The Watkins Museum of History’s annual Summer Games have returned for the whole community. But this year, there’s also an hour each week reserved just for students of the Ballard Center.
The Summer Games are an hour of free games and activities open to all kids from 11 a.m. to noon each Wednesday through June and July at the museum.
The Watkins has partnered with the Ballard this year so groups of the center’s 5- and 6-year-old students can have a special hour of activities just for them.
“Early in 2022, Ballard Center and Watkins Museum staff got together to plan how to provide fun and educational experiences for kids outside of the classroom setting that has proven so difficult for students and teachers during the pandemic,” according to a news release from the Watkins. That brainstorming led to the idea for the special version of the Summer Games.
Thanks to a grant from the Douglas County Community Foundation, the Watkins was able to contract with First Student to bus Ballard students over to the museum for the hour before the Games open to the general public.
“The first occurrence of this new partnership, on June 1, was a great success,” according to the release. “Six Ballard Center students and one adult enjoyed an hour of games and crafts just for them. The Watkins and Ballard Center look forward to continuing these activities through July and for many summers to come.”
This year, each week’s activities will be inspired by a different color of the rainbow — plus a few extras. For June 1, the first Summer Games of the year, the color was red. This Wednesday’s color will be orange.
Upcoming Summer Games schedule:
June 8: Orange
June 15: Yellow
June 22: Green
June 29: Blue
July 6: Purple — with a special activity by the KU Natural History Museum
July 13: Gold
July 20: Silver
July 27: Rainbow — with a special activity by the Spencer Museum Art Cart
Learn more about the Summer Games from the Watkins on Facebook and much more about the museum and its exhibits on its website.
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Andrea Albright/Lawrence Times
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