Kids get creative and learn new things at Roaring Youth Jam 2021
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IDAHO FALLS – The Idaho Falls River Walk was transformed into an environment filled with art, music and creative energy as the Idaho Falls Arts Council held its annual Roaring Youth Jam on Saturday.
The art festival aims to help kids develop skills to express themselves through various artistic mediums. This year’s theme was “Under the Sea” and all the art projects took on an oceanic angle, from seahorse collages to several sea-themed painting activities.
Arts Council spokeswoman Georgina Goodlander said Youth Jam’s activities were designed to serve multiple purposes.
“A lot of what we do is about kids having and being creative,” she said. “But we’re also trying to teach them art techniques and using different kinds of art materials they might not have used before.”
While creativity was the main focus, many of the booths also taught kids important principles through art projects. For example, people from the Idaho National Laboratory were on hand to give kids a little science with their art.
“We’re making density oceans,” explained INL spokeswoman Shelly Norman. “They put colored water in a bottle and then the kids put sand in and they have to guess if it’s going to float or sink. Then they put oil on top of that and it separates because of the density levels and you have oil floating on top of the water and then the sand at the bottom.”
The result not only looks cool but Norman says it’s also a memorable demonstration of scientific principles.
“This shows density and also surface tension,” Norman said. “What I didn’t know until I got here today is that water, of course, has oxygen in it and the oxygen is heavier than carbon. So the oil is carbon-based so the oil will float.”
Just 4 Kids Urgent Care was also on hand, passing out small first aid kits and teaching kids how to care for their own scrapes and scratches.
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“We’ve been able to help a couple of people who got cuts or got blisters and things like that here,” said Just 4 Kids spokeswoman Emily Chantry. “So we’ve been able to show them that they can use the first aid skills that they learn and they can help to take care of themselves and others.”
Along with individual art projects, Youth Jam also offered two communal art projects — a giant whale that kids could paint on and a specially-wrapped car kids could draw on with markers.
The car was provided by the event’s title sponsor, Teton Volkswagen. The company was excited to add something a little different to the Youth Jam proceedings.
“We wanted to provide some additional activities for the kids,” said Teton Volkswagen spokesman Gray Augustus. “Right here we have a 2020 Atlas that we wrapped and allow the kids to color each day. They get to design it and they get to give it a little extra art.”
Augustus said that participating in events like Youth Jam benefits all involved.
“Idaho Falls Arts Council and Youth Jam, in particular, have a really broad reach and really impacts the community,” Augustus said. “From our standpoint, it’s a community that supports us and keeps us going, and so this is a really easy way for us to give back. And we’ve had people of all ages coloring, so it’s a good opportunity for us to promote getting people out.”
Goodlander was grateful for the help given by the sponsors, without whom there wouldn’t be a Youth Jam to come out for. She was also excited by the sheer number of people who turned out over the three days of Youth Jam.
“In the eight years that I’ve been doing Youth Jam, this is the busiest I’ve seen it,” Goodlander said. “It has been crazy but it’s been awesome. We’re seeing lots of happy kids and families coming through, stopping at all the booths and doing all the activities.”
“Youth Jam is one of my favorite things that the Arts Council does,” she added. “It’s pretty stressful for me in the weeks leading up to it. I lose a lot of sleep and I panic a lot about all the different logistics. And then on the first day on Thursday, when we’re all set up and ready to go and we start to see kids arrive and they’re just so excited to be here, it feels amazing!”
