Elementary students enjoy art in the park

By TOM STANKARD

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Ironwood - Children traded pens and pencils for paintbrushes and chalk.

On a sunny, but chilly Thursday, Ironwood elementary students and Great Start Readiness Program students took a field trip to the downtown Art Park.

Inspired by art, children left the classroom, and got to paint a wall without getting in trouble.

Before painting the wall, the kids gathered around Lynne Wiercinski, Assistant Carnegie Library Director, for story time.

Children sat on a blue tarp and "politely" listened to Wiercinski read, "Do Onto Otters: A Book About Manners."

Written by Laurie Keller, the children's book is about Mr. Rabbit's new neighbors, who are otters. But Mr. Rabbit didn't know anything about otters.

"Would they be good neighbors?" Wiercinski asked the children as she read.

"What would I do if otters were my neighbors?"

Mr. Rabbit's friend, Mr. Owl, told him to "do onto otters what you want otters to do onto to you."

While reading, Wiercinski taught the "polite" listeners it's important to say "please and thank you and excuse me.

"I can say 'please' in five different languages," she said. "In Spanish, it's 'por favor."

Wiercinski said story time is part of Michigan's Read First program, encouraging children to read.

After story time, volunteer Heather Brown, of Ironwood, talked to the young pupils about art.

"Art is more than painting a wall," she said.

Brown asked the children about different types of art.

"What if I took clay and made into a giraffe?" She asked, "What would that be?"

"Pottery," the kids said.

"Can art move?" she asked. "Can art make a sound?"

Incorporating the book's theme, Brown instructed them to use their manners while painting and say "please" and "thank you" when getting paint.

Using their imagination, children painted the wall or drew with chalk.

"Don't do this at home," Brown said.

Children used paint brushes, sponges and balls to paint with orange, yellow, pink and green paint.

Don't worry, Brown said the paint is made of corn starch, water and washable paint so it washes off the wall and from clothes.