The Labrador Institute of Memorial University held a Family Fun Day and the response was that it was a big hit.
Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo, director of the institute, said they had about 60 kids show up for the May 12 event, which is more than they anticipated.
“It’s more than we expected but it shows there’s a need for things like this,” she told the Labradorian. “We tried incorporate music and arts and crafts and science itself. Integrating it a bit, getting the kids excited about what they can do.”
The event is part of the inaugural Research Week at Memorial University, a new initiative started this year. The event at the campus in North West River was to show people in the area what it is they do at the Labrador Institute and make it fun and accessible to kids.
Activities included a science magic show, a mock dig with an archeologist, and a presentation on global warming and its impacts. The magic show got a lot of kids interested, with some even mobbing the stage to see the magic tricks closer. Caitlin Lapalme with LI was the organizer of the event and also one of the two people performing magic tricks. She said the kids were interested in all of the events.
“They were really into it, they were participating in everything,” she said. “That’s what we wanted. We wanted to open our doors and get people to come see what we do.”
Lapalme said they hope to have more community events in the future and have a camp coming up this summer for high school kids. For more information on the institute and what they do visit https://www.mun.ca/labradorinstitute.
