohomish County Health Department inspection. The spray park, located on Edmonds City Park on 3rd Avenue South in Edmonds, has different areas that cater to different age groups and it is a fun and free way to get outside.

While we wait for that to open, on Sunday, June 20 the Youth Advisory Committee at Cascadia Art Museum will host an all-ages virtual event exploring the relationship between music and art called Melodies & Masterpieces. YACC is a teen advisory committee in their inaugural year. The committee members not only provide advice and insight on the programming and they also develop and host their own event. In this free virtual class, which will be held from 1 to 2:30 p.m., “participants will explore the intersection between visual art and music in the Pacific Northwest featuring an informational lecture as well as an opportunity to delve deeper and create their own piece inspired by PNW artists.” You can buy supplies for the project from the museum for $1. The bag includes mixed media paper with a traced image (this can be downloaded as well), acrylic paint, and a paintbrush. If you are interested in the supplies, you must register and order them by Tuesday, June 15. For more information and registration, you can visit CascadiaArtMuseum.org.

— By Jennifer Marx

Jen Marx, an Edmonds mom of two boys, is always looking for a fun place to take the kids that makes them tired enough to go to bed on time.

 

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