SUMMER FUN: PROGRAMS OFFER VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNGSTERS

Area youngsters won't have to look hard to find something to do this summer: From library story hours to children's theater, fun and learning abound.

Libraries in Cape Girardeau and Jackson offer summer programs that encourage youngsters to read.

Cape Girardeau's Parks and Recreation Department offers everything from a Pee Wee Gym for children 2-5, to children's theater for children 8-15.

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri also has theater workshops as well as sculpture, drawing, painting and fiber-art workshops.

The Cape Girardeau Public Library has a Summer Reading Club for children 2-12. It began Saturday with a carnival and ends July 29. There are activities scheduled almost daily.

The Jackson Public Library has a summer reading program that began Thursday and ends Aug. 5. It is for children pre-school through sixth grade.

The Riverside Regional Library in Jackson offers a reading program that begins today and ends Aug. 1, with a party at Jackson City Park.

The reading programs offer everything from food coupons to kazoos and books to bicycles as rewards for reading.

There is more to the summer programs, however, than just reading.

The Cape Girardeau Library offers Toddlertime, stories and crafts for children 18 months to 2 and their parents. It will be held on Mondays from 10-10:30 a.m. June 12 to July 24.

Storyhours will be offered for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds June 12 to July 26. The program involves stories, finger plays, films and take-home crafts. Dates and times: Monday, 6:30-7 p.m., and Tuesday and Wednesday, 10-10:30 a.m.

Book Buddies is for children 6-8 who enjoy hearing a good book read aloud. The program is offered from 11-11:30 a.m. Tuesdays, June 13 to July 25.

The library also will hold a children's film festival on Wednesdays, June 14 through July 26. Movies such as "Jungle Book" and "101 Dalmations" will be shown.

Thursday will be crafts day at the library, from June 15 to July 27. Experts will show children how to make everything from bean-and-rice mosaics to toothpick sculptures.

At Riverside Regional Library, special programs will be offered on everything from birds to dinosaurs.

All but one of the programs will be held on Tuesdays. A program featuring live snakes will be held July 7. All of the programs begin at 9:30 a.m.

At the Jackson Public Library, youngsters will learn about kaleidoscopes, see a flying lizard demonstration, hear old-time music played on the harp and other instruments, listen to how "Rindercella Slops Her Dripper" and other favorite fairy tales, explore the world of aviation with Air Bear, and delve into fossils and old bones.

"I try to pick activities that are a little bit different, a little bit unusual," said Jackson Public Library librarian Judy Holmes.

The special activities will be held from 1:30-2:30 p.m. June 14, 21 and 28, and July 12, 19 and 26.

Cape Girardeau's Parks and Recreation Department offers a host of recreational classes. "We have a variety of classes that include sports, crafts and theater classes," Recreation Coordinator Scott Williams said.

The activities begin June 12 and wrap up by the second week of August. Most classes are offered in two or more sessions. The Pee Wee Gym has a two-day-a-week session running from June 13 to July 6, and another that runs July 11 to Aug. 3.

Williams said the summer program has progressed from a playground babysitting affair to one offering a wealth of recreational opportunities. "We want them to come prepared to learn and have fun," he said. Sessions last from an hour to four hours.

A variety of swimming classes are offered, including Water Babies for parents and children 6 months to 3.

Also offered are cheerleading, bowling, rock climbing, cooking, tennis, arts and crafts, hunting skills, fishing, baseball-softball skills, crafts, Taekwondo, and preschool fun and fitness.

Most of the activities are held at Arena and Capaha parks and have nominal fees of $12 to $15 a person.

Williams said he expects more than 1,000 people will attend youth and adult recreation classes this summer.

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri will offer summer workshops for children 6-17.

The art workshops will be held in the Southeast Missouri State University art building, with morning sessions from 8:30-11:30 a.m. and afternoon sessions from 1-4 p.m,.

The cost is $50 per student per workshop or $45 for Arts Council members. The schedule: sculpture, June 26-30; drawing, July 10-14; painting, July 17-21 and fibers, July 24-28.

The council also is offering theater workshops July 17-28. Creative dramatics will provide an introduction to acting for children 6-9.

Beginning acting workshops will teach skills to youths 10-13 and 14-18. An acting workshop for adults also will be offered. Fees range from $35 to $65 per class.

HOW TO ENROLL

To enroll in summer reading programs, contact the following libraries:

Cape Girardeau Public Library, 334-5279

Jackson Public Library, 243-5150.

Riverside Regional Library in Jackson, 243-8141.

To participate in Cape Girardeau recreation classes, call the Parks and Recreation Department, 335-5421. The Southeast Missourian published a complete class schedule in its May 9 issue.

To enroll in Arts Council of Southeast Missouri workshops, call 334-9233.