Posted by
Dawn – May 1, 2010
This year we returned to the Chapel Hill High School’s Newcomer Center to conduct a Skill Toy residency. The center provides middle school ESL students with a smaller classroom environment to help with the transition to US language and culture. The majority of the students are refugees from Burma and have spent time in Thai refugee camps before coming to the US. The residency is coordinated by the Durham Arts Council.
Over the course of six visits we introduced juggling, flower sticks, Japanese kendama, spinning plates, diabolo, yo-yo, jitter ring, and footbag. Visit the Flow Circus photo gallery to see more pictures of the students using the different skill toys.
The students also introduced us to two common games from their cultures. The first involved a wicker ball called the chelo that gets kicked. The other is a rope game that involves a variety of intricate jumps over an ever-rising rope. We always enjoy learning about new games!
Posted by
Dawn – March 27, 2010
As part of the 5th grade Global Awareness Technology Project, Flow Circus recently visited Newington Forest Elementary School in Fairfax County, Virginia to introduce students to skill toys that have traveled the Silk Road. Students learned the history of 4 different toys and then had a chance to test their own skills with the various props. As one students commented while playing with a set of flower sticks, “I bet people that had these were never bored!”
In addition to using toys to illustrate how cultures interacted and influenced each other, we discussed how the materials used to make the toys varied based on resources available and/or new inventions. Below are excerpts from thank you cards/letters written by the students after the workshop:
I never knew that history could be about toys! Today really inspired me.
~~~~~~~~~~
The best part was when you taught us about how they were made and how they got from place to place on the Silk Road. Thank you!
~~~~~~~~~~
You were entertaining and you made learning a blast. I have gotten lots of ideas for my project.
Posted by
Dawn – March 15, 2010
To celebrate the 2010 Teen Tech Week, Flow Circus conducted workshops and kicked off a new video contest to fit this year’s theme: Learn, Create, Share.
Teen Tech Week was established in 2007 by YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) to encourage teens to be “competent and ethical users of technologies” especially those offered at the library. They encourage teens to use school and community libraries’ nonprint resources for education and recreation. Teen Tech Week 2010 was held March 7-13.
The theme was a perfect fit for our latest video contest: Learn to juggle or use other skill toys, Create a video, and Share the video with family and friends on FlowCircus.tv. For more information about the video contest visit the Flow Circus TV Blog.
Video contests are offered throughout the year as part of the Skill Toy Program. Libraries and afterschool programs can organize Skill Toy Clubs to engage teens in a unique, playful way. For more information on Skill Toy Clubs visit our website.
To see more pictures from our Teen Tech Week workshops visit the Flow Circus Photo Gallery.
Posted by
Dawn – January 29, 2010
At libraries across the United States, families will Make A Splash and teens will Make Waves this summer. Flow Circus has been brainstorming fresh ideas for a new 2010 SRP performance. Our juggling & skill toy workshops provide a unique program for tweens & teens……they will be making wave patterns as they juggle and making waves as they share their new skills with friends.
Below is a list of our current summer schedule. We still have openings for these tours and would love to visit your library. For more information on performances and workshops visit www.FlowCircus.com/library
Summer 2010:
June 8-11: Alabama Library Tour
June 14-18: North Carolina Library Tour
June 21-25: Pennsylvania Library Tour
June 28-July 2: New York Library Tour
July 5-9: North Carolina Library Tour
August 9-13: Connecticut Library Tour
August 16-20: Long Island Library Tour
Contact Dawn to check our availability at dawn@flowcircus.com or (919)604-3462.
Posted by
Dawn – January 29, 2010
Encore! loves Flow Circus. Paul and Dawn are awesome! They managed to capture the attention of and engage even our most hard-to-please students. The demonstrations and patient instruction were top notch—and I was even juggling by the end! I can’t say enough about how great they are.
Amy Franks, Program Specialist, Durham Public Schools
Last week, we had the opportunity to teach juggling workshops at 3 different Encore! afterschool programs in the Durham Public School System. We were so impressed by the willingness of these middle school students (and staff) to try something new. Over the course of a 60 minute workshop, everyone saw big improvements and we even had some of the participants juggling up to 30 throws. We look forward to returning to the programs this spring to introduce other skill toys.
Posted by
Dawn – January 18, 2010
Last week, we had the opportunity to return to the YMCA Campfire Conference held in Black Mountain, NC. Summer camp staff from all over the southeast came together to share ideas, develop skills, and play together. In addition to teaching juggling and skill toy workshops this year, we conducted a team building workshop using balloons.
To add to the fun, Paul also performed his variety show for the group. The one thing we observe when working with YMCA staff is that they are always ready to laugh and play! We look forward to participating again next year.
To see more pictures visit the Flow Circus Photo Gallery.
Posted by
Dawn – January 15, 2010
Flow Circus offers a range of professional development programs for school, library, afterschool, and camp staff. Programs and workshops use juggling, balloons sculpting, and performance to actively engage participants in teambuilding, stress relief, leadership development and creative thinking.
Watch our video & imagine your colleagues having fun together!
For more information visit the Flow Circus website.
Posted by
Dawn – October 30, 2009
Flow Circus finds that working with adults can be just as much fun as working with kids because adults need to laugh & play too! This month we conducted two different staff development sessions. The first was held at Camp Silver Beach for the Peninsula Metropolitan YMCA. Our half-day workshop was part of a two day retreat focusing on the book Juggling Elephants by Jones Loflin and Todd Musig. As the authors point out in the book: People sometimes need to laugh, relax, and not take themselves too seriously. Our session taught participants how to juggle and use a variety of skill toys. Learning these new skills gave the group an opportunity to reflect on the learning process and how to overcome a fear of failure in order to improve their very own own 3 ring circus!
This past week we conducted a workshop for the staff of Mauney Memorial Library and Cleveland County Library System (pictured above). For this workshop, we used balloons to set up different team challenges that emphasize the importance of good communication, clear objectives, and understanding strengths/weaknesses when working together in teams. Creative thinking and team brainstorming resulted in the commercials below which promote the wide variety of services that libraries provide in the 21st Century. Watch and enjoy their results.
Visit our website to learn more information about Flow Circus Staff Development Workshops.
Posted by
Dawn – September 15, 2009
Dear Mr. President,
I’m sure you have received many gifts during your campaign and presidency, but I bet this personalized kendama is unique! This toy is popular in Japan and one of the many skill toys that I teach to children. During your presidential campaign, I realized that “Obama Kendama” had a nice ring to it. I sent it to artist Christopher Bordenca to paint your face on it and thus the Obama Kendama was born. To my knowledge it is the only one like it. During your campaign it traveled to Washington, D.C. and to one of your campaign rallies in North Carolina (there are videos of its travels on YouTube).
I have decided to send the Obama Kendama to you now because playing with the kendama exercises and develops the important 21st century skills that you outlined in your September 8th Back to School speech to students. At the same time, it draws attention to an important aspect of education that should not be overlooked – the critical hours between 3-6pm. More…
Posted by
Dawn – June 25, 2009
Paul started a busy day performing his Just Paul show for families at this beautiful outdoor pavilion in Gaithersburg, Maryland this morning.
Next on the tour was Strafford, Pennsylvania where we taught a Twisted Fun Workshop to tweens & teens at Tredyffrin Public Libraryto kick off their Express Yourself Summer Reading Program. The workshop was followed by a performance for all ages.
Tomorrow Paul will have more library performances in Sloatsburg, New York and Rye, New York. If you have seen any of these shows, please feel free to comment here. If not, we will be back in PA, NY, and CT in August!
More pictures from this tour can be seen at our photo gallery.
