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Austintown library educates about volcanos
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Austintown library children's librarian Nikki Puhalla educated the attendees of the Volcanos in Action event about volcanos.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Children gathered around as Austintown library children's librarian Kathe Orr made a volcano erupt during the Volcanos in Action event.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.The children who attended the Volcanos in Action event at Austintown library got up to sing and dance about volcanos.
By TIM CLEVELAND
In tune with the Summer Reading Program’s theme of “Fizz, Boom, Read,” Austintown library hosted an event called Volcanos in Action on July 16.
Children’s librarians Nikki Puhalla and Kathe Orr supervised the event, which had approximately 75 children attend, plus adults that pushed the number past 100.
“We’re talking about volcanos,” Puhalla said. “What we’re going to be doing are some crafts, like hands-on activities, show them how volcanos work, show videos about volcanos, a couple songs so they can participate. Kathe has volcano jokes, there’ll be food afterwards, tattoos and Hawaiian music.”
In addition there were two-homemade volcanos Puhalla and Orr put together that showed the children up close how volcanos work. Inside two tiny swimming pools were a soda bottle caked in sand, leaving just the tip exposed. A mixture of vinegar, baking soda, flour and food coloring was put in the bottle, which fizzed out like a volcano.
“It goes along really well with our summer reading theme of ‘Fizz, Boom, Read,’” Puhalla said. “We thought this would be kind of fun for the kids to do, because a lot of kids like volcanos.”
Orr distributed paperwork afterwards giving the children a recipe to make their own volcanos at home.
“We want to show them that science can be a lot of fun,” she said.
Christina Mullane of Canfield brought her son, Zachary, to the event. She said he’s very interested in science.
“My son’s really into scientific experiments and things like that,” Christina said. “I just saw it on the flier and thought it’d be a good idea.
“[It’s] a really good learning experience. I’m a teacher [at Springfield Local High School], so I love giving him a variety of learning experiences and continue his interests in education. I think this really helps a lot.”
Puhalla said making and educating about volcanos goes along with the Summer Reading Program.
“We just wanted to do a special program for summer reading and we just kind of thought volcanos because it’s science based, since that’s the theme this year,” she said.