Flow Circus: After School Programs

After School Programs

Middle school youth are often difficult to connect with and it was very gratifying watching my students briefly forget to be ‘cool’ and just have fun having fun!

Bobbie Willard, SOS Coordinator

Avery County YO! Program

Teen Kits Workshops Twist & Earn! Performances Staff Training Resources

Add an active, skill-based club to your after school program to ensure boys and girls 10-16 have the opportunity to be physically active while building self confidence, sharpening focus, and developing 21st century skills. Programs are complimentary to the missions of Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA’s, 4H, and organizations serving middle school aged youth.

Teen Kits

Flow Circus Teen Kits offer a dynamic and interactive way to ignite curiosity in tweens and teens. Teens will want to visit the library to pick up and play with a variety of props that can be spun, balanced, and tossed. Start a juggling or skill toy club that meets regularly or make the props available for teens to work with independently. Workshops, staff training, and teen kits can be combined to kick off a successful program for your teens even if you have never played with the toys yourself. Visit our Teen Kits Page for more details about kit contents.

Workshops

Ages 10+ 60-90 minutes in length All equipment provided

Juggle Me This: Three ball juggling is broken down into simple, easy to learn steps. Participants are given individual feedback as well as learn how to give constructive feedback to peers. By the end of the session everyone improves.

Skill Toys from Around the World: Introduce participants to kendama, flower sticks, diabolo and other skill toys that have histories dating back thousands of years. Workshop is fast paced as students move through stations and try their hands at each.

Twisted Fun:Tweens & teens are introduced to basic balloon twisting skills to make dogs, giraffes, and other sculptures. Teams then face a challenge that incorporates brainstorming, creative thinking, performance, and of course, balloons! We can customize the challenge to fit with your program’s objectives.

Twist & Earn!

Twist & Earn! A club that provides materials to teach teens balloon sculpting and entrepreneurial skills. These new skills that can be used to add a festive air to community events, raise money for field trips, or complete community service hours. <more>

Performances

Audiences of all ages 45 minutes in length Sound system provided

Watch video clips in our video gallery

Just Paul: Vaudeville style show that incorporates juggling, magic, physical comedy, and improvisation. Highly interactive and sure to keep audiences engaged from beginning to end.

Read Yourself Silly: 45 minute juggling & magic show for elementary students in which Paul tells the story of how a trip to the circus inspired him to visit his library to learn more about juggling which led to balloons, magic, and the history of the circus. Throughout the performance he models how learning through books can be fun and often times leads you to discover new interests.

Do Something! Based on the performer’s own experience as an entrepreneur, Do Something! challenges middle and high school students to discover their passions and research their career options. Juggling, magic, and physical comedy illustrate several easy steps to guide career exploration.

Staff Training

You discover more about a person in an hour of play than a year of conversation.

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Drawing on our backgrounds in performance, education, and psychology, Flow Circus offers a range of workshops to engage your staff in active learning. Juggling, skill toys, and balloon twisting provide the foundation for memorable lessons and applicable activities that staff can incorporate all year long. These 2-3 hour sessions can also be adapted to fit the goals of teen leadership programs.

Skill Toys 101: Recommended for organizations introducing Skill Toy Kits to after school programs. We review basic teaching techniques, provide tips for problem solving, and introduce DIY projects to create fun experiences for your campers to take home.

Finding Common Ground: Trying to find a training session that will create a common ground for your new and returning staff? Skill toys such as flower sticks and spinning plates provide a novel, engaging and playful activity that they can discover together. Debriefing will focus on how previous learning experiences and individual learning styles influence how teens and staff approach new skill development.

Juggling Strong Leaders: Having taught thousands of jugglers over the last twenty years, our unique style of introducing this new skill will provide the foundation for identifying good teaching methods and strong leadership. The session also demonstrates easy DIY juggling balls so that your staff have the resources necessary to share their new love of juggling with others.

Twisted Teams: Barriers are immediately broken down when balloons come out. This playful workshop introduces basic balloon twisting skills. Participants then face balloon twisting challenges that reinforce positive team work and creative thinking.