Curious Kids: Wild Snowmen

The Rey Center has been helping families enjoy their February Vacation week with a wide variety of programs to get families outside enjoying winter. Today, during Curious Kids, we constructed “Wild Snowmen” designed to provide wildlife with a winter snack. Parents and children had to get creative with only a couple inches of snow covering the ground, so most of the snow creatures created were laying down rather than standing up! The creations were decorated with all sorts of delectable treats for our wild animal friends: apples, oranges, birdseed, raisins, carrots, bananas, and peanuts. Our creations are located next to the patio alongside “The Center at Town Square” (formerly Aglio restaurant) - stop by and take a look at them. We are anxious to see what wild critters take the opportunity to visit our “Wild Snowmen.”

Celebrate an Historic Romance Valentine's Day Dinner

Thank you to all those who attended the Rey Center’s Valentine’s Day Fundraising Dinner celebrating the historic romance of Margret and H.A. Rey:  Hans and Margret knew each other as children in Hamburg, Germany, but didn’t reconnect again until they were both in their twenties, in Rio de Janeiro. There, the two artists worked and lived together with two pet marmosets. After they were married, the Reys moved to Paris where they developed a new manuscript about a curious little monkey. On June 12, 1940 the Jewish couple fled Paris on bikes with only food and their beloved manuscripts on their backs. Two days later, Paris was seized by Nazis. The Reys eventually reached their destination, New York City, where the manuscript about a mischievous little monkey became the well-loved story, Curious George. This August would mark the courageous and creative couple’s 75th wedding anniversary.

Curious George Story Time Draws a Crowd

The Margret and H.A. Rey Center was filled with young Curious George fans on this cold Saturday afternoon. Every Saturday, the Margret and H.A. Rey Center hosts Curious George Story Time at 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Today youngsters heard readings of Curious George and the Puppies and Curious George Goes to the Chocolate Factory, as well as a lesser known book by Margret and H.A. Rey titled “Billy’s Picture” in which a bunny named Billy wants to draw a picture of himself, but ends up getting some unexpected help from his animal friends, which results in a very strange picture!

Art Lessons at the Rey Center by Maryellen Sakura

For the silent auction to benefit the Rey Center, held during the Waterville Valley Resort Association’s Holiday Decorating Contest awards ceremony in December, local artist Maryellen Sakura generously donated her time and talents with her donation of two youth art lessons. The lucky winners of this experience was the Sayegh Family. During their lesson held at the Margret and H.A. Rey Center, the children had the opportunity to practice their drawing skills focusing on proportion and depth as well as movement. They also experimented with painting and changing the value of a color by mixing either black or white to that main color.

Solstice Bonfire

The Rey Center celebrated the coming of light with our first ever Solstice Bonfire on the shores of Corcoran’s Pond. Seventy-five people turned out to enjoy the beautiful night after the rainy day. Hot cocoa and hot cider were supplied by the Rey Center, and many folks brought delicious desserts to share! There were of course, marshmallows for roasting, which was a popular activity with young and old alike. A few solstice snowmen appeared along the beach as well.

Studying Clouds

The Rey Center spent the afternoon with the K-2 students at the Waterville Valley Elementary School studying weather. Since we were unable to venture outdoors due to the single digit temperatures and strong winds, we brought a little bit of the weather indoors. The students learned about different types of clouds and the weather associated with those clouds. After writing about clouds in their journals, it was time for a slightly messier version of cloud studies! Using shaving cream, the students created different types of clouds on the table - thin wispy cirrus clouds, fluffy cumulus clouds, and a blanket-like stratus clouds. Not only did they have a great time playing with the shaving cream, their project left the table sparkling clean too!

Holiday Nature Crafts

Children and adults had fun creating holiday crafts with a nature theme at the Rey Center during the Waterville Valley Town Square Cookies, Snow and Fairytales event. Creative crafters made tree shaped bird feeders, strung popcorn and cranberry bird feeder garland, decorated their own wrapping paper with potato stamps, and made plantable, handmade paper gift tags, which included flower seeds so when the gift tags are planted in the spring they will bloom!