FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 29, 2017 • KIDS & EDUCATION • THE QUEENS COURIER 37
kids & education
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Puppet shows, Irish dance classes and live animal
shows will take place at the Long Island City waterfront
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
Story time, arts and craft s and family
yoga are just some of the activities Queens
families will be able to participate in at the
Long Island City waterfront this summer.
For the second year in a row, the Hunters
Point Parks Conservancy (HPCC) and
Gantry Parent Association (GPA) is organizing
“Summer Kids,” a six-week free
programming series. Th e events will take
place at LIC Landing, an outdoor cafe
near Gantry Plaza State Park.
“Last year’s series exceeding all expectations
and we recognized the need to grow
this program,” said Rob Basch, president
of HPPC. “I am very excited about all the
new additions for this year. Th e number
of young families in our community continues
to surge and we want to give them
a reason to stay in Long Island City and
make this their home.”
Th e series will start on July 10 with
McManus Irish Dance, a local company
that off ers traditional Irish dance classes to
children as young as 2. Starting at 10 a.m.,
instructors will teach toddlers the basics
with their “Jiggy Tots” class. Th e next day,
children will get up close and personal
with a live animal show at 3:30 p.m.
Music with Mr. Andy and Suzanna will
be a reoccurring event, where the Long
Island City-based musicians will perform
for kids twice a week.
Every Friday at 10 a.m., children ages
20 months to 6 years old will do “Art with
Leonie.” Puppetsburg will host puppet
shows for infants to 3-year-olds and the
Friends of Court Square Library will host
Story Time on Wednesdays at 2 p.m.
“Th ere will be a wide range of children’s
activities and events for many diff erent
age groups,” said Dana Aussenberg, education
and resource chair of GPA. “We
hope to provide fun and engaging developmental
experiences for the children
in Long Island City and also hope that
Summer Kids will provide a way for families
to mingle, meet one another and grow
roots in our community.”
Bricks 4 Kidz is a new addition to
the program where children will play
with LEGOs to learn the fundamentals
of Science, Technology, Engineering and
Math (STEM).
Th e series will close out with a
kid-friendly production put on by Th e
Secret Th eatre. All events are free but are
fi rst-come, fi rst-served.
LIC Landing will be host to six weeks of free programming for kids.