VERO BEACH – The Vero Beach Book Center became a place that was more than just a home to children’s books on Saturday. It had been transformed into a loony laboratory, complete with long tables of exciting experiments designed to enchant even the youngest chemists in the crowd.
Under the creative eye of Miss Julie, also known as Julie Dos Santos, the convocation of pint sized scientific types heard stories, including Meet Einstein, by Mariela Kleiner.
They engaged in three different, really cool (according to one young Einstein) activities, all developmentally appropriate.
No easy feat, considering the crowd of about forty children ranged in age from 3 to 10 years of age.
Gianna Mandarino, 3, was intently working on a science sticker project.
“This one isn’t even filled up, so I am going to put it on the counter,” she explained, showing her mom one of the stickers she was working with. “That’s a petri dish, Gianna,” her mom, Doreen, instructed.
Sean Murphy and Austin Tausch, 10-year-old best friends, were most excited about one of the experiments they did with the Potato Chip Science Kit.
They made ‘spuddy buddies’ out of hollowed out potatoes, rubbing grass seed on them and adding eyes and noses. In a few days, the potatoes grow grass that looks like hair. Eventually, the boys will plant their spuddy buddies in the ground and, if all goes well, a potato plant will grow.
The boys, who “are like brothers,” said Murphy, and who still had their 3-D glasses on from the Harry Potter premier, said they were “sort of happy” to be out of school.
When asked why they weren’t completely happy, Tausch replied, “Because we like learning!”
This was music to the ears of Austin’s mom, Janie, a second grade teacher.
“It’s a really neat, summer activity,” she said. “Both boys love science.”
Joseph McNeill, 9, took time out of his busy summer camp and surfing schedule to see what was happening at the Book Center.
“I had fun and I learned different science projects and made a spuddy buddy,” he said, enthusiastically.
The Children’s Store at the Vero Beach Book Center has an extensive selection of science books and activities designed to foster and encourage an early and ongoing interest in all things scientific.
As a smiling Miss Julie was making sure all the very-sweet-not-mad-at-all scientists got an experiment to take home, she remarked on the morning: “It was a fun, good group that had a life of its own. They knew what they wanted to do and we let them do it.”
